#104: Interview with Bärbel Tress

PhD Career Stories

In this podcast, Tina Persson interviews Bärbel Tress. Bärbel is a Research Career Expert & Advisor. Her main expertise is to advise young researchers how to successfully conduct and complete their PhD studies, how to apply for academic jobs, and how to improve research performance and efficiency.

Bärbel has a PhD in Landscape Ecology from Roskilde University, Denmark. She worked in academia for more than a decade, as postdoc, researcher and lecturer at universities in several European countries. She co-founded TRESS ACADEMIC in 2007 together with her partner. The company helps researchers acquire the complementary skills they need to succeed in academia. Bärbel also co-founded the SMART ACADEMICS Blog which helps young researchers with PhD completion, getting published, and career tips.

Different time points in the PhD journey are discussed in this interview together with the required actions. What to do and what to think about from the first day of signing the contract, at half-way through, the last year of the PhD, when 6 months are left, when one month is left and lastly the D-day: the defense day.

Bärbel finally closes the interview sharing five valuable tips that help PhDs to successfully complete their PhD studies.

1- Enjoy the ride

2- Keep the end in mind

3- Define your objectives early on

4- Start writing early on

5- Work on the relationship with supervisors

Listen to this episode for valuable advices from two career coaches with a lot of expertise in accompanying PhDs along their PhD journey.