Caroline Degel emphasises the importance of having fun while you work and chose to apply for the NAD PhD programme because it allows her to explore her varied interests.
A PhD in neuroscience was not always in the cards for Caroline Degel. Her childhood dream was to become a veterinarian, but after completing her bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine, she realised that she was on the wrong path. This realisation sparked a bit of a crisis for Caroline, leading her to reconsider her plans for her future career:
“I asked myself why I had made it that far without realising I was on the wrong track, and I found out that what I enjoyed about my degree was having the time to dive into the theoretical material. That led me to think that research might be something for me,” Caroline explains.
A few months prior, Caroline had started working as a student assistant at Lundbeck. She asked around and was eventually moved to a student research position where she got the opportunity to try her hand at research work – and loved it. The following year, she applied for the master’s programme in Neuroscience at the University of Copenhagen, which she completed in 2024.
Caroline is curious about what the Danish neuroscience community has to offer, and she is excited to see where the pre-PhD year takes her:
”I am curious about many different research areas […] At this point in time, I am open and not set on any specific research topics. I think it is too early in my career for that. Right now, I should explore, and NAD allows exactly this: I get to dive into areas I would otherwise never have had the chance to. This is one of the reasons why this programme is the perfect fit for me,” Caroline says.
When asked about what excites her about research, Caroline highlights the exhilaration of getting good results:
“Research requires a lot of patience, so the best thing about is when you finally succeed after a long period of failures,” Caroline says and adds:
“First and foremost, I want to have fun. I think this is a really important aspect of working in research.”