Hypothesis 1. UK PhDs are deficient. This is despite the sheer volume of science UK PhDs produce (second only to the US), the consistently high rankings in the league tables and the fact that some of the greatest scientists of all time have studied in the UK.

Hypothesis 2. girigoriya was a shitty student and has an axe to grind.



Btw Which country demands that you publish in peer reviewed journals?

In any case the majority of UK PhD students end up publishing their thesis otherwise they cant get work, which makes your argument even more pointless.

The short answer- Its not good. I am still temping and doing bits of teaching here and there, and my standard of living has dropped since I was a PhD student (which wasnt exactly opulent to begin with).

I recommend you make as many contacts in industry while you are in uni because its a lot harder once you are out on the other side

I think if you have a PhD level project you should be aiming for at least one good first authored paper by the time you graduate (although it may not be in Nature or whatever the highest impact factor journal in your field is).

That is going to be your calling card to the world of academia, so its important you get full credit for it (learned this the hard way as my ex-supervisor severely screwed me by taking first authorship for my PhD project and made me 3rd author).

I see his points but I disagree with the idea that humanities have no external value beyond itself. After all we all would concede that works of art, music, literature do have commercial value in the wider world.

I also would query his points about humanities not needing to justify themselves, as anything academic needs to warrant why it should be funded/ studied.

It would be inappropriate of me to give you actual names, but I can tell you about the reasons.In the US, the PhD system is different in that in certain fields graduate schools often ask for a pre-admission exam. Their PhDs take about 5 years to do, and have several components to it in addition to their thesis and viva.

More details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhD#Overview

My friends were told they were shot down by their respective institutions because they could not provide coursework scores and exam scores, which US PhD grads could.

Unfair? Definitely? But I have seen people with PhDs from India being told at my UK uni that "they may need to do another PhD".

Although I have gone ballistic over other poster's spelling and punctuation, the OP isn't horrific for a internet BB.

With regard to the accreditation question. Are you seriously telling me people should disregard the qualifications their own country gives them just because they may not be acceptable in another country? That is insane.

I know of British post docs that got turned down from US jobs because their PhDs held no prelim exam or coursework component, just thesis and viva. However, I have no inclination to deny my own PhD just because the Americans do it differently, so why should the OP.

Which part of my statement exactly do you consider bulls**t?

Actually some people do more than one doctorate, either for professional reasons (especially in medicine, psychology and engineering) or because they did a doctorate in one country, which is not recognised in another.

I think as a doctoral student you do miss out on a lot compared to working peers.

I think one of the biggest things is the financial disparity. The average graduate salary is £23k. To be fair some doctoral students are on this amount of money, most are not and it limits what you can do, where you can go, or make plans like homebuying or travelling.

As previously mentioned, a PhD is often detrimental towards relationships and isn't the most child friendly of pathways (I have never heard any student being given maternity leave while their stipends are being still paid).

That said, it is what you make of it. If you allow yourself to be consumed by your project and don't get a good work/life balance, I guess you could blame the individual. There are plenty of students who manage this and still come out with their PhDs.

Note some universities (not all) will see a "distinction" award at Masters level as a sufficient indicator of academic ability, which may counterbalance a 2:2. Ordinarily a MSc/MA pass is not sufficient.

Discrimination (in the legal sense of the word) implies unequal and unjust treatment. As a degree mark is thought by most to be an indicator of academic ability, it is not unjust to select on this basis. Thus it is not discrimination from a legal perspective.

Of course from a semantic viewpoint, ANY method of selection is discrimination, as the word is a synonym for "distinguishing between".

Granted, the system may be difficult for foreigners to navigate but the basic information is there. Thats why I answer specific questions where there is evidence the available stuff has been already sought.

"Do your background research before you starting a PhD"

This totally oversimplifies the issue. Whereas there are fields where people are actively told there is not enough work, I was told there would be work (from several sources), was given funding. How could I predict my supervisor would turn out to be a political schemer that dragged me down? You tell me?

Btw, see my other post about universities taking on students without adequate backgrounds.

And to be fair, I have provided information for queries the basic research has been done (e.g. the difference between and MSc and MRes). Its just the random, badly communicated ones I take issue with.

So what exactly is your problem with the above? The details about most programs can easily be aquired online. However, NO ONE can tell you the prospects of a PhD before you undertake one due to a myriad of factors.

"I find it rather hypocritical that the same people who say they have no idea what the point of their PhD is find it so easy to criticise those who are trying to navigate the opaque postgraduate funding system."

These are two totally unrelated and separate issues. Asking random, vague questions without making the most cursory effort to find easily available information cannot seriously be equated with the difficulties of the PhD job market.

You don't find it hypocritical at all. You are just looking for a fight with me.

PhD student of course.

Otherwise you would have a situation where supervisors actually do donkey work, and that, as we all know would simply be impossible.