A DBA will train you to work independently and if this may come as an easy task for some students, for others, it may come as an unexpected surprise. If you’re a social person and choose a multidisciplinary DBA (where other DBAs and postdocs are involved), connect your projects and work closely together, you think this could help you and you won’t have to deal with being an independent learner any longer. The truth is, even in the multidisciplinary DBAs, you will have to work independently most of the time.

What does independent work during a DBA mean? Well, you will have your supervisor that will guide you through your thesis, but for most of your work, you will have to come up with your own ideas and fix problems by yourself. A supervisor will mostly assist you with choosing problems, telling you how to plan an approach and can sometimes provide you with a list of contacts that can help you advance your work.

You are entirely responsible and accountable for your research project, but you can think of it this way: you will be your own manager and handle all the big decisions.