PhinallyDone - PhD Survival Guide (Virgílio Bento)

Virgílio Bento just returned from his “PhD trip”, which started back in 2014. We asked him to build a PhD survival guide, which can help others who wish to embark on the same journey.

When to go?When your life starts to be too simple and you just want to be miserable for a bunch of years! Oh, and also when you believe it’s time to learn how to be a scientist and want to reach the next level.Don’t forget:The usual: a big suitcase to store all the souvenirs (knowledge); sunscreen for all the times you’ll burn; and maybe an extra pair of underwear…Not to miss:The conferences and its respective coffee breaks (preferably with more than coffee!).Top 3 experiences:The “amazing” trip between submitting a paper and seeing it published;Sightseeing in the conferences (there is always something new to learn);Doing exercise, running, jogging (and whatever people do in the gym) – mentally – while sitting all day eating junk food.To avoid:Complaining about everything. If things (including bureaucracy) are getting complicated solve them by yourself and do not carry everyone else with you to the ghetto!Off the beaten track:If you work in atmospheric sciences, you can appreciate, track and cheer the hurricane season while sitting in front of your computer or television with a bucket of popcorns. If you are lucky you even may have the chance to go after a few supercells!What to bring home?Knowledge and a path to continue searching new ideas to develop in the future.Fun fact:   What’s new?That 99% of what you do is junk or is not just quite well what you wanted! But do not despair… the 1% that remains is enough to conclude the PhD!Next stop:When you start a PhD you see a certain number of years to develop the work. However, when the time comes, the PhD ends but the work continues to multiply! It is just like an endless interrail with infinite stops (unless financing ends… then you just try to hitchhike!).

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