Why doing a PhD is Hard | Let’s Talk | PHD Life | University of Cambridge PhD Student

Undertaking a PhD at the University of Cambridge has been a rewarding and exciting experience for me so far, I feel so blessed and privileged to be taking up space at world leading institution in a highly competitive but progressive field of study. I have learnt so much about scientific research, academia, myself and life in general a whole. I have grown in confidence in myself my abilities and knowledge. With all the incredible and amazing opportunities the PhD has been able to give me, doing a PhD is still very HARD, DIFFICULT and CHALLENGING.

But what actually makes a PhD HARD or DIFFICULT?
This question is a challenge in itself to answer, because there’s not one major thing that makes the whole PhD experience difficult it’s a combination of different things different for individuals and highly determined by ones metal state, situation and field of study.

Here are some aspects that I believe makes undertaking a PhD hard;

Isolation - Largely due to independent work.

Maintaining Motivation – Experiments or investigation not yielding any results.

Money – We are not paid enough for the amount of time we work. Just about of barely minimum wage.

Owning your own project - Ensuring you are the captain of your own research is sometimes tricky, when you are funded by research councils or supervisors who dictate what you should research on base on their wants rather than your own research interests.

Imposter Syndrome – That feeling of not belonging or feeling good or smart enough.
Staying Social - Maintaining a healthy work life balance is always very difficult will lack of regulation of working hours.

Public Speaking – This is one of the only ways to showcase work and progress. Sometimes there a huge pressure to show results and data rather than discus area of research.
There are many more aspects that makes doing a PhD difficult but the important to be aware of them before committing. Also when you do what you love and Love what you do you can’t go wrong.

Follow me on:
INSTAGRAM - @stodada
SNAPCHAT - @sdada50
TWITTER - @stodada

#PhD #CambridgeUniversity #AdayintheLife #Studentlife #PhDStudentlife #Departmentofchemistry #Funding #Postgraduate #StudyTuber #StudyVlogger #Vlogger #Education #University #BiologicalSciences #Studentship #Scholarship #DowningCollege #Cambridge #BBSRC #MRC #Chemistry #PhDStudent #UKStudent #postgraduate #postgrad #BlackinSTEM #Research #ResearchScientist #Researcher #Scientist #Biosceinces #PhDChat #PhDConversations.