You’ve heard of atomic force microscopy (AFM) or maybe even worked with it... it’s piqued your interest. But what should you do if you want to pursue a PhD studying AFM?
Discovering and applying for PhDs can be stressful and confusing at times. There are so many different research labs, projects, locations, and funding opportunities...where do you begin? To make the process easier for you, we’ve put together this handy guide for applying to PhDs in the AFM field, with top tips from those who have applied before.
Read on to hear Dr Jamie Goodchild, NuNano’s Application Scientist, discuss the finer points.
Contents
Do I want to do a PhD?
Perhaps the most important question you should ask yourself before starting this journey...
If the answer is anything other than ‘I enjoy science and I want to do research every day for at least the next 3-4 years’ or ‘I want to learn new skills and broaden my horizons’ then you should think twice.
Do not do a PhD because you are finishing university and you do not know what else to do or because you think it will make you more money in the long run (it probably won’t). Likewise, don’t do it because you like the sound of Dr or Prof in front of your name.
You must genuinely enjoy research to get up every day and into the lab. Completion rates for PhDs is about 70-80%, which means around a quarter drop out (Discover PhDs).
You will likely end up in a research-based job after, so you if are thinking about another career path then consider carefully. Other scientific careers, often non-lab based, don’t necessarily need a PhD, so don’t do it unless you will enjoy it.
Where do I look?
There are many places you can search for a PhD, both online and offline.
A simple internet search will lead you to www.findaphd.com, the world’s largest database of PhD opportunities. You can search for PhDs by category, key words, location, university and more.
If you already have an idea of where you want to be you can also look directly on university websites for PhD opportunities. If you are already at the university you want to do your PhD at, make sure to check your emails as PhD opportunities are often sent to department mailing lists. AFM PhDs can be found in many different departments (e.g., Physics, Chemistry, Engineering, etc.) so make sure you also check out other departments from your own!
Alternatively, you can also check funding council websites such as UKRI-BBRSC which lists doctoral training centre partnerships (more about these later).
One of the best ways to find out about opportunities and/or find out more about a position is to contact a supervisor to introduce yourself. Academics will be able to know and tell you quickly whether you are a good match. Don’t send a generic email, try to personalise it by relating papers they have published to things you have done, or to things you would like to learn.
If there is an area you are interested in, find people in that area as you never know when an opportunity will come up (a friend of mine found out about a job when she was working in a pub next to a Physics department). Similarly, your current contacts such as supervisors, tutors, etc. could introduce you to other labs that do similar science.
Building a network is extremely important. You can further your network by looking for the public social media accounts of a research group or supervisor you are interested in. There are also PhD study fairs you can attend to receive guidance and learn about the research opportunities at universities e.g. https://www.findaphd.com/events/virtual-fairs/phdlive-22-10-19.
Finally, you can also set up job alerts on LinkedIn and Indeed with keywords you are interested in. Unfortunately, there are no websites that have a comprehensive list of AFM PhDs, which is why you should subscribe to the NuNano monthly Newsletter which lists AFM opportunities around the world including PhDs!
Where should I go?
General Advice
So, you have decided you want to do a PhD, but your head is spinning with options. You probably want to narrow them down. First question is do you want to stay in the university you are in or move to pastures new? This is something you will have to figure out yourself, weighing up personal life versus work opportunities.
This could be your chance to move to a new country. There are AFM labs on all corners of the globe. Here at NuNano, we have sent probes to universities in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Australia.
Choosing a supervisor should be one of the most important things. It’s no use going to the best university in the world if you dislike your boss and your research project is not suited to you. Some supervisors will watch you closely whereas others are hands off – you need to work out what best suits your needs. Arranging a visit to meet the supervisor and other lab members is very important. Many PhDs now have multiple supervisors, mirroring the cross-disciplinary nature of modern research. This is particularly true in AFM research, where AFM experts team up with scientists from life sciences or materials science for collaborative projects.
“Be Brave! It can be tempting to stay in the same place – same city, same university, same supervisor, same lab, same friends, same house - and there is nothing wrong with this. In fact, often family circumstances will make this decision for you. But if you can, why not take the opportunity to move to another university, switch departments (AFMs live in all depts from Engineering, Physics, & Chemistry, through to Biology, Pharmacy, & Medicine), and maybe even move country. When it comes to applying for jobs a breadth of experience from multiple labs, universities, etc. is often looked upon favourably.” - Jamie’s Advice
United States of America
In the United States the system is slightly different. You apply to Graduate Schools at different Universities, where you study for a PhD alongside graduate lecture courses. You can search Graduate Schools here (Best Graduate Schools Ranked in 2022 - US News).
Again, best practice is to directly contact professors doing research you find exciting (tip – find the corresponding author from recent research papers which you find interesting). Graduate Schools often start in the Fall Semester (i.e. Sept) the same as the UK and deadlines are around Dec/Jan. (Beware – some grad schools require exams to enter e.g. Graduate Records Examinations).
Once accepted to Graduate School, your PhD will be fully funded, but you normally have teaching responsibilities in return (supervising labs, marking assignments and teaching tutorial classes). There is also the option to apply for your own fellowships, from funding organisations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The average length of a PhD in the US is 5-6 years, compared to 3-4 years in the UK/EU.
Europe
In Europe, your best route again is to identify and contact supervisors/labs doing research you are interested in. There are many local and government funding opportunities and also some prestigious EU-wide scholarships you can look into e.g. Marie Sklodowska-Curie and EMBO. There are also many non-university research institutes in Europe, particularly in Germany e.g. Max Plank Institutes, so be sure to check these out too.
Rest of World
Most PhD opportunities for moving abroad seem to be in the US, EU or UK, but there is also the whole Rest of the World such as South America, Asia, and Australia. Our best advice is (you guessed it) contact supervisors and labs in those countries who are doing research you are interested in. They can let you know if they have opportunities and can guide you on funding, visas etc.
How do I get funded?
Most PhDs (over half) in the UK now are funded through CDTs (Centre for Doctoral Training), also confusingly called DTCs (Doctoral Training Centres) (Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) - A Guide | FindAPhD.com). CDTs provide PhD projects that are at the interface between academia and industry, focusing on a specific national priority area such as Graphene (Manchester), Biomedical Materials (Sheffield) or Environmental Research (Oxford). They are co-funded by Government Research Councils and Industrial Companies. CDTs are more structured than a traditional PhD, with students in cohorts sharing training modules and collaborations. With CDTs, you usually apply to the program and not a specific project, and you get a choice of PhD supervisors and projects within your specific field during your first year.
Alternatively, many PhD projects will be funded and advertised directly. These will also likely be funded by a research council through a Doctoral Training Allocation or grant (this is becoming less common now and CDTs more common). These projects might also be directly funded from an industrial company or funded on a CASE award which is 50:50 industry to funding body. For the most part you will not have to worry about this - if the project is advertised, it is likely the supervisor has already sorted funding.
Another option to consider if you are moving to a new country is government and research council funding, fellowships and studentships from your native country to study abroad.
Lastly, if you have found a research group which you love but they do not have funding or projects, you should work on writing a fellowship yourself with the supervisor. You can look for scholarships from the university directly or from research councils and sometimes charities (e.g. Leverhulme Trust and Welcome Trust). This route is more difficult, time-consuming, and you may only get them if you are top of your year (but don’t be worried about this, the best researchers are very rarely the ones hitting top marks through every year of undergrad). Although it is hard, if you secure your own funding for you research, in future years it looks impressive on a CV.
When should I apply?
Most PhDs will start in September or October at the start of the academic year, but not all. So, keep your eyes peeled all year round.
Most PhDs will start being advertised October to December, but many are often advertised and open to applications through January to March. Most deadlines will also be January to March, but some may be before the New Year.
Most, but not all, PhD positions start in September or October. This works well if you are applying directly from your final undergraduate year, but if you have moved to a job or are having some time out, you should be looking for advertised positions, deadlines and start dates at any point throughout the year.
CDTs (UK) usually open around October and close January for application. However, be sure to check the specific one you are interested in, as often they are open much later for applications depending on how many and the quality of applications.
Jamie’s Pearls of Wisdom
When applying to PhDs, do not worry too much about the exact project title. This will almost definitely change over the 3-4 years, with experiments not working and/or new exciting discoveries. Find a research group in the general area you are interested and then make sure to meet the supervisor and the group (ideally not on Zoom). PhDs are hard and very stressful, having a supervisor who is kind when things are not going great and a research group that will go for coffee/dinner/beer/a walk with you when you have a bad day, is really important.
Take care of your mental health during your PhD. It can be all-consuming. Try to find some balance and remember that life always goes on outside the 4 walls of your lab, however bad things seem. The charities Charlie Waller and Jonathon’s Voice have a guide for protecting your mental health in STEM, and it is worth a read before you embark on your PhD. Protecting your mental health: A practical guide for postgraduate research students in STEM (charliewaller.org)
With thanks to Mehmet Z Baykara (UC Merced), Maisie Holbrow-Wilshaw (FluoretiQ), George Heath (University of Leeds), Simon Connell (University of Leeds), Steve Baker (Wake Forest, North Carolina), Mar Eroles (Universite Aix-Marseille), and the Molecular & Nanoscale Physics PhD Students & Postdocs (University of Leeds) for their contributions to this blog post.
If you enjoyed this blog post you might also like From one AFM user to another or (Nearly) everything you ever wanted to know about AFM but were afraid to ask.