In this PhD café article, Karishma S Kaushik, IndiaBioscience, reflects on her unique journey as a 'non-traditional' PhD candidate who juggled personal and professional commitments, including motherhood. Karishma explores the dynamic nature of work-life balance, and discusses the challenges of applying one-size-fits-all solutions for achieving balance across different phases of personal and professional growth.

Brinky Desai, a PhD student at Ahmedabad University, shares her challenges as a woman researcher conducting fieldwork on Mugger crocodiles in remote areas of Gujarat. In the first article of this year's PhD Cafe series, she describes the physical and mental strain of fieldwork, particularly during the COVID pandemic, as well as the challenges of working with crocodiles, including navigating hygiene facilities as a woman researcher in the field.

Enam Reyaz, a student at the Jamia Hamdard Institute of Molecular Medicine (JH-IMM), recounts her physical and emotional roller-coaster of experience embracing pregnancy and motherhood while pursuing a PhD degree; what helped her challenge the taboos and what more can be done by research institutions to support expectant mothers.

Starting her career as a nursery school teacher, Shobha Anilkumar went on to earn first an MSc and then a PhD degree while working full time and bringing up two young children. In this next article in our PhD Cafe series, Shobha writes about her journey and the highs and lows along the way.

"“Are you a Doctor now, Amma?”

Chandrima is a recent graduate from the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Manipal Academy of Higher Education. In this new post in our PhD cafe series, she writes about her experience of doing a PhD in field-based ecology at the same time as raising a toddler as a single mom.