Finding a PhD
When I finished my Masters and started looking for a PhD, I have to admit I got slightly depressed. For one, the competition is brutal. The amount of people looking for a PhD is staggering high and you really have to have done something more other than "getting your Masters" in order to stand out in the crowd (like a year abroad or chair in some committee). Second, most groups are, what I call, unfriendly competitive. Sure, by now I get that science is a very very competitive field. Research shows that researchers spend 1/3 of their time raising funds, so you can imagine the pressure. But I feel that this shouldn't take away from the human side of things. At the end of the day I would like to go home satisfied, not beaten to a pulp.
That is why in the end I found, but also deliberately chose to do my (4 year) PhD at the University Medical Center in Groningen. They showed a much more human approach to coaching their PhD students and also were very aware what they were offering me (where most others only looked what I was offering them).
The subject of my project is on cancer research, to be more specific on finding a cure for B-cell cancer, which is a cancer of the immune system. I have two PIs (principal investigators or supervisors): one is an internist in training (doctor internal medicine) who recently got himself a huge grant (a.k.a. my project) and works with patients on a daily basis. The other is an immunologist who supervises many PhD students and does more of the daily supervising/answering of questions. For this project they also hired a lab technician, who also happened to be from Utrecht. So together we make a nice team of four.
Being a PhD
As a PhD, I got my own desk in a room with other PhDs from all over the world. Really, I'm the only Dutch person there! We've got two people from Iran, one from Poland, one from Germany (who speaks Dutch) and one from China. At our department, I think around 80% of the PhD students are foreign and only 20% are from the Netherlands. The supervisors and lab technicians however are all Dutch. This sometimes gives some funny misunderstandings, since not every one speak English that well. It also sometimes leaves me in charge of any administration/governmental work (and the occasional bailiff), since I'm one of the few people who can translate official Dutch letters.
For my project, I'll be looking at new treatment options for cancer patients. This means performing experiments on cell lines, and maybe later on animals as well. But for now it's looking at protein levels (western blot) and cell death (flow cytometry/FACS) in cell lines. I have to say that so far this are going pretty well, with the only hick-up being the FACS, which was taking a little longer than expected. This was also the main issue at my evaluation a few weeks back, which I felt was a little unjustified. For those of you who are not familiar with FACS, it's a big machine that shoots cell through a tube past a light, which it visualizes on you screen as little dots (or peaks). However, every cell line has different properties, so setting up the machine is crucial for proper visualization. Unfortunately, I had had no training in how to do this, so the experiments were not going to well and rather slow. But now I've had the proper training and hopefully things will be going right on track. It did however give a nasty evaluation, which I'm hoping to avoid next time.
So far, the work days have not been as extreme as in Oxford (where I worked from 9 till 9), which leaves me with a lot more time to do some actual cooking and also cleaning. I'm not a great cook, but I try to have some fresh veggies and dairy products on a regular basis. I haven't ordered one take-out or read-made meal so far, so I think that deserves some applause! I do think cooking is rather boring though, so I usually watch something in the background (I'm binge watching The Closer right now).
Living in Groningen
When I took the job in Groningen, it also meant having to move away from Utrecht (my family and friends) to Groningen, a city where I had never been. I understand that for some countries, a two hour commute in peanuts, but for a Dutchies its usually too long and means moving. Luckily, I found a new place rather quickly. I live right smack in the center of Groningen, a real student city (over 50.000 students!). The city itself is rather small and reminds me a lot of Utrecht with its canals. In some way, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Groningen are rather similar with their canals, where Amsterdam is the largest (and with the most tourists) followed by Utrecht (with lost of locals/students) and Groningen (with the most students).
I'm extremely blessed with my apartment, which is only 5 minutes walking to the UMCG and the supermarket and a 15-20 minutes walk to the train station. But of course every Dutch person uses a bike to get around. My apartment is located almost right underneath the Martinitoren on the third floor (under the roof) of a recently renovated building and has its own kitchen and bathroom. I pay a little more than the average rent price (I pay 750 euro per month), especially for its tiny size (40 cm 2 with lots of sloping ceilings) but its totally worth it to have a nice, new, clean and smell-free place to live. Although I have to admit they are slow on finishing the last bits and pieces (my shower screen was finally installed last week after 4 months!). I don't have that many contacts in Groningen yet, so I usually go "home" to Utrecht during the weekends to meet up with family and friends. But I'm planning to start some sort of hobby or sport soon, to get more grounded in Groningen.
So there you have it, my life in a nutshell :)
