Is there life beyond the PhD?

Posted by Priyanka Vasantavada, PhD researcher, School of Health and Social Care, Teesside University

Living my Jane Austen fantasy

Don’t ask me if there is? It’s not afterlife. Or is it? But it is a question every PhD student has wondered about during the ups and downs of their PhD journey (unless you have a permanent job and are doing a part-time PhD). So how do you deal with it when this sort of ‘limited existentialism’ strikes? What do you say when the world around you repeatedly asks, “what next?”.

I just curl up in my bed and binge watch screen adaptations of Jane Austen novels or any good costume drama, science fiction series or even fantasy; for what can be better than some good old escapism? Does it answer the question? No! Does it help me forget it? Yes!

So last summer when I received an email from the Graduate Research School of my university regarding a Life Beyond PhD conference being held at Cumberland Lodge, Windsor; I jumped with excitement. I knew I wanted to go for it the moment I saw the pictures of the Lodge. Not unlike Pride and Prejudice protagonist Ms Elizabeth Bennet who started seeing Mr Darcy in a favourable light after visiting Pemberley. Don’t get me, or Ms Bennet, wrong for we both saw the merit in the conference and Mr Darcy respectively, but their residences certainly recommended them.

Cumberland Lodge, Winsor Great Park

Here was an opportunity blending my fantasy and reality - a four night residential conference with hospitality in the actual former residence of a real-life princess…. hello Disney! What more could I have asked for? (*cough*… Cumberland Lodge Scholarship …*cough*). The conference programme was designed to highlight the value of PhDs (both within academia and industry) and it also promised opportunities for sharing research and career aspirations, exploring collaborative and interdisciplinary ways of working, and presenting to a diverse, non-expert audience.


My supervisor considered it to be a good opportunity for me; owing to the nature of my PhD which marginally borders on public engagement in research and public health. She was kind enough to recommend me to the school for sponsorship and I daydreamed my way to the Windsor great park on a balmy summer afternoon.

Conference delegates

All the delegates were welcomed and given a tour of the historical building by the education officer of the lodge. The tour was followed by a session on research culture in the UK topped with a drinks reception. A delicious dinner was served shortly thereafter, and the delegates had fun in the group games session which included a pop quiz, table tennis, and snooker. I don’t think I ever made so many friends in such a short period of time!

The second day centred around PhD researcher development with sessions on self-leadership, speaking and writing techniques, and wellbeing and mental health. Unsurprisingly the session on mental wellbeing: research-based thoughts, issues and toolkit commanded most delegate participation, as the mental health of a PhD researcher is almost always never considered in academia. The conference drew delegates from disciplines across science, art and literature and yet everyone identified with mental health issues in PhD life!

Me and fellow Teesside University
PhD researcher David Oluwadere

On the third day, delegates were divided into four groups and were given the opportunity to present their project to their group mates who were of a different subject background. Every delegate received feedback from their peers on their overall presentation skills and comprehension of content. My colleague David Oluwadere, studying Environmental Sciences at Teesside University, presented on agronomic biofortification technique as a means of increasing zinc concentration and bioavailability in wheat using seaweed. I presented my project on the public perception of community water fluoridation in the UK. The presentations were followed by sessions by PhD graduates on their life after PhD and on public engagement in research.

The fourth day focussed on interdisciplinary research and working in designated groups we were challenged to address a problem by developing interdisciplinary research proposals within the day. These proposals were pitched to a panel of judges in order to seek funding. This was an exercise in developing our collaborative skills and emphasised the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving. It also demonstrated how a problem is viewed differently by people from various disciplines. Humble brag, but the team I was part of, won the proposal contest and were gifted a box of chocolates.

Winners of the interdisciplinary research proposal contest 

The conference closed with a session on, “Why is a PhD worth it?”. In addition to the conference presentations which were highly informative and relevant, I will always remember the experience for living in a historic aristocratic building, ‘taking a turn’ about the Windsor great park (channelling heroines of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte), the late night banter with friends in the sitting rooms of the lodge, playing games and striking the keys of an out of tune piano in the basement in evenings, and being served dinner in a fashion reminiscent of Downton Abbey.

If you feel that this is something for you (fantasising is optional), visit the the Cumberland Lodge website to find out more.

Getting a job after PhD is subject to availability and visa status, but life beyond PhD is open to endless possibilities. So, I believe that instead of speculating about the future, we should try to live in the moment and savour the #phdlife while it lasts!

Images:

• 1: Hugh Thomson (1860-1920) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomson-PP14.jpg
• 2 & 4: courtesy of Priyanka Vasantavada
• 3 & 5: courtesy of @CumberlandLodge

How I chanced upon the 70 year War in Public Health: Aye vs Nay for Water Fluoridation

Guest post by Priyanka Vasantavada, PhD student, School of Health and Social Care, Teesside University

Exactly a year ago to this day, I embarked on my PhD at Teesside University. Little did I know then that a year later I would find myself working on one of the most widely debated and contentious issues in public health.

Water Fluoridation is the controlled addition or removal of fluoride to water supply. Fluoride level of water is maintained at a level that is optimum for preserving dental health by making teeth resistant to decay. The practice of water fluoridation remains controversial even though half a century has passed since its first introduction. This is attributed to various issues such as, the possible negative health effects of fluoridation, lack of dose regulation at the individual level, if fluoride is mass medication and the ethical issues of consent or lack thereof.

Most academics seem surprised when I mention that water fluoridation is controversial. This may be because of the amount of research that already exists supporting the notion of the intervention being both efficient and safe. Water fluoridation happens to be one of the most widely researched topics in public health. Countries that artificially fluoridate water undertake systematic reviews every 5-10 years to update the evidence base. Studies conducted in areas with naturally high fluoride levels (i.e., fluoride endemic regions in parts of Asia) have linked high fluoride levels to skeletal disorders, and cancers etc. However, these studies are not relevant to artificial water fluoridation schemes as the health effects are dose dependent.

I vividly remember my first meeting with my Director of Studies Professor Vida Zohoori who had then asked me to come up with an original research idea and remarked, “A PhD is to foster independent scientific thought and not merely to work on a previously designed project”. I was a little taken aback by that as I had indeed applied for, and was selected to work on, an advertised PhD project! I ended up asking her what was left for me to research on this subject as seemingly all bases had already been covered. (I was neither completely wrong nor completely correct as I would realise in the months that followed.)

So, that day when I went home, I did what any millennial would do and Googled ‘water fluoridation’. Now before any of my readers from academia roll their eyes at this, I would like to clarify that I had already done a fair amount of background reading on water fluoridation from scientific databases and I also happen to be a dentist!

Through the looking glass

The search results were in equal parts exciting and exasperating. With each search results page I visited, my heart sank a little more. Every single idea that floated in my head was destroyed by the discovery of a research paper on the same. Then half exhausted and half asleep, I followed the millennial motto of ‘If you can’t read, why not watch it’!

I clicked on YouTube and just like Alice, fell right into a world I had never known existed! The ‘water fluoridation’ videos on YouTube were more mindboggling and engaging than any literature I had ever read (including but not limited to Game of Thrones). The videos attributed properties to water fluoridation or fluorides, which I had neither heard, read nor even imagined in my wildest dreams.

My curiosity peaked, and I kept trying to look for the scientific basis for the content in the videos. This search led me right into the thick of the controversy: the seemingly contradictory evidence, the prejudices, the sides and the politics around it. I found that it was not merely a controversy but an ongoing war where no one trusts one another and where battle lines are clearly demarcated. Pardon my use of dramatic language but this is the only way the situation can be described.

There are two major parties: those in favour of fluoridation and those against it. These groups are very heterogenous in their composition and no generalisations can be made. Both lobby for their own point of view and battle it out at every place across the world where water fluoridation as a public health measure is considered. And in this cacophony, I felt that the real opinion of the public is lost.

I then discovered that scientific studies on public opinion had been conducted in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Norway, Denmark and Brazil. Small fluoridation opinion studies have been conducted amongst dentists and in certain localised parts of UK as well. However, a comprehensive study examining the aspects of public perception and engagement had not yet been undertaken in the UK. I had finally found a gap and thank God for it as in the months to follow, the advertised study I had applied for had to be shelved due to ethical concerns.

Since the fluoridation debates and discussions mostly take place on the web, I felt that this the ideal platform to engage people about the issue. To examine the public’s awareness and attitude towards water fluoridation in the UK, I have designed a 10-minute web survey (with optional follow-up e-mail interviews). There is even a prize draw for 10 e-shopping vouchers worth £10 each up for grabs! So, if you are interested to know more about the research or would like to participate, please follow the links below or email me at P.Vasantavada@tees.ac.uk.

You can complete the survey here



Image: By josconklin (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons