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The PhD journey: how to choose a good supervisor |
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Your supervisor will be a mentor, friend, confidante, adviser and also a voice of reason, so make sure it's a voice you'll want to hear. Link (New Scientist, 02/2008) |
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Mastering Your Ph.D.: Countdown to Your Thesis Defence |
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For a couple of years, you have been doing research, research, and more research. But now the final deadline for your Ph.D. is in sight, and it's time to transfer your research results into a thesis. Where do you even begin? Link (Science Careers, 11/2007) |
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Demand for PhDs is uncertain in a changing market |
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Are Western universities currently producing too many PhDs or too few? The answer depends largely on whether you are recruiting for a job or looking for one. For recent graduates who are struggling to beat hundreds of other applicants to claim a full-time post, the answer is fairly obvious. But for those in industry who are trawling this sea of talent, the issue is less clear cut. Link (Nature Jobs, 01/2007) |
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Mastering Your Ph.D.: A Career in Management Consulting |
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Assisting corporate executives with their toughest decisions may not seem the most obvious career move for someone who has just finished or is in the process of finishing a science Ph.D. But many consultancies hire Ph.D.s to join multidisciplinary teams to do exactly that, and new Ph.D.s are often thrilled to work in such a novel and exciting environment, in which facts and analysis play an important role. Link (Science Careers, 05/2008) |
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Special Feature: Getting Published in Scientific Journals |
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Without good publications, you stand little chance of winning the fellowship, research grant, faculty job, or other scientific prize you're competing for. Link (Science Careers, 06/2007) |
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Mastering Your Ph.D.: Giving a Great Presentation |
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Ask most people what their greatest fear is, and chances are they'll say that speaking in public makes their knees knock and their hands sweat. Lots of people, maybe even you, quake at the thought of talking in front of a roomful of strangers. Now that you're in graduate school, there is no avoiding the inevitable. Link (Science Careers, 10/2006) |
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Mastering Your Ph.D.: Preparing for Your Post-Ph.D. Career |
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Among the most difficult decisions during your Ph.D. is what to do when you're finished. You're probably familiar with the "typical" career track: Ph.D., postdoc, then a climb through the academic ranks of assistant, associate, and full professorship. Link (Science Careers, 02/2008) |
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Ph.Dollars: Does Grad School Make Financial Sense? |
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When Laurie Earls started graduate school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2001, a Ph.D. looked like a pretty good deal from a financial point of view: no tuition and she'd even receive a stipend. Link (Science Careers, 2008) |
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What makes a good PhD student? |
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Some tips for PhD students. Doing a PhD should be fun and rewarding, because you can spend all your working time discovering things and pursuing ideas — and getting paid for it, without any administrative responsibilities. Those who stick with a career in science do so because, despite the relatively poor pay, long hours and lack of security, it is all we want to do. Unfortunately most new PhD students are ill-prepared, and as a consequence very few will fulfil their aspirations to be independent scientists. Link (Nature Jobs, 05/2006) |
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Straight Talk about Graduate School |
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This is a must-read for potential PhD students. The essential tag-lines are listed below, but be sure to read the full article. Misconception 1: Anyone who starts a graduate degree and does not finish it lives the rest of his or her life permanently embittered, resentful, and with a sense of personal inferiority.
Misconception 2: All academics are smart people, and all smart people are academics.
Misconception 3: Everyone who deserves a Ph.D gets one.
Axiom 1: There are plenty of jackasses with Ph.D's, and plenty of brilliant people without them.
Axiom 2: Most people without graduate degrees live perfectly contented, fulfilling, and successful lives.
Axiom 3: Graduate school is not fair. It does not necessarily reward intelligence, preparation, perseverance, and ambition with the hoped-for degree.
Corollary 2.1: A Ph.D doesn't necessarily make its holder happy.
Tip 1: Before you sign your first graduate school application, decide how much you are willing to give up for your Ph.D.
Tip 2: Always have an escape route from graduate school planned. Link (Webpage Dorothea Salo) |
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Graduate programmes are rated by various organizations using different criteria. How much use are these rankings? Link (Nature Jobs, 08/2008) |
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The Real Science Crisis: Bleak Prospects for Young Researchers |
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Tight budgets, scarce jobs, and stalled reforms push students away from scientific careers. Link (The Chronicle of Higher Education, 09/2007) |
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Positions Available: No Ph.D. Required? |
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Upon completing college, many science undergraduates who don't want to go on to medical school think only one other option exists: pursuing a Ph.D. A Ph.D, however, is not one-size-fits-all. While personally and financially rewarding in the end, those who choose this path should do so upon serious introspection. Long hours with low pay and dry spells in data are often the norm. Add to this the varied completion time which, depending on the program, ranges from four to eight years. Link (Science Careers, 08/2008) |
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Mastering Your Ph.D.: Mentors, Leadership, and Community |
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One of the best things you can do at the start of your scientific career is find a mentor. A wise and caring mentor can mean the difference between wandering around aimlessly and striding purposefully down the path of academic life and beyond. Link (Science Careers, 08/2007) |
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Mastering Your Ph.D.: Exploring Nonprofit Organizations |
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Perhaps you've decided not to pursue a career in academia, but you're not sure about jumping into an industry job, either. Have you considered the nonprofit sector? Link (Science Careers, 05/2008) |
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