“The BIST Master gave me the opportunity to research as a PhD student” “Thanks to this experience I now have the tools to start my PhD” “The tools acquired during this master have proven to be crucial for my current research as a PhD student”.
MMRES graduates have gone on to pursue PhDs all over the world. From September 2017 (when the MMRES first launched) to July 2022, 105 students graduated from the programme, 68 of which (82% known alumni data) are now pursuing PhDs.
We asked our alumni about how the MMRES boosted their career, and we got very nice testimonials, like the ones at the beginning of this post or the ones shared in this video (The future after the MMRES). And this Wednesday we organised a Round Table with alumni from different classes to have the opportunity to share their experience with future MMRES students.
In the Round Table “From MMRES to PhD: How the BIST master made it possible?” Blanca Belsa (Class 2018-2019), Maria Juanpere (Class 2020-2021), Sasha Meek and Ferriol Calvet (both from Class 2021-2022) discussed their experience with the BIST Master, the current crisis in academia and the next career steps after the PhD.
Sasha and Blanca stayed in the same group they did their master’s thesis in. While Sasha is starting her PhD at MELIS-UPF, Blanca is a senior PhD student at ICFO. “I’m very happy with the decision I made. I think the Master was a good preparation and the coordination helped me to get the PhD position where I am now” said Blanca.
Maria, now PhD Student at Wageningen University in Netherlands, had a different experience with the Master, as she is from the “pandemics promotion”. The Class 2020-2021 had all their training online, and they “officially” met at the Master’s Ceremony, the closing event of the MMRES. However, “the group was really close, and we still meet and do fun things together”, said Maria.
“All the students support each other on the PhD fellowship process” said Ferriol, now a PhD student at IRB Barcelona, as another example of the closeness among the MMRES students developed during the training period.
