Phd Abroad

Anubhab Biswas

ISAAC, SUPSI

2025-09-23

Why a PhD?

  • Ask yourself - why do you want to pursue a PhD?

  • ….or rather if you want to pursue a PhD?

  • Usually lower salaries compared to other jobs.

  • But, better job opportunities afterwards in a specialized field.

  • More flexibility and freedom to expand your knwoledge and apply it.

Where to do a PhD?

TOTALLY DEPENDS ON YOU AND YOUR CAREER GOALS !

PhD Abroad: USA vs Europe

  • USA:
    • PhD is 5-6 years
    • Annual deadlines about filling up the application form
    • Work-life balance is better than India, but not the best
    • Mandatory coursework, very good for theoretical works, statistics.
  • Europe:
    • PhD is 3-4 years
    • Applications are open generally all year round, and they come as job advertisements
    • Work-life balance is unmatched, but more pressure during working hours
    • Coursework could be there but very relaxed, very good for applied work.

Europe: What to consider?

  • PhD is treated as a fixed term employment

  • Salaries in our field is generally pretty decent for living here.

  • Most of the funding generally comes from the European projects, so aligning the topic of PhD with these projects have a big importance.

  • Specialization is the first priority, not outstanding grades.

Not so academic things to consider

Please be respectful to the local culture!

General Steps to keep in mind

  • Having the basics covered

  • Identifying the research area

  • Boosting your profile

  • Motivation / Cover letter

  • Interview

Having the basics covered

  • Very crucial

  • General topics like distribution theory, statistical inference, optimization need to be conceptually covered.

  • It might not be tested during the applications and the interviews.

  • But in order to work efficiently and develop research it plays a crucial role.

Identifying research area + Boosting Profile

  • Identify your research area in advance and focus on developing skills there during and after masters.

  • Develop your coding skill.

  • Those ‘certificate courses’ won’t save you - try to work in the real world scenarios.

  • 134 vs 1

    • 134 : number of applications I did and got rejected before or after interview before I started working on a specialized topic after masters and built a research area of expertise.
    • 1 : number of applications I had to do to get accepted after working as a RA.
    • Lesson learned: Experience and expertise in a specialized topic is valuable.

Motivation / Cover Letter + Interview

  • Do not write a single word that is out of context and doesn’t align with the position requirement, PhD topic or is not relevant to why you considered this opportunity.

  • Never mention any un-published work unless you have a confidence in why it was important or useful.

  • Be clear about why you want to do the PhD and why you chose this job opportunity / university. This question will be asked.

  • Make sure that your past experiences and skills align with the position and the topic of the PhD - Europe hires people based majorly on this.

Questions?

  • To reach out to me for professional reasons like research collaboration reach out to me at anubhab.biswas@supsi.ch

  • For any personal advices or other queries you can write to me in whatsapp.

  • For queries about doing a PhD in India, you can reach out to my friends (batchmates) via email.

Some useful websites

  • The following websites are useful for looking into job opportunities in Europe as an aspiring PhD student:

  • Also connect with professors and researchers in your specialized area through linkedIn, X platforms and keep an eye on their profiles for job advertisements.

  • Send them an email only if you have a research gap in mind that you want to work on, or an almost clear research question in mind - they are busy so do not send cold unnecessary emails.