This time Scientific Bangladesh has interviewed Dr. Tahmina Sultana. She is a microbiology graduate,
completed PhD from Japan, and pursuing post-doctoral research in the USA. She shares her experiences, and insights which will certainly be helpful for PhD students and post-doctorates. Here is what she has to share:
1.Scientific Bangladesh: Tell us about your education- from primary to PhD. Don’t miss this opportunity to express gratitude for your great supports in this journey.
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: From primary to SSC, I had a great chance to go to different schools as my father was a government employee and transferred periodically to various locations of Bangladesh including very remote areas. One of my primary schools was in such a remote area that I had to commute there by boat! The infrastructure of some of the school buildings was not fancy at all and most of my classmates were from very poor families. I would say the quality of education was not so good compared to the schools of big cities, but the experiences I gained from these very natural environments and people are my lifetime achievements. Therefore, I strongly believe that knowledge gained from out of textbooks is as important as an academic one. Or in some cases, more important than schoolbook knowledge. I was so lucky to get that opportunity which ultimately helped me to be a patient observer and teach me how people from different classes of society struggle to survive. Now I want to share with you how did I enter the world of Science. In class 9 when we need to decide on a specific subject area, first I picked arts (as my elder sister took science, so my parents wanted me to pick a different subject area). But the Science teacher at our school found out something in me and pushed me to choose science. I don’t know why but my respected teacher had a strong belief that I will do something praiseworthy on it. I have graduated from Dpt. of Microbiology, University of Dhaka fand then have moved to Osaka University, Osaka, Japan to pursue PhD. Since 2018, I am doing a post-doctorate at Northwestern University, Chicago, USA.
2.Scientific Bangladesh: What was your PhD research area? What are the results of your vigorous research, including publications, patents, awards?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: My PhD work was on Virology, Cell and Molecular Biology. I worked on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), More specifically I studied the interplay between HIV and host restriction factors at the molecular level. Understanding the molecular insight and pathogenesis of HIV is very important as the current combination of drugs used to treat is called combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) cannot eradicate the virus. Viral latency, drug toxicity, and drug resistance contribute to long-term concerns for those on treatment. This means that there is a pressing need to achieve sustained virological remission in infected individuals. In order to kill the virus, we need to study more about the virus itself and about it’s proteins in detail to find out an effective target protein for drugs/vaccines. Throughout my PhD time, I have published 4 scientific papers in different peer-reviewed journals.
3.Scientific Bangladesh: What was your motivation to go for PhD? What do you think about your decision to go for PhD?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: The first thing that motivated me to go for PhD was to make new data which excited me a lot. After I had completed my MS in Microbiology from the University of Dhaka, I joined International Centre for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B) as a research officer. My research interest grew up gradually during this period while I was working on many international projects in collaboration. My boss at ICDDR, B, Dr. Mustafizur Rahman, also motivated me a lot by his way of thinking about research. I am very grateful to him and the excellent research facility of ICDDR, B. I think that was really a good decision for me because if I didn’t go for it, I would not be able to explore the real world of research.
4.Scientific Bangladesh: Why should someone pursue PhD? Should anyone go for PhD as friends are going for it, parents, parents-in-laws want it?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: Well, people go for PhD for many reasons, such as peer pressure, promotion, foreign life, and so on. In my opinion, if someone starts PhD for the above-mentioned reasons, it will be a huge burden for him/her. Only self-motivation can give a good cause.
5.Scientific Bangladesh: How would you like to describe your PhD life?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: It was a mixed-up feeling. When experiments/results went according to expectation, life was just beautiful. But as life is not a bed of roses, PhD life is also filled up with troubleshooting, stress, failure, and anxiety. With all of these, my life was challenging too like others. But I would say I also enjoyed the challenges.
6.Scientific Bangladesh: PhD is stressful – how did you manage stress?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: It is true that PhD life is stressful. In my opinion, the most stressful thing is someone must have some good data to publish in a certain period of time. Luckily, I had some promising data from the very beginning. Other than this, I had my family with me, which also helped me a lot to lessen stress. Having a life out of work/lab/science is really helpful to manage work pressure. Because of whatever happened in the lab, at the end of the day, my family refreshed me and provided energy to start the next new day.
7.Scientific Bangladesh: Looking back to your PhD life, what mistakes you would advise future PhD students to avoid?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: Study, study, and study. Now I feel like I didn’t study that much during my PhD life. I would say I was more concerned about experiments and making data. But to get a degree of ‘Philosophy’, one should read to her or his best capacity. Another thing which I think is very important is doing PhD in an English spoken country or where you know their language. As in research, making science friends is very important in terms of sharing knowledge and for making collaboration. For example, when I attended conferences in Japan, I had a limited chance to share with other scientists because of the language barrier.
8.Scientific Bangladesh: How did you manage your relationship with your i) supervisor(s) and ii) labmates? How important to maintain a good relationship with them?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: As I mentioned earlier, in the science world, managing relationship with colleagues is very important as science is teamwork and it cannot be done by a single person. In the case of keeping a good relationship, professionalism is very crucial. Honesty and trust: these 2 things are vital to bridge a long-lasting connection. Let the supervisor know that you are working, and you are working with your best enthusiasm. Being helpful and kind to lab mates solve many complex problems in a second.
9.Scientific Bangladesh: Did you change supervisor? If yes, when and why? What are your suggestions if a PhD student needs to change supervisor?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: No, I didn’t. If a grad student feels his/her supervisor is not fulfilling expectations, or they are making problems rather than being helpful, he/she should change supervisor. If someone’s supervisor is not good, stressful PhD life may turn into a super horrible time. But there must be a major/valid reason for changing. And you must remember that there is no guarantee that the new supervisor will be the best one.
10.Scientific Bangladesh: What are your overall suggestions for future PhD students from your PhD life experiences?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: 1. First of all, I would say, go for a PhD, if you feel for it. After starting PhD, if you realize that you are not for it, quit it. 2. Choosing a topic and country is very important in keeping interested and shaping the future. 3. Hard work, patience, honesty always win the race. 4. Don’t be super obsessed with PhD life, try to make another life of your own interest in parallel to PhD life.
11.Scientific Bangladesh: What are your suggestions for those who are about to finish PhD and entering to Post-doctoral phase?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: Ask yourself about what you want when you are about to enter another step. Post-doctorate is not the only option after PhD. One should think in advance about the next step, not in the last year of PhD. Discussion with seniors working in different areas after PhD might be helpful.
12.Scientific Bangladesh: What is your Postdoctoral research area? Is it the same or different from PhD? If different, then why?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: My current postdoctoral research area is Cell and Molecular Biology and still virology.
13.Scientific Bangladesh: Scientific Bangladesh: What is your future destination? Academia or Industry or Entrepreneurship? Why?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: As recently I am feeling interested to see the practical application of my research, I think I will move to the industry.
14.Scientific Bangladesh: Did you have family (husband/wife and children) with you during PhD? Do you see any advantage and/or disadvantage of having a family during PhD?
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: Yes. As I said earlier, having another life out of lab/science is helpful to manage work pressure. Whatever happened in the lab, at the end of the day my family refreshed me and provided energy to start the next new day. So, I was lucky enough to get the 100% advantage from my family during PhD. But it might not be true for all, especially if the family is not that understanding and helpful.
15.Scientific Bangladesh: Would you like to share your knowledge and experiences with the readers of Scientific Bangladesh by writing a regular column in Scientific Bangladesh. You can register for authorship https://scientificbangladesh.com/registration-2/
Dr. Tahmina Sultana: No