Hi everyone,

I am a 21 year old Chemistry student currently in his final year of his masters degree at the University of Strathclyde.

Part of my masters degree is a compulsory 1 year placement in industry in our fourth year of study. I decided to take this opportunity and go to France for the year, despite the fact I didn’t speak the language.

Now it’s time to start thinking about a potential PhD or to try and find a job after my final year of studies.

I have applied a lot of thought into a potential PhD and it is something I am about 75% sure (at the moment) I want to do. But PhD opportunities are always going to be limited.

This is of course completely understandable, but from my experience in France, I feel that I have the right frame of mind to undertake a PhD abroad. This would both increase the possibility of finding a program that will interest me, as well as allowing me to experience the culture of a different country. Something I have thoroughly enjoyed in my time over here in France.

Possible destinations are America, Canada, Australia, France and Germany.

But with all this ambition and desire it's hard to find someone that has done what I have in mind. There are multiple sites where people give their opinion about the good and the bad of studying abroad. But, it has been hard to find a real person to relate to.

So I have some questions if anyone is able to help:

- What country did you decide to do your PhD in?
- Funding varies depending on the program / country, but if you did do one at a foreign university, did you find it difficult?
- Would you recommend it?
- Has it been beneficial to you?
- Did you find more PhD programs available to you when you did decide to go abroad?
- Where are you now?
- Was applying to a different country hard?

Generally, what was it like? the more details the better.

Thanks for your response in advance.

Steven