Where do I start?

A

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum so I will introduce myself:
I am a pharmacist and I am interested in applying for a PhD. I have qualified for a year as a pharmacist now and found that working life isn't what I had hoped it would be. I am quite an awkward person, and small talk isn't really my thing. So I found that people who are more extroverted (using this term loosely) have a higher chance of talking their way up. So I decided to pursue a PhD instead. Not just because of this experience in work, but also I did enjoy research in my Masters. I enjoyed learning and getting answers to things I thought I would never understand.
I know some PhD students out there will tell me that it isn't enjoyable at all but I have been thinking about it for a long time and I came to this conclusion.
So my question is: Where do I start? I have been looking at different universities, hoping to find out when their PhD applications open and so far I'm not getting much luck. I have my references sorted and my research CV completed and now, I just need to find something out there that I am interested in. But the more I look the more it seems like I'm missing something! (Maybe this is what research is like :))

I hope you can help me, I would be very grateful if you can. Thank you

T

Hiya,

A lot of posts are forums are about negative aspects of PhDs, because people often don't write about things they like, so don't let that put you off. Many people love their PhD experience.

You will have work sometime of course, so also consider what you are going to do after a PhD to decide if it's really something you want to do.

And don't forget, extroverts work well in science too - a lot of getting postdocs etc is who you know and networking is a big thing - it's not all working in solitude researching a problem.

Are you looking for PhDs on jobs.ac.uk and findaphd,com?

A

Hi TreeofLife, thank you for your reply, I know I need to face the public some day and I don't mind that. I am an introvert not an extrovert. I was saying that in this society, extroverts are favoured.
I am looking for PhDs using the Findaphd website and emailing around to see if there are any vacancies. :)
Again, thank you for your reply :)

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