BE Board:Dinner Discussion/5 Things to Gain from a Ph.D.

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This is a draft version of the one page summary for the 2006 BE Retreat. 5 things to gain from a PhD A little internet searching will give you a general feel for the perception of PhD degrees over the last ten years. Some people believe PhD degrees overemphasize novel individual research which prepares students best for academic positions. But the market appears to be flooding with graduates and the number of academic positions cannot keep up with the demand. Others believe the world needs highly educated scientists and engineers capable of push innovation forward outside of academics as we encounter problems such as fossil fuel depletion, bird flu, and global warming. Both of these perceptions push for a reevaluation of the PhD process so future graduates will have the skill sets and adaptability to fill a variety of roles within academia and industry to combat new problems. One potential skill postulated to help students adapt and succeed in the ever changing world is a concept called “learning backwards.” It is best described as both critical thinking skills to evaluate a problem and generate solutions as well as information mining skills to find the appropriate resources to evaluated and implement the solutions. (1) Should PhD programs be adding such a concept to their curriculum or is it already an implicit part of the PhD process? As graduate students, we spend a considerable amount of time at MIT attempting to better ourselves for the “real world.” But, what should we be getting out of graduate school besides a diploma to frame? What are we be getting out of this experience? Are there skills we should be acquiring now that will be essential as we enter academia, or industry, or change fields entirely? What will the world expect from us after we graduate? Are there defined expectations for a PhD? Should there be? Possible skills to get from a PhD: Time management Learning to learn Learn to think,/problem solve Project/UROP management Learn to do research Teaching Communication skills Confidence to pick up a new topic and run with it Networking skills Collaborations Finding information you need and assimilating it in a useful manner References 1. “The value of learning backward” ScienceCareers.org May 31, 2002 http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issues/articles/1680/the_value_of_learning_backward/ Additional Advice (The following is a modified version of the a document produced by Cathy Drennan, Associate Professor in the Dept of Chemistry at MIT.) MIT trains scientific leaders, not technicians. To get the most out of your MIT PhD, you should do the following: Take ownership of your project. You should know more about your project than anyone else. You should know the background information about your project better than anyone else. You should know the caveats of your research better than anyone else. In general, don't use programs as black boxes. Don't follow protocols without understanding what you are doing. Learn how to educate yourself. Work the hours it takes to move your project along (if this means working harder than someone else who has an easier project, then work harder). If this means working weekends, work weekends. Don't get too focused. Read the literature, attend seminars, and take classes. An MIT PhD graduate should be broadly educated. Attend relevant seminars in your field and related fields. Sign up to have lunch with speakers. Learn how to train people. If you want only to do research with your own two hands, you shouldn't be getting a PhD. People with PhDs lead research teams (either in industry or academia). They rarely work in isolation. Train undergraduate students. Learn how to write scientific papers, and learn how to give scientific talks. No matter what you do with your life, it is important to know how to do this. You should take the lead in writing papers based on your research. As the first author, you should have checked and double checked every reference, crossed every t, dotted every i, have the journal format instructions committed to memory. You should know the paper's content inside and out. You should be the expert. Be organized, keep a good notebook and organized computer directories. Someday someone will take over your project and that person will need to be able to repeat or follow what you did (example, don't call a file "current.wiff." Instead call it "standards_121505.wiff"). Science is good science only if it can be repeated and understood. Organizational skills will benefit you in any job you have. Position yourself to get good letters of reference. Recommendation letters are more important to your future than anything else. Do the best job you can do on your oral exams and on presentations (seminars, group meetings, etc) so that letter writers have good things to say. Other faculty won't take the time to read your papers, so you need to impress them with your thesis and with your presentations. Also, treat your advisor with respect. Be a good citizen of the lab and the department. Research is about teamwork. Show that you can get along well with others, and help out when the situation calls for it.