A PhD is three more years of student life
Itâs so much more than that. Your undergraduate degree was a package holiday; a jolly sightseeing tour of your field. Don your safari hat, because your PhD will be an uncharted jungle. So says Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford. âPrepare yourself for a shock. You are moving from doing exercises that you know have a solution to questions that no one knows the answer to. It could take you years of labour just to make a small chink in the armour.â
A PhD requires considerably more drive and determination compared with the easy-going early years of university life. You have no structure to follow, and only your supervisor and a couple of lab or office mates for guidance. You will be expected to present at conferences and hold your own with other academics. And at the end of it you will be asked to submit a substantial thesis and justify its contents in front of experts in your field.
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It is a steep learning curve, says Anton Ilderton, who gained a PhD in string theory in 2005 from the University of Durham. âWhen I started my PhD I knew almost nothing about how to apply the knowledge from my undergraduate lectures to proper independent research. There is still a big gap to cross to being an able researcher.â
Sounds too much like hard work? This extra effort does have its rewards. âFor the first time you are coming up against the great works of your subject,â says du Sautoy. âThe previous years have been like a musician confined to the scales and arpeggios of their discipline. Suddenly you are prepared and ready to listen to some of the great scientific opuses.â
I need a first-class degree
âNot true. You donât even necessarily need a 2.1,â says Jim Hough, director of the Institute for Gravitational Research at the University of Glasgow. âIâve known students who have had a 2.2 â and in some cases a 3rd â do a masterâs and then go on to do a PhD. If the supervisor can make a case for that student, then itâs perfectly possible.â It is much more important that candidates have a deep interest in the subject, show drive and curiosity, and are prepared to work hard, Hough says.
A PhD only leads to academia
The numbers tell a different story. Only a quarter of science PhDs go on to postdoctoral work, according to the UK GRAD programme, established by the UK research councils to help scientists access career training.
Broadcaster and author Simon Singh did a PhD at the University of Cambridge, with a two-year placement at the CERN particle physics centre in Geneva, Switzerland, before crossing over to science journalism. And the skills he picked up have not been wasted. âSelf-motivation, team-working, writing, explaining, presenting, budgeting, prioritisation, planning and a smattering of French were all a necessary part of working at CERN, and all of them have been invaluable in whatever I have done since.â
It is too early to think about further study
Many PhD students will have had a lecturer or professor in their department who recognised the studentâs PhD potential before they did. âStaff will notice excellent students and will try to get them interested in PhD studies at a time when the students have many other things on their mind,â says Frank Coolen, director of postgraduate studies at the University of Durhamâs mathematics department.
It makes sense to start thinking as early as possible about whether a PhD might be for you. If the answer is yes, make your interest known in your department. Even if you donât want to stay where you are, your lecturers know the academic networks and can point you to the right people at other universities. Keep quiet, and youâll miss out.
I missed the boat, and now it is too late
Although most science PhD students come straight from their first degree, many return to study later in their career. âItâs certainly possible to come back and do a PhD after considerable time away,â says Hough. âIf the person is judged to be interested and capable, then itâs really never too late,â he says.
One student in Houghâs gravitational research department in Glasgow not only spent eight years outside academia, but had also graduated in an unrelated subject. The wider perspective that many gain by leaving academia can work in an applicantâs favour, Hough says.
I wonât discover anything new
Not so, according to Robert Winston, broadcaster and professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London. âA PhD is, and should be, the chance to do something original, constructive and innovative,â he says. âItâs definitely a prerequisite in my lab. If it isnât innovative, it is not much of a PhD, quite frankly.â
Most supervisors will delegate interesting questions in their own research to you. While it is possible that you will only make incremental scientific advances, you may also produce surprising results, says Jim Al-Khalili, head of the nuclear physics group at the University of Surrey. âYour PhD probably wonât lead to a Nobel prize,â he admits, âbut it will be your legacy to science. It is your piece of the jigsaw.â
Picking the right supervisor is a lottery
Choosing a supportive supervisor is crucial. But there are ways to cut down the risk of picking a dud.
First, do a bit of digging in advance. When you visit a department, ask to talk privately to other members of the team, says David King, professor of physical chemistry at Cambridge and chief scientific adviser to the UK government. âDoes their supervisor show a concern for their development as research scientists? Or are the PhD students simply fodder for the research reputation of the supervisor?â Find out what other support there is too, King says. You might need to turn to other PhD students or postdocs for help.
If my PhD fails to go to plan, Iâll be seen as a bad scientist
The old adage about learning from your mistakes holds for a PhD as much as for a senior professor. âItâs definitely important to see a failed experiment or two,â says Winston. âThere is often a tendency for people to disregard ânegativeâ data, but these can yield valuable information. Any PhD student whose experiments work all the time â well, youâd start to worry about them.â
One of the most important things you will learn from a PhD is that research scientists at every level need to demonstrate the accuracy of their results, says Al-Khalili. A failed experiment from time to time is only to be expected.
Iâll be overqualified and unemployable in the world of work
A high level of expertise can be an attractive thing for employers. PhD students are often preferred because they have the ability to think creatively and work without supervision, says Kris Richards of recruitment consultancy On Assignment. They may also be entrusted with training or mentoring junior staff, as they have often worked with undergraduates, she says.
It is true that most entry-level jobs in industry only require a first degree, and starting salaries reflect this. But a doctorate can mean faster career progression even if you do start small, says Ian McKinley, a recruitment consultant with SRG. âIndustries such as pharmaceuticals are heavily research-based and so employ proportionately more doctorates. In such roles, a PhD may start at the bench for a few years, and then be recruited to progress as a potential group leader and manager by age 30.â Other industries with specialist positions include forensics, aerospace, biotechnology, chemicals and environmental science.
A PhD can help you stand out in the world of business too. âApplicants shouldnât feel shy about having done a PhD,â says Steven Rolls, director of recruitment for Ernst and Young. PhD students are attractive in business because of the generic skills they acquire, such as critical thinking and self-motivation, he says. You may also get to use your specialist knowledge. âIn areas such as risk management and computer modelling, a maths or physics PhD can certainly be very useful,â he says.
Iâll be living hand-to-mouth
Life has got easier for PhD students in recent years. If you aim to start in October 2006, you should expect to receive ÂŁ12,300 in government funding, with tuition fees also paid in full. Only five years ago, PhD students received around half this sum.
An industrial sponsor can also help fend off poverty. For example, a CASE studentship could add an extra ÂŁ4000 or more, as well as providing valuable industrial experience. Factor in that any awards are tax-free and include an allowance for international travel to conferences, and your finances could compare pretty well with what you might find with many starting jobs. And if things do get tight, you can earn an extra ÂŁ1000 a year or more from demonstrating and teaching.
A PhD wonât suit me
Every PhD is unique. You could spend three years in Antarctica, or in a warm office staring at equations. And you have the freedom to decide how you work day-to-day: there is no employer looking over your shoulder.
If youâre still not sure whether you have what it takes, says Coolen, ask yourself whether you have the two qualities most PhD students share: a curiosity for new things and a stubborn outlook that means you refuse to take existing theories for granted. If this sounds familiar, then it could be for you.
On the record
The essential knowledge condensed
âFollow your passion. If you donât wake up each morning wanting to read and write and do research in that area, you wonât be happy.â
Steven Pinker, professor of linguistics at Harvard University
âBe prepared to put a big effort into locating the best supervisor for you.â
David King, professor of physical chemistry at the University of Cambridge and chief scientific adviser to the government
âIt is not all excitement and there will be long periods of boredom when things donât work. But it will expand your abilities in ways that few other things can.â
Robert Winston, broadcaster and professor of fertility studies at Imperial College London
Whatâs it like?
In his PhD at the University of Oxford, Alex Weir showed that a species of crow was capable of making tools. In 2005, he won the Science Graduate of the Year award, sponsored by the Royal Institution of Great Britain and LâOrĂ©al.
Can you explain what you discovered in your PhD?
I studied the cognitive abilities of a very special bird: the New Caledonian crow. In the wild, these birds make a variety of complex tools from leaves and twigs and I was interested in whether this behaviour arose because they are particularly intelligent, or whether it was a specific behavioural adaptation, like the nest-building seen in most bird species. My most striking finding was that one of our birds, âBettyâ, spontaneously made hooks to retrieve food by bending pieces of wire. That is something even our closest relatives, chimpanzees, seem incapable of.
Best bits?
The moment when I first saw Betty bending the wire into a hook was very special: I was watching something no one else had ever seen, and which went beyond anything I had expected. I have also really liked giving talks at conferences about my work. I always hated public speaking, but I found that when I was talking about something I knew intimately and was passionate about, my nerves disappeared and I found myself enjoying it.
Worst bits?
As with many PhDs, things often seemed to be going disastrously wrong, and I had long periods when I felt I accomplished nothing. I spent several months in my first year building aviaries and testing rooms at a field station, only for there to be an outbreak of disease that meant I had to build them all again somewhere else. At that point, it felt like I was doing a PhD in carpentry rather than zoology. There were also several months in which the birds decided not to cooperate in experiments, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Any tips for those thinking about doing a PhD?
I would strongly recommend doing a masterâs if you have any uncertainty about the subject you want to study. It gives you the chance to try out different labs and subjects, identify your likes and strengths. Above all, you make contacts with potential PhD supervisors. Try to think up a project before approaching potential supervisors, and explain to them on first contact why you think you would be a good PhD student. Supervisors get lots of people asking: âDo you have any PhDs to offer?â You need to make yourself stand out.
Whatâs it like?
Many UK students choose, like Edward Fellows, to do their PhD abroad. He is in his final year at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology at Martinsried, near Munich, Germany.
What are you studying?
Iâm looking at one of the bodyâs granular enzymes. These are offensive weapons that get rid off unwanted cells. We are trying to find out how they contribute to autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, and how they kill virally infected cells and tumours. It is possible they could be engineered into anti-tumour or antivirus weapons by attaching a tumour-finding antibody to them. This could lead to new therapeutics against various types of cancer, or against bird flu, for example.
Best bits?
Discovering another culture makes your day-to-day work a bit special. It feels like youâre living a fuller life. Munich is brilliant. There is plenty to do and always something to look forward to.
Worst bits?
I knew it would be hard learning the language. You have to be patient at first. But gaining a new language was one of the main reasons I decided to do my PhD in Germany. It is possible to get by quite easily without speaking fluently. My colleagues are happy to speak English, because they need to practise for papers and presentations. Also, there are so many nationalities here at Max Planck â Indian, Chinese, Brazilian â so as soon as you step into the canteen, youâll hear the common language of English all around you.
Any tips for those thinking of doing their PhD abroad?
Working in another country means adapting to a different way of life. You need to be tolerant, and you have to learn not to judge people too quickly. There will be a certain amount of time at the beginning where you feel homesick and have to adapt, but it gets better. Your PhD is the ideal time to live abroad, while youâre young and have no commitments. Iâve found it a great experience.
Still not sure?
If three or four years living and breathing one topic sounds daunting, then a one-year masterâs may be for you. It gives a taste of further study without such a hefty commitment.
There are broadly two kinds of masterâs course: taught and research. A research masterâs is run in a similar way to a PhD, requiring a thesis at the end. A taught masterâs combines lectures and seminars with coursework and a shorter dissertation at the end.
Catherine Evans chose a masterâs in pure mathematics so she could delve deeper into her subject without the long-term commitment. It also gave her an insight into what to expect if she carried on to a PhD. At the end of her masterâs, she took up a job in the civil service, turning her back on academia. âMy masterâs means that door is always open should I decide to reconsider in the future,â she says.
Historically, it has been more difficult to get funding for a masterâs than for a PhD. But now there are more opportunities from industrial sponsors, who are increasingly attracted to only having to commit to one year of funding.
