• Question: what is a PhD???

    Asked by anon-274108 to Ben, Rebecca on 3 Dec 2020. This question was also asked by anon-274209.
    • Photo: Ben Pritchard

      Ben Pritchard answered on 3 Dec 2020:

      The letters stand for:

      philosophiae doctor which is latin for doctor of philosophy (philosophy being the art of studying).

      An academic timeline would follow this rough timeline:

      Secondary School
      Sixth Form
      University (undergraduate – called a Bachelors degree)
      University (graduate – called a Masters degree)
      PhD at University.

      In each level, you specialise further and further into a field. So at school you’ll study a lot of things and then you will take roughly 5 subjects at sixth form level that are your favourite.
      Then at university you’ll focus on the field of one of those subjects. And you’ll see how diverse it is to learn about certain things like Biology or Chemistry!
      Then you’ll do a Masters degree that will focus on a key area, like automotive (cars) for engineering.
      Then if you want to, you can embark on a PhD.
      Up until a PhD, everything you learn would have been discovered by someone else.
      The point of a PhD is to try and contribute by discovering something new and adding to the field you are interested in.
      They last for 3 – 4 years and require dedication but are well worth the contribution and further understanding of your field you eventually specialise into!

    • Photo: Rebecca Rae

      Rebecca Rae answered on 9 Dec 2020:

      Ben has given a great answer to this! I’ll just add a bit about how you find and apply to do a PhD.
      When youre at university studying a subject, if you find that you really love it and want to keep doing that kind of research, then a PhD might be for you!
      If you have an idea for a specific bit of science you would want to make a project about then thats great, you can talk to your university teachers about how to turn that idea into a PhD project.
      If youre less sure then some supervisors (scientists that teach at universities) will advertise a PhD project that they want to pay a PhD student to come and work with them on. So you can look at what different people are offering and if the projects look really interesting you can apply to do that for your PhD.
      Once youre doing your PhD its normally around 3 or 4 years of you doing independent research and deciding what experiments you want to do to discover new things about your project.

Comments

  • Photo: Amy

    Amy commented on :

    It is the highest level of formal qualification. In the UK it is Level 8. In comparison, GCSE’s are Level 2 and A-Levels are Level 3. People who get a PhD are often called Doctor but this isn’t the same as a medical doctor, it just means they are a specialist in their area.

  • Photo: Sarah

    Sarah commented on :

    What’s interesting is that the term Doctor was first used for those who have completed PhD level study and NOT medical doctors!

  • Photo: Rebecca

    Rebecca commented on :

    Another important thing to know about PhDs is that you can get paid to do one (especially ones in science)! So its like a mix between being a student and having a job. You dont get paid lots and lots but I didnt know until I had been at university for a couple of years that you could get paid to continue to study something you’re passionate about and get a qualification at the same time.