Pursuing a Ph.D. within an ITN can feel quite different from following a classical Ph.D. track. Two of our TUSAIL fellows, Roxana Saghafian Larijani and Max Winkelmann, shared their experiences of the benefits and challenges of being part of an ITN at the FluidizationXVII conference in Edinburgh as part of the Social Values Programme. We would like to thank Christine Hrenya for the invitation.