In my opinion the key questions are two.

1 "why do you want to do a PhD?"

2 assume that you successfully completed your PhD. " What do you want to do now?"

What effects will have doing a Ph.D. on his/her (professional) life.

Getting a degree is always to raise your market value by having achieved a recognizable threshold. Getting a Ph.D. degree aslo raises your marker and you are considered to be some specialized person in a narrow field but also having adequate horizontal growth. It is coupled with your aptitude for academic life. It may also fetch you better job which are now above a threshold. By doing Ph.D. you make a statement that you are looking for a better job than the ordinary.

It's time to apply now, I will do it even though I haven't figured out a clear answer. Another question is which area to choose as I'm involved in an interdisciplinary research topic in a master program~

while doing PhD one is focused to a particular problem, while contributing via research one can have 1 or more fields

one 'll enroll for PhD for two reasons 1) to increase credentials so as to improve his existence or 2) to quench own zest n really contribute

Professor Girish Ramaiah, yes the issues are there. Joining a Ph.D. program with a supervisor does not necessarily end up in getting a Ph.D. degree. The originality of the problem, the progress and publications are part of the initial frustration period. I recall my days - I also struggled for 5 years. But there are moments of joy and sense of achievement when you complete a publication. You basically get a degree to get a job. Otherwise you can do research without getting a degree too. So completion of Ph.D. is quite often associated with luck, getting good supervisor or group or lab and more importantly getting a problem which you feel confident about and you appreciate. Most often in India, a student keeps on doing what his supervisor tells him and finally he gets a grip of the things. But I know it is many times frustrating experience. I would advise therefore, if someone is to pursue higher studies and going to remain in academics, you have to complete Ph.D. Join a productive group or a dedicated supervisor who is keen to see you through. Or if you are too good, choose any supervisor who may be dummy, but you do the problem you have thought about.

I am senior undergraduate student. and i want to continue to my academic life. this is my last year and i am thinking about a scholarship but I think for a masters degree it is hard to get one.

any help? please help me with the information i need to know.

by the way i am studying bio-mechanical engineering. and i did some researches. i am familiar with some technical softwares.

Obtaining a PhD in Nigeria is a great task in which you must take your mind off graduation year because you could be stuck on it for maybe 10years or more as the case may be. Most researchers in Africa prefer traveling to Europe, Asia and America where they will be exposed to cutting edge facilities hereby making the programme a remarkable one.

From my point of view, the important features of a PhD student is his motivation towards new and unexplored, his willingness to work really hard and intensively, and enthusiasm along the road.

So, my advice would be to finds these things in him/herself before diving into the wonderful world of PhD studies.

Good luck!

According to me, one should have Ph.d when he/she planning to go for academic jobs and also some research based companies must required Ph.D to work in specific topics. Otherwise master's degree enough to sustain in the industries.

There are certain parameters to consider before taken up Ph.d as follows:

1) Financial assistance throughout completion of degree.

2) Guide selection

3) Topics (sometimes it is not in our control)

4) Personal life (whether he/she can (do or don't) marriage during program ---> one should decide very carefully.

5) Patience (One should have more patience when some times things may not work properly )

All the best !!!! Take Ph.D and become notable figure in your field.....

I had completed my PhD 8 years ago. If someone ask me this question, my answer is, a person should have 3 types of attitude; determination, perseverance and patience.

A really nice article written by my supervisor's superrvisor, Prof. Mike Thompson (FRS) ' Advice to a young researcher: with reminiscences of a life in science' which you can find here http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucess21/0%20ADVICE%20PAPER.pdf

Respected Sir,

Doing a PhD Indian Scenario is a must nowadays, with the next decade will see that india had good number of PhD candidates.. And Now UGC/AICTE is trying to see that the faculty from to the higher cadre will be according top the performance of the candidate, one of the parameter will be the research, no of publication, before phD, for PhD & after PhD.

Now for doing PhD interest matters, then according to the research area go for the Supervisor. his area matches your its fine.

Then if you are able to go full time it is a better option

In my opinion, one should go for PhD only if one has a desire to spend few years of his/her life in getting into the depths of some subject, enhance width around it and finally explore some unchartered territory. While there is nothing wrong in a mercenary view of professional benefits, it may not be worth it unless your scope is limited to educational institutions.

Having right mentors (adviser, etc) can be a great advantage, but in the end one has to happily and confidently own his/her work as their contribution.

Ph.D. is such a degree which has no clear exam oriented time bound fixed course like program- that is the root cause of its vague ending. A problem which has to be original and its solution which is also thus original or new both do not exist in text books. Therefore the bounds of time are uncertain and so also misery. But if add a component of learning new or known difficult techniques, train yourself on new and sophisticated instruments or use central facilities like beams of ions to particles available at reactors or specialized research centres makes things easy for you to complete a task. But most important problem remains to identify an important, original and doable problem. If you do that, you ensure you will get a Ph.D. in reasonable time because the rest depends primarily only on you who is a Ph.D. student. That requires motivation, working in a team and other qualities which raise your status to a decent higher level researcher. The time you take to finish your Ph.D., you have learnt the depth of the subject, acquired the skill to write papers, know how to use theoretical and experimental techniques, gained experience in giving a presentation etc. You are complete and welcome into the galaxy of "Doctors".

Doing Ph.D. is basically a scientific philosophy of the subject concern which is being added by the time to justify the existing philosophy or contradicting by giving some new philosophy.

Thanks Professor Timothy Dodwell for giving link to the very nice article by Professor Mike Thompson (FRS). Strongly recommend it all those who are either already engaged in active research work or thinking of taking up a research career in near future.

It depend on what you want and why? What you want to do if you get the PhD and why you want from being a PhD holder. If you find the answer then please do what you want..

In recent days the PhD has become a commodity, it for sale in the market. For many positions , especially in academics this degree has made compulsory. Because of this every one wants it, but only a few are ready to work with determination. This PhD is spoiling the academic field in recent days. I don know where we all end.. if this continues...

If you want to do PhD with real interest in the subject , then you go ahead, or else dont do it. mean to say, dont do it for the sake of positions.

In the historical period in which we live would not advise anyone to make this choice, the university system as many phd then that is not able to absorb. Would like to wish a person a future uncertain and precarious. I think that once they graduate is best started quickly, however, investing in basic training but having a job. Otherwise, you might not specialize too much and once absorbed by universities and research centers, you are out of work and with little chance of finding one.

I am a PhD student, and talking to my colleagues, we've concluded that we are PhD students for one single reason: because we want to.

I know it sounds somewhat like a silly statement, but I assure it is not. During our studies, we had to overcome many difficulties such as advisor related issues, availability of infra-structure, high amount of students to teach and tests to correct while performing PhD related activities, and so on. (In Brazil we're required to teach during our PhD period)

These difficulties are related to all the aspects that the people in this discussion affirmed that should be regarded before becoming a PhD student. Furthermore, we study in the best university in Brazil for PhD in Mechanical Engineering.

If I told you that my university is not a high quality one, I'd be lying because it is a very good one, but bad (and unmotivating) things often happen, and what keeps us strong and motivated is our power of will and our wish to become good teachers and researchers.

If the student is not self-motivated enough, these difficulties may weaken his or her wish for their PhD, and they may just quit, or not even start.

So, our conclusion is that the PhD student must be really sure that he or she wants it really much, otherwise they won't make it.

I would like to add financial support to the list. If there's a full scholarship, then it's OK. otherwise, we have to find grants for journal publications, conferences, work shops, equipment, course fee etc. throughout the program. This is critical for students from developing countries.

It is an important decision whether to do Ph.D or not. Getting a good supervisor, identifying the right topic for research, computational / experimental facilities available, 3/4 or even more number of years required if working full time and the uncertain future are some of the important items for consideration.

Se

1- Work full time on it.

2-Love the topic.

3-chose the right lab and the right Prof (having ressources).

First of all being a research scholar think over thee research interest,be a calm ,cool

person,positive attitude with zeal.There is no shortcut to do Ph D

A critical aspect is: decide the country where do you want to do it and the country where do you want to use it! There are some countries where PhD is regarded as a valuable asset, other where in most of the cases people say "you wasted your time, you could learn with a Job in the industry". Think about this. But, super interesting question!!!

I agree with the comment of Giorgio Locatelli, who arguably referred to the Italian situation whe he has written... other where in most of the cases people say "you wasted your time, you could learn with a Job in the industry"...

Giovanni you are right. Very few Italian companies value the PhD. After my PhD the most generous offer of an Italian branch of a USA company was “well, we like you… we would like to give you the same offer of someone with 3 years of experience in our industry”. Very generous Indeed. Bye Bye Italy.

The German situation is soemhow different in engineering. It is like a job with scientific project work. If you want to suceed you cannot just "study". You have to solve real problems and aside from that finde a new PhD topic. You need normally 4 years after a Master degree. Tough time, but excellent jobs. Do try to do it in indsutry. Many fail and the quality is often poor.

Just do not compare the German system with the anglo american one.

In under developed nations PhD in engineering is almost impossible....you will have to work tooth and nail and still not make it. it is really demoralizing!

I would advise anybody aspiring for pursuing doctoral work in EE in India to do it in the west. It is pointless to do it here at any place other than the IITs. Even there, I don't see a great value in doing it. It is best done on either side of the Atlantic or in the far east, where much work happens. The most crippling factor is availability of resources. We lose precious time in chasing resources. And most PhDs in India usually do not solve real world problems!

thank you all so much for the very interesting discussion, from my point of view, I believe the first question is to ask him/her should be "why you want to purse a PhD ?", in other words, why you want to spend 3 or 4 years of your life doing a PhD ? then i may be able to help. Some good reasons could be enjoy learning for learning's sake, getting a degree not everyone can have every day !! explore the unexplored and of course if you are interested in academia then you are taking the good decisions.

So many people do research for the wrong reasons, example family pressure, visa issues (if you are studying abroad ) and most importantly he/she should knows that a PhD program is not simply a continuation of your undergraduate program !!

Interest in PhD, motivation and consistency. It is best to see for resources in the university where you want to pursue your PhD. You don't want to waste half of your time in finding resources.

What do you mean by resources? Lab equipment?

Yes. We don't have a lot :)

Lab equipment comes first if you are doing lab work. Make sure you have online access to journals for your literature review.

My advice to someone who wants to pursue a PhD is to ask the main question. Why are you doing this? If they give me an answer, I will ask them to rethink their answer and move on if I feel that I got the right answer. I will tell them the ups and downs the good and bad of PhD. Again, experiences can be different because of the schools. Whatever they do; they must work with their mentors and committees as a team. Some mentors are great and others are from another planet. Likewise, some students are difficult to deal with as well. So the blame should be both ways. They have to understand they are dealing with people. People factor should be in their consideration. The pursuit of PhD, in my opinion, should no longer be only for the academia. Folks with PhD's should start venturing into other areas, like business, corporations, manufacturing, politics depending on their area of expertise. We should not be limited to academia alone.

''Why are you doing this?'' This is a million dollar question

@david...... Hahahaha, how do u mean?

Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire cat...

Phd means i think something new implemented practically to make things more comfort and better by utilizing fundamentals and basics,you should have passion first to think and create something new that is acceptable practically and can be implemented in real applications

My guidance for those considering working toward a PhD:

From my experience in attaining a PhD in Engineering at the University of Illinois Champaign- Urbana your personal traits should include:

a) Strong interest and ability in pursuing and conducting independent work/research.

This could and will usually will involve extending previous work conducted by your professor and thesis/ research adviser and his graduate students. You have to like thinking and working on your own. You will review any published related studies

If your research work is primarily experimental, plan on designing and building or having the shop build your experimental apparatus. You will need to become very knowledgeable regarding and theory the use of the measurement instrumentation including accuracy. Plan on spending hundreds of hours conducting experiments.reducing and analyzing your data. In all most experimental work - you will then try to develop a math model to correlate your data.

If your work is analytical- you must become very familiar with similar work in the field - and all available modeling software before you proceed with your research

b) Thesis - You should have strong ability to be able to communicate your approach, results and conclusions in writing - referring to your equations and graphical data as needed to allow the reader to follow your complete research process.

If you are so inclined - you will find your pursuit of your PhD a highly enjoyable and rewarding experience - and the discipline and broad research perspective you will attain will serve you very well in your career.

Richard Ghetzler PhD

thanks to all and your views.

in my view teaching is a noble profession.

an example to explain

-> Sanjeev kapoor is a good chef

-> my wife cooks well.

in a critic view both are cooks only

in this scenario due to compulsion i may accept and appreciate my wife food

but sanjeev kapoor was accepted by majority people.

since he is a cook by research and publications

but my wife is domain specific.

her job is to cook for me only.

thats all

Teaching by learning is different

from

Teaching by Research.

Doing Ph.D

one can learn the constructive way of doing Research

It is important to read a lot of literature about the research which proposed to do, getting recommendation from Supervisor about the subject ,have a good idea about What he is trying to do,for full time work.

This question reminded me of a joke. It is said that in a party a lady asked Mark Twain if she should become a writer, to which he replied "absolutely not!" The puzzled lady replied "how can you say that? You... a writer saying that!", to which he retorted: "I didn't have to ask" :-)

Try to have unique problem and can bring solution of the problem

I think that to be successful in PHD work , it is the big role is the supervisor and the researcher intention to ward more publications. The other factor that impact it is that the resources that help researcher like data and fund.

You must know the topic. Don't feel ashamed to change your supervisor if he/she is not doing well.

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