Hi YKY,
I'm considering getting a PhD somewhere, and I've accumulated some
material for a thesis in my 50%-finished AGI book. I think getting a
PhD will put my work in a more rigorous form and get it published.
Also it may help me get funding afterwards, either in academia or in
the business world.
I think you need to carefully consider what you expect to get out of a
PhD. You're going to be at it for several years, sacrificing time,
career opportunities, money and lifestyle; and while afterwards you'll
probably be able to find small grants as an early career researcher to
keep your research going, a PhD isn't a ticket to instant access to
multi-million dollar grants to build a massive team. I get the
impression that for most people, "reasons to do a PhD" quickly get old
and ultimately the only way you'll be able to keep at it and finish it
is if you have a genuine passion for your research, and are willing to
make sacrifices for that passion.
I'm currently a student, and the best advice I ever got when I was
thinking about doing a PhD was to read the book, "How to get a PhD" by
Phillips and Pugh:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Get-PhD-Handbook-Supervisors/dp/0335216846
You should be able to find it at your local university's library. The
book is oriented towards a British PhD, and a lot of it sounds like
commonsense, but I really really recommend you read it before deciding
whether a PhD is for you (and then if you do decide to do it, reread it
again a few weeks after you've started).
Also, I probably wouldn't count on your existing work being useful for a
PhD. It may be, but I wouldn't count on it without first discussing it
with a potential PhD supervisor.
I want to maximize the time spent on my thesis while minimizing time
spent on other 'coursework' (ie things that aren't directly related to
my project, exams, classes, homework, etc). Which universities should
I look at? Or should I contact some professors directly?
In Australia, most universities do not require any coursework for a PhD
(though, some have a light load of seminars during the first year, that
are associated with the process of doing a PhD and research
methodologies). Entry is usually based on a points scheme: a research
masters or a good honours degree should be enough to get you into the
program, but if you don't have that, you can make it up in other ways
such as professional experience, academic publications, referees, etc.
As I understand it (but don't quote me on this), if you're prepared to
pay full fees, you can start an Australian PhD at any time. However,
there are many scholarships available for fee waivers and also some for
fee waivers plus living expenses; these have defined deadlines (you may
have missed out on 1 Semester 2009, but I think there are rounds every 6
months). I believe that the distribution of scholarships is usually
based on the same points scheme as admission. The Australian government
has recently committed a lot of money to Australian PhD students at all
universities, and I understand that this is freeing up quite a bit of
scholarship money for places for foreign students.
Anyway, after reading the book I mentioned, I'd recommend finding a
professor first. You'll want somebody who will be useful for you, who
you can work well with, who'll let you work on your own project, and who
you might see yourself collaborating with once you've got your PhD. I'd
look for research groups that are doing work that inspires you. That's
what I did, and so far I've been happy with how it is going.
-Ben
-------------------------------------------
agi
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/
Modify Your Subscription:
https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=123753653-47f84b
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
