We are pleased to inform you that the PNAS Editorial Board has given final approval of your article for publication.

This is wonderful news. The two years of work that I spent in Seattle have resulted in a solid paper in an excellent journal – the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The review process was quite painless, and now I have my first paper coming out in 2009 on which I am the single first author. I am so grateful to my PI, my lab mates, and colleagues who gave me so much assistance in bringing this all together. And Adrian, of course, who is always by my side.

My first day of my PhD was February, 2004. I had a long hard road ahead of me. I spent many days and long nights attempting FACS, PCR, bleeding, hybridising, giving seminars, going to lab meetings, and writing many many words about science. In January, 2007 I submitted my thesis, and left for Seattle. My thesis was then sent out to review by two anonymous reviewers. Four months later, I got their comments and responded to the issues that they had raised, and sent this back to Australia for final approval. It wasn’t until November, 2007 that I got the letter confirming that I had been awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. I deferred graduation for one year, and then in December 2008, I was able to walk across stage and officially claim my diploma.

It was the first time for a while that I heard the national anthem, Advance Australia Fair. What a strange song. These days, our soil seems more brown than golden. As the university is only sixty-two years old, it has to import a lot of its pomp and ceremony from Oxford. The robes we wear, even in the heat of summer, are thick black wool, as worn hundreds of years ago in England.The silver mace, carried during the academic procession, is a twentieth-century replica of the eighteenth-century Oxford mace. The conferring process for PhD graduates is very neat, but I was nervous that I would stuff it up in front of everyone. When my name was called, I walked across the stage and kneeled in front of the Chancellor. I removed my black velvet bonnet, and inclined my head and he placed a blue silk hood over my shoulders. I replaced my bonnet, and stood up. He handed me my testamur, shook my hand, and I walked down the stairs, degree in hand.

Afterwards Fleur and I celebrated with champagne, our many years as molecular biology graduate students officially coming to an end. Adrian and I then had lunch with my parents, where they presented me with a beautiful watch to mark the occasion of my graduation. Now, when we find a home in Belgium, I can now hang a diploma on my wall that proudly proclaims that I have earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the Australian National University.

I recently got a message asking for details about being a post-doc in Belgium. The salary for a first-year post-doc straight out of a PhD is set at 2350 euros per month after tax (more if one has children or a non-working spouse). In addition to this, health care and free public transportation passes are often provided. Naturejobs often has post-doctoral positions advertised, however the best strategy is to search for papers of interest, and then contact the lab heads directly. One will have the best chances of success if one can state why one wants to work in that lab in particular, and suggest a project that one has designed ones self. Most of the websites for Belgian universities are not great, so it can be difficult to get an idea of where the best researchers are situated. A list of the ISI highly cited researchers from Belgium can be found here. Work visas for non-EU citizens will be sponsored by the institute, but can take several months to be processed. Collaborations and conferences within Europe are plentiful, and it only takes a few hours on the train to arrive in one of a number of countries with excellent research and development.

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You have received this email as you have been assessed by your College as eligible to graduate in the December 2008 Conferral of Awards ceremony.
Congratulations! We look forward to celebrating with you in December!

 
On 10 am Friday 12 December 2008, I will be walking across the stage to finally receive my Doctor of Philosophy.