Fer every PhD student, there comes a moment that she is “upgraded.” At this moment, she turns from a premature trainee to a reliable coworker for her group or in her institute. In my opinion, this moment in not necessarily the promotion day. It can happen much earlier or much later dependent on the group culture, the country, the age differences, or the research-type.

Unlike the PhD-promotion time, which is decided by the supervisor after considering a balance between scientific qualifications and PhD contract years, PhD upgradation cannot be individually decided by anyone. It is about being trusted by the close community of the researcher: the other group members, the institute staff, and all other group-leaders.

I cannot tell how this upgradation happens, but I have a good idea of how it does not. It is not possible to persuasively demand it. Being stubborn on your scientific viewpoints does not help either. It may only delay your upgradation if you insist too much on the wrong arguments.

When upgradation has happened, you will be consulted more than you are questioned. In a colloqium or group-meeting you will be asked the “real” questions, and will not get “educative” comments, which usually start with “to make it more clear…”. Your email address is put more in the CC box than in the TO box.

There are some internal changes as well. Instead of pulling the warm manuscript from the printer and rushing to your supervisor’s room, you will read your manuscript several times yourself, before showing it to the coauthors. You can avoid the temptation of getting a second-authorship instead of being acknowledged.

Seniors should be more careful about an upgraded PhD. They cannot simply downgrade them in public. Asking “educative” questions get more risky since the student may now put it in a much better context than the senior has done. Seniors should be more careful with boldly using their privileges. What could have been accepted as a tutor’s lesson yesterday, may now sound like a colleague’s assault in public.

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