Where to look for PhD positions? (websites, etc?) - (Jul/10/2008 )

Dear All,

I would like to know what are the main sites where you would look up for PhD positions other than the annoucement boards of your university and web pages from other universities featuring their staff. I would be especially interested in positions based on Europe or Australia.

I know Newscientist jobs, but I have this feeling those positions are rather unacheivable by normal mortals.

What else would you suggest?

Thank you a lot!

All the best,
Julianne.

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Friends and friends of the friends.
First and most important, I recall your bad experience in previous workplace.
To avoid it, I'd choose wisely the next lab. Ask people which labs are ok. Play it calm and reasonably. You have to respect yourself, not charge ahead, avoid stress. I left my old lab with mixed feelings about myself, my boss, and lots of stuff. After a while in a new place, I am delighted to finally work in the new lab, which is pretty much everything I imagined labs should be, from the very first moment - but I got there back door, by asking, reading papers, then stepping into the lab, doing voluntary work. Design a strategy and make it work for you. That's what we're for, actually.
Labs that do not announce positions might, in fact, have them if you look around. A healthy dose of enthusiasm helps.
The positions in New scientist - well, apply if you want to! Mortals go there. Labs are alike, except for the details (which make them good or bad...).

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What Telomerase said...

But the term "Phd position" is too generic...

are you looking for:

- a post-doc position?
- a teaching position?
- a researcher position?
- work in industry?

it very much depends on your field and what you want to do...

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Hi Julianne, You should look into this post http://www.protocol-online.org/forums/inde...?showtopic=2707

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Hi, I am sorry for the generic post - I would like to find more about options to do a PhD in a university/research institute.

Thanks a lot for the link, that's exactly what I was looking for! I didn't realise there was this other section in the forum, that's why nothing came up when I did the search!

Telomerase, thank you so much for your reply and for remembering my situation. I am so glad to hear that your indeed found another lab that you enjoy, I read your post about it many times, hoping there is indeed this way out before giving up on science. How long have you been there?

I also have the feeling that I just can't throw myself into another trap or another blind option because of hurry. But I am finding very tricky to know if a certain lab is adequate or not. I would hope to find the following things below, but maybe I am asking for too much?

1. An interesting and relatively safe project (that is, that holds my interest but also has secure funding and the lab has experience with, without using us as guinea pigs to optimize and implement each and every step)

2. A competent, experienced and fair supervisor, capable of getting and securing a grant and maybe, in the future, of leading you to connections for further training/postdocs

3. A supervisor or a postdoc who is present in the lab and can teach me the basics of the new area and give a hand when I am stuck. In fact, due to my previous experience, I would go more for the "control-freak" supervisor than for the one that asks you every 2 weeks about your project… I really think I need some close guidance. (I know this is a personal taste)

4. An ok team to work with. They don't need to be my best friends, but no fierce competition/sabotage/harassing among members of the same group would be refreshing

I am asking around as much as I can, but I wonder if it isn't a bit weird asking them "if they supervisor has money" and practical things like that… I suppose I need to try everything, friends, websites, announcement boards. But I really don't know how I could find out all these details just by following an ad… Either way I was hoping to write to some positions that sound interesting, see which ones might have available positions and have a talk with them to get a hint….

Thank you so much for your support!

All the best,
Julianne.

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PS.

By coincidence, I might be attending a huge conference in my area this month.

Would it be a good strategy / is it polite to approach speakers whose talk I really liked, to have a chat afterwards and ask them vaguely about projects in their lab and possibilities for doing a PhD there? Even if it's straight after their talk, when the people are still around them to chat/congratulate etc?
Or is it better just send them an email later on, without any personal contact? What is your opinion?

Thanks again!

Juli.

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This is a good idea if you can get the chance to talk to them.



It may be a good idea to send them an email after talking to the them in the conference.

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