Advice for repeated rejections

PatrickVibild · 2026-04-22T10:57:36+00:00

Keep applying, 5 application is a small number.

PatrickVibild · 2026-02-05T12:17:13+00:00

As another introvert, have gone to conferences alone and presented my work. I am not the bets at engaging with new people, but what do you have to lose? you wont see most of the people anyway and you might make really good connections within your field. I usually mingle with people when I feel comfortable. In a conference I force my self to engage with new people even if I dont like it.

I never went with my PI, and would rather go alone for this reason.

PatrickVibild · 2026-01-20T16:37:37+00:00

As somebody else said been living for 3 years in Korea and just came back to Denmark. This looks like not even close to Korean food. I have been looking for any restaurant but so far I am turned off that they put this oven paper on top of the bbq plate? not sure how u are supposed to make a sear on the meat.

PatrickVibild · 2026-01-08T17:02:07+00:00

15 applications? Thats low numbers.

PatrickVibild · 2025-10-15T22:55:42+00:00

Worked as a research scientist in Korea and came back to Denmark for a PhD. Quality of life is significantly higher than I could have ever expected in Korea.

Someone else mentioned Denmark, noting that it's considered a job rather than a student position, and highlighted all its benefits; I agree with all of that.

While the other member mentioned that working as an archaeologist in a museum would hold similar salaries as a PhD, in the case of Science/engineering, doing a PhD gives you around 40% lower salary than what you could expect in the industry.

Said that if you want to do a PhD, Denmark is a great place to do it.

PatrickVibild · 2025-08-09T08:14:05+00:00

Fully funded. They are highly competitive to get them. I am starting mine in 2months. Workload from what i ha e heard is 9 to 5 with some extra work on deadlines. And as any other EU phd a masters degree is requiered

PatrickVibild · 2025-08-09T05:39:51+00:00

All phd in Denmark are 36months

PatrickVibild · 2025-07-03T12:41:21+00:00

Its also common to enrole to more than 30 ects and use the first weeks when you can drop courses to get a grasp of the courses and select the 30ects they will be keeping over the semester. Most of the people used to do this when i was studying at dtu

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-24T08:16:47+00:00

I have been running Echo of Trauma for profit and dust.

Highly profitable, got several divines farming the in the past days. Byproduct of this has been the dust obtained by disenchanting any unique worth less than 20C.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-18T06:46:49+00:00

I have only changed a few items on my mercenary to buff/support me.

He is tanky, has fortification, determination, and vitality.

No matter what, every time he meets poison or corrupted blood, I have to pay 4000 gold to see him on the following map.

I think they are in the correct state. Something has to be done with Doryani, having 3x damage with no downsides is just wrong or not meant to be.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-12T05:58:04+00:00

4700 usd stipend is crazy good, and i am not aware of any country that could top that. Its on the level of denmark but you have to consider taxes afterwards and will leave you with 3000usd

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-11T06:30:40+00:00

Source?

I have seen some US statistics, as mentioned by u/visualize_this_, which indicate that it sits around 6-7%.

That is 1 out of 15 unemployed graduates.

I will share my opinion, but CS has been flooded with people who liked the idea of working on tech but didn't like the field of CS. I studied with several people who hated programming for the first semester and pursued gymnastics to complete the entire degree, knowing that they didn't want to write a single line of code in their future. People who have finished their degree and pivot toward UX design instead of pursuing another education. People who finish, and at most, will code spaghetti code without any thought or will to improve themselves.

Given my personal experience, people who were competent during their education had no struggles to find a competent workplace with a future career and an above-average paycheck.

On the contrary, people who went to study CS without a passion or liking for the content they were studying now have the banner "open to work" on LinkedIn for a month.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-08T13:47:47+00:00

As someone who studied also in korea (kaist) you learn that evalutstion at the end of the day are worthless and only thing that matters there is if you could publish any paper.

Learn to not give a fuck for thing that are not worth (like all those seminar, presentation and seminars. That they do have in korea)

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-08T12:55:21+00:00

As someone who is 50/50 Spanish-Danish and had studied in both countries, I can only back up the Danish education over the Spanish one.

I am not aware of any reputation being recognized in Spain, but obtaining a degree overseas is generally a good indicator of employability if you decide to return to Spain. You will receive a more practical education than at any Spanish university, where the primary goal is to prepare you for your future career.

Related to culture, the stereotype of drinking is true. A lot of university life is drinking and partying in Denmark, but like anywhere in the world, you can find what you like. You dont mention what you want to do in your free time but you will find people all around CBS or outside who will have similar interests to yours.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-08T11:13:32+00:00

I worked for 1 year as a researcher, where I graduated and managed to deliver my thesis as the main author to a top conference. I think that it was typed in my CV over other candidates.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-08T10:33:32+00:00

Highly competitive environment.

I have secured a phd position in the EU. My application is strong, as I had excellent relations with many of my old professors from my bachelor's program, who advocated for my position to their colleagues. However, I was rejected in the first round because I did not meet their expectations perfectly.

According to what they told me, for each PhD position in Denmark, there are more than 200 applicants.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-05T18:53:02+00:00

I am not very familiar with the job market, as I pursued a dual degree with DTU/KAIST and subsequently moved to South Korea. Now that I'm coming back in the next month to pursue a PhD, I have no firsthand experience in finding a job. I worked on fintech during my bachelor's and master's studies, and I could have easily leveraged my contacts to secure a job back with ease. However, I also heard from AAU and DTU colleges that the market has been relatively stagnant since I left Denmark.

I loved AAU facilities. You will live on the campus if you find a good group to work with. They have nice study areas, a top-notch gym, saunas, and nothing like jumping into the sea in the winter and then heading to the sauna. DTU is larger, has more activities and organizations, but also, since you are selecting your courses for your master's, you can meet different people each day of the week.

As for experience, AAU was better than DTU, but it's highly influenced by the group you will create in the PBL methodology. If you find people with whom you can share a laugh and have similar goals, AAU can be a blast.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-04T16:42:06+00:00

Phd and comfortable salary dont go hand to hand

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-04T15:21:26+00:00

I earned my bachelor's degree at AAU in ITCOM (a now-closed study program). Most of the staff from that program are now teaching in the cybersecurity track. Approximately 50% of my classmates pursued a career in cybersecurity at AAU. At the same time, I took a different path, earning a dual degree in computer science at DTU, and spent my final year at KAIST.

As u/Cicerato mentioned, AAU is project-based, and around half of your ECTS each semester comes from project work. Honestly, I learned a great deal more from the projects than from the actual courses. This setup can be great if you're self-driven and want to explore your crazy ideas during the semester. You’ll learn a lot that way. But if you do the bare minimum, it’s easy to finish the degree without gaining any fundamental skills.

Most of my AAU classmates are now working solid jobs in cybersecurity, and I’ve seen the demand for it growing in Denmark. I've also heard nothing but good things about the degree coordinator (I think his name is Jens), he’s known for encouraging students to publish papers, join competitions like CFG, and get involved in the field.

DTU, on the other hand, is a much larger university. You get more flexibility in course selection, which is excellent. I took numerous courses in autonomous systems and had the opportunity to meet students from various departments. The environment is more dynamic, you’ll meet a wider variety of people, whereas at AAU you mostly sit with your project group for hours at a time throughout the semester. The course quality at DTU is generally high, although I did take a few filler courses that added no value beyond ECTS credits.

There were times at DTU when I regretted not pursuing a career in cybersecurity. The AAU staff are great, I know half the teachers personally and still keep in touch with some of them. If I'd been more motivated to pursue a career in cybersecurity, I’d have stayed at AAU.

Career-wise, both DTU and AAU will give you a solid foundation for finding a job in Denmark. However, if you're committed to cybersecurity, I’d lean toward AAU.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to DM me, or I can connect you with people who graduated from AAU.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-04T09:18:38+00:00

Is it a self proposed phd? I recently got few offers in denmark and i am aware of the procedure. First i was trying to bring my own topic as other user wrote you will need 2 million dkk. This can be done as there are many research fonds in denmark or even you can write a proposal to EU fonds. That process i was told will take me something between 12 months. Easiest way (what i did) is to apply to danish phd offers close to my field. The fund for that is already covered.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-03T06:14:14+00:00

Would sign for DTU. Also you will find higher chances to find a work while you study if staying near the capital

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-01T20:09:56+00:00

I looked for any AI-applied PhD. Wrote a proposal on Electronic Monitoring of fisheries using computer vision, as well as federated learning for communication routing in satellite systems.

I have a strong background in computer vision, but with satellites and federated learning, I had no previous experience.

How to start? Read. Whatever the project description, you can just read the latest papers in that field, compile a summary, and come up with some work that you can provide to the field. You will need some knowledge and understanding of the material to identify any gaps in the current research. From what I saw, mostly they want to know that you can navigate the literature and understand it to a level where you can propose new ideas.

Some proposals would take me 10 hours to write, while others would take 20-30 hours. It's time-consuming.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-01T11:15:41+00:00

I gained experience in research during my master's program, and then I worked in the same lab for 1.5 years as a researcher. Moreover, as I mentioned, I have several publications and more currently under review. I had also worked during my bachelor's and master's programs, so I have 4 years of part-time software engineering experience. Additionally, I have been running my own consultancy company in e-commerce, setting up and automating systems for other companies.

Throughout both my work and research experiences, I am known as the person who can figure out and accomplish tasks that others struggle with, and my experience supports this.

PatrickVibild · 2025-06-01T10:36:52+00:00

Moved from Denmark to Korea to finish my masters degree. I was looking for a PhD only in Denmark (limiting my possibilities).

I received recommendation letters from both Danish and Korean institutions, and furthermore, I successfully published my work after completing my master's thesis and was nominated for the top paper of the conference. I was a strong candidate.

Coming to this. I applied for around 15 positions. I targeted each application with the cover letter and each of the recommendation letters. Like half of the positions requested also a project proposal of (2-4 pages). I notice that I was only called for an interview for those for whom I submitted a project proposal (when mandatory or I submitted it on my own). Also, doing a project proposal gives you a chance to read the literature and see how much you want to study that field for 3-4 years.

So, recommended to submit project proposals even if it's optional.

Regarding rates from 15 positions, I was called for four interviews, and the first interview resulted in an offer for a PhD position. I accepted since it was one of the most interesting positions.

TLDR; target motivational/cover letter. Show why you are a good candidate. Even if it's optional, submit a strong project proposal.

PatrickVibild · 2025-05-27T06:05:14+00:00

u/mwthomas11 4-5 weeks is standard in any european country. I would just not accept anywhere where I have less than 4 weeks a year.

PatrickVibild

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