Of the 91 229 tweets we retrieved, 43,941 were positive, 12,298 were negative, and 34,990 were neutral. We then measured the sentiment (positive, negative or neutral) associated with each original tweet (excluding retweets).

We retrieved all tweets posted in the English language during 12 consecutive weeks, from September to December 2021, that contained any of the following six hashtags: #phdlife, #phdspeaks, #phdvoice, #phdchat, #phdtips, #phdstudent.

Although these ideas and recommendations are based on our experiences as researchers in ecology working in Europe, we feel that most of the points we make also apply in other disciplines and places. We also make recommendations to maintain a positive momentum throughout the PhD. What can be done to counter such misleading and negative impressions? In this article we – a group of PhD students, postdocs and permanent academics – highlight the positive elements of doing a PhD in order to present a more balanced view of the whole PhD experience. For example, the present authors recently analysed more than 90,000 tweets about the PhD experience: almost half of the tweets were positive, and less than a sixth were negative, yet the negative tweets received more likes and retweets ( Figure 1). Paradoxically, however, the fact that most PhD students are positive about doing a PhD is not always apparent to the outside world. Despite all this, most PhD students seem satisfied with their decision to do a PhD, mostly because they work in stimulating environments with a high degree of independence and good supervision ( Pommier et al., 2022 Woolston, 2017). In addition to overcoming the scientific and intellectual challenges involved in doing original research, a PhD student may also have to deal with financial difficulties, an unhealthy work-life balance, or resulting concerns about their mental health ( Woolston, 2017 Auerbach et al., 2018 Oswalt et al., 2020 Evans et al., 2018). Doing a PhD can be both demanding and rewarding.

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