How it all went…

I have been exploring different labs and looking for people working at the intersection of phylogenetics, microbial evolution, origin of life, or similar fields. I really cared more about potential projects than the name of my department or degree.

October 13: Email to a PI

As I am not a big fan of the email-bombing multiple supervisors, I have sent an email to a single professor whose research group seemed to me as a good fit.

Email to a potential supervisor:

  • introduce yourself and a subject of your inquiry
  • why are you interested in their research?
  • what are your current skills/experiences?
  • show that you might a good much
  • CV (I have attached mine, but some people would advise you not to)
  • make it clear in your email what kind of response you are waiting for (i.e. wondering if they are accepting MSc/PhD students? do you hope for a meeting? Make it straightforward and thus easier to answer)

October 20

After some googling, I’ve found out that the supervisor in question is on a sabbatical leave, so I have contacted a senior lab member, who has suggested that it is unlikely that the professor is recruiting this year.

October 23-24: Reject from the PI

Nevertheless, I followed up with professor and received a reply that the lab is not accepting PhD students in the current round.

November 4-5: New target identified

I have accidentally discovered (via twitter) that a group lead from the MRC LMS - who is by the way working on chromatin evolution in bacteria and archaea! - is moving to Oxford and accepting PhD students. Stunning!

Not to waste any time, I have dropped them an email and asked for an opportunity to discuss potential position in their lab. Surprisingly, the reply came in on the same day, and we decided on a time slot for a meeting.

November 13: Interview with a supervisor

We had a zoom call that lasted for about an hour. Questions went back-and-forth, as we both were trying to figure out if the lab and I are a good fit. We agreed that I shall submit an application and try to get past the Admissions Office (jk).

Things you might want to discuss (not necessarily in this order):

  • potential projects you could undertake
  • supervisor’s expectations
  • your expectations (imp!)
  • their supervision style
  • lab dynamics
  • funding opportunities
  • here is a usefull post with more questions

December 1: Application deadline

I submitted my DPhil application to the Department of Biochemistry by the December 1st deadline, which is the latest possible date if you want to be considered for scholarships.

Proposed field and title of research project and Proposed supervisor I have chosen a single project (though it was possible to indicate up to 3) that was associated with my preferred supervisor

Referees My three referees were my current research supervisor (PI), internship supervisor, and university Professor/Academic adviser.

Statement of Purpose Among other things, here are 5 that I really tried ot emphasize in my essay:

  • How have my interests in academia developed over time?
  • How have these previous experiences prepared me for DPhil?
  • Why am I a good fit for the program?
  • Why is the program a good fit for me?
  • Show that I am well versed and familiar with current trends in the proposed field

January 8: Interview invitation

The interview invitation came in about 6 weeks after the application deadline. Interview instructions:

  • two group leaders from the biochemistry department
  • approximately 20 minutes
  • the task is to give a 10-minute presentation on a research project that you have previously worked on
  • a one page (A4 sized) presentation is allowed (must be provided in advance)

January 16: Interiew Day

I presented a succinct summary of my BSc thesis to two members of the Department; however, my proposed research supervisor was not a part of the commission.

I have been asked (more or less) general questions regarding the methodology and results of the project, as well as about my experiences and expectations in academia. Something along the lines with:

  • Tell us about a time when something wasn’t working (i.e., experiments) and you had to think your way out of it?
  • How the skills that you already have will help you in your grad school?
  • What are the skills you want to learn while doing DPhil?

To be honest, I didn’t have any definitive feeling about whether or not I did well, and it was primarely because I didn’t feel challanged at any point of this interview - it was a nice chat, that’s all. However, considering that Oxford faculty would most probably not waste their time interviewing students, my final assumption was that it has been a reality-check interview to see if my interview performance matches my application.

January 17: Follow up interview invitation

The follow up interview invitation was something that I didn’t expect to see on the same day, but there it was. Instructions were a bit different this time:

  • the panel will consist of six group leaders from the biochemistry department
  • approximately 25 minutes
  • the task is to give a 10-minute presentation (up to five slides) on a research paper chosen from the list provided

January 23: Interview Day 2.0

I figured out the names of faculty who would join my interview from the MTeams invite, so I’ve made a background check on all of them. Although it turned out to be interesting, it wasn’t critical to my performance during the interview.

Following all the instructions, I have presented paper of choice, and while - obviously - I do not have feedback from the commission, here are the things that I believe have made my presentation stronger:

  • putting the research into context, i.e., as a part of a bigger project done within a research group and its relation to the scientific field overall (though I could have done a better job for the latter)
  • drawing clear parallels between hypotheses, experiments, and conclusions
  • playing with figures, e.g. combining, adjusting, annotating, etc.

Questions that I was asked based on the paper:

  • Why did you choose this paper?
  • What is, in your opinion, the most crucial experiment in the paper and why?
  • What are the possible future research directions? Any unanswered questions?
  • Explain how does the […] technique work? (I mentioned it in the presentation) Can you think of any cases where this method will not succed?
  • A question based on one of the Supplemental Figures*

General questions:

  • What is a discovery that you think deserved the Nobel Prize (but didn’t get it)?
  • What do you think is your most important skill/trait that will help you in gradschol?

Even though the were no direct feedback after this stage, I knew that I nailed the interview! Ahaha, just a feeling!

January 30

The University of Oxford has made me an offer of a place on the Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry

January 31

Funding offer came in: Medical Sciences Graduate School Studentship

February 27

Funding offer came in: Clarendon Scholarship scheme