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I have just had my first experiences in research, namely six months of a master’s thesis. Along the way, especially starting out, I felt a mix of:

  • anxiety for not understanding the topic
  • internal pressure for delivering a good result
  • discouragement from many attempts and no solution

In the end, I could gradually figure some small things out and this led me to have more confidence and be more relaxed, and having further and better results.

Judging from this post there are some already seen elements in my story. For instance, one seems to get used to the “soul-crushing” part by gaining confidence things will work out, in a slow, gradual growth process. But then how do I know if research is for me without doing even more research? I am not sure how to judge my experience. It was bad at first, not so bad (and not so good) in the final period.

Wrzlprmft
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Lilla
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  • The further you go in "academic" degrees, the more research is involved. However, there are many "professional" masters and doctor degrees that are mostly based on fulfilling coursework. – wjktrs Sep 09 '23 at 02:01
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    The first question that comes to my kind is what would be your positive reasons to choose a career in research? As long as what comes to your mind are negative or at best neutral thoughts, it looks like research is not for you, but of course you may have some good motivation you just haven't written about. – Christian Hennig Sep 09 '23 at 09:51
  • By the way, I believe that the general idea that there is some "truth" regarding whether "research is for you" or not, and you somehow have to find it out before you decide what to do is wrong. Some people clearly feel it's not for them, some people clearly feel it is, if you don't belong in either of these categories, accept that you don't know, and you've got to decide something anyway. Of course you can change later on if any decision doesn't turn out well. – Christian Hennig Sep 09 '23 at 09:58
  • @ChristianHennig Thanks for the comment. I think the positives for me are: I am doing something creative (that is in line with my personality), and challenging (also makes the work non-boring). But for instance, I do not have a topic I would genuinely like to explore and advance. Said otherwise, when I am not doing research, I never feel like going and doing some. There must always be something else for me to enjoy the process: a paper in sight, or receiving money, or adding something to the CV, etc. – Lilla Sep 09 '23 at 10:17
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    @Lilla Fair enough. I'm sure there are people in research who are like you in this respect, so this is not necessarily a reason against. One issue is that research (like doing a PhD) can play out extremely differently depending on what exactly you do, your supervisor and environment etc. Of course you also need to think of alternatives. It's really very personal, and as I wrote earlier, I doubt that there is any magic way to find out in advance. You may also think about the people and environment to work with, e.g. if there is a potential supervisor who encourages you. – Christian Hennig Sep 09 '23 at 10:25

1 Answers1

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Starting out in research can be overwhelming and the mix of things you describe sound familiar (and probably will to many researchers, if they are honest about it).

Of course, with experience, some of these things will either disappear or become less. Even with 20+ years of experience, it can still be intimidating and challenging to change topics, but what wins out for those researchers is the joy and excitement of learning and discovering new things. Internal pressure will hopefully gradually develop into strong internal motivation - again, because you find joy and excitement in not knowing now and figuring out ways to know more later. Discouragement is something that will also hit you less hard as you become used to the fact that failure is a large part of the game - you need to learn to love troubleshooting and getting back on the horse when you fall off - because in research you will continue to fall off on a daily basis.

I think what you need to figure out for yourself - and this can totally start at the MSc level - is to whether you have that inner spark and desire and drive to make it through all of these difficult challenging aspects. Does your love for research and tackling the unknown win out over all the challenges it presents? In other words, do you think you are someone who will be comfortable (and even happy) not knowing and not getting things right on the first, second or third try?

I think that a hint of that 'spark' can/should be there prior to the start of e.g. a PhD. "Not so bad" (as you describe how you feel at the end of your thesis") might not be a strong enough intrinsic drive to embark on more research (especially when you are talking about a PhD, which is a whole other ball game as the tension arch is longer than that of an MSc thesis and on top of that you will also feel the responsibility of making sure that you succeed because your topic is now first and foremost your responsibility).

So my advise would be to talk to people who have done or are doing a PhD. Do you recognize some of the things that motivate them? Can you, knowing what you know now, gain some additional research experience in an internship or something similar to see if and how your second experience feels different from the first one?

This is very personal and not for everyone - so listen to your gut: if the positives don't outweigh the "negatives" (ie the challenges that you mention), then there are plenty of other things you can do with your life!

BioBrains
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