Many graduate students enroll in PhD not knowing why, therefore they suffer a lot when they are faced with challenges they never expect. on Sep 9^th 2020, Dr. Tamer Elsayed has given a workshop titled “What it means to be a PhD Student” as the first in the “Life after Graduation” series organized by College of Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). In the workshop, Dr. Tamer gave some quick advice to help existing, new, and prospective students set their “mindset” in their long, serious, and very important journey.

He clarified some important issues that should be considered early on in the path towards a “valuable” degree. The workshop discussed what “mentality” the PhD students should have (especially in the Arab world) and answered several questions that should concern them. Among the questions the workshop discussed for the PhD students were:

• How should you “think” as a PhD student?
• Why bother doing it?
• What should be your motivations and objectives?
• Is it all about “generating publications”?
• What makes your “certificate” really valuable?
• Are failures “a must” in PhD?
• What skills should you have to be successful in PhD?
• Is being “smart” the most needed trait?
• How can you build a supportive environment for your study?

Both the slides and the video are made available and free to use. Feedback and suggestions are welcome.