Meet the PhDs began with a simple idea: to listen.

Across conversations with doctoral researchers and PhD graduates from different disciplines, countries, and career paths, one thing became clear – while research topics differ, the inner experience of the PhD often does not. The questions, doubts, pressures, and quiet moments of growth return again and again, sometimes spoken aloud, often kept private.

This journal is an extension of those conversations.

As you move through these pages, you may recognise your own experiences in the questions, which you can answer in any order you like – and you can choose the theme that resonates with you. Let this journal remind you that your struggles are not personal failures, but shared features of doctoral life – and that your journey, in all its complexity, is worth noticing.