Shaping your PhD

Agathe Lermant
Nationality: French
Work Institution: University of Dundee, Scotland
Research Interest: iPSC-derived models, oxidative stress, preeclampsia
Favourite Animal: Guinea pigs

---

Industry for researchers, academia for industrials… Have you also heard a lot about “the other side”, and maybe not so positive thoughts? Have you ever come across a general feeling of disdain, or even distrust, between those two worlds? By going through my (novice) experiences of research in academia and industry, I will try to explain you why I actually enjoyed going from one to another, and how I finally decided to go for a PhD which was quite an unusual path coming from an engineering background.

The engineer mindset
​
I really enjoyed the “engineer-style” mentality inculcated during my five years of study, in an engineering school specialized in Biotechnologies. From the very start, we were made to apply our scientific knowledge to develop concrete projects: looking for unmet needs and thinking about innovative products that would fill these gaps. This angle of research, pushed towards development, was particularly inspiring for me.

https://www.inc.com/amy-morin/7-thinking-patterns-that-will-that-rob-you-of-mental-strength-and-what-you-can-do-about-them.html

​What is it like to work in a company?
​ 
This taste for applied research led me to do most of my internships in biotech industry. For the most part, I ended up in start-up companies. There again, I really found this innovation-focus mindset and could experience it in the “real world”. Here are the aspects I enjoyed the most when doing research in small companies:

• Research application: You work to develop something. I found myself constantly stimulated by the fact that the research I am conducting will benefit people in the near future. 
• Novelty: Making your way through the competitive world can be challenging, and often frustrating as you find out that no matter how ingenious your idea looks to your own eyes: somewhere on earth, somebody already though of the same. But I still liked thinking “out of the box” to find THE idea, or THE application, that will bring novelty.
• Work structuration: Objectives and tasks were often well-defined and organized. Having this working methodology made it easier to organize my day-to-day work, and I found it particularly rewarding to see the tasks progressively accomplished along the way.
• Multi-disciplinarity: Driving research in companies pushes you to think beyond the scientific part. You need to appreciate all aspects of product development and will likely be collaborating with people having very different profiles. Researchers, engineers, clinicians or sales representatives… I believe each additional point of view you can get on your idea will make it richer! 
• Human relations, which directly results from the previous point. When working with various people, it is not always easy to adapt your speech to the person you talk to. But once you learn to do so, you can be sure those skills will be of lifelong benefit to you!
• Team spirit: In small companies, the team is almost a family. You will be facing numerous challenges, but the beauty is that teamwork will help you overcome them. You work so hard every day towards your joint objective, that every little progress feels like a victory and reinforces human ties.

http://www.dawaam.net/usefullinks/7-reasons-people-change-jobs/

​Something was missing
​
Those experiences were intense and taught me so much, especially at this early stage of my research career. And yet, something was still missing. This little part of me, who loved science, found itself frustrated from time to time facing industrial constraints. In companies, and probably even more in start-up companies, time and money pressures are omnipresent. The final objective, which is to drive products to the consumer, has to be considered in every action taken. On the research side, this means there is no room for side experiments if they won’t help the product to reach the market. 
Curious by nature, I have always been trying to understand why things are as they are. Obviously, this was not the priority in industrial environments. What are the priorities for a pharmaceutical company? Certifying that a drug cures a condition and can be safely used by anyone. But why is this specific drug efficient? How exactly is it acting? This kind of questions caught my attention even more and I found myself frustrated not to be able to answer them. That’s how I got interested in academic research.

---

​A whole new world
​
Besides my industrial experiences, I had the opportunity to keep a foot in academic research laboratories. In fact, during my last internship, I had to work at the interface between a start-up company and a research team. Not an easy task! Despite working together, I realised how much those worlds were different. 
In the laboratory, the atmosphere seemed more relaxed. Group meetings had nothing to do with the ones we held in the company. Rather than very structured, straight-forward presentations of the work done and the next objectives, the meetings used to turn into endless scientific discussions about why this molecule is interacting with this protein under those conditions... Their motivation appeared clear to me: a real passion for science! If I were to caricature both sides, I would probably use something like that:

Industrial researcher

Academic researcher

http://www.mobil-escape.fr/index.php/lescape-du-moment/

I could not say I preferred one or the other; I really enjoyed taking part a little bit in each. While the industrial frame pushed me towards a concrete realization, academia fulfilled my scientific curiosity. But what I was sure of at that time, was my willingness to explore this latest aspect more in depth before putting it into application.

​Why a PhD?
​
When I first announced my wish to do a PhD, the reactions were mixed. While all people from academia showed a great support, not everyone in industry and among my engineer classmates was convinced by this option. 
“A PhD? Aren’t you fed up with studies now? Why would you want to do three more years while you could start working straight ahead and earn way more money?”
Concerns rose up as I mentioned that I would probably want to work in industry afterwards. In France especially, the status of “engineer” is largely valorised compared to the doctorate.  
“Why would you specialize in a narrow subject for all this time instead of staying flexible? Companies are looking for young engineers, freshly coming from school.” 
Those remarks stuck in my mind for a while, as they reminded me how much both sides of research are seen a separate, and even often, incompatible. But my decision was made. I wanted to listen to this little voice inside me and was convinced I had to give it a try to avoid having any regrets later.

Sounds familiar

https://annelisebooklife.wordpress.com/2016/07/06/hello-from-the-other-side/

​Even if I had some insights into what working in academia was like, I have to admit I was a bit worried whether I would fit in and thrive in this new environment for 3 years. But one year after starting my PhD, I must say I have never regretted attempting the adventure. When I look back on what I learned and accomplished throughout those first months, I realise a PhD is way more than doing experiments in a lab and focusing on a tiny subject. Importantly, I realised how industry and academia are more similar than they look. Here is an overview of all industry features I retrieved during my academic experience:

• Applied research: Despite my love for understanding things, I knew I would probably not thrive with a purely fundamental subject. I made sure my project involves applied aspects, so now I am happy to find both sides in my research: better understand pregnancy complications by developing novel placenta cell models.
• Novelty: Novelty is crucial for succeeding as an academic researcher. It is in fact the first criteria to meet if you wish to publish your work. You constantly need to keep up to date with the recent scientific literature to ensure the question you are trying to answer is relevant. But the high competitiveness goes beyond the publication race. Along with each scientific discovery the potential for patenting increases, in which case knowing who was the first one to discover is a crucial question (debates about the CRISPR technology being a striking example). The race for knowledge appears, for me, very close to the race for innovation. 
• Work structuration: When I first arrived, I was just as amazed as afraid by the scope of possibilities opened to me. Without this structured frame found in industry, it can be challenging to find the focus and impose deadlines for yourself. Unconsciously, I started to structure my work as I would have done in a company, and it helped me a lot to get things done on the short-term. And don’t worry, deadlines are still there! Whether it is for the University, the funding body, or journals, you will always have to prioritise your workload to fit in fixed timeframes.
• Multi-disciplinarity: I never felt restricted by a narrow research question, neither hit by routine. From a scientific point of view, I got to learn an extensive set of laboratory techniques and unexplored areas of science to drive my project. Besides researchers from different areas, I am collaborating with a company, for which the cell models I am generating will support the development of their 3D devices. It is also often possible to get various trainings depending on your interests, such as data management, business development or science vulgarization. I found myself particularly inspired by public engagement activities. From time to time, I am almost struggling to find time for the actual scientific part!
• Team spirit: When I arrived, the lab had just been set up. I could really retrieve this “start-up” spirit, where we work hard together to settle everything, and where the small team size makes every voice even more important. All research teams are very keen on helping each other, creating a pleasant work atmosphere and favouring human links.
• Time and budget pressure: Doing research is expensive, grants have a shelf-life, and results need to get published. Even if more freedom is given for scientific curiosity, experiments still need to be wisely thought in terms of result utility, budget and time. Don’t expect to fully get rid of time and money pressure by going to academia! 

A PhD is what you want it to be

Of course, all those aspects depend on many factors. Your place, institution, team, research subject, funding, are some of the parameters that make each PhD unique, and part of it is unpredictable. However, I believe that everyone has a role in shaping their PhD to match their expectations for the future. Personally, I wanted to gain expertise while keeping this bigger picture you need when transferring lab work to industry. This was my experience, but for each PhD student you talk to, you will hear a different feedback.

​By telling you about my journey, I hope I convinced you that we are now far from this vision of the crazy scientist, staying all day long in his lab and doing science nobody understands. The organisational skills and innovation-focused spirit I acquired in industry helped me a lot during my first year in academia, and conversely, I am confident that the autonomy and scientific rigour I am acquiring now will be useful if I go back to industry later on. From what I experienced until today, I feel like although different, those two worlds are far from being incompatible. And that’s pretty good news, as their collaboration lays the foundation for scientific progress! 

I will always remember what my previous internship supervisor, who went through a PhD, told me as I expressed my uncertainty on whether I should follow the same path: “You are young. Don’t go to industry straight away!” And she is now the creator of a successful company. The important thing is to love what you do. If you love science, don’t be afraid of doing a PhD. All you will get from it will depend on how you decide to embark on the experience!
​