Einstein was a postal clerk (no formal training). I reckon anyone with a passion or interest in should be reasonably enough. Something for a long thought, yea.
Cheers

This is a great thread and provokes discussion on what defines a "solid educational background". People would probably say I had a solid background in terms of educational ecomonics (Private school, etc). But I don't think of it as solid at all. Instead I see it thougth what I've studied, and see the lack of linearity there. My UG and taught PG degrees were in totally different disciplines to my PhD. Some people tell me that's a great advantage, as it shows I am capable of working in different areas, but others may see it as a weakness. TBH, even though I have my PhD I don't necessarily feel specialist or "expert" in anything, particularly.

Totally agree with this...
**I'm not sure that a taught education gives you the best background for any research, what you need is to be able to do things under your own steam.**

It's been said that a Phd is about 10% intelligence and 90% persistence, and if you've got that 90% I think educational background is less important

the information about Einstein is not quite correct. he tried to get into university without a highschool degree, but failed the entrance exams despite exceptional high results in maths and physics (in switzerland, where he was applying, you have to pass in many different subjects, not just those you wish to study - in those days, that would have included latin and perhaps greek, french, german, history, biology and geography, perhaps philosophy, i believe, besides maths and physics). so he went to highschool and got that degree. then he enrolled at uni and finally graduated from there. THEN he couldn't find a job and ended up at the patent office, during which time he developed his relativity theories. so, he DID have formal eduction, what he didn't have, was a job.

of course, in those days, the university system was still quite different than today. in switzerland at least, there were then no such things as bachelor or master degrees. rather, if you graduated from university, you were immediately a Dr.
on the other hand, if you wanted to graduate, you had to submit a thesis which was already quite like a modern day PhD. you just didn't divide your 7, 8 years of studies into different stages - and if you were good enough, you could do it faster, without going through the hassle of first doing a masters etc.
einstein submitted a 17-pages doctoral dissertation. it was rejected for being too short. he added a few sentences. they finally grudgingly accepted it because it was so brilliant. it is still, today, one of the most cited papers around - although it had nothing to do with his theory of relativity, it is about methodological improvements.

in regards to my own, swiss, educational background: my studies were very self-driven. i had no single exam during my bachelor/master years, before the final exams at the very end (after submission of the masters thesis). there were NO compulsory courses. there were no graded essays. from the beginning of my university years, i was simply required to choose topics i was interested in, find a prof/staff who would accept a paper on that, then write a paper on it, which would get accepted/pass or rejected/fail. i had to write a total of 6 such papers before starting on my masters thesis. if i wanted to attend courses on these topics (if there were any) i was welcome to, but i didn't have to - no one cared how you learned your stuff as long as you did. my masters thesis had to include significant "own research", and be between 80 and 120 pages long (most end up longer).

this said, i do feel as if i have been prepared, to an extent, to doing a PhD. it is basically very much "more of the same" for me, except on a bit higher level. on the other hand, i feel like i do not have any standardised canonical knowledge of my discipline. i know bits and pieces, here and there, whatever i picked up during my meandering, self-directed studies. huge holes and gaping gaps left and right. so, whereas i feel like my previous studies did to an extent prepare me for the research and self-directedness of a PhD, they did not really provide me with any solid, general, background knowledge.

I stand corrected re Einstein . As you might have guessed, Einstein I ain't

My background is a little random. I left school with bare minimum GCSEs and went into fish farming for 10 years. Wanting a career change I went back to uni with no a-levels and completed a 4 year masters of environmental sciences degree at a good university based on my interview, then on to do a PhD.

Working hard with a good mentality is the way to go and not necessarily having all the right qualifications. I fyou want to do something and you enjoy it you will always succeed