Brief contribution to the DOSSIER induction workshop: my perspective on doing a PhD.

1. MSCA ITN/ETN No. 860721
Doing a PhD
Arjen P. de Vries’s perspective

2. MSCA ITN/ETN No. 860721
TV Raman
 “The only time in your life that
you get to decide to do what you
want to do, by yourself, without
external constraints.”
– Partially true  Definitely truer
during the PhD than ever after.
 Determine for yourself why you
want to get the PhD degree!
– Job at university?
– Job at industry?
– A challenge? The prestige? Love to
read? Freedom? Etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._V._Raman

3. MSCA ITN/ETN No. 860721
Becoming an
Independent Researcher
Look at the Keith van Rijsbergen CV:
Not a huge number of publications, but every single
one has had impact
Honestly, only focusing on impact is extremely hard
to implement in today’s research culture.
Do note that more and more people become aware
that we cannot continue the way we do science
today. In the Netherlands for example, a program by
the Dutch funding organization to evaluate research
less quantitatively.
“Good” professors do not just focus on number of
publications. (Radboud university for example
mandates that you can defend a thesis before every
chapter is published – quality assessment is up to
the promotor, and then assessed at the defense.)
Corollary:
All DOSSIER professors are good professors!

4. MSCA ITN/ETN No. 860721
PhD thesis
 Not the last thing you ever write!! Not your life’s work!
 Is the research innovative, original, creative?
 Is the research presented well?
– Structure, wording (of the thesis)
– Organisation, analysis (of the research)
 Is the methodology sound?
 Is the research well situated in the literature?
– What you find on Google scholar is not good enough!
– What is published the last five years does not entail the history of your field!
 Does the doctoral thesis have a pioneering impact on the field of study?

5. MSCA ITN/ETN No. 860721
Martin Kersten