Beyond PhD

Practice makes a PhD ninja. The woman who inspired the term "PhD ninja" lives up to that title to this day. More about it in this episode. What else defines a PhD ninja that is not covered in this episode? P. S. Please do not go sneaking behind someone's back, while you practice becoming a PhD ninja. P. P. S. In Japan, there is an official diploma for ninjas.

Call it crazy, insane, impossible – PhDs are ninjas. As you master the art of uncovering your drivers and aspirations, you’ll realize your capacity exceeds your current visions. Take it from my example – I am not advocating having many jobs simultaneously for an extended period of time, but bring it as a testament to the boundless possibilities. Whether you choose the academic track, the corporate...

Expectations we put on ourselves for measuring performance during the PhD are often goal-oriented. Rarely do we use these expectations to motivate us to become the person who is X and Y. Who is capable of fulfilling that goal. Who has acquired the skillset for high performance. Who ultimately feels peaceful and grateful for the journey and the challenges that help the growth. And who believes that...

Mathematics, physics, astronomy, science journalism, and science for children. Margriet van der Heijden is a particle physicist by education. During her PhD research, she worked for four years at CERN in Geneva, where she obtained her PhD on quarks and their mutual interaction. How her career developed from there onwards, what she is working on now, and which subjects she is passionate about – are...

One night stand or a long-term relationship? How do you approach your relationship with your supervisor? Expecting to get everything, giving anything in return? Getting a PhD title has a lot to do with the quality of relationships we build on this journey. And the enjoyment skyrockets when there is a feeling of building the research together.

Fear often stops us from expressing what we want: asking for a talk with our professor because we feel lost at a certain point in our research, feedback on the paper that we started, setting up regular meetings to get more guidance and discussion on our research results. This is an invitation to express to the relevant person what is it that you want. :)

Aleksandra Vancevska, PhD is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Francis Crick Institute in London where she is investigating DNA damage response in search of next-generation chemotherapeutics in the laboratory of Dr. Simon Boulton. A word that is a driving force in her life is curiosity, and that drive has taken her places she could never imagine visiting. As a world-leading biomedical research...

Barry Fitzgerald is a physicist, keynote speaker, author, speaker trainer, event host, and science communicator. Barry has seen the 2016 film Captain America: Civil War more than 50 times, and his superpower will remain a closely guarded secret. Via his company BW Science, Barry has spoken around the world at schools, science festivals, and companies about the science of popular culture, in partic...

Talking from her experience, Nilufar takes the PhD as a metaphor for every other experience in life. This talk goes beyond PhD, but uses this experience to check in with ourselves how we are dealing with different situations. Circumstances, boundaries, taking responsibility, taking action. All in the process of building resilience. Trials and errors provide feedback. Action or inaction shape who w...

In the ’80 s PhD was not “a thing” in the Netherlands, but in the ‘90s the Dutch government introduced new regulations on how money flows. Meint gives a historical perspective on the arrival of integrated photonics research in Eindhoven. And shines a light on how it was for a freshman to enter the boxing ring and find a place for himself, his group, and his research. Years later his legacy became...

Classical ballet, teaching ballet techniques, teaching at the university, and doing research. That is only a fraction of Diana’s interests that she shared in this episode. As a professor facilitating her PhD students to do research, she asks them a very important question: “What can I do to help you?” // “What do you need from me?” This relationship with your supervisor is a conversation, not a mo...

During his PhD, Milos found himself in a situation where everything seemed “right” from an observer’s perspective. Nevertheless, one important aspect was missing: motivation. The lack of motivation can lead to a lack of commitment – and that is what happened in Milos’ case. Being honest with himself and the people around him, he was considered brave by his peers for taking the decision to stop the...

Wieteke de Boer is my current boss. :) Her journey so far went from physics researcher to the role of managing director. Amazed by the research, but not always with the environment, she has found herself a sweet spot in academia – on the other side of research. Striving for creating a happy community at work, she shares how this journey has enrolled so far.

Julià Delos Ayllón shares how he went from Barcelona to Eindhoven to do a PhD in electrical engineering and ended up bringing a part of Catalonia to the Netherlands in order to find fulfillment. He is a research engineer who is passionate about technology, an entrepreneur interested in bringing value to the market, and a passionate kite surfer. Unfortunately, this last story did not make it to the...

In this kick-off episode Valentina Bonito shares personal stories throughout her PhD journey. The moments that made her (re)discover what she enjoys doing. As well as the moments of checking and evaluating the dreams she had before the start of the PhD. Valentina’s education in Biomedical Engineering led her to pursue a PhD in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. After this experience, sh...