Second-year students give insights into their plans, and (most importantly!) how they got there.
From the start of the EPS Joint Masters, I knew that I wanted to stay in academia and do research full time. Yet, research is a very diverse professional path and can be traversed through many roads; there are traditional academic positions, think tanks, research fellowships, government affiliated positions, research institutes, not to mention the often concealed research positions at many International Organizations (IGOs). Notwithstanding this, for me, going for a PhD was the most attractive and cognitively stimulating prospect. Also, just as everyone else has said on this blog, after two memorable years living in three different countries I knew for a fact that I wanted to settle down for a few years.1
To my delight, next month I will be joining the ARENA Centre for European Studies at the University of Oslo as a Doctoral Research Fellow. During the next four years, I will be working on WP2 of the Enforcing the Rule of Law Project (ENROL), where I’ll be diligently investigating the rationale behind the mercurial deployment of tools by the EU in response to rule of law breaches in Hungary and Poland after 2010.
But getting here has not been straightforward, nor a clear path, so here’s what I did throughout my masters. First, I immersed myself as much as I could in the plentiful Research Networks that exist in Europe (and that are related to my academic interests). Specifically, I attended the Oxford Spring School in Advanced Research Methods, the ECPR Summer School, and the Europeaum Spring School. These allowed me to refine my skills and became important milestones for my resume, as I did not just learn new things but discovered my true interests. Second, I published blog articles at venues like The Loop and European Waves (this is not self-promotion I promise) to get my academic ideas out into the world, which really makes a difference and builds your confidence. But, before you go out and apply for everything and everywhere, I highly advise you to be strategic and choose wisely where you want to devote your time.
More importantly, from my experience, there are some challenging aspects to consider when applying for a Ph.D. First, the balancing act of juggling between academic requirements (MA Thesis), your own research projects, and postgraduate applications can be very daunting (but not impossible). What is necessary is to have a clear objective in mind of where you want to do a Ph.D. (Europe or elsewhere) and in what topic you will want to do so (I strongly advise you to link your ongoing MA research or other in-class projects to your Ph.D. plans).2 In my case, I became interested in the Rule of Law within the EU during my 2nd semester while in Krakow. Then, I drafted a paper, which I then edited into a longer version and presented at the Europeaum Spring School. Second, the second key aspect is to treat applications seriously. Most PhDs in Europe are employment positions that expect and receive dozens of applications from highly talented individuals across all of Europe and beyond, so a half-baked application will most likely be desk-rejected. Lastly, an integral part of the application process is to have writing samples that vouch for your academic potential (preferably related to the position you’re applying for).
All in all, this has been my academic path thus far and I am very excited to continue at ARENA of the University of Oslo.
Some final tips:
- Be strategic at what conferences/panels/summer schools you apply for.
- Contact people who you find inspiring (or as role models) and ask them for tips about their career paths and how they got there, you will be surprised how friendly most everyone is to share their experiences (just like Jorge said).
- Write blogs to relevant academic outlets (The Loop, Verfassungsblog, European Waves, etc…) to get exposure in academic circles.
- Sign up to mailing lists from the academic networks you are interested in (ECPR, APSA, PolMeth, UACES)
- Always have someone proofread your work no matter how eloquent you think you are (Thank you so much Esther)
- Because of different academic cultures, it is very different to apply for a Ph.D. in the Anglosaxon World and Europe, choose wisely but be pragmatic.
