Exploring PhD Motivations and Needs: Reflections from Our Recent Webinar

On May 13, 2025, our Zoom channel opened to welcome participants. Out of 200 registered attendees, roughly half joined live, while another 60 watched the recording afterward. The audience was diverse, covering Natural, Social, and Technical Sciences, as well as Health and Biomedicine.

We had two main goals for the webinar: first, to provide general guidance on how to tackle common PhD challenges; and second, to map the needs and interests for more concrete, long-term support.

What caught my attention during the webinar was the diversity of motivations behind pursuing a PhD. These ranged from problem-solving desires, personal curiosity, and inner fulfillment, to career progression needs and externally driven opportunities (such as company-sponsored tuition), and even some participants who admitted, “I don’t know what I was thinking.” Surprisingly, almost 50% of participants are pursuing their PhD mostly in their free time while working elsewhere.

A concerning finding was that over 70% see universities and institutes as their primary career path, while fewer than 15% consider industry, and less than 10% view entrepreneurship as an option. Only one participant expressed interest in pursuing a political career, and two intend to work in the public sector.

All participants expressed a clear need for long-lasting support.

We look forward to building on these insights and developing tailored support programs to empower Croatia’s next generation of researchers.

Keynote at MeteoExchange Conference
Keynote Topic: How to Survive a PhD

It was a pleasure to participate as a keynote speaker at such an important event. MeteoExchange is one of those rare initiatives where everything is organized by students and young researchers — for students and young researchers. No pretense, no lobbying, no hidden agendas — just pure enthusiasm and a passion for science.

Since I don’t enjoy speaking at people without interaction, I used Menti to tap into the minds of the participants. Here are a few screenshots I’d like to share.

SWOT Workshop: Key Takeaways

In our recent SWOT workshop, participants explored their personal strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. Common challenges like procrastination, perfectionism, and adapting to rigid structures emerged clearly. Yet, opportunities were often the hardest to identify.

This difficulty seems tied to mindset—real opportunities often lie close but feel out of reach due to fear, self-doubt, or uncertainty. Recognizing them requires honest self-reflection and the courage to act on what we find.

The results of the workshop inspired us to develop a new self-reflection tool—the ARCANE method—which aims to unlock deeper insight and greater clarity toward the world of opportunities.

These insights also prompt a bigger question for the research community: how can we foster stronger connections, collaboration, and resilience in the face of change? Progress in science depends not only on critique but on building supportive and adaptive networks.