hi All,

I am 32 years old. currently working in the quant team of a bank.

background is M.Res (DEA) in robotics from ENSIMAG

reason to do a phd: always had the interest to do a phd (was offered one after masters (9 years back), but didnt pursue it, instead went for an interesting job offer.

family: married, have a toddler

thoughts about long term: Not much concerned about the job / pay after phd etc to be honest. been in banking for 9 years now and have always had a student / researcher lifestyle (not lavish). have enough savings / mortgage free house and investments / retirement corpus. not enough to never have to work, but enough for retirement and some decent dividend income (thanks to the 2009 crash). wifey might be able to earn close to half my current pay once she goes back to work (which she loves btw, unlike me)

having invested in biotech i am interested in genetics (RNA etc, have a good programming background and optimization etc)

still interested in the future of robotics (honestly, research hasnt advanced too much to not be able to catch up in the past 9 years since my masters)

somewhat keen on a phd in finance

(all interests though seeming completely different are still applied mathematics, which was my major in masters / work experience)

i would like to know your opinion on whether schools would be interested in my profile. i dont want to write gmat or gre (think its got nothing to with anything at all). so i guess phd in finance is ruled out. but still can go for other topics within the EU (even UK).

i am going to speak to my masters thesis professor with whom i have a decent publication track record.
spoke to the wife and she is very supportive and is happy to see me make a decision before the kid starts going to school.

i am confused. (to be honest i have been filling in applications to phd for the past 1 year without submitting them. need some help and thoughts)
thanks!

forgot to add a couple more details:

reasons for doing a phd: always interested in a profession as a professor. had more professor friends while at uni than student friends. still jealous about the fact that at 50 they interact with 20 year olds and feel 30 at best. i know i am extremely romanticizing it. but the grass is definitely greener on the other side. also, 3/4 of my paternal family is professors, still crazy about teaching at 70 and 75 years of age. i see a lot of tired faces at 45 where i work.

Hi,

Isn't GRE / GMAT only a requirement for American business schools? So, I guess that means Finance isn't necessarily ruled out?

i guess most business schools in EU (at least the top schools) require gmat / gre for phd in finance or anything related to finance (except may be decision sciences)

You have already decided really haven't you :-D. I'll be starting mine at 38, leaving a job I've had for 10 years! I'm no where near as financially stable as you and have a 5 and 4 year old! If it's what you want then do it ;-p

To the best of my knowledge neither Warwick, Manchester nor Lancaster, all of which the FT ranks as in the top 50 business schools in Europe, require GRE / GMAT.

Have a look at my blog on the subject. I don't know where you're based, but bear in mind the funding section is aimed at potential UK candidates.

I did my PhD between the ages of 30 and 35.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)