Congrats, you made it to grad school! In your first semester, you probably have to juggle responsibilities such as taking classes, teaching, and finding your research group.
In this post, I share the 5 things I did before I chose my chemistry research group.
- Explore other areas of research.
- Actively engage in the rotation process.
- Visualize day-to-day life and potential struggles.
- Reflect on personal and professional goals.
- Trust the process.
Note: I attend UW-Madison chemistry, so some parts may only apply to this department. All chemistry departments have different processes for choosing a research group.
Explore other areas of research.
In undergrad, my research area was a combination of environmental engineering and bioinorganic chemistry. Coming into graduate school, I originally thought I would study chemical biology. After working a few years at a polymer company, I decided materials chemistry would be a better fit.
When we started the semester, I knew that I would most likely join a polymer chemistry group. At UW-Madison, we get the opportunity to rotate with 3 groups for 3 weeks each, before ranking and matching with groups (more on this later).
Even though I knew I wanted to join a polymer chemistry group, I didn’t want to use my rotations looking only at polymer chemistry groups. What if there was something else that I could like?
I took this opportunity to explore groups in electrochemistry and heterogeneous catalysis. I had no idea what any of these were, but I was excited to explore it a little bit while I could.
PhD Tip: Allow yourself to explore different areas of research. You never know what you might enjoy!
Actively engage in the rotation process.
At the beginning of the rotation process, I was nervous because I saw this rotation process as an extended interview process. I wanted to make sure they were the right fit for me, but they also wanted to make sure that I was the right fit for them.
For each rotation, I decided to actively engage in the rotation process by showing up as my best self. This included meeting one-on-one with people in the group and participating in the rotation.
I took the initiative to schedule one on one meetings with the professors and multiple group members. These meetings were like informational interviews – a chance for us to get to know each other more outside of the lab time.
PhD Tip: Use a scheduling app like Calendly so people can book a time that works for them. No more back and forth emails.
During the rotations, I did my best to attend group meetings for groups that I was interested in. I tried my best to ask a question if I could (but no pressure if I couldn’t). I wanted to show that I was interested. Mostly, I spent the meeting time observing the current students and how they interacted in group meetings.
Visualize day-to-day life and potential struggles.
The rotation process helped me visualize the day-to-day life and potential struggles of working in that lab. I set aside at least 8-10 hours per week (at least 2-hour blocks) to shadow a student in the lab. (Sometimes the schedule didn’t work out with the graduate student I was paired with, so I went in for a few hours one weekend and after that rotation was finished, to make up the time.)
When I shadowed the older grad students in the group, I asked a lot of questions while they did their day-to-day work. I took notes of what they said, and later, I imagined myself doing those things every day. I asked myself if I could see myself in that environment for the next 4-5 years.
In a PhD program, it’s inevitable to encounter struggles and obstacles. Seeing how the current students dealt with their day-to-day gave me an idea of what to expect for myself. One question I asked myself was: “What type of work would I find easier or more enjoyable to get out of a “struggle period?”
Reflect on my personal and professional goals.
At the end of the rotations, I eliminated electrochemistry because I was not interested in that research area. I was stuck between heterogeneous catalysis and polymer chemistry. These were two completely different fields of research that required different skill sets. The professors and the group were different, but I enjoyed both and could see myself in both groups as well.
I also reflected on my personal and professional goals. My personal goal was to move back to Houston to be with my family after the PhD. My professional goal was to get a job before I graduated with my PhD. Both groups could provide the necessary training and experience that I needed to get a good job in Houston.
I was really torn between the two options because I thought that I would have a different future self depending on the path I took, so I couldn’t decide. (This passage from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar visualizes this eloquently.)
One question that my life coach offered me was: If my future self was the same at the end of either scenario (in this case, graduating with my PhD), which experience would I rather have?
A professor offered me this PhD tip: In the PhD, you can learn something totally new and different, or you can also learn more about what you already know and get really good at that. Both options are good, and neither is better than the other. It’s totally up to you and what you want from your experience.
Ultimately, I decided that I wanted to learn more about what I already knew a little bit about, which was polymers. I wanted to develop my analytical and synthetic skills further, rather than “starting over.”
Trust the process.
The last part of the rotation process involved a ranking and matching process before we could join a group. Note that this only applies to UW-Madison Chemistry – I don’t know how other chemistry programs handle this part!
We ranked the groups were interested in (we could rank groups we didn’t rotate with as well). After that, our names were sent to the groups we listed, and the professor and the group would decide if they wanted us to join their group.
Naturally, this was a nerve-wracking part of the process because each group had a limited number of spots to fill. People started to feel competitive, especially those who were all interested in the same groups.
Looking back, I wish I could have provided this perspective to my peers. Although it seemed competitive, it was the opposite. The chances of getting in a “popular” group could be 1 in 10, which is pretty good compared to the “real world.” In a job application, your chances could be 1 in 100, 1000, or even 5000!
I didn’t have to deal with competition necessarily, but I felt concerned about the professor and group choosing me as well. It’s scary to be rejected! But at that point, all I could do was trust the process. I had to trust that I would end up where I was meant to be.
What Happened Next?
After I submitted my decision, I waited a few days for the final decision. Within 3 days, I found out that I matched with the Boydston group, the polymer chemistry group. I was excited that I found the right research group for me. All of my hard work during the semester paid off!
About a week after the official announcement, the group welcomed me and another first-year student into the group with a “hallway” party with food and games. We ran under a tunnel of arms and hands to be initiated.
I received a brief safety training and lab tour, set up my desk, and met with all the group members again one-on-one to discuss potential research ideas. When we got back from winter break, we did lab cleanup and inventory. We also picked up lunch at a Chinese restaurant, which is known for its mediocre food, but it’s a group tradition.
Anyway, this semester (Spring 2022) I will get started on my research project (TBD), so I’m excited to see what’s to come!
I hope that you enjoyed reading about my personal experience and takeaways from my chemistry PhD journey. If you’d like to chat more about what I’ve shared, feel free to send me an email at hello@brittanytrinh.com or send me a message on Twitter and Instagram @brttnytrnh.