Living and studying abroad has its obvious benefits, but sometimes the difficulties involved are forgotten, and for good reasons.  The mountain of obstacles that you have to overcome are a little daunting.  This isn’t intended to distract anyone from doing so, just to inform those planning a similar route.  If you will, you should think of it like a healthy relationship; it has many more ups than it does downs.  So, here is a crash course on what it takes to survive as an overseas researcher.

First and foremost is identifying a valuable project.  Depending on the hosting country, this might take an entire year or two just to setup.  Once you have found your new project, you need to make sure that you have a support team in your original country that is willing to step up to the plate for you.  This is in the form of a committee or professional association.  Sometimes they are willing to provide funding, but most of the time not.  This is the next step. Money.  Weather your project is in the middle of the Amazon or in a bustling foreign city, you are going to need a good amount of cash.  Each step in the process of receiving and analyzing your project data will cost money.   Continue reading →