In this post, I wanted to talk about how I ended up doing a PhD in the first place – what made me decide that a PhD was a good idea? Why did I decide to go down this route in the first place? Sometimes, especially when the going gets a bit tough or you get engrossed in programming and forget about the “big picture”, it’s good to remind yourself of why you started – so this post is my way of doing that!
So below, I’ve answered a couple of questions: how did I end up doing a PhD, how did I end up doing this PhD, and why am I doing it?
Q: So first of all – How did I end up doing a PhD in the first place?
Actually, before going to University, and throughout most of my undergraduate degree, I had never intended to do a PhD. I didn’t know all that much about what a PhD involved, but I thought that research and I would never really get along and it wasn’t for me. I was determined to go into weather forecasting of some sort. But when it came to my Masters year (I did a 4-year undergraduate MMet [Masters in Meteorology] rather than going down the more typical BSc followed by MSc route), I was able to research something I was really passionate about – hurricane forecasting! I ended up working with a brilliant supervisor and really enjoyed my research project. So much so that I didn’t want to give up the research at the end of my degree, and spent 6 months doing 2 internships related to my dissertation. It was at this point I realised that I was quite enjoying the research and that a PhD could be a good fit.
Q: How did I end up doing this PhD?
Once I’d (finally) worked out that I’d like to do a PhD, I began to research which Universities offered PhD studentships (aka scholarships) in the research area I was interested in – namely severe weather and forecasting. Through the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), I became aware of Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs), which were a new concept for the year I was hoping to start my PhD. These really appealed to me and I ended up applying to 3: NERC’s SCENARIO DTP (so many acronyms!) at the University of Reading, the University of Oxford Environmental Research DTP, and the London NERC DTP. The former had a project available I was particularly interested in, and the latter two would allow me to shape my own project during the first year. After being interviewed by potential supervisors at each University, and accepted at all 3, I had a tough decision – but the project at Reading really stood out to me; I’d get to branch out into a new research area and learn about hydrology and flood forecasting, and I’d gotten along well with my supervisor at the interview – so here I am!
Q: Why am I doing it?
This is something I’ve been asked a few times by people outside of academia (sometimes in different forms: why would you want to spend another 3.5 years at University? Wouldn’t you rather have a real job and get paid more?). So for everyone who is curious as to why I’d want to do a PhD (besides wearing a floppy hat for graduation and the Dr. title at the end!), here are just a few of the reasons:
- It’s interesting! I’m researching and learning about the severe weather that I’ve been fascinated by since I was 13 years old, and I’m not just learning it from others who have made discoveries that are passed on through lectures and text books, I get to make the discoveries myself!
- The criteria for getting a PhD is that you contribute something new to science – I know that I’m doing new research, and adding my own contribution to scientific knowledge, which I think’s pretty cool!
- My research could actually impact people around the world – I’m looking at how we could provide earlier indicators and warnings of floods around the world, and the earlier we can forecast something, the more likely it is we can prepare for and protect against it.
- I’ve learnt a lot outside of science too and discovered even more aspects of severe weather that I’m interested in – communicating forecasts and warnings, and how people prepare for and respond to disasters, for example.
- I get to work with many brilliant and inspiring people!
So that’s how I ended up doing a PhD, and specifically this PhD, and why! I’m always happy to discuss and answer questions – feel free to leave a comment below! 🙂
Bonus Q: What on Earth is a DTP?
Doctoral Training Partnerships are a pretty new concept, and the idea is for the PhD students funded through DTPs to collaborate with partners from other backgrounds (industry, private research, NGOs, charities & governments, for example), giving us a chance to work with people outside of academia – learning other relevant professional and technical skills. This also provides the chance to see how one’s PhD research is relevant in the “real world”. The exact set-up differs from one DTP to the next; some will have a number of specific projects available, and others will allow you to shape your own project idea. For mine, I was also required to take some additional Masters modules and other training to bring me up to speed on the parts of my research that I had no background in. In terms of partners, I get to work with the ECMWF (European Weather Forecasting Centre) – a world-renowned forecasting and research centre, who (luckily for me!) are based just a couple of miles up the road from the University.
Rebecca Emerton 