Time abroad will help you become more independent, give you insight into other cultures, offer the chance to develop new language skills and give your CV an international flavour, says Irena Jennings, a careers adviser at Imperial College London and head of a group that encourages graduates to consider time abroad. 鈥淪cience most certainly is an international career,鈥� she says. 鈥淚nternational contacts can be very useful too.鈥�
You鈥檒l also get the opportunity to meet other researchers and see how they work, says Beki Langford, who is conducting fieldwork in Nepal for her PhD. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just experiencing a difference culture, which is valuable in itself, but also how research is dreamed up, implemented and evaluated in a different academic culture.鈥�
You may find an alternative research culture suits you better. That what鈥檚 happened to Lisa Muller, who moved from her native Germany to the UK for a maths doctorate. Moving abroad gave her the status of a student, rather than employee as she would have been classed in the German system. This meant she could complete her PhD relatively fast, and she also enjoyed a certain degree of independence from her supervisor that she feels she would not have got back home. 鈥淚 found the freedom and support that I gained totally worthwhile,鈥� she says.
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Obvious cons include being away from friends and family and, if you鈥檙e going to a non-English-speaking country, the difficulty of learning a new language. Also, if your supervisor is based back home, like Langford鈥檚, you get less valuable face-to-face time with them for guidance and support.
Money is also a concern, although don鈥檛 believe everything you hear about living abroad, says Emma Dukes, who moved from Ireland to Finland to work as a researcher at the University of Helsinki. 鈥淏efore you come out, you hear horror stories about how expensive it is here, but that鈥檚 a myth. Rented accommodation, for example, is pretty cheap. It鈥檚 worth checking details like that,鈥� she says.
Going abroad can also be difficult to organise. Langford鈥檚 work involves working with mothers and children in a small community in Nepal, so she had to get permission from the local authorities there to carry out the project. 鈥淰isas, research permission and so on can be a real hassle unless you have a supervisor who has worked in the country before,鈥� she says.
Ultimately though, the rewards are worth the negatives, says Dukes. 鈥淚鈥檓 really happy. It鈥檚 great to move to a lab in another country.鈥�
聯Occasionally, I have been lucky to get a lift with Jensen Button on a private jet聰
Careers 鈥� Find out how to make the most of your career in our comprehensive special report.
Real life: race engineer
Flick the TV over to the Grand Prix, and you鈥檒l hear the drivers following detailed instructions over their radios. Andrew Shovlin is the man at the other end of the line.
As chief race engineer for Jenson Button at the Honda Racing F1 team, Shovlin plays a vital trackside role in the world鈥檚 most glamorous sport and has his conversations with Button broadcast to millions of fans. Usually he is too caught up in the race to worry about what he is saying. 鈥淚 can get quite animated when we鈥檝e done well, and it never occurs to me to hold back. I just say whatever pops into my head.鈥�
Shovlin is responsible for organising the car鈥檚 set-up before the race, testing new parts and devising the race strategy. This requires him to develop trusting relationships with the drivers. Does he ever get star-struck? 鈥淚t鈥檚 funny, I know that Jenson is famous and gets recognised everywhere he goes, but he doesn鈥檛 behave like a superstar within the team and never expects to be treated like one. Occasionally I have been lucky to get a lift back with him on a private jet, though, and it鈥檚 moments like that when it dawns on you, you are living a fairly unusual life.鈥�
But it鈥檚 not all glamour and adrenalin rushes. Shovlin spends the weeks between races at the test track, running simulations to improve the car. As such, he is a scientist at heart. 鈥淢any aspects of Formula 1 are often portrayed as a black art, but it鈥檚 not, it鈥檚 all about science 鈥� whether it鈥檚 the engine, the aerodynamics or the suspension.鈥�
The science is pretty exciting too, as advances are always being made. For example, in recent years one of the most interesting has been the introduction of seamless-shift gearboxes, which allow drivers to change gear without losing any acceleration, Shovlin says.
So just how do you land a job like this? Shovlin has a degree in mechanical engineering and a PhD in vehicle dynamics and control, but he says some of his colleagues come from more traditional science backgrounds, so he advises anyone interested to look out for the student placement schemes now run by many teams. Blabbermouths need not apply.