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Nordic folks: In case I'm missing the best places to look, is there somewhere I should be looking for fully funded PhDs in plant science, botany, horticultural science, etc?
Or jobs in this area that would sponsor a working visa?
I'm a bit rusty in my language practice so I'm probably low intermediate in Swedish and a shade less than that in Danish.
My Masters work didn't involve molecular genetics/bio. I've got tissue culture, old school botany & pomology exp. @plantscience
@ml @plantscience @owl you got ideas?
@CAETFOOD @ml
I know there is plant science on Umeå uni campus, but I don't know anything about it.
But have a look here, if any of these positions sound interesting:
https://www.upsc.se/jobs.html
@owl Thank you.
@ml Do you know about the Blue Card?
@riley No. What is it?
@ml The EU's counterpart to the USA's Green Card programme, by and large. A residence and work permit that is not tied to a specific employer. https://immigration-portal.ec.europa.eu/eu-blue-card/essential-information_en explains it.
@riley Thanks. Yeah, I have to go through an employer because as of now, I can't meet this requirement: "Your annual gross salary must be at least one and a half times the average national salary - except when the lower salary threshold applies;"
@ml If you can get accepted into a PhD programme, you'll probably be able to take the courses in English in most European universities, possibly excepting some in France. By and large, high-level science in Europe is, if not done in English, then at least friendly to English.
(Fun fact: English is still EU's official language even after Brexit because it's the designated EU official language of Malta. Ireland is another EU member state that uses English widely domestically, but the Ireland's designated EU official language is Irish Gaelic.)
@riley Thanks, I appreciate that. I think, though, that many countries would rather have someone with at least some knowledge of the country's language. And that's why I mention the Nordic countries. Furthermore, I know more of the culture of Sweden and Denmark (less so of the other Nordics).
It's not that I'm ruling out other European countries entirely. I just think I can make a stronger argument for Nordic institutions.
I will be looking at PhD possibilities in other EU countries as well.
@ml They would, and it's a good idea to have at least some degree of fluency in your destination language. But they would probably like a highly trained scientist more, and the university is unlikely to mind, too. So, you might be able to learn the local language at the same time as you're studying the plant science in English, for an example.
Your prospective employer might, depending on field, have ideas about language requirements, and might possibly ask about proficiency certification. But multilingualism is increasingly common in Europe, and you can probably find options that don't require you to have the local fluency by your first day of work.
@riley @ml @plantscience As a French person, because the PhD requires having a Master's degree before starting, and does not include significant course work, it is mostly doable even if you do not speak French. (However, you probably will want your advisor to be helpful dealing with the bureaucracy).
Also note worthy, in France many labs are joint venture from different institutions, with research *teams* including permanent members from different institutions. In your field, you will likely encounter researchers from INRA (National Institute for Research in Agronomy), in addition to the more usual CNRS and University researchers. Getting admitted to do a PhD in France is mostly a matter of having an advisor and funding for 3 years. (You cannot register as PhD student without funding)
@ml @plantscience Not entirely sure how these thing work in the Nordic country, but often PhD positions are often something where you need to reach out to team leaders and discuss.
Are you still in school, or have you graduated and been working for a while ?
Ask your prof if they know anyone in the country ?
I’d go have looks at the various universities website to figure out who are their researchers in that areas and what they are up to.
Yeah, in the Nordics it’s generally individual, fully funded positions with a specific PI, not large graduate cohorts. There’s no unified central point to find all advertised positions, so I’d suggest two things:
1. Keep an eye on news sections of relevant plant science/hort departments. Check eg Copenhagen, Lund, Stockholm, Uppsala, Umeå, Tromsø, Ås
2. Do a dive into recent science from these countries that resonates with you. Look up the responsible PIs, follow them wherever they’re active (often LinkedIn or their own lab website) to see when they’re advertising. If you’re really feeling it, just reach out directly, to see if you can come up with a plan to apply for funding together.
Lastly, whenever you’re applying, much more than presenting some very polished CV or “branding”, I believe it’s important to highlight how and why you and that respective PI would be a good fit specifically for each other.
Good luck!
@leonardblaschek @ml @plantscience I'll second the importance of advisor fit.
Your relationship with your advisor can make or break your PhD. There's reason it is sometimes compared with mariage.
I don't believe such a thing is part of the US school curriculum, but when you have a final research internship in your master's, it is very common to spend 6 month working for your potential PhD advisor to see how things work out before committing to the several years of a PhD.
@Sobex Thank you.
@leonardblaschek Thank you!
@leonardblaschek @Sobex @ml @plantscience your last point is spot on! I, and I assume the same holds for many of my colleagues, receive countless generic application mails. If you want to stand out, show that you read a few of my recent publications and reflect on how those relate to your past work or future ambitions.
@ml @plantscience A friend of mine is in Uppsala, where there are two universities, including SLU, the "Swedish Agronomy University". She suggest checking out the works from people in the ecology and the "crop" departments.
She does point out that there is a slight issue in Sweden with many grants being only 2 years in Length, which is rather unhelpful to hire PhD (which is more 4 year in duration).