As you are in your research journey, the stage determines your anxiety about what happens next. There of course is life after research but this question does become a crucial question for the life of all researchers. Usually, after a gruelling research journey, at a stage when you have submitted your thesis or waiting for your VIVA to happen you have may have varied feelings. One cannot really standardize the feelings that a researcher may go through at this stage but perhaps you may feel one of these:
Absolutely elated about your great accomplishment, all geared up and excited to go back to your normal routine or may be wanting to pursue all that you have been delaying or procrastinating for the sake of your demanding PhD or maybe even bereaved.
You have lived your thesis in and out for a long time and the way it becomes an integral part of your life, some people may find it very difficult to leave it, hand it over or give it up.
If you are somewhere in the middle of your research degree you must remember that it is a means to an end and a training ground for all future researchers. Prepare yourself to develop a foothold in the research battlefield and have a bright future based on your research degree.
Whatever future you choose for yourself, remember that before jumping into another battlefield you must reward yourself with a celebration. Take a holiday and move away from the world of analytics for a while so that you can establish your connect back with the world outside. During this interim period do remember to do the following:
- Choose parts and content from your thesis that you could use for creating fresh and topical publications
- Develop conference presentations from within your thesis
- Upgrade your cv with your latest qualifications and keep yourself alert for openings of jobs around so that you can seize openings without any miss
Your break must not be so long that it makes your research obsolete or outdated. More so if you are looking for some funding on the basis of your thesis for further research, you must not delay at all. Your PhD would have in the undercurrent developed various other skills such as problem solving, time management , communication, writing , presenting, analysing that you will get a plethora of avenues opened for you to choose from right after you degree and there won’t be any looking back.
