Anurag’s PhD journey has been a little more unusual than most. He started a PhD in Israel before being unexpectedly fired by his boss, but that didn’t stop him following his desire for a PhD. Today we’ll be talking with Anurag about his PhD journey and advice he has for prospective PhD students.
Anurag and I first started talking when he got in touch after reading my piece in Science about the benefits of reading fiction, and since then he has written about his first PhD experience there too. I recommend you give his article a read! If you too want to try publishing in Science, I wrote an article here explaining how to go about it.
December 2020 update: Congratulations to Anurag, his Science article has been listed as one of the most read essays of the year!
You can find Anurag on LinkedIn.
As always, if you’re a PhD student (or graduate) yourself and would be interested in sharing your PhD experience, please get in touch!
Please introduce yourself and summarise your PhD in a sentence
Hi, I am Anurag Srivastava, second year PhD student at the Molecular Medicine department in the University of Turin, Italy. I am currently working with the research group who are investigating the immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer by using a novel tumour-associated antigen.
Our lab has established enolase, a glycolytic enzyme as a tumour-associated antigen in Pancreatic cancer. As you may know pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers in the world and expected to be the second cause of cancer related death in USA by 2025.
I joined this lab back in December 2017, after I was fired by my boss in Israel which you can read about in my Science magazine story. One of the key learning points from that experience was that working with experienced professors can help.
PhD Applications
What is your background?
I am a trained molecular biologist. I finished my bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from the VIT University in India, then I pursued my master’s in molecular biology and biotechnology at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Why did you choose to do a PhD?
While doing my bachelor’s degree, I fell in love with research with various small projects and internships. I had then only decided to make a career in research and a PhD was the way forwards.
After my bachelor’s, I worked at IIT-BHU as a research fellow before starting my master’s journey in the Netherlands. Research is something which I can relate to the most.
How did you decide on a project?
The project has to be exciting and challenging. It should be related with my area of interest. I have worked in various fields starting from my bachelor.
“The key thing for me when deciding a project is how interesting is the scientific question.“
For example my bachelor project was focussed on the molecular understanding of evolution of estuarine crab. I started the project because I was mesmerised how in a small estuary, there are at least five different genus of crabs. How is that even possible? What is the molecular mechanism behind the evolution? So, the scientific question needs to excite me.
Likewise in my current project, the thing which excited me the most was that even after so much medical advancement, we are yet to come up with a diagnostic test to identify pancreatic cancer at an earlier stage. Even though there are chemotherapeutic agents for treating the disease, the efficacy and overall five year survival rate is very poor. So the only way we can target it is by activating the immune system and this can be done by identifying novel tumour-associated antigens. Our group works on this and that excited me to join the group.
How was your applications process?
I approached a few professors from my area of interest and they got interested in my profile and I was invited for the interview.
In your Science article you discuss having to find a new PhD, was it difficult to find a suitable project quickly?
It took me some time, but I didn’t lose hope or patience. Good things take some time.
I kept on working and approaching professors of my interest. There was a lot of rejection, but it never budged me down from pursuing my dream. The lab where I joined advertised a research fellow position and I had to apply for the PhD position when the university will announce it next year.
How did you arrange PhD funding?
I applied for the funded PhD program of the University of Turin in my department under my professor. They have two reserved positions for international students. I had to submit a detailed research proposal which was judged by a team of committee members and then they decided to offer me a funded PhD position.
What do you think made your PhD application stand out?
My previous experience and a well detailed research proposal on the topic were the key points.
As the application assessment is very transparent in Italy, it was already announced that a maximum of 60 marks will be awarded on a good research proposal in the advertisement.
What advice do you have for people applying for a PhD?
- Never be hesitant in approaching a professor whose work you like to ask whether they have a PhD position available. Every candidate has something to offer, understand that and value the gift.
- When you make the application, you will face many rejections, but don’t lose hope, keep trying and you will get what you want.
- Before starting an application, a detailed understanding of the topic is required.
- One of the basic things people should understand is that during your PhD you see more failure than success. So be prepared for failure and remember that patience is key.
Life as a PhD Student
How has your PhD experience been? Has it differed from your expectations?
It is a nice ride, sometimes I am way too happy with results and other times I’m sad with the lack of results. Overall I am satisfied with my PhD progress and it is going as per my expectations.
My lab is very supportive for a grad student. Last year I presented some of my findings at a conference in Verona. For me a PhD was not only about doing research but also making new contacts and honing my presentation skills. So far I have been able to do that and hopefully will be doing it further during my PhD.
What effect is COVID-19 currently having on your PhD?
Fortunately a few months before COVID-19 I had started a new project on computational biology through a collaboration with the computer science department. It gave me chance to learn some new techniques and skills. So during the lockdown, I focussed all my energy on this computational biology project.
Yes for a few weeks, it was difficult to focus on work from home. But with time, I have adjusted myself and hopefully we would be able to publish some of the findings in the near future from this work.
What have been the highlights of your PhD?
One of the major highlights, I would say was adapting to the new field of computational biology and I am still learning the facets of this new beast. I never thought I would be working in computational field, but given the interesting scientific question, I imbibed myself in this new field during my PhD.
Secondly I have come to appreciate how a good lab environment helps you in tackling mental health.
“In recent times there has been an emphasis on mental health and everyone realised this during the COVID-19 situation.”
I would be very frank and say that since Italy was one of the earliest epicentres, my condition was not that good, but that the continuous support from my lab colleagues seriously helped me in to overcome this. Their suggestion to read more scientific literature related to our field of interest and on corona helped. I have also begun making and sharing explanatory videos on YouTube:
Learning to value mental health has been a big revelation for me. Obviously, the Science article shared my story with the larger world. I was brave enough to share the story because I have been honest with my professor here, he never discouraged me to do things beyond the lab.
What do you wish you’d known when you started your PhD?
I would say how to be very open with your supervisor, I learnt it the hard way in Israel. This is how you learn in life either by practicing or having someone say something to you.
Have you found your PhD stressful? If so how have you handled the stress?
No, there have been ebb and flow in my PhD, but as I said I had learnt the art of being very open with supervisor helped me a lot.
I have been very frank with my current supervisor and he always understood me. This helped me to tackle the stress if there was some.
Do you have any advice or tips you’d like to share with current PhD students?
- Don’t be afraid in asking questions to your supervisor, they are there to help.
- When you feel the pressure go ahead and ask for the help at the mental health wellbeing support centre which your institute should have.
- Learn from your mistakes and be open when you have done something wrong in the lab. Report to your supervisor immediately, never ever try to hide the information, because you’ll lose the trust of your supervisor. It becomes very hard to gain it back. I have seen some examples in my life.
PhD Completion and Beyond
Do you know yet what you would like to do after you finish your PhD?
If given a chance I would like to start my lab in some Indian institute and guide students. I love teaching students and would like to continue the same. I am big believer in dreams and hope they come true.
In hindsight would you choose to do a PhD again?
Yes, and yes, all the time. Some people may say you could have decided to move to something else after the Israel fiasco, but for me research was my love and helping students is something which defines me.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about Anurag’s PhD experiences! You can read all PhD Profiles here.
A reminder that you can find Anurag on LinkedIn.
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