Pursuing a PhD is both exciting and demanding. Your supervisor is always busy with proposal writing and justifying expenses, deadlines seem to multiply overnight, your papers are unfairly rejected despite your best efforts (damned reviewer #2!), and the pressures of academic life rarely slow down. At times, the entire process can feel overwhelming and nonsense, especially when you meet your promotion colleagues, wearing fancy suites when they are not by the beach. How do you manage it all while continuing to move forward?

This keynote addresses that very question. Drawing on practical experience, we will explore a set of core principles—strategic thinking, resilience, curiosity, adaptability, …— that can help you navigate the everyday realities of doctoral research with greater confidence and direction. We seek actionable approaches that can shape how you organize your work, respond to setbacks, and make steady progress.

The session will combine concrete examples, practical suggestions, and open discussion. You will be invited to contribute your own experiences and perspectives as we reflect on common challenges and effective strategies. Together, we will examine what it takes to sustain motivation, manage complexity, and recognize progress along the way.

Xavier Franch is a professor at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC), where he leads the Software and Services Engineering research group (GESSI, https://gessi.upc.edu/en). His research interests include requirements engineering, software engineering and AI, information systems engineering, empirical software engineering, and conceptual modeling. He received the IEEE RE ​​Lifetime Service Award (2023) and Most Influential Paper awards at IEEE RE ​​(2022) and REFSQ (2024). Xavier is a member of Academia and a full member and vice-chair of the International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB). He is a member of the Editorial Board of IST, JSS, Computing, and REEN, and member of the Steering Committees of CAiSE (as chair), REFSQ, ESEM, and RCIS. You can contact him at xavier.franch@upc.edu.