Do I really want do a research Masters or PhD?

Another discovery channel

• 17 February 2007
• Matthew Killeya

HERE'S one thing we learned this month: no two scientists have the same experience during their master's or PhD. New Scientist has talked to a wide range of prominent researchers about their postgraduate years, and discovered a great deal about their personal journeys to the top flight of science (see "What I've learned...").

However, these conversations also provided a reminder that there are feelings, encounters and moments that the majority of postgrad students will almost definitely share. Some things are specific to a PhD, others are just as common during a master's or other course after your degree. So from the moment you decide to commit to further study through to life afterwards, here's what to expect as a postgrad.

The first discovery is a deep-rooted passion for your subject

You may have kept it hidden from your friends so far, for fear of losing a hard-earned "slacker" reputation. You may even have struggled to come to terms with it yourself. But the main thing any undergraduate realises when they decide to commit to a PhD or master's is just how much they love their discipline.

Discovering this is good news, of course: a consuming interest in your subject is probably the most important ingredient for success, says Mike Owen, head of the Biopharmaceuticals Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline in Stevenage. "You will only negotiate the inevitable low points by complete commitment to your research project."

However, just like the difference between falling in love and tying the knot, a passion for your subject does not necessarily come at the same time as knowing you want to commit to years more of study.

Do not worry if you are not completely confident that you are making the right decision - sometimes that doesn't come until later. For instance, Martin Rees, president of the Royal Society, says he was not sure of his choice until a year into his PhD (see "What I've learned...").

Success as an undergraduate does not guarantee success later

Clearly, anyone considering staying on at university and pursuing an academic career should have shown achievement as an undergraduate and demonstrated potential, but don't assume you need to have been the top of your class nor be expecting a first. Nor will you necessarily need to have been capable across every area - witness space scientist Colin Pillinger's description of his chemistry experiments (see "What I've learned...").

Conversely, success as an undergraduate does not necessarily transfer to the next level, especially to a PhD. Moving from the confines of undergrad exercises with known solutions to the potentially unbounded problems you will explore in a doctorate requires motivation, curiosity, creativity, imagination and stubbornness. If your undergraduate course has an option to do a project or dissertation module, grasp the opportunity with both hands. This is your best chance to get a feel for postgrad life.

This kind of experience can often prove a revelation. "Science was something I had fallen into," says Nancy Rothwell, vice-president of research at the University of Manchester. "But my final-year project suddenly made science seem like the most exciting thing imaginable, so a PhD was then obvious. I haven't changed that view since."

Lecturers can help enormously

Many students who go on to do a master's or PhD do so thanks to a gatekeeper - a lecturer or professor who recognises their potential and helps set them on their journey. If there is somebody in your department encouraging you, then take it as definite sign that you might be well suited.

Do not be shy of looking beyond your department for advice. If you are enjoying a fascinating part of your subject that is beyond the scope of your lectures, why not take physicist David Deutsch's advice (page 60) and get in touch with the relevant researcher at another university?

Further down the line, choose your supervisor carefully: that relationship is the keystone of postgrad study - particularly in PhDs. Ask yourself if you would want a hands-on supervisor who you see most days, or whether you would prefer one who communicates monthly via Post-it notes in your pigeon-hole? Try to visit a department before applying, and ask students what it's like working for the various professors.

A year's worth of fretting before comprehending what your supervisor is talking about is not uncommon. In the same way that road directions are often sketchier from people who know the route, your supervisor's familiarity with their own field can mean they take your understanding of it for granted.

"It was a massive shock, being thrown into the deep end of research," says Marcus Du Sautoy, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford. "I remember being completely flummoxed by the onslaught of foreign words in the academic papers my supervisor gave me to read. But I began to learn a new style of reading, which pulled out the big story of the paper without trying to understand all the details."

“I remember being completely flummoxed by the onslaught of foreign words”

Listen carefully, note everything down and think about it in your own time. Sometimes a comment from your supervisor that confused you can come into its own months later. Your peers will be able to help you settle in, and will soon prove their worth by offering an alternative perspective on your work - something which makes all the difference when you get stuck.

It is important to be ambitious but also realistic. "Many students expect to be doing fundamental research from day one, and in most cases this is unrealistic," says Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at the University of Southampton. "You have a lot to learn and will spend considerable time reading about what others are doing."

Funding yourself has got a bit easier

PhD students can now expect significantly more help with finances compared to a decade ago. This year, PhD students will receive a stipend of £12,300. Funding can be trickier if you do a master's, but teaching, marking, demonstrating and exam invigilation all now offer potential extra sources of money.

Not everything goes to plan

It is easy to reach the second year of a research-based postgraduate placement and feel you have not achieved much. In a PhD, this is when you start to make your research your own. Starting to apply your knowledge to proper, independent research can be a shock. By its nature, it leads you down blind alleys, and your supervisor can only help so much.

Expect to have setbacks and failures. Everybody struggles - if all your experiments worked first time, then your supervisor would more than likely become suspicious.

Some things will be out of your control and you will need to make the best of it. It could be that your supervisor goes on sabbatical for a chunk of your PhD - something which happened to Rothwell. "At the time I thought it was a real disadvantage, but it made me stand on my own two feet," she recalls.

Interruptions can be positive

Time away from your desk can provide the inspiration that makes the difference between a breakthrough and banging your head against the wall. Teaching and other departmental responsibilities mean that you do something positive every week, even when your research does not go to plan. Not only is communicating ideas an important skill to have, teaching refreshes your broader understanding of your subject.

Your results are no good unless others believe them

You will reach a stage where you understand the intricate details of what you are doing more than your supervisor does. He or she will still be there to give you general guidance but, more importantly, to check your results. You need to be as sure as possible that these are correct. This is one of the single most important lessons to learn as a postgraduate, and this kind of rigour will also be central to your integrity as a scientist, which makes it highly valued in the job market.

Public speaking is not so bad

Somewhere along the way, you will probably attend academic conferences. This is a chance to meet some of the top people in the field and get some fresh perspectives on your work.

Seeing what others are working on can be invaluable for triggering thoughts about your own research. Hearing about the hurdles other research students have faced can also be quite reassuring.

If you do not like talking in public, then this is the time to sort it out. Speaking about something you are passionate about can do wonders for the nerves. Writing a talk forces you to think about the structure and main messages of your thesis, which of course will help you write and present the thing later on.

"You can do the most amazing experiments or make the most astounding observations, but if you fail to communicate them, you might as well never have done the work," says Mike Benton, professor of palaeontology at the University of Bristol.

In a PhD, one of the final hurdles is an oral defence of your thesis - or viva - to two experts in the field. It may be a two to three-hour grilling but, on the bright side, it is also a rare opportunity to talk non-stop about your research to people who will actually listen.

You pick up other useful life skills too

Time in academia beyond your degree will expand your abilities in ways few other things can. "Getting that final degree changed my life and opened opportunities for me in ways I surely still don't understand," says Paul Nahin, professor emeritus at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Aside from your technical knowledge, you will learn organisation, prioritisation, critical thinking and self-motivation.

The idea that an extra piece of paper will make you unemployable or overqualified outside academia is a fallacy. In fact, as few as one-quarter of UK science PhD students stay in academia, according to figures from the UK GRAD programme, which aims to improve the career chances of postgraduate researchers.

At the same time, a postgraduate qualification is no guarantee of a job in academia. "The career ladder is tough, but it has to be," says Benton. As a researcher you are creating knowledge, not following a well-beaten track, so only the most creative and persistent will do."

Whatever happens, it will be time well spent

Towards the end, things unexpectedly start to fall into place and make sense. After months of toiling away on a handful of very specific problems, you come up for air and see where your work fits into the scientific endeavour. Your thesis becomes the story of a period of your life. Step back and you will see you have achieved a lot.

As long as you are interested in the subject, a postgraduate degree will be hard work but ultimately gratifying. "The rewards are fantastic for those who work hard and who have a real spark of originality," says Benton. "The chance to challenge received wisdom and to find something new no one has realised before are unbeatable."

And if you later find yourself picking your completed thesis off the shelf and caressing it like a small pet, do not worry - this is entirely normal behaviour.

From issue 2591 of New Scientist magazine, 17 February 2007, page 54-59

What I've learned... Martin Rees

Martin Rees is professor of cosmology and astrophysics at the University of Cambridge. He is president of the Royal Society.

There was no particular planning in my case. Some research students know, right from the start, exactly what to do. I didn't really know for sure. It was only after a year that I was sure I was doing something I would enjoy.

I was lucky in two ways. I had a very inspiring supervisor, which is one of the most important choices you can make. Second, I worked in a subject where new things were happening. In a stagnant field, the only unsolved problems will be those that an earlier generation of good researchers could not solve, and you will probably get stuck on them too.

There are always up and downs in research. There are always ideas that do not work out. It is not a bad idea if students do some teaching or tutorials. Every week you feel like you have done something positive - it prevents gyrations in your morale level.

If you can write just 50 words a day, that's more than enough. When you say it like that, it does not seem very daunting. Writing the thesis is difficult, but most people publish papers along the way, so it is not a case of starting with a blank canvas.

Getting a PhD will not necessarily get you a job in that subject. You should not embark on a PhD unless you have an intrinsic interest. You should feel it was worthwhile in itself.

Doing a PhD occupies the most free and most independent years you will ever enjoy - even more than as an undergraduate. Students should make the maximum use of those three years and learn as much as possible.

What I've learned... Andy Hopper

Andy Hopper is professor of computer technology at the University of Cambridge and head of the computer lab. He has co-founded about 12 companies.

What I didn't learn was how to ski. It is good to have interests outside work. I hoped to study in the Alps, but had no response. I ended up at Cambridge and took up flying.

Peers can teach you just as much a supervisor. I was thrown into a shared office with two other PhD students, squashed in like sardines. I shared an office with the creator of C++ and another guy who went on to be a senior developer at Google.

My supervisor was a brilliant man, but it took me a year to understand what he was saying. He was on a different level and I realised I had to get on a rocket and get up there.

I learned to do what you're good at... not to try and go up against people who are better than you. I was a soldering-iron guy and not too much of a mathematician. Find something you are good at that makes you happy.

If every PhD student changed the world, everyone would get a migraine. I have just finished my 50th supervision. They are all trying to change the world and I'm trying to calm them down a bit. It is only a PhD, it's not a Nobel prize... not yet.

Four reasons to do a master

1 Test the water

You may be unsure whether you are cut out for research. A master's gives you a taster without the long-term commitment. It also leaves the door open should you wish to do a PhD later on.

2 Build on your degree

Some master's courses are taught, rather than research-based with a thesis. On these courses, expect lectures, seminars and coursework with a dissertation at the end.

3 Earn more -in some cases

Across the overall job market, graduates with a master's are offered an average starting salary around £1000 greater than those with a bachelor's, according to a 2006 survey by the Association of Graduate Recruiters. But be warned: a master's won't necessarily win you a bigger salary in a scientific career. In a survey of New Scientist readers earlier this year, we found that the average pay of industrial scientific researchers with a master's was around the same as a bachelor's - around £26,000 to £27,000. Only a PhD seems to make the difference in science, with an average salary of £36,000.

4 And finally... live longer

With a master's you'll live to a riper old age. That's the conclusion of a study by Robert Erikson at Stockholm University in Sweden, who used Swedish census data to show that mortality rates dropped with a higher level of education. Between 1991 and 1996, men aged 64 with a master's or similar qualification had a lower risk of dying than those with a basic tertiary education - around 8.5 per cent versus 9.6 per cent. Those with a doctorate stuck around even longer, with a risk of death of only 6 per cent.

Richard Fisher

What I have learned... Colin Pillinger

Colin Pillinger is a professor of planetary sciences at the Open University in Milton Keynes. He led the team that created the UK's Mars lander, Beagle 2.

Postgrad life is a bit like football - as you get older you remember you were a lot better than you actually were.

I was always good at science, but not at every aspect. It was no great loss when Colin Pillinger stopped mixing chemicals. I have been known to have to clean things off ceilings before.

You don't always need to be the best candidate. After my PhD, I won the opportunity to examine the Apollo lunar samples. An internal candidate for the job had turned it down, saying a career in space research had no future. Every time he sees me on the television now, he probably kicks his cat.

The step up wasn't a shock, I enjoyed it immensely. I wrote a paper as a student, which to this day is the most cited I have ever written.

A PhD allowed me to develop independence. Some supervisors breathe down your neck, but mine left me alone. He believed that if you made mistakes, it was better to let you find them out yourself. But his door was always open to me. It's a pretty good way to let people become researchers.

I found discovering things nobody else knew was a pretty good way of spending your time. I did a PhD because I wanted to do something new. It's totally possible to be original in a PhD. You have to be enquiring. We need more of these people - there's a lot of talent we're not getting.

What I've learned...David Deutsch

David Deutsch is a professor of physics at the University of Oxford's centre for quantum computation. In 1998, he received the Paul Dirac prize medal from the Institute of Physics.

I didn't think about where I should pursue a research career. I didn't see that it made any difference. As an undergraduate at [the University of] Cambridge, I assumed it would be at Cambridge. Around the same time, I went to see the head of theoretical astrophysics at Oxford because his book had inspired me. I decided to apply for a place there, and was accepted. I wanted to do research in the foundations of physics - that wasn't a variable.

I wasn't working with the big shots; they cast a benevolent eye on what I was doing, greatly to their credit. It was perfect: I was allowed to work on what I wanted, and I didn't have the burden of making the core effort of the department work. When I asked questions, they were there.

I arranged to meet people who I thought were great. I don't mean going from university to university networking. But if you read a paper that fascinates you, go for it. Don't feel shy. Everyone is receptive to somebody who is genuinely interested.

I had several abrupt changes in direction- or at least it looked like that from the outside. I just followed my nose to see where it took me: from quantum field theory to looking at the strange properties of curved barriers to quantum computing. It required some enlightened supervisors to let me do that.

Wisdom in a nutshell

"In any creative endeavour you need a break, whether it is scientific research or anything else. The harder you work at it the more likely you are to get the break you want."

Harry Kroto, Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry, Florida State University in Tallahassee

"The movie scientist who shouts 'eureka' is far from reality. You have to be passionate about your subject and willing to endure months of drudgery."

Mike Benton, professor of vertebrate palaeontology, University of Bristol

"Often research doesn't go as expected. I discovered pulsars about two years into my PhD. It was too late to change the title of my thesis, so they appeared in the appendix."

Jocelyn Bell Burnell, visiting professor of physics, University of Oxford, who during her PhD spotted regular radio pulses from space, which were the first evidence for the existence of neutron stars

"Find an understanding spouse that won't let you quit when the going gets tough. My wife earned at least half my doctorate."

Paul Nahin, professor emeritus of electrical engineering, University of New Hampshire

"Surround yourself with smarter colleagues and listen and learn from them."

Mike Owen, head of the Biopharmaceuticals Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline in Stevenage

"Think carefully about who you choose as your supervisor. It can be very inspirational to be supervised by a well-known professor, but nowadays academics can be abroad a lot. You need someone to talk to about your research on an everyday basis."

Wendy Hall, professor of computer science, University of Southampton

"It's important to make compromises sometimes. If you are going for a big theorem then sometimes you just have to accept that you won't be able to prove the whole thing. But even just a small bite out of these big problems can be fantastic progress."

Marcus du Sautoy, professor of mathematics, University of Oxford

reposted from: New Scientist
my: highlights / emphasis / key points / comments