When it comes to starting a PhD, it’s not just what you know, it’s who you know, according to physics students Matt, Sam, Tamara and Tom, who came together to chat about how they found themselves at ANU.

Choosing the right university for your PhD can be as difficult as searching for a soulmate, but you’ll know when you’ve found “the one”.

“I searched for ANU online and came to a web page with a big photo, email and phone number of who to contact,” remembers Sam.

“I emailed, and the next day I’d been sent details of my flights to Canberra to talk about doing my PhD at ANU. We did a tour of the uni and met lots of people, including my soon-to-be supervisor, and that’s really what convinced me to come here. It made me feel wanted.”

Fellow physics student Matt agrees on the importance of finding your perfect match in the form of your supervisor.

“You really should meet your supervisor in person, because they’re the ones you have to work with. You have to be able to tell that you can get along with them, and you can’t do that online.”

For hundreds of potential PhD students looking to find a supervisor, the ANU Physics Project Market Day is matchmaker heaven. Every year, the ANU Research School of Physics holds this networking event showcasing the research of over 60 ANU physics academics along with demonstrations and tours of the research facilities.

PhD student Tom says Physics Project Market Day is a valuable experience for future students because “choosing a project isn’t necessarily the most important aspect of a PhD.”

“What’s much more important is picking the people you’re going to be working with. You can really tell how good a university’s facilities and faculties are by its people.”

“The projects listed on the university’s website are a 250-word summary and you would definitely want to go more in-depth on the science before making a choice,” Tamara adds. “It’s hard to sum up projects in that word limit.”

With the largest number of physicists in Australia, the ANU Research School of Physics has a wide range of projects available for PhD students. So many, in fact, that Tamara promises “you are almost guaranteed to find one that suits your interests.”

This year, ANU is also offering travel scholarships for any interstate non-ANU students to attend Physics Project Market Day.

“The scholarship is an awesome deal,” Sam says. “And once you come to ANU and meet people, I think you’ll be won over pretty quick.”