Beyond PhD

Marija Trajkovic

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If you dream about getting your PhD and living your life at the same time, you are at the right place. I am Marija, an engineer by education, and coach by training. After my PhD, I sought coaching tools that combined with my experience now help other PhDs find fulfillment during this journey. On this channel, you will hear information about the PhD that you can use and test yourself, and the experiences of others who sought a PhD.

06/17/2024

#40 When is a paper final?

Writing a paper is like creating art. The artist chooses when to stop with the work of art. But the artist can also get trapped inside their mind. “Do I have the right results? Maybe I should try to get better ones. I have not done enough.” These questions run in our minds as we stare at the screen, wanting to do something meaningful. And we find an activity to do for half an hour, to feel better. Now we have a solution: we need to do one more measurement, one more simulation, one more iteration. We might wander, go left and right, and get more data – which is not always better. The constant search for more can be paralyzing but seems like a good idea. One way is to share it with someone outside of ourselves: ideally our supervisor. This person has a different view of things and can help in making the next step. Next step can be making a paper skeleton, instead of making a perfect paper skeleton. It can be inserting the images and writing the caption of the image, instead of making a perfect image and caption. It also can be discussing with your supervisor along the way, instead of waiting to have the perfect paper and only then presenting it. The paper will be final after a series of small steps and iterations. Even though we might want to make one big giant leap of a step and finish the paper in one afternoon. What is the next small step for you? 👣 #phd #phdjourney #phdlife #beyondphd ----------------------------------------------- https://linktr.ee/marija.trajkovic

22 min
06/10/2024

#39 The one person who will read your thesis

Who are the people who will get a glance at your thesis? Some of the professors from the committee, because they have to. Some of your colleagues and friends, because they want to see if they ended up in the acknowledgments. Your family, who will use it as a trophy to show around. The one person who will read many chapters of your thesis is described in this episode. #phd #phdjourney #phdlife #beyondphd ------------------------------------ https://linktr.ee/marija.trajkovic

11 min
06/06/2024

#38 Dialogue about your PhD vision

"I want to create a start-up after my PhD, but I am unsure if and when to communicate this to my PhD supervisor." Because ... (finish with your own words) - I might change my mind. - I might not fulfill what we agreed upon. - I might disappoint my supervisor // my expectations of myself. It is perfectly fine to change your mind. It is perfectly fine not to fulfill exactly what you agree upon. As long as you are keeping the dialogue open about your experience - both the fun part and the annoying part, the journey will bring you learning that was otherwise not possible. Not sharing, and not daring to take a certain path keeps us where we are, and already sets us up for 'failure'. Failure to follow what we want, daring to change our minds, daring to disappoint our professor, and possibly get a very unexpected PhD outcome. The outcome is already set to be unpredictable, whether you try to control every step of it or not. There will be unexpected situations. And you have the capacity to deal with it. :) What other situations are challenging during your PhD? Write a message or book a discovery call if you want to explore working together: https://calendly.com/phdtalk-marija/phd-talk #phd #phdlife #phdjourney #beyondphd #PhD #phdchat

15 min
06/06/2024

#37 Research(er) roles /w Vlasta Sikimic

Vlasta Sikimic is Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Science at the Eindhoven University of Technology. This interview could have lasted for hours, so we focused on topics related to the PhD and the roles of researchers nowadays. Here are just some of the topics we touch upon in this interview: - position of the PhD candidate and the supervisor - individual responsibility and the responsibility of the academic system - challenges that the future will bring to the scientific community If you want to know more about Vlasta, you can see more at: https://vlastasikimic.com/ #phd #phdjourney #phdlife #academia #research #researchers #philosophyofscience ----------------------------------------------------- https://linktr.ee/marija.trajkovic

57 min
05/20/2024

#36 Supervisor asks for weekend work

Imagine a situation where your professor asks you to do something that requires you to work over the weekend. And this weekend you have planned to go on a trip. What do you do? How do you respond? Are you bringing up your plans on the table, or rethinking in your head how to find a solution to do both things at the same time? Thinking that the professor will not appreciate if you say no, that it will be inappropriate, that you will not be held in high regard anymore. It might be true, but it might not be. We do not know unless we test it. The same goes for your PhD results – unless you test your hypothesis you do not know whether it is true or not. And very likely it will not be a problem. Saying no to the initial proposal is not saying no to the whole thing. You are willing to find a solution but under different conditions. Now you are two people working on a common solution, which sparks ideas that were not possible when one person was thinking about it. What did this remind you of? What other situations are challenging during your PhD? Write an email to podcast.marija@gmail.com or book a discovery call if you want to explore working together: https://calendly.com/phdtalk-marija/phd-talk #phd #phdlife #phdjourney #beyondphd #PhD #phdchat

10 min
04/29/2024

#35 The most is up to you, but not all

Let’s take the example of publishing a paper. The work that needs to be done is: finding a research direction, literature review, finding a missing part, aligning with the supervisor to aim for a publication, doing experiments for the paper, analyzing experiments, putting them in a publishable format, and submitting them to a research journal. Quite some steps to be taken. After submission, it is not up to us anymore. Now it is up to the editors to find the reviewers, up to the reviewers to accept it, take their time, and provide quality feedback. It will take weeks before we have any answer. We could keep imagining different outcomes in our head, worry if we did everything that was up to us, or we can move on to other aspects of our PhD and of our lives that are there for us. Research continues. The outcomes can be threefold: acceptance with no revision, conditional acceptance, or rejection. The first scenario requires no further work on the paper, you go on with research and celebrate. Conditional acceptance offers ways to improve the paper, reflect on some more aspects, and learn. Rejection provides the most possibilities for growth, even though it might be seen as a ‘bad outcome’. It offers ways to enrich and see the paper from a different perspective. Next time you get your paper rejected, remember all the work you have put in beforehand to get to the point of rejection. Similar to dating and relationships, where we put the work of becoming the person who will get to a relationship, now during PhD we are putting the work of becoming the researcher who will get to a publication. Both scenarios will lead to rejections, but both offer lessons for future attempts. Until we get a ‘yes’, at which point it will already feel normal, as you have been preparing for it. 😊 #phd #phdlife #phdjourney #beyondphd

18 min
04/22/2024

#34 Supervisor is there to challenge you

By choosing the PhD journey, you have chosen to challenge yourself. You went out of the ordinary, out of your comfort zone, looking for ways to learn, acquire new skills, and grow. The environment itself can be a challenge. People at work can deliver challenges. But ultimately, there is one person whose job is to challenge you – your PhD supervisor. Your supervisor will ask you uncomfortable questions and will ask you to do things you have not done before, all to provide opportunities for you to learn from. We can see our supervisor as a persecutor or as a challenger. In the first case, we become a victim, running away from the persecutor, while in the second case, we become the creator who embraces the situation and looks for ways to learn from it. (inspired by the Karpman drama triangle, and the inverse – empowerment triangle) This learning can be anything from asking what you need from your supervisor to leaving the place having learned that you do not want to be a part of a toxic environment. This may look scary, and it is if it challenges you. Challenges come with a sense of discomfort and unease, which stays with us until we go to the other side and turn the challenge into a norm. This challenge now becomes something you are familiar with and becomes “normality”. This scenario has happened already so many times in your life. But most often it happens in tiny portions, so over time it seems that it was always like that. And one day the challenges that you are facing now will become a part of you that you can easily handle. Some of them will become your superpowers. 😊 If this post or podcast episode inspired you to reach out, here is the link to the discovery call: https://calendly.com/phdtalk-marija/phd-talk See you there! 😊 #phd #phdlife #phdjourney #beyondphd #PhD #phdchat

16 min
04/15/2024

#33 PhD is just a job

If PhD would be just one of the jobs you will have in your life – how would that make you feel? How would you approach it? Would you be disappointed because for you working in academia is the highest expression you can achieve in your lifetime? Would this attitude take away the power and nobility that academic position has in your perception? Or would you be relieved because you can focus on other things in your life as well? The noble part about doing a PhD does not come from the fact that we are enrolled in one. It comes from who we are and how we behave in this position. It is not something that is earned by the title. It is earned by showing this behavior. What comes up for you when you read this? What would you like your PhD to be for you? I am curious to hear your answers if you are willing to share. Here is the link to the discovery call, and I will see you there 😊 https://calendly.com/phdtalk-marija/phd-talk #phd #phdlife #phdjourney #beyondphd #PhD #phdchat

22 min

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Creator

Marija Trajkovic
Years Active

2023 - 2024
Episodes

40
Rating

Clean
Show Website

Beyond PhD

Beyond PhD

#40 When is a paper final?

#39 The one person who will read your thesis

#38 Dialogue about your PhD vision

#37 Research(er) roles /w Vlasta Sikimic

#36 Supervisor asks for weekend work

#35 The most is up to you, but not all

#34 Supervisor is there to challenge you

#33 PhD is just a job

About

Information

Beyond PhD

Episodes

#40 When is a paper final?

#39 The one person who will read your thesis

#38 Dialogue about your PhD vision

#37 Research(er) roles /w Vlasta Sikimic

#36 Supervisor asks for weekend work

#35 The most is up to you, but not all

#34 Supervisor is there to challenge you

#33 PhD is just a job

About

Information