Previous editions
The Optimist is a journal for PhD students by PhD students. We bring out a new edition every four months discussing a whole range of topics such as how to deal with publication pressure and tips on how to live a happy PhD.
Without a doubt ?!
How to identify and overcome imposter syndrome? Read more about it here! But also discover what Prof. Johan Neyts was up to back in his PhD days and what life after a PhD is like as a policy manager/scientific communicator.
Let's go international!
How do you recognize an international student and should you go abroad for your future endeavours?
Read about the PhD experience of Prof. Sarah-Maria Fendt, Rory Gibney's life as a post-doc in Dublin and learn how to write a good CV (while drinking one of our homemade cocktails)!
We all deserve holidays!
To be or not to be on holiday? That's what we want to talk about!
But also about the PhD experience of Prof. Henry Otgaar and Donya's life after.
Open science ... THE DREAM
Good things take time... But we're glad to announce that the next edition is out!
Let's talk about the importance of open science and learn more about Prof. Ferraris' PhD!
Career development
Find out what you want your career to look like, what Prof. Aerts did during his PhD, what life as a consultant looks like and how to take care of your mental health.
Me, myself and my productivity
How do you deal with procrastination? Take your bike to discover some beautiful pieces of nature and meet Lia who is interested in reducing the gender gap and social inequalities and who worked as an United Nations volunteer.
Sustainability in science
This edition is all about learning how to care for the planet when working in the lab and what life is like as a project manager. Try out our pizza recipe and discover new hiking trails near Leuven.
Misinformation in science
How do you deal with misinformation is science and what was NERF director Sebastian Haesler's PhD like? Follow along Joachim Morrens as a data scientist at Janssen.
To be (a perfectionist) or not to be
Removing barriers in sceince
Competition in Science
The mental health crisis
Read more about the mental health crisis among doctoral researchers and about Chirstine Desmedt's PhD years.
On ego's in science
Find out how to deal with ego's in science, Sandrine Thuret's PhD and Damya Laoui's path to become a professor at VUB.
Supporting the next generation of science
In this issue we discuss how to support the next generation of scientist and we interview Ludo Van Den Bosch about his PhD experiences. Luc and Idoya tell us more starting their own company after finishing their academic career and we share some tips on how to cope with failure.
Is there bias in leadership?
Discussing biased leadership, Joris de Wit his PhD and how to have a happier and less stressful PhD.
Publication: the drawbacks of the obsession
What are the drawback of publication obsession? What was Adrian Liston's PhD like and how can you deal with an 'unlucky' project?