(I guess I've just earned the award for the longest
blog-post title ever)
In this post I want to share my personal experiences
and views. And at first I have to tell that my case is a little bit
special, because I came to France without speaking French and because
I'm based at a small company in an office with only about 12 people
(moreover who are all French).
So let's see first the challenges you may face as ITN
ESR in my opinion :
1. You start a new life from zero. Which sounds
actually pretty nice and impressive, however it definitely has its
'dark side'. I mean that you move to a place where you don't know
anyone or anything. So you don't know how public transport works, and
you are definitely surprised when bus schedule is changing on 22nd
August (why is that day so special??) or when both the bus and train
companies go on strike simultaneously and you have to call a
colleague to pick you up (Merci!) to be able to get to the office.
You are not aware of the prices, you get lost on the streets (because
you refuse to use googlemaps in order to prove that yes, you can
do it), you have to learn how to deal with declaring your taxes,
with your health insurance and you may even have to realize that
finding a zebra crossing doesn't exactly mean that you can pass the
road fast and safely (unless you are very very fast :) ).
2. There are a lot of things it's just hard to decide
about when thinking in a 3-year time. Do I need a furnished or
unfurnished flat? Is it better to rent a flat close to my office or
close to the city center ? What is worth to buy and what is not? If I
buy something will I be able to sell when I leave? Or can I take it
with me? Do I need a car? Do I need a bicycle? After all am I
thinking really just in 3-year time or do I want to stay even after
finishing my PhD??
3. It may be sometimes difficult to maintain the
contact with a supervisor who is physically far. And it can also be
challenging to keep updated and to please two (or more) supervisors
simultaneously.
+1. It's obvious, but your beloved ones are far
(unless you are lucky enough to be joined by some of them)...
But now let's see the bright side of being an ITN
ESR:
1. You are part of a big 'team' that involves 10-15
fellows like you and several professors and industrial people. You
have the opportunity to meet great and interesting people from the
project itself, form your office and from the conferences and
trainings you attend. And meeting new people is always great!
Especially when they come from different cultures, working in
different fields or simply having different way of thinking. Only a
few conversations with these people can really open up your mind that
sometimes tends to close when lacking these experiences.
2. You have several opportunities to discover new
places. First of all you can discover the country and region of your
new home. And there are always new places around to discover (a city,
a mountain, a lake or in the 'worst' case a place where you can find
good beer :)). Second of all you travel. You travel for conferences,
for consultations, for trainings. OK, these travels aren't exactly
like holidays and sometimes they can be pretty tiring but still you
travel, so you learn, you experience and explore :)
3. You
get feedback on your work regularly not only from your supervisors
but also from the other professors of the programme and from the ESR
fellows.
+1. You really face challenges in every aspect of
life, which means that there is always a new problem and you always
need to find a new solution! Regarding your research, the office
life, your private life (in which distance definitely isn't
helpful), feeling alone, traveling, administrative issues etc etc.
You just learn how to exist outside of your comfort zone and this is
something that can surely help you a lot in the future.
Long title – long post... Je suis désolée!
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