As much as I feel the advice is invaluable, my favorite thing about this channel is that you don't waste our time with silly intros. You get to the point, make it concisely and never ramble. Thanks for this and all your valuable, considerate videos!
The last option you presented of asking for other opportunities actually worked for me. It is solid advice that not many people consider. Collaborating with someone on research is rarely a hard no. Usually, they would love more eyes on their projects but just don't have the resources. I also frequently volunteer with other universities on projects, which I highly recommend once you have a paid position already locked down.
That's lovely Dr Stapleton - I applied for PhD but ended up on a MRES since they were concerned I didn't have enough experience to commit to a PhD. A really lovely compromise I jumped at!
Thanks for the advice, I am in the middle of PhD applications and it looks like I've followed a lot of your advice already except for sending emails or letters to specific faculty. I should have done this earlier, but I am planning to reach out now after submitting applications.
I have watched Dr Stapleton and can attest that his advice is highly representative of my personal transition from the private sector to academia; His countless videos and tips are extremely useful and granted myself a wealth of insight into what I aught to have expected. Incredible stuff
Thanks for the video Andy; you’re a very engaging communicator (in my opinion). So I went down the rabbit hole of your channel and watched a whole bunch of your vids, this one being the most recent, and though this is actually about applying for the PhD, I do believe you have single handily cemented my desire to NOT do a PhD. I’m in Australia too and I completed my Masters (in Biochem) 2 years ago in Brisbane (Qld represent). I took a break for a bit afterwards (partly enforced due to, you know, la Rona) and then tried to get work and the experience of trying to get work was demoralizing. Even with the Masters, pay was terrible - I literally saw an add for a factory worker, no experience, get offered 26$/hr when I was applying to work in pathology labs for 24$/hr (approximately). Not to imply that it's all about salary, but in truth it is important - especially when you want to buy things and live comfortably. Then I read this article recently titled “Top Aussie scientists get paid less than a garbo” and the wheels started turning in my brain about the reality I’ve gotten myself into. Now that’s not to say you can’t do well pay-wise in Australian industry with a masters; my results may of course be due to other factors personal to me, but regardless, it sucked. So I thought well I need to go back, get a PhD, that will fix things (moreover, I enjoyed the masters experience, loved working in a lab and my supervisor and I got along well). But I’m realizing it won’t fix things, I don’t want to work in Academia, Aussie industry seems to suck (at least for Biochemistry/Molecular Biology) unless you get lucky with I biotech start-up and I got a nice home on the Gold Coast now, so I don’t wanna move even to Brizzy for a mediocre job (let alone down south where you plebs live). Sigh. I was thinking of giving freelance writing a legit attempt but with ChatGPT out now the harsh truth is that that whole profession will eventually be made mostly redundant (sorry freelancers, I feel your pain but have you tried the ChatGPT - it’s only going to get better and once they figure out how to give it the ability to write with a sense of humor that will be it). So, I think it’s going to be re-training for me, maybe something a bit more practical like Law - tough choice to make cause I’m 42 yrs old and the Science run was already another attempt at a new career so starting out at the bottom somewhere else is daunting to say the least. Well, at least I live on the Gold Coast (suck it Radelaide). (Just joking, I’m from Canada originally so in truth all of Aus is beautiful to me). Thanks again for the videos and insight, you've helped heaps :)
Similar feel to yours, more I watch less I want to do PhD, there may be small things which may boost the motivation to do PhD, but overall, so many things are just bringing down the motivation of doing PhD and working in academia.
Just evidencing the ‘stars align for acceptance to top uni’ point: I made 5 applications having no research experience, and was only accepted by Cambridge to the programme for which I was least qualified! It was also the only application where I didn’t have a zoom call with the prospective supervisor before applying, so maybe I reduce their confidence in me from that 😆 But yeah, if you want it go for it! Dare to dream 😊
@@ezgi6392 Sorry I didn’t explain that well. I did a four year undergraduate resulting in an integrated masters. However, several people I know have done four year undergrads that do not result in a masters, and they got in fine with that 😊 One person at my college got accepted with just a three year undergrad and no masters so it definitely can happen! I think they’re reducing the application fee too so just have a go!! You’re more likely to get in if you do 😋
I did PG studies in the 80's and with a good degree (2:1 - when they did not hand them out like confetti) you could go straight onto a MPhill/PhD with no MA needed. Of course education was not just another business model back then.
I was accepted to the vast majority of applications I have made (PhD/postdoc/positions), I always had a large choice and had the last say. I guess I am lucky 😂... NOT! My secret? 1. I already had 1.5 years of full time lab experience (in some of the most famous labs in the world in the field) by my Master degree. 2. I then taught 2 years up to undergrad waiting for the perfect PhD. 3. I applied to one of the most prestigious PhD program in Europe within an insane consortium made of the very best scientists in the field (marie curie fellow). 4. From there it was VERY easy. Postdocs were literally flowing to me. I aimed for the best team/salary/quality of life and kept refusing offers. Finally, I directly got a position....in a top 12 university, paid 145K/yr without any postdoc 😂.
@@ege8240 well, in my country, that was mandatory. During first semester, they were giving us a LARGE list of labs and projects all over the world (all over Europe, America or Asia, paid btw). Basically it was: 3 months in "year 3", 7 months "year 4" and again 7 months "year 5". Instantly gives you "tons" of experience out of your Master 😅. Very good system if you ask me. PS: year 3, I was paid 700 euros/mo. Year 4 I was paid 2000$ (I was in USA), year 5 2000 euros (France).
Need tips to apply a PhD program with different concentration from your bachelor & master degree + your professional career history. I am currently soooo not confident to apply the program
I'm currently in my final of my master's degree and I'm considering the research assistant option. Is it self funded or you're compensated? Thank for videos, they've been of great help.
Non academic here. I got a job last year at a local Uni doing admin for Humanities Ph D students. The person doing it was quitting as it was a bit much and had evidently not been accommodated. She had two weeks to train me over Teams, just talking and and showing me stuff solidly for two weeks. I made notes and tried to keep it in perspective. I thought working in a Uni would be cool for a hopeless dreamer like me. Anyway, two days in I realised I couldn't even contextualize or proritise the stuff thrown at me and made the guttung decision to quit. So now they had nobody to train my successor. I saw a glimpse of some of the submissions too. One was written in terrible word salad of obviously current pseudo scientific buzzphrases in poor English. The person had degrees already in this stuff. It was a Daily Mail parody. So if anyone had found the admin response a bit clunky this might help to explain. Also an acquaintance of mine had a job in student support and had overheard colleagues asking, 'Haven't we made her resign yet?' The Halls of Academe ....
I don't know about anyone else, but I found the hard way either you have to know the professor by name before applying, or it's just like any other college admissions where you just need an MA and good grades. Caveat, am historian.
Curious about your thoughts about Universities depending less and less on recommendations, and in some cases I've seen no longer use them for admission consideration.
Based on my experience, the harsh truth is the success of a PhD application depends on many factors, some of which are: 1. The relationship between the field you are applying for and your major. The more related the more successful. 2. The highest education you have, if you hold a MSc you have a much higher chance than a BSc holder regardless of the grades, also having more papers means you have a better application, particularly if they are published in high impact journals. 3. The country you are making your application from, this is very important especially in this time as entry to many countries is becoming near to impossible, for instance, if you're applying from a middle eastern country to a PhD based in the EU or the US, your chances are very low in comparison to others who are already living in the EU or the US. 4. The official language in your country and the language used in your undergrad, applicants from English speaking countries and undergrad holders (using English) have higher probability of being accepted. 5. The nature of the study and the number of available positions, some fields are very challenging which increases the likelihood for qualified applicants to be accepted, and the more seats available the higher chance of getting one. 6. Personal details, it seems weird, but they are seriously considered in informal way, in particular by supervisors, some of which is the older you are the lower likelihood of getting your application accepted, some other factors might play a role, mostly if you reach the interview step, like the marital status, where singles are more preferred, also names themselves can explain more about race, religion, .. etc. Which could be obstacles. 7. The country and university that you got your undergrad/ postgrad from and to which are you applying, e.g., if you got them from Europe, US, Australia...etc. Your chances are higher. Also applications made to very high ranked universities are likely to be rejected if there is no match/ high gap in reputation with your university. 8. A good cover letter, recommendations, prior work experience, connections, ... etc if they are used correctly can improve your application. To summarise, those factors and others combined decide whether your application is successful or not.
As much as I feel the advice is invaluable, my favorite thing about this channel is that you don't waste our time with silly intros. You get to the point, make it concisely and never ramble. Thanks for this and all your valuable, considerate videos!
Hear hear! What a gem. We need to look after this man
Agreed!
Funny you said that, I actually rewinded the beginning because I thought I missed an intro hahaha
The last option you presented of asking for other opportunities actually worked for me. It is solid advice that not many people consider. Collaborating with someone on research is rarely a hard no. Usually, they would love more eyes on their projects but just don't have the resources. I also frequently volunteer with other universities on projects, which I highly recommend once you have a paid position already locked down.
That's lovely Dr Stapleton - I applied for PhD but ended up on a MRES since they were concerned I didn't have enough experience to commit to a PhD. A really lovely compromise I jumped at!
Thanks for the advice, I am in the middle of PhD applications and it looks like I've followed a lot of your advice already except for sending emails or letters to specific faculty. I should have done this earlier, but I am planning to reach out now after submitting applications.
I am Currently in Industry and am looking for phD programs while working in Industry and I am finding your videos very helpful!
I have watched Dr Stapleton and can attest that his advice is highly representative of my personal transition from the private sector to academia; His countless videos and tips are extremely useful and granted myself a wealth of insight into what I aught to have expected. Incredible stuff
Thanks for the video Andy; you’re a very engaging communicator (in my opinion). So I went down the rabbit hole of your channel and watched a whole bunch of your vids, this one being the most recent, and though this is actually about applying for the PhD, I do believe you have single handily cemented my desire to NOT do a PhD.
I’m in Australia too and I completed my Masters (in Biochem) 2 years ago in Brisbane (Qld represent). I took a break for a bit afterwards (partly enforced due to, you know, la Rona) and then tried to get work and the experience of trying to get work was demoralizing. Even with the Masters, pay was terrible - I literally saw an add for a factory worker, no experience, get offered 26$/hr when I was applying to work in pathology labs for 24$/hr (approximately). Not to imply that it's all about salary, but in truth it is important - especially when you want to buy things and live comfortably. Then I read this article recently titled “Top Aussie scientists get paid less than a garbo” and the wheels started turning in my brain about the reality I’ve gotten myself into.
Now that’s not to say you can’t do well pay-wise in Australian industry with a masters; my results may of course be due to other factors personal to me, but regardless, it sucked. So I thought well I need to go back, get a PhD, that will fix things (moreover, I enjoyed the masters experience, loved working in a lab and my supervisor and I got along well). But I’m realizing it won’t fix things, I don’t want to work in Academia, Aussie industry seems to suck (at least for Biochemistry/Molecular Biology) unless you get lucky with I biotech start-up and I got a nice home on the Gold Coast now, so I don’t wanna move even to Brizzy for a mediocre job (let alone down south where you plebs live). Sigh.
I was thinking of giving freelance writing a legit attempt but with ChatGPT out now the harsh truth is that that whole profession will eventually be made mostly redundant (sorry freelancers, I feel your pain but have you tried the ChatGPT - it’s only going to get better and once they figure out how to give it the ability to write with a sense of humor that will be it). So, I think it’s going to be re-training for me, maybe something a bit more practical like Law - tough choice to make cause I’m 42 yrs old and the Science run was already another attempt at a new career so starting out at the bottom somewhere else is daunting to say the least.
Well, at least I live on the Gold Coast (suck it Radelaide). (Just joking, I’m from Canada originally so in truth all of Aus is beautiful to me).
Thanks again for the videos and insight, you've helped heaps :)
Similar feel to yours, more I watch less I want to do PhD, there may be small things which may boost the motivation to do PhD, but overall, so many things are just bringing down the motivation of doing PhD and working in academia.
Just evidencing the ‘stars align for acceptance to top uni’ point: I made 5 applications having no research experience, and was only accepted by Cambridge to the programme for which I was least qualified! It was also the only application where I didn’t have a zoom call with the prospective supervisor before applying, so maybe I reduce their confidence in me from that 😆
But yeah, if you want it go for it! Dare to dream 😊
So you're saying that you was accepted to Cambridge without a masters? I was thinking should I apply as well since I don't have a masters
@@ezgi6392 Sorry I didn’t explain that well. I did a four year undergraduate resulting in an integrated masters. However, several people I know have done four year undergrads that do not result in a masters, and they got in fine with that 😊 One person at my college got accepted with just a three year undergrad and no masters so it definitely can happen! I think they’re reducing the application fee too so just have a go!! You’re more likely to get in if you do 😋
Great video
I did PG studies in the 80's and with a good degree (2:1 - when they did not hand them out like confetti) you could go straight onto a MPhill/PhD with no MA needed.
Of course education was not just another business model back then.
Excellent, well done
I was accepted to the vast majority of applications I have made (PhD/postdoc/positions), I always had a large choice and had the last say. I guess I am lucky 😂... NOT!
My secret?
1. I already had 1.5 years of full time lab experience (in some of the most famous labs in the world in the field) by my Master degree.
2. I then taught 2 years up to undergrad waiting for the perfect PhD.
3. I applied to one of the most prestigious PhD program in Europe within an insane consortium made of the very best scientists in the field (marie curie fellow).
4. From there it was VERY easy. Postdocs were literally flowing to me. I aimed for the best team/salary/quality of life and kept refusing offers. Finally, I directly got a position....in a top 12 university, paid 145K/yr without any postdoc 😂.
how did you get accepted to labs before masters?
@@ege8240 well, in my country, that was mandatory. During first semester, they were giving us a LARGE list of labs and projects all over the world (all over Europe, America or Asia, paid btw). Basically it was: 3 months in "year 3", 7 months "year 4" and again 7 months "year 5". Instantly gives you "tons" of experience out of your Master 😅. Very good system if you ask me.
PS: year 3, I was paid 700 euros/mo. Year 4 I was paid 2000$ (I was in USA), year 5 2000 euros (France).
Need tips to apply a PhD program with different concentration from your bachelor & master degree + your professional career history. I am currently soooo not confident to apply the program
I'm currently in my final of my master's degree and I'm considering the research assistant option. Is it self funded or you're compensated? Thank for videos, they've been of great help.
Non academic here. I got a job last year at a local Uni doing admin for Humanities Ph D students. The person doing it was quitting as it was a bit much and had evidently not been accommodated. She had two weeks to train me over Teams, just talking and and showing me stuff solidly for two weeks. I made notes and tried to keep it in perspective. I thought working in a Uni would be cool for a hopeless dreamer like me. Anyway, two days in I realised I couldn't even contextualize or proritise the stuff thrown at me and made the guttung decision to quit. So now they had nobody to train my successor. I saw a glimpse of some of the submissions too. One was written in terrible word salad of obviously current pseudo scientific buzzphrases in poor English. The person had degrees already in this stuff. It was a Daily Mail parody. So if anyone had found the admin response a bit clunky this might help to explain. Also an acquaintance of mine had a job in student support and had overheard colleagues asking, 'Haven't we made her resign yet?' The Halls of Academe ....
Too late bro applications were due last month!
Depends where you are applying.
Step 1: don’t use comic sans in your letter
I don't know about anyone else, but I found the hard way either you have to know the professor by name before applying, or it's just like any other college admissions where you just need an MA and good grades.
Caveat, am historian.
Curious about your thoughts about Universities depending less and less on recommendations, and in some cases I've seen no longer use them for admission consideration.
Based on my experience, the harsh truth is the success of a PhD application depends on many factors, some of which are:
1. The relationship between the field you are applying for and your major. The more related the more successful.
2. The highest education you have, if you hold a MSc you have a much higher chance than a BSc holder regardless of the grades, also having more papers means you have a better application, particularly if they are published in high impact journals.
3. The country you are making your application from, this is very important especially in this time as entry to many countries is becoming near to impossible, for instance, if you're applying from a middle eastern country to a PhD based in the EU or the US, your chances are very low in comparison to others who are already living in the EU or the US.
4. The official language in your country and the language used in your undergrad, applicants from English speaking countries and undergrad holders (using English) have higher probability of being accepted.
5. The nature of the study and the number of available positions, some fields are very challenging which increases the likelihood for qualified applicants to be accepted, and the more seats available the higher chance of getting one.
6. Personal details, it seems weird, but they are seriously considered in informal way, in particular by supervisors, some of which is the older you are the lower likelihood of getting your application accepted, some other factors might play a role, mostly if you reach the interview step, like the marital status, where singles are more preferred, also names themselves can explain more about race, religion, .. etc. Which could be obstacles.
7. The country and university that you got your undergrad/ postgrad from and to which are you applying, e.g., if you got them from Europe, US, Australia...etc. Your chances are higher. Also applications made to very high ranked universities are likely to be rejected if there is no match/ high gap in reputation with your university.
8. A good cover letter, recommendations, prior work experience, connections, ... etc if they are used correctly can improve your application.
To summarise, those factors and others combined decide whether your application is successful or not.
Thank you for sharing this ❤I’m in a process of applying for my phd
Please talk about postdoc and PI application success.
is it applicable for postdoc application?
❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹