Dear lovely people who I hope can help me.
I had a Skype interview for a paid PhD placement in Sweden a few weeks back and have recently been invited to come and meet the supervisor and see the department/ university/ city in person. I know that other people have been invited to do likewise so this seems like the next stage of the interview process. I will be there for over 2 days, which is quite a long time, I think, and staying with the Supervisor. I would be hugely grateful if any one can give please me advice on how to prepare for this, or some information on what I should expect, I have never done anything like this before, so any advice will be useful. Thank you so much for your help, it is very appreciated. All the best with your PhD hunt/ your PhDs.
Laura

Hiya, what an extensive process for a PhD! I've heard of this for faculty positions, but not for PhDs before.

I expect this will take the form of you doing a departmental presentation, meeting with the lab, meeting with other students, and possibility meeting staff one on one. There will certainly be lunches and dinners too.

Best advice is remember that you are being interviewed the whole time, even when out for lunch or drinks in the evening. They are trying to see whether you will fit in the lab so try to get on with everyone and make them like you. Don't talk about controversial issues and maybe be careful of agreeing with unusual points of view - they might just be testing you.

Staying with your supervisor adds to the difficulty too - I've had to do this when visiting a lab and I must say I found it quite awkward. I think I just enquired about what I should do about shower/breakfast etc to make it easier.