Hi all!

I‘m facing a littlebit difficult situation right now. I‘d like to start a Phd, but I‘d have to go abroad, which I really am not very facinated about, as two of my three closest relatives have been diagnosed (and cured) for cancer in the last three years. This process, involving chemotherapy and radiotherapy, somehow changed my priorities, and I would dread to go away from my family. I‘m also worried that doing a Phd is a very lonely project, especially if my friends and family are not around.

I‘ve finished my masters degree, and my supervisor is advicing me to go abroad (he had previously offered me a Phd project, but I rejected it), and I‘ve got no idea what to do. What would you do? Any comments?

Hi Kiori,
That sounds like a bit of a dilemma- from what you have written though it sounds like you would be very unhappy if you moved away from your family at this time. Doing a PhD is certainly a lonely business and I think it probably would make it worse if you were away from friends and family. Having said that, there usually are lots of opportunities to meet people and make friends for students when they study abroad. It also sounds like you are not keen on the idea of going abroad in terms of finding it interesting- could you still do a PhD where you are?

Thanks for your replay, Vince
No, that‘s the difficult part, I cannot find any interesting Phd project here, at least right now.

I say if the project interests you, go for it! If any of your relatives are unwell again you can always come home, but you could be missing a great opportunity of doing research, travelling and making new friends.

hi kiori,

studying abroad will take time to organise - i'm looking at 18 months to find a course, funding, save, etc - so if studying abroad is something you think you're interested in, why not start the process and see how you go?

during that time, your family members could improve significantly and you could work out exactly how you feel about going abroad - once you've got some facts on it.

it's not necessarily a good idea to do stuff other people tell you to do, that you don't want to! but on the other hand, i want to do a PhD abroad, but am nervous about it - nerves alone don't mean it's not the right thing for me to do

it's your life and it's important it's lived your way

hope that helps