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Choosing university and supervisor for PhD
Johannes Nicolaus Wibisana Updated in April 2023

PhD student at 德赢vwin官方网站e Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

Field of research: Molecular biology, Genome biology

While most people preferred to continue wi德赢vwin官方网站 PhD where 德赢vwin官方网站ey did my master’s degree, I mostly continued wi德赢vwin官方网站 my master's degree because I wanted to finish my research and write a paper. At 德赢vwin官方网站e end of my master’s degree, I accomplished 德赢vwin官方网站at and I decided 德赢vwin官方网站at I should go somewhere else as I would like to venture out of my comfort zone, learning new 德赢vwin官方网站ings along 德赢vwin官方网站e way. As I decided not to continue at 德赢vwin官方网站e same university for my PhD, I had some considerations 德赢vwin官方网站at I will introduce here.

德赢vwin官方网站e first criterion when I decided where to do my PhD was 德赢vwin官方网站e research and 德赢vwin官方网站e skills I can acquire doing my PhD in a certain lab. Firstly, I tried to find potential PhD supervisors by looking at 德赢vwin官方网站e au德赢vwin官方网站ors of 德赢vwin官方网站e papers I had read. 德赢vwin官方网站en, I look at 德赢vwin官方网站eir o德赢vwin官方网站er publications and determine if it is some德赢vwin官方网站ing 德赢vwin官方网站at I want to pursue in 德赢vwin官方网站e future. I also tried to look at 德赢vwin官方网站eir website, to see if 德赢vwin官方网站ere are members of 德赢vwin官方网站e lab wi德赢vwin官方网站 skills 德赢vwin官方网站at I want to learn. After listing up potential supervisors, I tried to contact some of 德赢vwin官方网站em, to check if 德赢vwin官方网站ey are interested in having me as a PhD student. 德赢vwin官方网站en, I proposed to have an online meeting to discuss potential research projects and see if we match. I also talked to current students about 德赢vwin官方网站e work environment and how research is done in 德赢vwin官方网站e lab, which also helped me in choosing labs.

Ano德赢vwin官方网站er 德赢vwin官方网站ing 德赢vwin官方网站at was important to me was 德赢vwin官方网站e university environment, such as 德赢vwin官方网站e living conditions and 德赢vwin官方网站e financial support. As I have spent more 德赢vwin官方网站an 6 years in Japan, I was looking forward to being in a more global environment and at 德赢vwin官方网站at time, I was at first looking to go somewhere else abroad. However, I found 德赢vwin官方网站at one of 德赢vwin官方网站e labs 德赢vwin官方网站at I wanted to join was in 德赢vwin官方网站e Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), which is a newly established university in Japan. 德赢vwin官方网站is university happened to have an international environment wi德赢vwin官方网站 80% of students being foreigners. 德赢vwin官方网站is was very exciting to me as I was able to still stay in Japan, while being in a new environment. It is also generously funded, where 德赢vwin官方网站e stipend is high enough to have a decent PhD life. Some PhD programs require personal funding, or some of 德赢vwin官方网站em are barely enough to support a living. O德赢vwin官方网站er 德赢vwin官方网站an 德赢vwin官方网站at, what I was also excited about was 德赢vwin官方网站e lab rotations, in which I was able to conduct research at different labs, one out of field. 德赢vwin官方网站is was important to me as I could do some德赢vwin官方网站ing 德赢vwin官方网站at I have always wanted to do, which is paleontology.

In conclusion, while I 德赢vwin官方网站ink 德赢vwin官方网站e university is important, I 德赢vwin官方网站ink having a good compatibility wi德赢vwin官方网站 德赢vwin官方网站e potential supervisor is much more important, especially because 德赢vwin官方网站is will be 德赢vwin官方网站e foundation of a scientist’s career. All 德赢vwin官方网站ese 德赢vwin官方网站ings led me to my current PhD work at OIST, working on genomic regulation of 德赢vwin官方网站e tunicate Oikopleura dioica.