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PhD Candidate vs Student: What’s the Difference?

Many people use the terms “PhD student” and “PhD candidate” interchangeably. However, these terms actually mean something quite different, including a different status level at universities.

We’re here to define the differences between a PhD candidate vs student, as well as other essential information, before you continue your educational journey.

Table of Contents

What I s a PhD student?

A doctoral student is anyone who is enrolled in a doctorate degree, also referred to as a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) program. PhD students are typically required to complete a certain number of course credits and sit qualifying exams. Next, they can move on to conduct research and present it in the form of a dissertation.

A PhD is centered around self-directed research and possibly teaching/running tutorials, but they typically also involve a substantial amount of coursework and require attending classes, either online or in person.

Unlike candidates, PhD students are in the process of completing the required coursework for the degree. They haven’t passed the relevant qualifying exams yet.

What Is a PhD Candidate?

A PhD candidate has completed the required coursework and passed the qualifying exams for their doctorate program. They are currently working on their dissertation.

Most PhD students need to go through an application process  and show they meet certain requirements such as a relevant master’s degree . To become a PhD candidate, doctoral students need to pass an internal application process, typically involving a set of exams.

This stage involves significant research usually in innovative areas and incorporating this into a dissertation (this stage is sometimes referred to as “all but dissertation” [ABD]), as they’ve completed all other aspects of the program and satisfied these requirements. To complete their doctoral journey, a PhD candidate must defend their dissertation. Once they’ve successfully done this, they will be awarded their degree and move from PhD candidate to doctor of their chosen field.

PhD Candidate vs Student: 6 Key Differences

There are a number of key differences between a PhD student vs PhD candidate, from their status to the structure and nature of study.

Note: Some universities have recently started adopting hybrid approaches (where there is no clear difference between PhD students and PhD candidates). These programs don’t involve any qualifying exams and students typically begin the dissertation as part of their coursework. Most schools, however, continue with the traditional distinction between a PhD candidate and PhD student.

1. Program Stage

A PhD student could be at any stage of the doctoral program . Coursework still needs to be completed and qualifying exams must be passed. Students may be in the initial stage of the program or about to complete the coursework (before beginning their research).

On the other hand, a PhD candidate has completed all coursework and has at least started their research. They may have completed their dissertation and are preparing to defend it.

2. Research Progress

A PhD student may not have selected their research topic or settled on a particular research question. A candidate’s research is in progress and they should already have a clear research question.

3. Relationship with Advisors

A PhD student may not yet have an advisor. A candidate has an established working relationship with their advisor and works closely with them to complete their research and dissertation.

4. Level of Support

Although they work closely with an advisor, a PhD candidate is generally expected to work more independently than a student enrolled in a doctoral student. Once candidates reach this stage of their doctorate, they typically won’t receive as much direction or supervision.

5. Flexibility and Structure

Understandably, PhD candidates have more freedom and flexibility in their work. Most candidates choose their area of research, as well as the methods used to conduct their work. As part of their coursework, PhD students usually have to work within a set structure (e.g., completing core subjects, meeting deadlines).

Being a PhD candidate comes with a certain degree of status. If they’ve demonstrated a degree of expertise through completing qualifying exams, candidates can put the letters PhD(c) after their name.

Tips for PhD Candidates

A PhD is an advanced degree designed to demonstrate expertise in a given field, as well as high-level skills and abilities in various areas (including research and writing). As such, earning a doctorate can be a challenging process.

The following tips for doctoral candidates will help you put your best foot forward and set yourself up for success.

Stay Organized

Because PhD candidates have to balance many competing priorities, organization is essential. Using organizational tools such as calendars,  note-taking apps , and project management software can help you keep track of deadlines and meet your targets.

Focus on Your Research

PhD candidates likely have busy schedules with plenty of demands (such as teaching commitments and crafting a dissertation). As it’s the backbone of any doctoral program, be sure to prioritize this part of your work and monitor progress to stay on track.

Actively Seek Out Feedback

Because PhD candidates often work independently, there’s a risk of feeling isolated. Ask your advisors, mentors, and fellow candidates for feedback and advice. This will help ensure that you’re considering all aspects of your research question and multiple solutions, rather than focusing too intensely on a single area.

Take Advantage of Networking Opportunities

Networking is one of the biggest benefits for PhD candidates, so take full advantage of these events. Use this time to build a strong network of professors, advisors, fellow candidates, and other professionals you meet at conferences and events.

Take Care of Yourself

A PhD program can be taxing, and it’s easy for your mental and physical health to take a backseat. Make sure you exercise, eat well, and get enough sleep . Remember: Resting and recharging is crucial for working on your dissertation.

How Long Is a Typical PhD Candidacy?

Most PhD students require 1-2 years to complete their coursework and pass their qualifying exams. However, the length of a PhD candidacy is much more open. In most cases, programs take between two and five years, depending on:

• the complexity of the field of research
• the candidate’s other commitments, such as teaching load
• other abilities, such as a candidate’s level of organization.

Once a PhD candidate has completed their dissertation, they have to defend it successfully before a panel of faculty members before they can earn their doctorate degree. This process of defending a PhD dissertation can take several months.

Some universities specify a maximum length for PhD candidacy duration. For example, Carnegie Mellon University limits this to six years .

Benefits of Being a PhD Candidate

Being a PhD candidate can be rewarding for several reasons:

1. Research Opportunities

You’ll be exposed to vast research opportunities in your field. You may contribute to valuable discoveries while developing advanced knowledge and skills.

2. Networking

Through your PhD candidacy, you’ll also be in a great position to build gain a stronger network of fellow professionals.

3. Critical Thinking

A PhD candidacy can help you develop high intellectual independence and critical thinking skills.

4. Career Opportunitie s

A PhD is an advanced degree that allows you to build a rewarding career in the academic, government, and private sectors. PhD-holders can also expect to earn more than other graduates and are most likely to find a job.

5. Salaries

According to Northeastern University , professionals with a doctorate degree earn an average annual salary of $99,290 on average (and much more for the highest-paid PhDs ) and have a 1.5% unemployment rate. For master’s degree holders, the average annual salary is $81,867 average annual salary and a 2.6% unemployment rate.

6. Personal Fulfillment

Being a PhD candidate can help you pursue your passions. This advanced qualification will allow you to become a specialist in your chosen field, allowing you to hone in on the exact subject thatl fulfills you the most.

Qualifying Exams to Become a PhD Candidate

While requirements vary by program, to become a PhD candidate, most students will need to pass a set of exams. These will test students’ knowledge in the field, measure their research skills, and ensure they’re ready to start their dissertation research.

Traditionally, qualifying exams for PhD candidates involved a written test and an oral exam. These will cover a range of topics related to your field of study, with the oral component designed to demonstrate your level of understanding.

Some universities have recently started to issue doctoral students with a set of questions and have them submit the answers within a set timeframe (usually around two weeks). Other schools ask prospective doctoral candidates to submit a dissertation proposal instead of an exam.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a phd candidate be called a doctor.

In most cases, a doctoral candidate cannot be called a doctor until after they successfully defend their dissertation and receive their doctorate.

Can I Put ‘PhD Candidate’ after My Name?

Once you’ve passed qualifying exams and embarked on dissertation research, you’re technically entitled to put “PhD candidate” or “PhD (c)” after your name. However, this is uncommon and not always recommended. It is generally more acceptable to mention that you are pursuing a doctorate (along with the field of research and university) or that you expect to complete your PhD in a certain year (on your CV and online profiles).

How Long Can You Be a PhD Candidate?

There isn’t a set length of time that a person can be a PhD candidate. The length of candidacy depends on a range of factors, including the subject of research and program requirements. Most PhD candidates complete this phase in around 3-5 years (where some university programs have set limits).

Do PhD Students Take Classes?

Yes, most PhD students must take classes and complete coursework as part of the first 1-2 years of their doctorate program. Once they’ve completed this coursework and passed qualifying exams, they move on to work on their research dissertation. At this stage, they’ll be considered a PhD candidate.

Key Takeaways

Now that you know the differences between PhD candidates vs. students, you’ve got a deeper understanding of how to obtain a doctorate. However you slice it, both will help you build your knowledge and skills to become an expert in your field.

However the program is structured, a PhD is a highly valuable degree that allows you to become a high-level professional and build a successful career.

If you know a PhD candidate who’s celebrating their accomplishments soon? Take a look at this guide to the best PhD graduation gifts .

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Lisa Marlin

Lisa is a full-time writer specializing in career advice, further education, and personal development. She works from all over the world, and when not writing you'll find her hiking, practicing yoga, or enjoying a glass of Malbec.

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What is the Difference Between a PhD Candidate and a PhD Student?

Pursuing a doctoral degree is a significant academic achievement that requires years of dedicated study, research, and intellectual rigour. Within the realm of doctoral studies, the terms ‘PhD candidate’ and ‘PhD student’ are commonly used, often interchangeably. However, a closer examination reveals that there are nuanced differences between these two designations. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for both prospective doctoral students and those seeking to comprehend the various stages of the doctoral journey.

In this article, we delve into the disparity between a PhD candidate and a PhD student, shedding light on the roles, responsibilities, and progression associated with each stage. We explore the specific criteria that differentiate a student from a candidate and the various milestones marking the transition. Additionally, we delve into the responsibilities and expectations that accompany each designation, illuminating the unique experiences and commitments faced by PhD candidates and students.

Furthermore, we acknowledge the variability in terminology across international boundaries, academic institutions, and disciplinary fields, providing insights into how different contexts might influence the usage of these terms. By the end, readers will have a comprehensive understanding of the contrasting aspects between a PhD candidate and a PhD student, facilitating informed conversations and a deeper appreciation for the intricate nature of doctoral education.

Introduction

Who is a phd student, when phd student attains status of phd candidate, variation in terminology.

Pursuing a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) degree involves conducting original research in a specific field of study, making a significant contribution to knowledge, and demonstrating a high level of expertise. It is the highest academic qualification one can attain and is highly valued in academia, research institutions, and certain industries. A PhD signifies a deep understanding of a subject area, advanced analytical and critical thinking skills, and the ability to conduct independent research.

While the terms “PhD candidate” and “PhD student” are often used interchangeably, there are subtle differences between the two.

A PhD student typically refers to an individual who has been admitted to a doctoral program, actively engaging in coursework and other program requirements. They are in the early stages of their doctoral journey and are working towards completing the necessary academic components of their degree. On the other hand, a PhD candidate is typically someone who has progressed beyond the coursework stage and has advanced to the research phase of their program. They have usually completed comprehensive exams, passed a research proposal defense, and are actively engaged in independent research for their dissertation or thesis.

The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the distinction between a PhD candidate and a PhD student. By exploring the criteria, milestones, and responsibilities associated with each designation, this article aims to clarify the unique experiences and progression of doctoral students. It also seeks to address the varying terminology used across different contexts and disciplines, enabling readers to grasp the intricacies of the doctoral journey and fostering informed discussions around this topic.

Through this article, readers will gain a comprehensive understanding of the journey from being a PhD student to becoming a PhD candidate and the distinct roles and responsibilities associated with each stage.

A PhD student is an individual who has been admitted to a doctoral program and is actively engaged in pursuing their doctoral studies. They are at the initial stages of their doctoral journey, seeking to expand their knowledge, skills, and expertise in a specific field of study. PhD students play a vital role in academic research communities as they contribute to the generation of new knowledge and the advancement of their discipline.

PhD students are required to complete a set of coursework specific to their field of study. These courses are designed to provide a foundation in the discipline, enhance research skills, and broaden the student’s understanding of relevant theories and methodologies. Coursework may include seminars, advanced classes, and specialized topics. The specific coursework requirements can vary between programs and disciplines.

Example: Imagine a student named Alex who has just been accepted into a doctoral program in psychology. At this stage, Alex is considered a PhD student as they begin taking relevant coursework, attending seminars, and collaborating with faculty members. They are laying the foundation for their research and acquiring the necessary knowledge in their field.

Who is a PhD Candidate?

Advancement from being a PhD student to a PhD candidate typically involves meeting specific requirements set by the doctoral program. These requirements may vary depending on the institution and field of study but often include successful completion of coursework, exams, and other program-specific milestones.

One of the primary requirements for transitioning to a PhD candidate is the successful completion of coursework and exams. PhD students are expected to complete a designated set of courses, which provide a broad understanding of their field and research methodologies. They are also required to pass comprehensive exams, which assess their comprehensive knowledge and understanding of their research area.

As part of the transition to becoming a PhD candidate, students typically prepare and defend a research proposal. The research proposal outlines the scope, objectives, methodology, and significance of the intended research. The proposal defense may involve presenting the proposal to a committee of faculty members, who evaluate its feasibility, rigour, and contribution to the field. Additionally, PhD students often have to pass comprehensive exams, which test their knowledge of their research area and related disciplines.

If you are not familiar with writing PhD proposal and making PhD proposal presentation, then visit my articles on “ How to Write PhD Proposal Presentation to the University ” and ” How to Make a PhD Proposal Presentation to the University Panel” . These articles will guide you through the process of preparation and presentation of PhD proposal to the University panel.

Upon successful completion of the requirements, PhD students are often granted candidacy status. Advancement to candidacy signifies that the student has demonstrated the necessary knowledge, skills, and potential to conduct independent research and contribute to their field. This status allows students to focus more exclusively on their research and dissertation work.

Once students become PhD candidates, there is a shift towards an increased emphasis on independent research. They are expected to dedicate a significant portion of their time and effort to conducting original research, collecting data, analyzing results, and making novel contributions to their field. The focus is primarily on their dissertation or thesis work, which serves as the culmination of their doctoral studies.

Example: Let’s consider a PhD student named Alex in the field of computer science. After completing their coursework and passing comprehensive exams, Alex develops a research proposal outlining their intention to investigate the applications of machine learning in cybersecurity. They present the proposal to a committee of faculty members, who assess the feasibility and potential impact of the research.

Alex successfully defends their research proposal and is granted candidacy status, transitioning from a PhD student to a PhD candidate. With candidacy status, Alex’s focus shifts towards conducting independent research. They spend considerable time collecting and analyzing cybersecurity datasets, developing and refining machine learning algorithms, and testing their effectiveness in detecting and preventing cyber threats.

As a PhD candidate, Alex works closely with their advisor, regularly discussing research progress, seeking guidance, and receiving feedback. They collaborate with other researchers in the field, attend conferences to present their findings and contribute to the scholarly community through publications. The focus is now on producing an original and significant contribution to the field of computer science through their dissertation.

The transition to PhD candidacy marks a critical stage in the doctoral journey, as it signifies the ability to independently drive research and make scholarly contributions. PhD candidates like Alex are immersed in the world of research, expanding knowledge, and pushing the boundaries of their field.

Terminology related to PhD candidates and PhD students can vary internationally and among different academic institutions. In some countries, the terms “PhD candidate” and “PhD student” may be used interchangeably, while in others, there may be specific distinctions. For example, in the United States, “PhD student” is commonly used, while in the United Kingdom, “PhD candidate” is more frequently employed. Additionally, different universities or institutions may have their own terminology preferences, which can create further variation.

Terminology can also vary based on the disciplinary field of study. Different academic disciplines have their own conventions and terminology for referring to individuals pursuing a doctoral degree. For instance, in the sciences, one might encounter terms like “graduate researcher” or “doctoral candidate.” In the humanities and social sciences, the terms “PhD candidate” and “PhD student” are often used. This variation reflects the specific linguistic and cultural norms within different academic domains.

In Canada, for instance, doctoral students are commonly referred to as “PhD candidates,” regardless of their stage in the program. In Australia, “PhD candidate” is the preferred term for those who have completed the required coursework and have advanced to the research phase. In contrast, in the United States, “PhD student” is frequently used to refer to individuals at all stages of their doctoral studies.

Disciplinary variations can also be observed. In engineering, individuals pursuing a doctoral degree are often referred to as “PhD students” or “doctoral students.” In contrast, in the field of education, the term “PhD candidate” is commonly used to denote those who have advanced to the research and dissertation stage.

It is important to note that these examples represent general trends, and there can still be variation within specific institutions and programs. The usage of terminology can evolve over time and may be influenced by regional or institutional preferences.

The distinction between a PhD candidate and a PhD student holds significant importance in the realm of doctoral education.

While these terms are often used interchangeably, they represent different stages and responsibilities within the doctoral journey. A PhD student is in the initial stages of their program, actively engaging in coursework, research, and academic requirements.

On the other hand, a PhD candidate has advanced beyond coursework, passed comprehensive exams, and is focused primarily on independent research and the completion of their dissertation.

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• What is a PhD?

Written by Mark Bennett

A PhD is a doctoral research degree and the highest level of academic qualification you can achieve. The degree normally takes between three and four years of full-time work towards a thesis offering an original contribution to your subject.

This page explains what a PhD is, what it involves and what you need to know if you’re considering applying for a PhD research project , or enrolling on a doctoral programme .

On this page

The meaning of a phd.

The PhD can take on something of a mythic status. Are they only for geniuses? Do you have to discover something incredible? Does the qualification make you an academic? And are higher research degrees just for people who want to be academics?

Even the full title, ‘Doctor of Philosophy’, has a somewhat mysterious ring to it. Do you become a doctor? Yes, but not that kind of doctor. Do you have to study Philosophy? No (not unless you want to) .

So, before going any further, let's explain what the term 'PhD' actually means and what defines a doctorate.

What does PhD stand for?

PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy. This is one of the highest level academic degrees that can be awarded. PhD is an abbreviation of the Latin term (Ph)ilosophiae (D)octor. Traditionally the term ‘philosophy’ does not refer to the subject but its original Greek meaning which roughly translates to ‘lover of wisdom’.

What is a doctorate?

A doctorate is any qualification that awards a doctoral degree. In order to qualify for one you need to produce advanced work that makes a significant new contribution to knowledge in your field. Doing so earns you the title 'Doctor' – hence the name.

So, is a PhD different to a doctorate? No. A PhD is a type of doctorate .

The PhD is the most common type of doctorate and is awarded in almost all subjects at universities around the world. Other doctorates tend to be more specialised or for more practical and professional projects.

Essentially, all PhDs are doctorates, but not all doctorates are PhDs.

Do you need a Masters to get a PhD?

Not necessarily. It's common for students in Arts and the Humanities to complete an MA (Master of Arts) before starting a PhD in order to acquire research experience and techniques. Students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) don't always need an MS/MSc (Master of Science) to do a PhD as you'll gain training in lab techniques and other skills during your undergraduate degree.

Whether a Masters is a requirement for a PhD also varies by country. Australian PhDs may require a Masters as the equivalent of their own 'honours year' (where students work on research). US PhD programmes often include a Masters.

We have a whole guide dedicated to helping you decide whether a PhD without a Masters is the right route for you.

The origin of the PhD

Despite its name, the PhD isn't actually an Ancient Greek degree. Instead it's a much more recent development. The PhD as we know it was developed in nineteenth-century Germany, alongside the modern research university.

Higher education had traditionally focussed on mastery of an existing body of scholarship and the highest academic rank available was, appropriately enough, a Masters degree.

As the focus shifted more onto the production of new knowledge and ideas, the PhD degree was brought in to recognise those who demonstrated the necessary skills and expertise.

The PhD process – what's required to get a PhD?

The typical length of a PhD is three to four years full-time, or five to six years part-time.

Unlike most Masters courses (or all undergraduate programmes), a PhD is a pure research degree. But that doesn’t mean you’ll just spend years locked away in a library or laboratory. In fact, the modern PhD is a diverse and varied qualification with many different components.

Whereas the second or third year of a taught degree look quite a lot like the first (with more modules and coursework at a higher level) a PhD moves through a series of stages.

A typical PhD normally involves:

• Carrying out a literature review (a survey of current scholarship in your field).
• Conducting original research and collecting your results .
• Producing a thesis that presents your conclusions.
• Writing up your thesis and submitting it as a dissertation .
• Defending your thesis in an oral viva voce exam.

These stages vary a little between subjects and universities, but they tend to fall into the same sequence over the three years of a typical full-time PhD.

The first year of a PhD

The beginning of a PhD is all about finding your feet as a researcher and getting a solid grounding in the current scholarship that relates to your topic.

You’ll have initial meetings with your supervisor and discuss a plan of action based on your research proposal.

The first step in this will almost certainly be carrying out your literature review . With the guidance of your supervisor you’ll begin surveying and evaluating existing scholarship. This will help situate your research and ensure your work is original.

Your literature review will provide a logical jumping off point for the beginning of your own research and the gathering of results . This could involve designing and implementing experiments, or getting stuck into a pile of primary sources.

The year may end with an MPhil upgrade . This occurs when PhD students are initially registered for an MPhil degree and then ‘upgraded’ to PhD candidates upon making sufficient progress. You’ll submit material from your literature review, or a draft of your research findings and discuss these with members of your department in an upgrade exam . All being well, you’ll then continue with your research as a PhD student.

PhDs in other countries

The information on the page is based on the UK. Most countries follow a similar format, but there are some differences. In the USA , for example, PhD students complete reading assignments and examinations before beginning their research. You can find out more in our guides to PhD study around the world .

The second year of a PhD

Your second year will probably be when you do most of your core research. The process for this will vary depending on your field, but your main focus will be on gathering results from experiments, archival research, surveys or other means.

As your research develops, so will the thesis (or argument) you base upon it. You may even begin writing up chapters or other pieces that will eventually form part of your dissertation .

You’ll still be having regular meetings with your supervisor. They’ll check your progress, provide feedback on your ideas and probably read any drafts your produce.

The second year is also an important stage for your development as a scholar. You’ll be well versed in current research and have begun to collect some important data or develop insights of your own. But you won’t yet be faced with the demanding and time-intensive task of finalising your dissertation.

So, this part of your PhD is a perfect time to think about presenting your work at academic conferences , gaining teaching experience or perhaps even selecting some material for publication in an academic journal. You can read more about these kinds of activities below.

The third year of a PhD

The third year of a PhD is sometimes referred to as the writing up phase.

Traditionally, this is the final part of your doctorate, during which your main task will be pulling together your results and honing your thesis into a dissertation .

In reality, it’s not always as simple as that.

It’s not uncommon for final year PhD students to still be fine-tuning experiments, collecting results or chasing up a few extra sources. This is particularly likely if you spend part of your second year focussing on professional development.

In fact, some students actually take all or part of a fourth year to finalise their dissertation. Whether you are able to do this will depend on the terms of your enrolment – and perhaps your PhD funding .

Eventually though, you are going to be faced with writing up your thesis and submitting your dissertation.

Your supervisor will be very involved in this process. They’ll read through your final draft and let you know when they think your PhD is ready for submission.

All that’s left then is your final viva voce oral exam. This is a formal discussion and defence of your thesis involving at least one internal and external examiner. It’s normally the only assessment procedure for a PhD. Once you’ve passed, you’ve done it!

Looking for more information about the stages of a PhD?

How do you go about completing a literature review? What's it like to do PhD research? And what actually happens at an MPhil upgrade? You can find out more in our detailed guide to the PhD journey .

Doing a PhD – what's it actually like?

You can think of the ‘stages’ outlined above as the basic ‘roadmap’ for a PhD, but the actual ‘journey’ you’ll take as a research student involves a lot of other sights, a few optional destinations and at least one very important fellow passenger.

Carrying out research

Unsurprisingly, you’ll spend most of your time as a PhD researcher… researching your PhD. But this can involve a surprisingly wide range of activities.

The classic image of a student working away in the lab, or sitting with a pile of books in the library is true some of the time – particularly when you’re monitoring experiments or conducting your literature review.

Your PhD can take you much further afield though. You may find yourself visiting archives or facilities to examine their data or look at rare source materials. You could even have the opportunity to spend an extended period ‘in residence’ at a research centre or other institution beyond your university.

Research is also far from being a solitary activity. You’ll have regular discussions with your supervisor (see below) but you may also work with other students from time to time.

This is particularly likely if you’re part of a larger laboratory or workshop group studying the same broad area. But it’s also common to collaborate with students whose projects are more individual. You might work on shorter projects of joint interest, or be part of teams organising events and presentations.

Many universities also run regular internal presentation and discussion groups – a perfect way to get to know other PhD students in your department and offer feedback on each other’s work in progress.

Working with your supervisor

All PhD projects are completed with the guidance of at least one academic supervisor . They will be your main point of contact and support throughout the PhD.

Your supervisor will be an expert in your general area of research, but they won’t have researched on your exact topic before (if they had, your project wouldn’t be original enough for a PhD).

As such, it’s better to think of your supervisor as a mentor, rather than a teacher.

As a PhD student you’re now an independent and original scholar, pushing the boundaries of your field beyond what is currently known (and taught) about it. You’re doing all of this for the first time, of course. But your supervisor isn’t.

They’ll know what’s involved in managing an advanced research project over three years (or more). They’ll know how best to succeed, but they’ll also know what can go wrong and how to spot the warning signs before it does.

Perhaps most importantly, they’ll be someone with the time and expertise to listen to your ideas and help provide feedback and encouragement as you develop your thesis.

Exact supervision arrangements vary between universities and between projects:

• In Science and Technology projects it’s common for a supervisor to be the lead investigator on a wider research project, with responsibility for a laboratory or workshop that includes several PhD students and other researchers.
• In Arts and Humanities subjects, a supervisor’s research is more separate from their students’. They may supervise more than one PhD at a time, but each project is essentially separate.

It’s also becoming increasingly common for PhD students to have two (or more) supervisors. The first is usually responsible for guiding your academic research whilst the second is more concerned with the administration of your PhD – ensuring you complete any necessary training and stay on track with your project’s timetable.

However you’re supervised, you’ll have regular meetings to discuss work and check your progress. Your supervisor will also provide feedback on work during your PhD and will play an important role as you near completion: reading your final dissertation draft, helping you select an external examiner and (hopefully) taking you out for a celebratory drink afterwards!

Professional development, networking and communication

Traditionally, the PhD has been viewed as a training process, preparing students for careers in academic research.

As such, it often includes opportunities to pick up additional skills and experiences that are an important part of a scholarly CV. Academics don’t just do research after all. They also teach students, administrate departments – and supervise PhDs.

The modern PhD is also viewed as a more flexible qualification. Not all doctoral graduates end up working in higher education. Many follow alternative careers that are either related to their subject of specialism or draw upon the advanced research skills their PhD has developed.

PhD programmes have begun to reflect this. Many now emphasise transferrable skills or include specific training units designed to help students communicate and apply their research beyond the university.

What all of this means is that very few PhD experiences are just about researching and writing up a thesis.

The likelihood is that you’ll also do some (or all) of the following during your PhD:

The work is usually paid and is increasingly accompanied by formal training and evaluation.

Conference presentation

As a PhD student you’ll be at the cutting edge of your field, doing original research and producing new results. This means that your work will be interest to other scholars and that your results could be worth presenting at academic conferences .

Doing this is very worthwhile, whatever your career plans. You’ll develop transferrable skills in public speaking and presenting, gain feedback on your results and begin to be recognised as an expert in your area.

Conferences are also great places to network with other students and academics.

Publication

As well as presenting your research, you may also have the opportunity to publish work in academic journals, books, or other media. This can be a challenging process.

Your work will be judged according to the same high standards as any other scholar’s and will normally go through extensive peer review processes. But it’s also highly rewarding. Seeing your work ‘in print’ is an incredible validation of your PhD research and a definite boost to your academic CV.

Public engagement and communication

Academic work may be associated with the myth of the ‘ivory tower’ – an insular community of experts focussing on obscure topics of little interest outside the university. But this is far from the case. More and more emphasis is being placed on the ‘impact’ of research and its wider benefits to the public – with funding decisions being made accordingly.

Thankfully, there are plenty of opportunities to try your hand at public engagement as a PhD student. Universities are often involved in local events and initiatives to communicate the benefits of their research, ranging from workshops in local schools to public lectures and presentations.

Some PhD programmes include structured training in order to help students with activities such as the above. Your supervisor may also be able to help by identifying suitable conferences and public engagement opportunities, or by involving you in appropriate university events and public engagement initiatives.

These experiences will be an important part of your development as a researchers - and will enhance the value of your PhD regardless of your career plans.

What is a PhD for – and who should study one?

So, you know what a PhD actually is, what’s involved in completing one and what you might get up to whilst you do. That just leaves one final question: should you do a PhD?

Unfortunately, it’s not a question we can answer for you.

A PhD is difficult and uniquely challenging. It requires at least three years of hard work and dedication after you’ve already completed an undergraduate degree (and probably a Masters degree too).

You’ll need to support yourself during those years and, whilst you will be building up an impressive set of skills, you won’t be directly progressing in a career.

But a PhD is also immensely rewarding. It’s your chance to make a genuine contribution to the sum of human knowledge and produce work that other researchers can (and will) build on in future. However obscure your topic feels, there’s really no such thing as a useless PhD.

A PhD is also something to be incredibly proud of. A proportionately tiny number of people go on to do academic work at this level. Whatever you end up doing after your doctorate you’ll have an impressive qualification – and a title to match. What’s more, non-academic careers and professions are increasingly recognising the unique skills and experience a PhD brings.

Other PhDs - do degree titles matter?

The PhD is the oldest and most common form of higher research degree, but a few alternatives are available. Some, such as the DPhil are essentially identical to a PhD. Others, such as the Professional Doctorate or DBA are slightly different. You can find out more in our guide to types of PhD .

Is a PhD for me?

There’s more advice on the value of a PhD – and good reasons for studying one – elsewhere in this section. But the following are some quick tips if you’re just beginning to consider a PhD.

Speak to your lecturers / tutors

The best people to ask about PhD study are people who’ve earned one. Ask staff at your current or previous university about their experience of doctoral research – what they enjoyed, what they didn’t and what their tips might be.

If you’re considering a PhD for an academic career, ask about that too. Are job prospects good in your field? And what’s it really like to work at a university?

Speak to current PhD students

Want to know what it’s like studying a PhD right now? Or what it’s like doing research at a particular university? Ask someone who knows.

Current PhD students were just like you a year or two ago and most will be happy to answer questions.

If you can’t get in touch with any students ‘face to face’, pop over to the Postgraduate Forum – you’ll find plenty of students there who are happy to chat about postgraduate research.

Take a look at advertised projects and programmes

This may seem like a strange suggestion. After all, you’re only going to study one PhD, so what’s the point of reading about lots of others?

Well, looking at the details of different PhD projects is a great way to get a general sense of what PhD research is like. You’ll see what different PhDs tend to have in common and what kinds of unique opportunity might be available to you.

And, with thousands of PhDs in our database , you’re already in a great place to start.

Read our other advice articles

Finally, you can also check out some of the other advice on the FindAPhD website. We’ve looked at some good (and bad) reasons for studying a PhD as well as the value of a doctorate to different career paths.

More generally, you can read our in-depth look at a typical PhD journey , or find out more about specific aspects of doctoral study such as working with a supervisor or writing your dissertation .

We add new articles all the time – the best way to stay up to date is by signing up for our free PhD opportunity newsletter .

Ready to find your PhD?

Head on over to our PhD search listings to learn what opportunities are on offer within your discipline.

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What happens during a typical PhD, and when? We've summarised the main milestones of a doctoral research journey.

The PhD thesis is the most important part of a doctoral degree. This page will introduce you to what you need to know about the PhD dissertation.

This page will give you an idea of what to expect from your routine as a PhD student, explaining how your daily life will look at you progress through a doctoral degree.

Our guide tells you everything about the application process for studying a PhD in the USA.

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What is a PhD? Advice for PhD students

How long does it take to get a doctorate degree how do you get into grad school are you qualified to do a phd answers to these questions and more.

What is a PhD?

A PhD, which stands for “doctor of philosophy”, is the most advanced academic degree. It’s earned through extensive research on a specific topic, demonstrating expertise and contributing new knowledge to the field.

What does “PhD” mean?

The term “PhD” is often used as a synonym for any doctoral-level qualification. Doctorate degrees can often be split into two categories: MPhil and PhD.

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An MPhil is similar to a PhD as it includes a research element (which is usually shorter and less in-depth than a PhD thesis, and often more akin to a dissertation undertaken at undergraduate or master’s level). 

MPhil students focus more on interpreting existing knowledge and theory and critically evaluating other people’s work rather than producing their own research. The precise nature and definition of an MPhil can vary among institutions and countries. 

A PhD, meanwhile, follows a more widely known and traditional route and requires students, often referred to as “candidates”, to produce their own work and research on a new area or topic to a high academic standard.

PhD requirements vary significantly among countries and institutions. The PhD, once completed, grants the successful candidate the title of “doctor of philosophy”, also called PhD or DPhil.

What is a professional doctorate?

A professional doctorate is a kind of degree that helps people become experts in their fields. Instead of focusing mainly on theory and research like a regular PhD, a professional doctorate is all about practical skills and knowledge.

This kind of doctorate is great for students who want to get better at their jobs in areas like teaching, healthcare, business, law or psychology. The courses and projects in these programmes are designed to tackle real problems you might face at work.

For example, you might have heard of the doctor of education (EdD), doctor of business administration (DBA), doctor of psychology (PsyD) or doctor of nursing practice (DNP). These programmes combine learning, hands-on projects and sometimes a thesis paper or essay to show you’re skilled at solving on-the-job challenges.

How long does it take to study a PhD?

The time required to complete a PhD can vary significantly based on several factors. Generally, a full-time PhD programme takes around three to six years to finish. However, it’s important to take into account individual circumstances and the nature of the research involved.

1. Full-time vs. part-time: If you’re studying full-time, dedicating most of your time to your studies, it usually takes about three to four years to complete a PhD. However, studying part-time while managing other commitments might extend the duration. Part-time PhDs can take around six to eight years, and sometimes even longer.

2. Nature of research: The complexity of your research proposal can influence the time required. Certain research questions may involve intricate experiments, extensive data collection or in-depth analysis, potentially leading to a longer completion timeline.

3. Field of study: The subject area you’re researching can also affect the necessary time. Some fields, such as sciences or engineering, might involve more hands-on work, while theoretical subjects might require more time for literature review and analysis.

4. Supervision and support: The guidance and availability of your academic supervisor can affect the pace of your research progress. Regular meetings and effective communication can help keep your studies on track.

5. Thesis writing: While the research phase is crucial, the stage of writing your thesis is equally significant. Organising and presenting your research findings in a clear and cohesive manner can take several months.

6. External commitments: Personal commitments, such as work, family or health-related factors, can influence your study time. Some students need to balance these alongside their PhD studies, potentially extending the duration.

7. External Funding: The availability of funding can also affect your study duration. Some funding might be linked to specific project timelines or research objectives.

So, although a PhD usually takes between three and six years of full-time study, with potential variations based on research complexity, enrolment as part-time or full-time, field of study and personal circumstances. It’s vital to have a realistic understanding of these factors when planning your PhD journey.

How long is a PhD in the UK?

In the UK, the length of a PhD programme typically ranges from three to four years of full-time study. As explained above, there are many factors to consider.

How long is a PhD in the US?

Similarly to the UK, in the United States, the duration of a PhD programme can vary widely depending on the field of study, research topic and individual circumstances. On average, a full-time PhD programme in the US typically takes between five and six years to complete.

Why does it take longer to study a PhD in the US?

PhD programmes generally take longer to complete in the US than in the UK due to various factors in the education systems and programme structures of each country:

1. Programme structure: UK PhD programmes often emphasise early, focused research from the first year, leading to shorter completion times. In contrast, US programmes commonly include more initial coursework in your first and second year and broader foundational training, which can extend the overall duration.

2. Course work requirements: Many US PhD programmes require a lot of course work, which can lengthen the time needed to finish. UK programmes tend to have fewer or no course work demands, allowing students to concentrate primarily on research skills.

3. Research funding: In the UK, PhD funding is often awarded with specific timeframes in mind, motivating completion of the research degree in the agreed duration. In the US, funding approaches can vary, requiring students to secure funding from multiple sources, potentially affecting their progress and completion time.

4. Teaching responsibilities: Some US PhD students take on teaching roles as part of their funding, dividing their time and potentially prolonging their studies.

5. Research approach: Differences in research methodologies and project scopes can affect the time needed for data collection, experimentation and analysis.

6. Academic culture: The US education system values a well-rounded education, including coursework and comprehensive exams. This can extend the time before full-time research begins. UK PhD programmes often prioritise independent research early on.

7. Part-time and work commitments: US PhD candidates might have more flexibility for part-time work or other commitments, which can affect research progress.

8. Dissertation requirements: US PhD programmes generally include a longer and more comprehensive dissertation, involving more chapters and a broader exploration of the research topic.

These variations in programme structures, funding models and academic cultures contribute to the differing completion times between the two countries.

What qualifications do you need for a PhD?

To be eligible for a PhD programme, certain educational qualifications are generally expected by universities. These qualifications serve as indicators of your readiness to engage in advanced research and contribute to the academic community.

First, an undergraduate or bachelor’s degree in a relevant field is typically the most common requirement. This degree provides you with a foundational understanding of the subject and introduces you to basic research methodologies. It serves as a starting point for your academic journey.

Do you need a master’s degree to get into a PhD programme?

In addition to an undergraduate degree, many PhD programmes also require candidates to hold postgraduate or master’s degrees, often in fields related to the intended PhD research. A master’s degree offers a deeper exploration of the subject matter and enhances your research skills. Possessing a master’s degree signifies a higher level of expertise and specialisation.

The combination of both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees demonstrates a solid academic background. This background is crucial before you engage in doctoral study because pursuing a PhD involves more than just knowledge; it requires advanced research abilities, critical thinking and the capacity to provide an original contribution and new insights into the chosen field of study.

While these qualifications are usually requested, there are exceptions. Some institutions offer direct-entry programmes that encompass bachelor’s, master’s and PhD degrees in a streamlined structure. This approach is often seen in scientific and engineering disciplines rather than humanities.

In exceptional cases, outstanding performance during undergraduate studies, coupled with a well-defined research proposal, might lead to direct entry into a PhD programme without requiring a master’s degree.

Admission requirements can vary between universities and programmes. Some institutions might have more flexible prerequisites, while others could have more stringent criteria. Make sure that you thoroughly research all admission requirements of the PhD programmes you’re interested in to ensure you provide the right information.

Are PhD entry requirements similar in other countries?

PhD entry requirements in Canada and Australia can be somewhat similar to those in the UK and the US, but there are also some differences. Just like in the UK and the US, having a bachelor’s degree followed by a master’s degree is a common way to qualify for a PhD in Canada and Australia. However, the exact rules can vary, such as how much research experience you need or the grades you should have.

In Canada and Australia, as in the UK and the US, international students usually need to show their English language skills through tests like IELTS or TOEFL. And, like in other places, you might need to give a research proposal to explain what you want to study for your PhD.

But remember, even though there are some similarities, each country has its own rules.

PhD diary: Preparing for a PhD Nine things to know before doing a PhD Women in STEM: undertaking PhD research in cancer Studying for a part-time PhD: the challenges and the benefits Is it possible to do a three-year PhD as an international student? Looking for PhD tips? Why not check Twitter PhD diary: Where do I begin? How to do a PhD on a budget

How much does it cost to study a PhD?

The cost of pursuing a PhD can vary significantly between international and home (domestic) students, and it depends on the country, university and programme you choose.

United Kingdom (UK)

Home students in the UK often pay lower tuition fees compared with international students. Home students might also have access to government funding or subsidised tuition rates.

International students typically pay higher tuition fees, which can vary widely depending on the university and programme. Fees can range from around £10,000 to £25,000 or more per year.

United States (US)

PhD programme costs in the US can be quite high, especially for international students. Public universities often have lower tuition rates for in-state residents compared with out-of-state residents and international students.

Private universities in the US generally have higher tuition fees, and international students might be charged higher rates than domestic students.

Canadian universities often charge higher tuition fees for international students compared with domestic students.

Some universities offer funding packages that include tuition waivers and stipends for both domestic and international doctoral students.

In Australia, domestic students (Australian citizens and permanent residents) usually pay lower tuition fees than international students.

International students in Australia might have higher tuition fees, and costs can vary based on the university and programme.

Apart from tuition fees, other aspects play a role in the overall financial consideration:

PhD studentship: Many universities offer PhD studentships that provide financial support to research students, covering both tuition fees and a stipend for living expenses.

Stipend and housing: Stipends are designed to cover living expenses. Stipend amounts can vary depending on the university and location. If you’re studying in London in the UK, stipends might be higher to account for the higher living costs in the city. Some universities also offer subsidised or affordable housing options for doctoral students.

Tuition and stipend packages: Some PhD programmes provide funding packages that include both tuition waivers and stipends. These packages are to help relieve the financial burden on students during their doctoral studies.

Research the financial support options provided by the universities you’re interested in to make an informed decision about the cost of your PhD journey.

What funding options are available for PhD candidates?

PhD candidates have various funding options available to support their studies and research journeys. Some of these options include:

PhD scholarships: Scholarships are a common form of financial aid for PhD candidates. They are awarded based on academic merit, research potential or other specific criteria. Scholarships can cover tuition fees and provide a stipend for living expenses.

Bursaries: Bursaries are another form of financial assistance offered to students, including PhD candidates, based on financial need. They can help cover tuition fees or provide additional financial support.

In the UK, specific funding options are available:

Regional consortium: Some regions have research consortiums that offer funding opportunities for doctoral candidates. These collaborations can provide financial support for research projects aligned with specific regional needs.

UK research institute: Research councils in the UK often offer stipends to PhD candidates. These stipends cover living expenses and support research work.

University-based studentship: Many UK universities offer studentships. You can read more about these above.

In the USA, there are also funding options available:

Research assistantships (RAs): Many universities offer research assistantships where PhD candidates work on research projects under the guidance of faculty members. In exchange, they receive stipends and often have their tuition waived.

Teaching assistantships (TA): Teaching assistantships involve assisting professors in teaching undergraduate courses. In return, PhD candidates receive stipends and sometimes tuition remission.

Fellowships: Fellowships are competitive awards that provide financial support for PhD candidates. They can come from universities, government agencies, private foundations and other institutions. Fellowships can cover tuition, provide stipends and offer research or travel funds.

Graduate assistantships: Graduate assistantships include a range of roles, from research and teaching to administrative support. These positions often come with stipends and sometimes include tuition benefits.

External grants and fellowships: PhD candidates can apply for grants and fellowships from external organisations and foundations that support research careers in specific fields. Examples include the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Fulbright Programme.

Employer sponsorship: In some cases, employers might sponsor employees to pursue PhDs, especially if the research aligns with the company’s interests.

You can read about the current available scholarships for international students of all education levels on our website .

What does a PhD Involve?

How does a PhD work?

A PhD includes thorough academic research and significant contributions to your chosen field of study. The timeline for completing a PhD can significantly vary based on the country, college or university you attend and the specific subject you study.

The duration of a PhD programme can vary based on factors such as the institution’s requirements and the academic discipline you’re pursuing. For instance, the timeline for a PhD in a science-related field might differ from that of a humanities discipline.

UK PhD timeline example

Looking at a typical PhD degree in a London higher education institution, we can consider this example timeline.

In the initial year of your PhD, you’ll collaborate closely with your designated academic supervisor. This collaboration involves refining and solidifying your research proposal, which lays the foundation for your entire doctoral journey.

This is also the time to establish a comprehensive plan, complete with well-defined milestones and deadlines. A crucial aspect of this year is conducting an extensive literature review, immersing yourself in existing academic works to understand the landscape of your chosen research area. It’s important to make sure that your research idea is original and distinct from prior studies.

As you begin the second year, you’ll actively collect data and gather information related to your research topic. Simultaneously, you’ll initiate the process of crafting your thesis. This involves combining your research findings and analysis into sections of your thesis document.

This is also the phase where you might have opportunities to share your research insights at academic meetings, conferences or workshops. Depending on the programme, you might even engage in teaching activities. Some PhD candidates also begin contributing to academic journals or books, showcasing their findings to a broader audience.

The third year of a PhD programme often marks the final stage of your research efforts. This is when you dedicate substantial time to writing and finalising your complete thesis. Once your thesis is completed to the highest standard, you’ll submit it for thorough evaluation.

A significant milestone in the third year is the viva voce, an oral examination where you’ll defend your thesis before a panel of experts in your field. The viva voce is an opportunity to showcase your deep understanding of your research and defend your findings.

Why should you do a PhD?

For many people, acquiring a doctorate degree is the pinnacle of academic achievement, the culmination of years of commitment to higher education.

However, the act of pursuing a PhD can be a complex, frustrating, expensive and time-consuming exercise. But with the right preparation, some sound advice and a thorough understanding of the task at hand, your years as a doctoral student can be some of the most rewarding of your life. 

People choose to work towards a doctorate for many reasons. If you are looking to pursue an academic position, such as university lecturer or researcher, then a PhD is usually required.

Many people obtain a PhD as part of a partnership with an employer, particularly in scientific fields such as engineering, where their research can prove useful for companies.

In some cases, however, PhDs are simply down to an individual’s love of a subject and their desire to learn more about their field.

What are some benefits of studying a PhD?

Pursuing a PhD can have many benefits that extend beyond academic achievement, encompassing personal growth, professional advancement and meaningful contributions to knowledge.

One of the most notable benefits of a PhD is the potential for tenure in academia. Attaining tenure provides a level of job security that allows you to delve into long-term research projects and make enduring contributions to your field. It signifies a stage where you can explore innovative ideas and pursue in-depth research, fostering your academic legacy.

While not obligatory, the opportunity to collaborate on research projects with your supervisor is another valuable aspect of a PhD pursuit. These collaborations might even come with financial compensation, offering real-world experience, skill development and practical applications of your research. Engaging in such collaborations can enrich your research portfolio and refine your research methodologies.

A pivotal aspect of a PhD journey is the chance to publish your original research findings. By disseminating your work in academic journals or presenting it at conferences, you contribute to the expansion of knowledge within your field. These publications establish your expertise and reputation among peers and researchers worldwide, leaving a lasting impact.

The pursuit of a PhD can provide a unique platform to build a diverse network of colleagues, mentors and collaborators. Engaging with fellow researchers, attending conferences and participating in academic events offer opportunities to make valuable connections. This network can lead to collaborations, expose you to a spectrum of perspectives and pave the way for future research endeavours.

What is a PhD thesis? And what is a PhD viva?

A PhD thesis will be produced with help from an academic supervisor, usually one with expertise in your particular field of study. This thesis is the backbone of a PhD, and is the candidate’s opportunity to communicate their original research to others in their field (and a wider audience).  PhD students also have to explain their research project and defend their thesis in front of a panel of academics. This part of the process is often the most challenging, since writing a thesis is a major part of many undergraduate or master’s degrees, but having to defend it from criticism in real time is arguably more daunting.  This questioning is known as a “viva”, and examiners will pay particular attention to a PhD’s weaknesses either in terms of methodology or findings. Candidates will be expected to have a strong understanding of their subject areas and be able to justify specific elements of their research quickly and succinctly.

In rare cases, students going for a PhD may instead be awarded an MPhil if the academic standard of their work is not considered fully up to par but still strong enough to be deserving of a qualification.

Can you do a PhD part time? 

Many PhD and MPhil candidates choose to pursue their qualification part time, in order to allow time to work and earn while studying. This is especially true of older students, who might be returning to academia after working for a few years. 

When applying, you should always speak to the admissions team at your university to ensure this is possible and then continue to work with your supervisor to balance all your commitments. 

Can I do a PhD through distance learning?

This is something else that you will need to check with your university. Some institutions offer this option, depending on the nature of your research. 

You will need to be clear how many times you will need to travel to your university to meet with your supervisor throughout your PhD. 

Your PhD supervisor

Choosing the right PhD supervisor is essential if you want to get the most out of your PhD. Do your research into the faculty at the institution and ensure that you meet with your proposed supervisor (either virtually or in person) before fully committing. 

You need to know that not only do they have the right expertise and understanding of your research but also that your personalities won’t clash throughout your PhD. 

Remember, to complete your PhD, you will need a strong support network in place, and your supervisor is a key part of that network. 

Coping with PhD stress

If you do decide to embark on a doctorate, you may well encounter stress and anxiety. The work involved is often carried out alone, the hours can be long and many students can suffer from the pressure they feel is on their shoulders.

Ensuring that you check in regularly with your emotions and your workload is crucial to avoid burnout. If you have other commitments, such as a job or a family, then learning to balance these can feel overwhelming at times. 

Give yourself regular breaks, speak to your supervisor and ensure that you know what university resources and support systems are available to you in case you need to access them. 

Post-doctorate: what happens after you finish your PhD?

Many PhD graduates pursue a career in academia, while others will work in industry. Some might take time out, if they can afford to, to recover from the efforts of PhD study.

Whatever you choose to do, undertaking a PhD is a huge task that can open up a range of doors professionally. Just remember to take some time out to celebrate your achievement. 

How does a PhD affect salary and earning potential?

How much does a professor with a PhD make a year?

Professors with PhDs can earn different amounts depending on where they work and their experience. In the UK, a professor might make around £50,000 to £100,000 or more each year. In the US, it's between about $60,000 and $200,000 or even higher. The exact salary depends on things like the place they work, if they have tenure, and what they teach.

How much does a PhD add to salary?

Having a PhD can make your salary higher than if you had a lower degree. But exactly how much more you earn can change. On average, people with PhDs earn more than those with bachelor’s or master’s degrees. The increase in salary is influenced by many things, such as the job you do, where you work and what field you’re in.

In fields such as research, healthcare, technology and finance, your knowledge and skills from your PhD can potentially help you secure a higher salary position.

In the end, having a PhD can boost your earning potential and open doors to well-paying jobs, including professorships and special roles in different areas. But the exact effect on your salary is influenced by many things, so ensure you weigh the cost against the benefit.

How to choose a PhD programme?

Choosing a PhD programme involves defining your research interest, researching supervisors and programme reputation, evaluating funding options, reviewing programme structure, considering available resources, assessing networking opportunities, factoring in location and career outcomes, visiting the campus if possible and trusting your instincts.

How can I find available PhD programmes?

You can find available PhD programmes by visiting university websites, using online directories such as “FindAPhD”, checking professional associations, networking with professors and students, following universities on social media, attending career fairs and conferences, contacting universities directly and exploring research institutes’ websites.

How to apply for a PhD programme?

To apply for a PhD programme:

Research and select universities aligned with your interests.

Contact potential supervisors, sharing your proposal, CV and references.

Prepare application materials: research proposal, CV, recommendation letters and a writing sample.

Ensure you meet academic and language-proficiency requirements.

Complete an online application through the university’s portal.

Pay any required application fees.

Write a statement of purpose explaining your motivations.

Provide official transcripts of your academic records.

Submit standardised test scores if needed.

Some programmes may require an interview.

The admissions committee reviews applications and decides.

Apply for scholarships or assistantships.

Upon acceptance, review and respond to the offer letter.

Plan travel, accommodation and logistics accordingly.

Remember to research and follow each university’s specific application guidelines and deadlines.

How to apply for a PhD as an international student?

Many stages of the PhD application process are the same for international students as domestic students. However, there are sometimes some additional steps:

International students should apply for a student visa.

Take language proficiency tests such as TOEFL or IELTS if required.

Provide certificates if needed to validate your previous degrees.

Show evidence of sufficient funds for tuition and living expenses.

Check if you need health insurance for your chosen destination.

Translate and authenticate academic transcripts if necessary.

Attend orientation sessions for cultural adaptation.

Apply for university housing or explore off-campus options.

Familiarise yourself with international student support services.

Ben Osborne, the postgraduate student recruitment manager at the University of Sussex explains in detail how to apply for a PhD in the UK .

Giulia Evolvi, a lecturer in media and communication at Erasmus University, Rotterdam explains how to apply for a PhD in the US .

Finally, Samiul Hossain explores the question Is it possible to do a three-year PhD as an international student?

Q. What is a PhD? A. A PhD is the highest level of academic degree awarded by universities, involving in-depth research and a substantial thesis.

Q. What does “PhD” mean? A. “PhD” stands for doctor of philosophy, recognising expertise in a field.

Q. What is a professional doctorate? A. A professional doctorate emphasises practical application in fields such as education or healthcare.

Q. How long does it take to study a PhD? A. It takes between three and six years to study a full-time PhD programme.

Q. How long is a PhD in the UK? A. It takes around three to four years to study a full-time UK PhD.

Q. How long is a PhD in the US? A. It takes approximately five to six years to complete a full-time US PhD.

Q. Why does it take longer to study a PhD in the US? A. US programmes often include more course work and broader training.

Q. What qualifications do you need for a PhD? A. You usually need an undergraduate degree as a minimum requirement, although a master’s might be preferred.

Q. Do you need a master’s degree to get into a PhD programme? A. Master’s degrees are preferred but not always required.

Q. Are PhD entry requirements similar in other countries? A. Entry requirements are similar in many countries, but there may be additional requirements. Make sure to check the university website for specific details.

Q. How much does it cost to study a PhD? A. The cost of PhD programmes vary by country and university.

Q. What funding options are available for PhD candidates? A. Scholarships, assistantships, fellowships, grants, stipends are all funding options for PhD candidates.

Q. What does a PhD involve? A. PhDs involve research, seminars, thesis, literature review, data analysis and a PhD viva.

Q. Why should you do a PhD? A. There are many reasons to study a PhD including personal growth, research skills, contributions to academia and professional development.

Q. What are some benefits of studying a PhD? A. Benefits of graduating with a PhD include achieving tenure, collaborations with colleagues, publication of your work, and networking opportunities.

Q. What is a PhD thesis? A. A PhD thesis is a comprehensive document that showcases the original research conducted by a PhD candidate.

Q. What is a PhD viva? A. A PhD viva, also known as a viva voce or oral examination, is the final evaluation of a PhD candidate’s research and thesis where the panel asks questions, engages in discussions and assesses the depth of the candidate’s understanding and expertise.

Q. Can you do a PhD part-time? A. Yes, part-time options are available for PhDs.

Q. Can I do a PhD through distance learning? A. Some universities offer online PhDs; you can find out more on their websites.

Q. How to choose a PhD programme? A. You can find PhD programmes through research, by contacting faculty, checking resources and considering location.

Q. How can I find available PhD programme? A. You can find available PhD programmes on university sites, through directories and by networking.

Q. How to apply for a PhD programme A. To apply for a PhD programme, research suitable universities and programmes, get in touch with potential supervisors, gather required documents like transcripts and reference letters, complete the online application, pay any necessary fees and submit a statement of purpose and research proposal. If needed, meet language-proficiency criteria and attend interviews. After acceptance, explore funding choices, confirm your spot and get ready for the programme’s start.

Q. How to apply for a PhD as an international student A. To apply for a PhD as an international student, follow similar steps to domestic students, but you need to include securing a student visa and passing language requirements.

Q. What is a PhD dropout rate? A. The dropout rate from PhDs varies but is approximately 30-40 per cent.

Q. How does a PhD affect salary and earning potential? A. A PhD can boost earning potential, especially in research, technology, healthcare and academia. Impact varies by job, industry and location. Experience, skills and demand also influence salary.

Q. How to address a person with a PhD? A. When addressing someone with a PhD, it’s respectful to use “Dr”, followed by their last name, whether they have a PhD in an academic field or a professional doctorate. For instance, “Dr. Smith”.

Q. Is there a difference between a PhD and a doctorate? A. The terms “PhD” and “doctorate” are often used interchangeably, though a PhD is a specific type of doctorate focused on original research. A doctorate can refer more broadly to any doctoral-level degree, including professional doctorates with practical applications.

Q. What is the difference between a PhD and an MD? A. A PhD is a doctor of philosophy, awarded for academic research, while an MD is a doctor of medicine, focusing on medical practice. They lead to different career paths and involve distinct areas of study.

Q. What is the difference between a PhD and a professional doctorate? A. A PhD is an academic research-focused degree, while a professional doctorate emphasises applying research to practical fields such as education or business. PhDs often involve original research, while professional doctorates focus on real-world application.

Q. What is the difference between UK and US PhDs? A. The difference between UK and US PhDs lies mainly in structure and duration. UK PhDs often have shorter durations and a stronger emphasis on independent research from an early stage. US PhDs typically include more initial coursework and broader foundational training before full-time research begins.

Q. What is the difference between a PhD student and a candidate? A. A PhD student is actively studying and researching in a doctoral programme, while a PhD candidate has completed programme requirements except for the dissertation and is close to completion.

Q. What’s the difference between a PhD and an EdD? A. A PhD and an EdD (doctor of education) differ in focus. A PhD emphasises research and academic contributions, while an EdD focuses on applying research to practical educational issues.

Q. What’s the difference between a PhD and a DBA? A. A PhD and a DBA (doctor of business administration) differ in purpose. A PhD emphasises theoretical research and academia, while a DBA is practice-oriented, aimed at solving real business problems.

Q. What’s the difference between a PhD and a PsyD? A. A PhD and a PsyD (doctor of psychology) differ in emphasis. A PhD focuses on research and academia, while a PsyD emphasises clinical practice and applying psychological knowledge.

Q. What’s the difference between a PhD and an LLD? A. A PhD and an LLD (doctor of laws or Legum doctor) are distinct. A PhD is awarded in various disciplines, while an LLD is usually an honorary degree for significant contributions to law.

Q. What’s the difference between a PhD and an MD-PhD? A. A PhD and an MD-PhD differ. An MD-PhD is a dual degree combining medical training (MD) with research training (PhD).

Q. What is the Cambridge PhD? A. A Cambridge PhD involves original research guided by a supervisor, resulting in a thesis. It’s offered at the University of Cambridge .

Q. What is the Oxford DPhil? A. An Oxford DPhil is equivalent to a PhD and involves independent research leading to a thesis. The term “DPhil” is unique to the University of Oxford .

Q. What is the PhD programme acceptance rate? A. PhD acceptance rates vary by university, field and competition. Prestigious universities and competitive fields often have lower acceptance rates.

Q. What is a PhD supervisor? A. A PhD supervisor guides and supports a student’s research journey, providing expertise and feedback.

Q. What is a PhD panel? A. A PhD panel evaluates a candidate’s research, thesis and oral defence. It consists of experts in the field.

Q. What is a PhD stipend? A. A PhD stipend is a regular payment supporting living expenses during research, often tied to teaching or research assistant roles.

Q. What is a PhD progression assessment? A. A PhD progression assessment evaluates a student’s progress, often confirming their continuation in the programme.

Q. What is a PhD defence? A. A PhD defence, or viva, is the final oral examination where a candidate presents and defends their research findings and thesis before experts.

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What is a PhD?

• Types of Doctorates
• A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the highest globally recognized postgraduate degree that higher education institutions can award.
• PhDs are awarded to candidates who undertake original and extensive research in a particular field of study.
• Full time PhD programmes typically last three to four years, whilst part time PhD programmes typically last six to seven years.
• A PhD can lead to an academia teaching role or a career in research. A PhD can also equip you with skills suitable for a wide range of jobs unrelated to your research topic or academia.

Definition of a PhD – A Doctor of Philosophy (commonly abbreviated to PhD , Ph.D or a DPhil ) is a university research degree awarded from across a broad range of academic disciplines; in most countries, it is a terminal degree, i.e. the highest academic degree possible.

PhDs differ from undergraduate and master’s degrees in that PhDs are entirely research-based rather than involving taught modules (although doctoral training centres (DTCs) offer programmes that start with a year of lecture-based teaching to help develop your research skills prior to starting your project).

In most English-speaking countries, those that complete a PhD use the title “Doctor” (typically abbreviated to Dr) in front of their names and are referred to as such within academic and/or research settings. Those that work in fields outside of academia may decide not to use the formal doctor title but use post-nominal letters (e.g. John Smith PhD); it’s unusual though for someone to use both the Doctor title and post-nominal letters in their name.

PhD vs Doctorate

A PhD and a professional doctorate are both research-based terminal degrees.

However, where a PhD focuses on original research mostly around theoretical concepts, a professional doctorate focuses on examining existing knowledge to solve real-life, practical problems.

While there is much crossover between the two, a PhD is generally better suited for an individual to wants to advance the knowledge and understanding in their field, and a professional doctorate degree is better suited to a working professional who wants to better be able to apply knowledge and understanding to their field.

What Are the Entry Requirements for a PhD?

To be accepted on to a PhD programme, students usually need to hold at least a high ( 2:1 and above ) undergraduate degree that is related to the field of research that they want to pursue. A PhD candidate may also be expected to hold a Master’s degree , however, this does not mean you must have one, as it is still possible to enrol into a PhD without a Master’s .

Self-funded courses may sometimes be more relaxed in relation to entry requirements . It may be possible to be accepted onto a self-funded PhD programme with lower grades, though these students typically demonstrate their suitability for the role through professional work experience.

Whilst a distance learning project is possible , most PhD candidates will carry out their research over at least three years based at their university, with regular contact with two academic supervisors (primary and secondary). This is particularly the case for lab-based projects, however, some PhD projects require spending time on-site away from university (e.g. at a specialist research lab or at a collaborating institution abroad).

How Long Does a PhD Take?

Typically, full-time PhDs last 3-4 years and part-time PhDs last 6-7 years. However, at the discretion of the university, the thesis writing-up period can be extended by up to four years.

Although most doctoral programmes start in September or October, they are generally much more flexible than taught-courses and can start at any time of the year.

How Much Does a PhD Cost?

Tuition fees for UK and EU students vary between £3,000 and £6,000 per year, with the average tuition fee of £4,712 per year for 2023/24 programmes.

Tuition fees increase considerably for international students, varying between £16,000 to £25,000 per year, with an average tuition fee of £19,600 per year .

Nonetheless, most students will secure PhD funding in the form of studentships, scholarships and bursaries to help pay for these fees. These funding opportunities can either be partial, which cover tuition fees only, or full, which cover both tuition fees and living expenses.

UK national students can also apply for Doctoral Loans from Student Finance England if they are unable to secure funding.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

What Does a PhD Involve?

To be awarded a PhD, a doctoral student is required to produce a substantial body of work that adds new knowledge to their chosen field.

A PhD programme will typically involve four key stages:

Stage 1: Literature Review

The first year of a PhD involves attending regular meetings with your supervisors and carrying out a search on previously published work in your subject area. This search will be used to produce a literature review which should set the context of the project by explaining the foundation of what is currently known within the field of research, what recent developments have occurred, and where the gaps in knowledge are. In most cases, this will be an extension of your research proposal should you have produced one as part of your application. The literature review should conclude by outlining the overarching aims and objectives of the research project. This stage of setting achievable goals which are original and contribute to the field of research is an essential first step in a successful PhD.

The supervisor is the main point of contact through the duration of a PhD – but remember: they are there to mentor, not to teach, or do it for you . It will be your responsibility to plan, execute and monitor your own work as well as to identify gaps in your own knowledge and address them.

Stage 2: Research

The second year (and prehapse some of your third year) is when you work on your research. Having identified novel research questions from your review of the literature, this is where you collect your data to help answer these questions. How you do this will depend on the nature of your doctoral research: for example, you may design and run experiments in a lab alongside other PhD students or visit excavation sites in remote regions of the world. You should check in regularly with your supervisors to update them and run any ideas or issues past them.

Have the structure and chapters of your thesis in mind as you develop and tackle your research questions. Working with a view of publishing your work will be very valuable later on.

Stage 3: Write up of Thesis

The next key stage of a PhD is writing a doctoral thesis , which typically takes from anywhere between three months to one year. A thesis is a substantial body of work that describes the work and outcomes of the research over the previous two to three years. It should tell a detailed story of the PhD project – focusing on:

• The motivations for the research questions identified from the literature review.
• The methodologies used, results obtained, and a comprehensive analysis and discussion of the findings.
• A detailed discussion of the key findings with an emphasis on the original contributions made to your field of research and how this has been impactful.

There is no universal rule for the length of a PhD thesis, but general guidelines set the word count between 80,000 to 100,000 words.

For your thesis to be successful, it needs to adequately defend your argument and provide a unique or increased insight into your field that was not previously available.

Stage 4: Attending the Viva

A viva voce , most commonly referred to as just a ‘ viva ‘, is an interview-style examination where the PhD student is required to engage in a critical appraisal of their work and defend their thesis against at least two examiners. The examiners will ask questions to check the PhD student has an in-depth understanding of the ideas and theories proposed in their thesis, and whether they have developed the research skills that would be expected of them.

The viva is one of the final steps in achieving a PhD, and typically lasts at least two hours, but this duration can vary depending on the examiners, the university and the PhD project itself.

Once you have done the viva – you’re on the home stretch. You will typically be asked to make some amendments to your thesis based on the examiner’s feedback. You are then ready to submit your final thesis for either:

• PhD – If you pass the requirements you will be awarded a PhD degree (most common outcome),
• MPhil – If you failed to meet requirements for a PhD, you may be downgraded to an MPhil degree (uncommon outcome),
• Fail – No award is given, typically for cases of plagiarism (extremely uncommon outcome).

What Is It Like to Undertake a PhD?

We’re often asked what it is like to undertake a PhD study. Unfortunately, this isn’t a simple answer to this question as every research project is different.

To help give insight into the life of a PhD student, we’ve interviewed PhD students at various stages of their programmes and put together a series of PhD Student Interviews . Check out the link to find out what a PhD is like and what advice they have to offer you.

What Are the Benefits of A PhD?

A PhD is the highest globally recognised postgraduate degree that higher education institutions can award. The degree, which is awarded to candidates who demonstrate original and independent research in a particular field of study, is not only invaluable in itself, but sets you up with invaluable skills and traits.

Career Opportunities

First, a PhD prepares you for a career in academia if you wish to continue in this area. This takes form as a career in the Higher Education sector, typically as a lecturer working their way to becoming a professor leading research on the subject you’ve studied and trained in.

Second, a PhD also enables the opportunity for landing a job in a research & development role outside of the academic environment. Examples of this include laboratory work for a private or third sector company, a governmental role and research for commercial and industrial applications.

Transferable Skills

Finally, in possessing a PhD degree, you can show to employers that you have vital skills that make you an asset to any company. Three examples of the transferable skills that you gain through a PhD are effective communication, time management, and report writing.

• Communication – presenting your work in written and oral forms using journal papers and podium presentations, shows your ability to share complex ideas effectively and to those with less background knowledge than you. Communication is key in the professional environment, regardless of the job.
• Time management – The ability to prioritise and organise tasks is a tremendous asset in the professional industry. A PhD holder can use their qualification to demonstrate that they are able to manage their time, arrange and follow a plan, and stick to deadlines.
• Report writing – Condensing three years of work into a thesis demonstrates your ability to filter through massive amounts of information, identify the key points, and get these points across to the reader. The ability to ‘cut out the waffle’ or ‘get to the point’ is a huge asset in the professional industry.

Aside from the above, you also get to refer to yourself as a Doctor and add fancy initials after your name!

What Can I Do After a PhD?

One of the most desirable postdoctoral fields is working within independent Research and Development (R&D) labs and new emerging companies. Both industries, especially R&D labs, have dedicated groups of PhD graduates who lead research activities, design new products and take part in crucial strategic meetings. Not only is this a stimulating line of work, but the average salaries in R&D labs and emerging start-ups are lucrative. In comparison, an undergraduate with five years of experience within their given field will, on average, likely earn less than a new PhD graduate taking on a R&D position.

It’s a common misunderstanding that PhDs only opens the door for an academic career such as university lecturers and training providers. Although obtaining a PhD opens these doors, the opportunities extend far beyond educational roles. In fact, recent data from the UK’s Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) indicates only 23% of PhD graduates take a position in educational roles . This low percentage is primarily because PhD graduates have a wide range of skills that make them suitable for a broad spectrum of roles. This is being seen first hand by the increasing number of PhD graduates who are entering alternative roles such as research, writing, law and investment banking.

How Do I Find a PhD?

We appreciate that finding a PhD programme to undertake can be a relatively daunting process. According to Higher Education Student Statistics , over 22,000 PhDs were awarded in 2016/17 within the United Kingdom alone. Clearly there are a huge number of PhD programmes available. This can sometimes be confusing for prospective doctorates, particularly when different programmes are advertised in different places. Often, it is difficult to know where to look or where to even start. We’ve put together a list of useful sources to find the latest PhD programmes:

• A great place to start is with our comprehensive and up-to-date database of available PhD positions .
• Assuming you are still at university, speak to an existing PhD supervisor within your department.
• Attend as many postgraduate open days as you can. Whilst there, speak to current PhD students and career advisors to get an awareness of what PhDs are on offer.
• Visit the postgraduate section of university websites and the PhD Research Council section of the UKRI website.

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What is a phd.

A PhD is the highest postgraduate qualification level that can be awarded in academic study. This is usually completed over three to four years of full-time study, and involves research into an original contribution in your chosen field. 

PhD is an acronym that stands for Doctor of Philosophy. The name for PhD comes from the Latin term “Philosophiae Doctor”, which roughly translates to “Lover of wisdom”.

Whether you’re finishing up from an undergraduate degree, on a masters course or even just looking to get back into education, you’ll have seen people talking about getting a PhD .

Most people know vaguely what a PhD is – it’s a university course that means you can call yourself ‘Doctor’ without having to do medicine, right? Whilst that is surprisingly close to the truth, we’re here to answer the oft-asked question of ‘what is a PhD?’.

This guide covers everything you need to know about a PhD.

What does a PhD involve?

A PhD will typically take three years to complete. If taken part time, then it will be separated into three different stages:

Year 1: This will involve you speaking with your advisor about your research ideas, finishing your research proposal and beginning to put deadlines in place for your research. You’ll also complete your literature review in this stage. During this, you’ll review the existing research done on the topic that you’re planning to research to help you determine the gaps in the research that you can target

Year 2: During this stage, you’ll begin to conduct your research to gather data. You’ll document this whole process for your thesis and begin to attend conferences where you will have the opportunity to present your current research to other professionals and researchers in the field. You can take this further and take steps to educate the public on the benefits of your research.

Year 3: The final stage of a PhD involves using the data you’ve collected and the documentation of your research to write your thesis. You may still be conducting research at this point, and that’s OK. Once you’ve finished your thesis, you’ll justify your research and decisions in a viva .

How long is a PhD?

A typical PhD will take three to four years to complete when studying full time. Studying part time can take up to six years. The good news is that the thesis can be extended by up to four years. This means that if you haven’t gotten anywhere near finishing your research by the end of the second year, you can apply to extend your thesis and continue your research for up to four more years. Many PhD students will complete their thesis in the 4th year.

How is a PhD different from other degrees?

To start with, describing a PhD as a university course can be a bit misleading. Whilst it is a course offered by a university, it’s incredibly different to most courses. Unlike the undergraduate level, you won’t be covering your subject broadly you’ll be focused on one very particular area. Whilst a masters degree, especially a research one, may be focused, it won’t be nearly as focused as a PhD.

That said – don’t expect this focused level of research to necessarily be groundbreaking! Though part of doing a PhD is the intent to produce original research, it’s also primarily there to train your research skills and to prove yourself as a capable researcher.

A PhD is research focused

One of the main differences between PhDs and other types of postgraduate degree is that PhDs are heavily research based. PhDs involve a lot of independent research time, where you'll study your topic in detail using academic resources – such as the university's online library and online materials. This format is different to taught postgraduate degrees, which involve a lot more taught aspects such as lectures and seminars.

Do you need a masters to study a PhD?

In order to study a PhD, you’ll need to have a masters degree and a bachelors degree with a 2:1 or higher. Though self-funded students and students with professional experience in the field may be admitted with lower grades

Some students may begin with a MPhil (Masters of philosophy) or a Mres ( Master of research) and upgrade to a PhD by the end of their studies.

Where can I study a PhD?

Most universities offer PhD programs across a variety of disciplines. It is possible to study a PhD at almost any university and in almost any subject. Since a PhD is an independent research-based program, there is a lot of flexibility in regard to what you’ll study. 

PhD students often choose their own study topics and carry out independent research into that topic. This makes it possible to study your intended PhD at almost any university. 

Although, it is important to check which specific subject areas the university specialises in. For instance, if a university specialises in linguistics, then it would be a good idea to complete a linguistics PhD at that university as opposed to one that specialises in another subject.

It can be difficult to find the perfect course at the right university. That’s why we’ve put together advice on how to find a PhD .

It’s important to remember that a PhD is different from a typical university course. Rather than going to lectures, you’ll be conducting independent research, and so the application process will be quite different. Learn how to apply for a PhD  with our expert guide.

A PhD means attending ‘optional’ lectures and conferences

PhDs do involve some aspects of taught study, including lectures and conferences, although these are often optional and take place less often than on lower level courses.

Now of course, the university doesn’t just accept you, your project and tell you to have fun. You’ll work with a supervisor, and there will be conferences, lectures, and other such things that you can attend. Unlike lower level courses, however, although you won’t necessarily be examined on these things that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go! Conferences are a great way to meet people, get your name out and network . For any career, but especially one in academia, networking is well worth it.

A PhD is a high standard qualification

But what does having a PhD show, other than the fact you spent three to four years working on research and can now call yourself Dr [Your surname here]? 

A PhD is a globally recognised, high standard qualification. This means that if you choose to move elsewhere in the world, your PhD will be recognised as a credible postgraduate qualification.

In addition, a PhD can open up a whole world of new job opportunities! This includes academic roles , such as postdoctoral research posts, or even possibly fellowships. 

Regardless of which career path you choose to take, a PhD is regarded as the highest level postgraduate qualification – reflecting your impressive work ethic, knowledge, and workplace skills.

How to get a PhD

Getting a PhD is not easy by any means. But, if it’s something you truly want to do, it’s well worth it. So let’s take a look at just how to get a PhD!

Choose your research area

Before getting started with your PhD, you want to make sure you know what area you’d like to do it in. Don’t just pick something on a whim – this is something you’re going to be studying for the next four years of your life, and something that, once you finished your PhD, you’ll have your name attached to. So, for arts and humanities students, find an area of your subject that fascinates you enough that you’ll want to spend the next few years writing about it. For scientists, find an area you’d be happy to be working on in a team, and wouldn’t mind moving into as a career!

Find a good supervisor

Once you’ve selected your topic, it’s time to start looking for a supervisor . Depending on what you’re currently doing, asking tutors for contacts or recommendations can be well worthwhile, but if you can’t do this, check out what research your potential supervisor has done. 

In addition, try and arrange an in-person meeting – or at least, a phone conversation. Email can make communication difficult and given this is the person you’ll be working under for the foreseeable future, you want to ensure you get on.

Then, assuming you’re accepted and have appropriate funding, you’ll be considered a probationary PhD student . At the end of your first year, you’ll be expected to prove you’re capable of the full course, so you’ll be tested in the form of writing a report. Once you pass this, you’re good to go!

Your next few years will be spent attending conferences, working on the research and your thesis. Your thesis will talk about what you’ve spent your time doing, how you dealt with any difficulties that arose, and generally show what your contribution to your subject is! Once that’s out the way, you get the fun job of having a viva – that is, talking about your thesis to a bunch of academics.

Pass the viva? Then you’ve succeeded.

So that’s how to get a PhD!

UK Research Councils

There are a selection of UK Research Councils, each of whom are part of the  UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) organisation. Collectively, these UK research councils provide an average of £380 million in PhD studentship funding every year – acting as the largest PhD funding body in the UK. 

Here’s an overview of UK research councils:

• Science and Technology Facilities Council
• Arts and Humanities Research Council  
• Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
• Economic and Social Research Council
• Medical Research Council
• Natural Environment Research Council  

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PhD candidate vs PhD student

I see researchers working on their PhD calling themselves PhD Candidates, other call themselves PhD students. What's the difference between a PhD Candidate and a PhD Student?

According to two posters on the WordReferences forums :

This terms vary from university to university, usually a PhD student is granted the candidate status after completion of a “comprehensive examination”, which occurs sometime after the first year.

Here in the U.S., a “Ph.D. Candidate” is a student who has completed all of the academic requirements for their degree, except their dissertation.

So this works in the USA and Canada I presume, because they have structured PhD programs where you attend courses as part of your PhD. Unlike most of the universities in Europe where a PhD student starts off directly with his/her PhD thesis. (Europe does have structured programs as well, but they are not as widely spread yet).

• terminology

• 37 Every department is different. –  JeffE Commented Jul 5, 2013 at 14:56

10 Answers 10

In some countries (e.g. The Netherlands where I obtained my PhD degree) you are not considered a student but a paid employee (staff) with the university. To discern between these, people sometimes translate their status to English using term "PhD candidate". Btw, this has nothing to do with the length of the program or your progress.

• 4 It is also good to note that the salary a Dutch PhD receives is competitive with entry level jobs at say a consultancy or programming company, assuming of course there is funding to begin with. –  Paul Hiemstra Commented Jul 10, 2013 at 12:05
• 5 @PaulHiemstra broadly speaking :) I would say there is at least a 500 euro gap. Especially after four years, the PhD salary is considerably below what a programmer or consultant with 4 years experience could expect. It's the same general range, but I wouldn't call it competitive. –  Peter Bloem Commented May 1, 2014 at 14:54
• 12 @Peter The pay and working conditions are certainly near the top of the scale when you compare it to what PhD students in other countries get. –  Moriarty Commented May 1, 2014 at 16:20
• @Peter, here in Brazil this gap varies a lot. A trainee in a small company usually makes less than a PhD student\candidate. So small companies rarely get the brightest people. OTOH, big companies easily pay entry salaries equivalent to the double of what a PhD candidate makes (triple if the applicant is a good interviewer). And excluding the IT field, the extra income from 4 years of experience is negligible. So it all depends of vacancies on the big companies of your city. –  Lucas Soares Commented Oct 30, 2014 at 15:10
• 1 There is also a political component to it, because there are some politicians who want to change the status of PhD candidates from being an employee to being a receiver of a grant. Therefore, when I was still doing my PhD, I was emphasizing a lot that I was not a student, and I tell that to the current PhD candidates as well. –  damian Commented Aug 31, 2015 at 15:14

To expand on what JeffE said – "Every department is different.", here's an example from my university (a top UC school):

The math department is pretty rigorous and the "candidacy exam" is mostly a blackboard and chalk routine. They throw a bunch of stuff at you, poke holes in your proposal, make you sweat epsilons and deltas from all your pores before declaring you a "candidate".

The life/physical sciences departments require you to have a 20-30 page written proposal + a presentation on it + preliminary results (usually at least 1 journal paper) and your committee members grill you on the proposal.

In ECE/CS (applied, not theoretical), the labs/PIs are generally quite rigorous themselves and by the time a student is ready to take the candidacy exam, they've had at least 2 first author publications and 3-4 conference publications. At this point, their course is pretty set and the committee members don't generally feel like they need to say/do much (unless if there are serious flaws hitherto unnoticed). As such, the candidacy exam is more of a formality — no 30 page proposals (who reads them anyway?); just a presentation on the papers already published + future work remaining.

The bottom line from all this is — there are no standard rules/definitions/process involved in becoming a "PhD candidate". All it usually means is that "This person has shown an understanding of the fundamental concepts (on the day of testing), their proposal/work done is original and has potential and they've completed all course work/other requirements except for their thesis".

In Australia, (at least at my university), you start off as a 'Provisional Candidate'.

Then you complete a Dissertation Proposal - where you present a 20 or so page preliminary report and present it as a seminar to a group of peers - once passed, you receive a 'Confirmation of Candidature' then you proceed to complete the thesis as a 'Confirmed Candidate'.

This is usually done within the first 1-2 years of the PhD course.

• 14 "Provisonal candidate"? I'd have preferred "Candidate candidate" –  Federico Poloni Commented Jul 5, 2013 at 16:00
• 2 @FedericoPoloni well, that is what we're called before the Dissertation Proposal. –  user7130 Commented Jul 5, 2013 at 21:16
• This is very similar to my experience in Switzerland. –  DarioP Commented Jun 22, 2015 at 8:33

What's the difference between a PhD Candidate and a PhD Student?

To someone outside your department, there is very little difference since people (i.e., prospective employers) just don't care about the terms. they want to know what you have accomplished so far.

To someone in a finite duration PhD (e.g., a "typical" 3-year UK PhD program), there is very little difference. It is simpler to just list your year.

To someone in a indeterminate length PhD (e.g., a "typical" US PhD program), it provides a nice milestone.

As other have said, the requirements to achieve candidacy vary widely between countries, universities, and even departments. That said, I think it is nearly universal (and that is going out on a huge limb in academia) that candidacy implies that the next "evaluation" will be on your thesis and apart from time limits or extraordinary circumstances that as long as you are willing to pay your tuition and fees the department will let you be a PhD Candidate.

At my institution (in the U.S.A.), you are considered a PhD student until you pass your qualifying exams. After passing, you are considered a PhD candidate.

The qualifying exam is usually taken around 2 years in the program, or after you have completed any required or recommended coursework. It consists of a written exam, which can be one or more questions from each of your committee members. The written exam at my institution is left up to the committee members discretion (the major adviser in reality), it can be open or closed book, very detailed, or more theoretical, 24 hour time period or maybe 1 month, even proctored by the committee member. The oral examination can also be anything. Committee members can ask very detailed questions or more theoretical questions. Preparing for the oral exam can be difficult, especially if you have members from other departments and backgrounds. For example, I have a Soil Scientist, Biologist, Fire Ecologist, Landscape Modeler, and Remote Sensing Specialist on my committee. They all asked very different question specific to their fields.

Three of my written exams consisted of about 8 questions and I was given 8 hours to complete. It was open book and not proctored. I took the exam from home. One exam was 12 questions and I was given a month (yes I sweated for a month!). They all asked very broad questions for the written exam to figure out which areas I had a solid understanding in, and which areas I needed improvement. The oral exam was basically 4 PhD's questioning (read interrogating!) me. They started with a few easy questions, but then asked more difficult questions from the areas I was not as knowledgeable in.

I think Jaap's reply is pretty much spot on, i.e. paid staff (as in the Netherlands, Germany...) vs. student status (as in the UK, for example).

Personally, I prefer "PhD candidate" because people here are massively prejudiced against "students" (young, irresponsible, constantly partying...) despite the fact that I'm officially registered as a student rather than staff.

Just to make it clear that people are not obliged to use one thing or the other.

• Do you have qualifying exams? –  derelict Commented May 1, 2014 at 17:14

It can be different depend on region, country, university or even department.

In my department in a university in Taiwan, we need to finish all required credit course and submit one international journal as milestone to be qualified as PhD Candidate.

At the university I attended in the UK, one was considered to be on provisional status until passing the viva, which was not only an oral "interview" but also included a thorough review of all research completed at that point, a 20,000 word critical paper, and a detailed thesis plan. After that point, the successful student was advanced to candidacy, while the unsuccessful student was awarded an M.Phil.and dismissed from the program. This procedure was standardized throughout the university graduate school regardless of department. For candidates, the only obstacle left was the defense of the thesis.

PhD students should complete all the coursework before becoming PhD Candidate. After completing all the coursework, PhD students have to pass the comprehensive written exam (and comprehensive oral exam) to become PhD Candidate. The amount of rigor of comprehensive exam depends on department to department. Some department requires that you pass the comprehensive exam on all the four (or five) seminar areas plus the methods that you have taken. Others require that you declare your major area and pass the comprehensive area on only that major area plus the methods. Department may also require you to come up with a framework for your dissertation topic before they grant you the candidacy status. Again, the variation exists between department in how they grant the candidacy. Once your status change from PhD Student to PhD Candidate, you are no longer required to take courseworks. However, you should be enrolled in the pre-dissertation and dissertation hours (normally 24 hrs; 6 hours per semester to maintain full-time status) to continue your dissertation. You work with your dissertation chair and committee after comprehensive exam. PhD candidate are also called Doctoral candidate, and ABD - All But Dissertation.

• 4 PhD students should complete all the coursework before becoming PhD Candidate - this is not generally true (i.e., not in all fields/all departments). –  ff524 Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 13:36
• 3 I downvoted this for being specific to a very limited area without specifying that area or even mentioning this fact. –  Tobias Kildetoft Commented Aug 18, 2014 at 15:19

When you see PhD CANDIDATE think he/she is a CANDIDATE for a job in their field.

Versus PhD student they are still a student learning their field of study.

In Texas public University you are a candidate when you pass all of your doctoral exams. Usually at this point you have already completed all of your course work. You are wrapping up your research projects, writing papers to be published, writing dissertation and looking for a job.

-Nick, Chemistry PhD candidate

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If you’re nearing the end of college or you’ve completed college, you’ve probably heard the term “graduate school” thrown around by your peers and teachers. In fact, you’ve probably heard all kinds of graduate-school related terms, like “graduate degree,” “Masters,” “PhD,” and more.

But what is a graduate degree? What is a PhD? What is a doctoral degree? What’s a doctorate? We’ll demystify it all here. (Hint: those last three are all the same thing.)

In this article, we’ll discuss what graduate school is, what graduate degrees you can get, and the difference between graduate and professional school. Then we’ll move on to discussing the benefits and drawbacks of graduate school, funding graduate programs, and how to apply to grad school.

What Is Graduate School?

What is grad school? Well, it’s not so much a specific “school” as a catchall term for some types of academic programs.  Graduate degree programs offer advanced training (beyond a bachelor’s degree) in a specific academic discipline. They very much focus on advancing your subject-specific academic knowledge as opposed to preparing you for a specific career or job. Graduate degree programs often include opportunities to complete original research in the field.

There are a few different types of graduate degrees. We’ll review them in the next section.

What Is a Graduate Degree? The 3 Main Types

There are, generally speaking, three kinds of graduate degrees offered by graduate schools: the Master of Arts, the Master of Science, and the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). The MA and MS offer additional schooling in a discipline beyond a bachelor’s degree. A PhD is the most advanced degree in a given academic field. (Note that this is not true of professional fields—we will discuss the difference in the next section.)

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Master of Arts (MA)

What is a Master’s Degree? The Master of Arts is the typical Master’s graduate program for humanities and social science disciplines. They can be fairly general—for example, an MA in Communication or Anthropology, or even Humanities. They can also be highly specialized, like an MA in Folklore or an MA in History of the Book (a real degree!).

Some MA degrees lead specifically to a PhD, while others stand on their own. There are graduate programs designed for those with no prior academic exposure to a field, while others provide further training to those who studied the discipline (or a closely related one) as undergraduates. Some offer original research opportunities, while others focus more on instruction.

Depending on the specific discipline and program, an MA degree generally lasts 1-2 years for a full-time student. Select fields or disciplines may offer a 3-year Master of Arts.

Master of Science (MS)

The Master of Science is the typical Master’s graduate program for scientific and quantitative disciplines. Like the MA, the MS can be fairly general in its focus, like an MS in Biology or Computer Science. They can also be incredibly specialized, like an MS in Predictive Analytics or Agricultural Economics.

Also like the MA, some are designed for those with bachelor’s degrees in the discipline. Others are designed for those trying to get exposure to a new field. Some more closely focus on the student completing original research, while others focus more on delivering in-depth instruction.

An MS degree also generally lasts 1-2 years for a full-time student. In some select fields/programs, it may take 3 years.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

What is a PhD? PhD stands for Doctor of Philosophy. The PhD is the most advanced degree in a given academic discipline. It’s also known as a doctorate or a doctoral degree.

As the most advanced degree in an academic field, it’s considered a terminal degree. The Doctor of Philosophy prepares students to do academic work in their discipline —research and teaching—and for positions at universities and research institutions.

PhD programs generally expect students to have some preexisting academic training in the discipline or a related field, usually from the student’s undergraduate degree. Most PhDs will not expect incoming students to have Master’s degrees, although some might. However, students with an MA or MS in the discipline might be able to complete the PhD more quickly because they may not need to complete as much coursework.

Furthermore, most PhD programs do expect applicants to have some form of previous research experience and preferably some academic publishing credits. They may not require the student to have the experience and publishing credits in the same discipline as the PhD, but almost all PhD programs will expect some amount of previous research and academic publication experience.

The structure of a PhD typically involves some amount of preliminary coursework, followed by a written and oral exam in the discipline. Then students will begin research and work on their PhD dissertation, an original research project. Throughout this time, students generally teach and/or work as research assistants to make money.

How many years is a doctorate degree? A PhD can take anywhere from three years (if you have a master’s degree and write extremely fast!) to eight years (if you have a lot of coursework to complete and a particularly obscure dissertation topic). But the time it usually takes to complete a PhD is in the 4-6 year range.

Graduate vs. Professional School

You may notice a huge number of degrees you could pursue after your undergraduate degree missing from the list of degrees above—like the MD, the MBA, the MPH, the MFA, the JD, the MEd, and many others.

This is because those degrees are professional degrees.

So what’s the difference between a graduate degree and a professional degree? A graduate degree provides advanced training in an academic discipline. A professional degree provides advanced training for a specific profession. For example, a JD trains you to become a lawyer. An MD trains you to become a doctor. So while a graduate degree focuses on an academic discipline or area of inquiry, a professional degree focuses on professional training.

We should be clear that these are not hard-and-fast distinctions. The line between what is a graduate program and what is a professional program is not always crystal-clear. Many institutions will refer to some (or all) of their advanced degrees as graduate degrees, without distinguishing between graduate and professional schools.

Additionally, professional degrees can lead to academia, and graduate degrees can lead to professional careers. For example, an MFA can prepare students both for academic teaching and inquiry and for professional careers as artists. While an MPH trains you to work as a public health professional, many MPHs go on to work for research institutions or receive PhDs and go into academia. Many professional schools offer MS or MA degrees (for example, a business school may offer an MS in Business Informatics). Additionally, some graduate schools offer MA or MS degrees that primarily focus on building professional skills and contacts.

Gray areas aside, the general distinction is that professional degrees focus on building career and professional skills, while graduate degrees focus on building your knowledge in a particular discipline and your skill in academic inquiry.

5 Top Benefits of Graduate School

Now that we’ve answered the question, “what is graduate school,” you may find yourself wondering: Is grad school worth it? Should I go to graduate school?

Here are five potential benefits to graduate school:

Preparation to Work in Academia

A major reason to go to graduate school—particularly to earn a PhD—is to position yourself to work in academia. If you want to be a professor at a university, you will need a PhD. For lecturer or researcher positions at small or community colleges, an MA or MS may be sufficient.

But in general, if you want to teach at a college level and work on research in a given discipline, a graduate degree of some kind is pretty much necessary.

Higher Earning Potential and Expanded Job Prospects (Sometimes)

A graduate degree will often increase your earning potential. More relevant training typically means more pay in that field. You’ll also be eligible for more jobs, like more senior research positions.

However, you shouldn’t assume that a graduate degree will always expand your job prospects and increase your pay. An MA in Middle English may not really lead to much of anything except increased debt, simply because there’s just not a high demand for people with MAs in Middle English. So, that training isn’t likely to be considered valuable enough for you to earn more or be a more attractive job applicant.

Be sure to do some research into the discipline you are interested in so that you have a realistic idea of how it will expand your job prospects and pay, if at all.

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Pivoting Your Skills

Say your undergraduate degree was in English Literature, but now you want to be a sociologist. Getting a master’s degree is a great way to get training in a new discipline you haven’t had much exposure to. Armed with your shiny new master’s degree and associated skills, you’ll be able to work in a field that was previously closed to you.

Get Published

If you need to develop research skills and publish some academic papers, getting an MA or MS can be a good move. This is particularly true if you want to pursue a PhD and need to beef up   your research experience and publication credits. Getting a master’s in a discipline related to your prospective PhD can be a huge help here. It will also help you build contacts to serve as recommendations.

Strengthen an Application to Professional School

In a similar vein, you may want to get an MA or MS to strengthen an application to professional school. Any research and publication credits you amass there, as well as a strong GPA or good recommendations, will help you stand out.

For example, maybe your heart is set on being a doctor but your undergraduate grades aren’t quite at the level you’d like, or you simply want to stand out more. Really excelling in an MS program can boost your application.

2 Potential Drawbacks to Graduate School

We’ve listed the benefits—but don’t put in your application yet. There are also some potential drawbacks to graduate school to consider. We’ll list two of the most major drawbacks here.

Considerable Expenses

Graduate degrees are expensive! Tuition and fees can easily run past $20,000 a semester at a private university, not to mention living expenses. You may have to take out pretty massive loans to cover all of this, so it’s important that you carefully consider how graduate school will increase your earning potential or job prospects. In more esoteric fields, the expense may not ever pay off in realized earnings. This shouldn’t necessarily dissuade you from pursuing a graduate degree but it is something to be aware of.

However, some programs will cover all or most of your tuition. You’ll also most likely be able to work part-time while completing graduate work, which will help offset expenses. For most PhD candidates, and some masters students, part-time work as teaching staff or research assistants is built into the program.

If you’re completing a part-time master’s degree, you can also maintain a full-time job while you complete the coursework.

Finally, keep in mind that the expense of tuition isn’t the only cost—while you’re in graduate school, you could be making a full salary employed in the workforce. In some cases, your PhD might lead to a higher salary, but it’ll take multiple years for you to recover the full salaries that you lost out on while you were in school.

Poor Job Prospects

There are some graduate disciplines that simply don’t lead to many job opportunities. For example, there are far more philosophy PhD graduates than tenure-track positions in university philosophy departments. In fact, academia in general is hyper-competitive, so unless you are attending a top program, getting an academic job at the end may be almost ludicrously difficult.

Especially if you are paying for the graduate degree yourself, if there isn’t much in the way of job offers at the end, the degree may be a poor investment. This is something to research before committing to the course.

Funding: How to Pay for Graduate School

Finding graduate school funding can be difficult. There are, in general, a lot more people who want to go to school than there is money available to fund them. Funding in the forms of grants, fellowships, and scholarships for master’s programs in particular tends to be incredibly competitive. There are few fellowships and scholarships available at this level, though there is more funding available for students in high-demand STEM fields like engineering and computer science.

On the flip side, it’s more likely that you’ll receive partial or full funding for PhD work. But PhD programs are far, far more competitive for admission than master’s programs.

Sometimes you can be admitted to a PhD program without any funding. (This is called a self-funded PhD.) This is not likely to pay off in the long run unless you have some fairly sizable independent income or savings, as you will almost certainly rack up debt in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The return-on-investment in this case may not be very high, especially given how competitive it is to get a tenure-track position.

Funding for a given program is likely to be some combination of loans, grants and fellowships, and research or teaching positions. Even if you are a fully funded PhD student, you won’t receive a whole lot of money—generally just enough to cover expenses.

In general, people don’t go to graduate school to make the big bucks, but because they have a very intense passion for the discipline.

Applying to Graduate School: How to Get Into Grad School

If you’ve decided to apply to graduate school, what do you need to be a successful candidate? This will of course vary from program to program, but you’ll need a few general qualifications.

Good GRE Score

You’ll need a GRE score that’s reasonably competitive for the programs you’re interested in. (See more on what’s a good GRE score here ). This will usually involve a high score in the more relevant section of the GRE. So for a math or science graduate degree, you’ll need a high Quant score. For a humanities or social sciences degree, you’ll need a high Verbal score.

Relevant Experience and/or Publication Credits

You’ll need to have the requisite relevant experience for admission. For master’s programs, this can take the shape of some kind of work experience, undergraduate experience, research experience, and/or publication credits. However, for PhD programs, you’ll almost certainly need research experience and academic publication credits to be a competitive applicant. The experience and publications won’t necessarily have to be directly within the discipline you are applying in, but you will need them to show that you have academic chops.

Strong Undergraduate Record

A strong undergraduate record makes for a stronger application. Barring that, solid work or research experience and/or strong grades in another master’s or professional degree can also help you get admitted to the program(s) of your choice.

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Good Recommendations

Highly positive recommendations, especially from notable people within the field, can provide a real boost to your application. You want recommenders who can speak to your interest in the field as well as your suitability for academic work. If you’re an undergraduate at the time of application, professors you’ve worked with are the best option. If you’re a recent graduate, a combination of professional and academic recommendations will probably best capture your skills. And if you have been out of school for some time, your recommendations may be primarily professional, which is fine.

Clear Articulation of Your Interests and Goals

It’s also important that your application clearly communicates why you’re interested in further training in the discipline and what you plan to do with that training. If you can articulate a real passion for the field and clear goals, and you can connect those things to elements of the specific program you are applying to, your application will be much stronger.

Summary: What Is Graduate School?

“Graduate school” is a catchall term for academic programs that provide training in a specific academic discipline or field beyond the undergraduate level.

There are three primary kinds of graduate degrees:

• Master of arts degrees typically provide further training in the humanities and social sciences.
• Master of science degrees usually provide further training in the sciences and quantitative fields.
• PhDs, or doctorates in philosophy, provide the most advanced training available in a given academic discipline. PhDs prepare you to work in academia.

Graduate school is different from professional school. Professional school describes academic programs beyond an undergraduate degree that train you to work in a specific professional field. For example, lawyers get JDs, and doctors get MDs. There are some gray areas between graduate and professional school, but the general distinction is that graduate school furthers your knowledge of an academic field and professional school trains you for a specific career or class of careers.

Here are some of the main benefits of graduate school:

• Graduate degrees are necessary for work in academia.
• Some fields may give you higher earning potential and expanded job prospects.
• You can gain skills in a new area or discipline than your undergraduate degree.
• Graduate school can help you get research experience and publication credits.
• A graduate degree can help you strengthen your application to professional school.

Here are some of the main drawbacks to graduate school:

• Graduate school is expensive!
• Some graduate degrees won’t give you expanded job prospects or a better salary, making them a poor investment.

It can be difficult to get funding for graduate school. You are more likely to get funding for a PhD than a master’s degree, but PhDs are also more competitive. Overall, most people don’t go to graduate school specifically because they are looking for a very lucrative career.

 If you want to go to graduate school, here’s how to make yourself a strong applicant:

• Get a good GRE score
• Have relevant experience and/or publication credits
• Have a strong undergraduate record
• Secure glowing recommendations
• Clearly articulate your interests and goals in the discipline

That’s our overview of graduate school, folks!

What’s Next?

What GRE score do you need for graduate school? Check out our expert analysis of average GRE scores by school and average GRE scores by major . Or maybe you don’t need to take the GRE to get into grad school at all!

If you are taking the GRE, you want to maximize your chances of success. So consider when to take the GRE  and how to make a GRE study plan .

Think you may need to retake the GRE ? Here’s a surefire way improve your GRE scores .

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Author: Ellen McCammon

Ellen is a public health graduate student and education expert. She has extensive experience mentoring students of all ages to reach their goals and in-depth knowledge on a variety of health topics. View all posts by Ellen McCammon

MEMS Graduate Student Research Assistant (RA): MS or PhD

Position title:.

Dynamic System State Estimation and Control for Transformer and Storage Grid Analytics

Position Description:

The Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS) at the University of Pittsburgh invites applications for a Graduate Student Research Assistant (RA) at the MS or PhD level, with an emphasis on state estimation, embedded control systems, and edge hardware prototyping coupled with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) techniques applied to sensor systems. Initial application focuses on grid-scale Li-ion-based battery management systems and power transformer health monitoring systems. More specifically, the student will develop edge analytics techniques which estimate several existing and newly-defined internal states of the electrical asset indicating its health conditions, including both normal and faulty operational conditions. Analytics will leverage real-time data from existing and developing sensor technologies under development within the group. In interfacing with the sensors, the first stage of the development will include on-device calibration models tailored to specific sensor training datasets. Prior knowledge or experience with edge devices such as microcontroller (MCU) prototyping and programming is desirable. Techniques such as Tiny-ML engines implementation on MCUs will be explored and demonstrated to complete the sensor signal interrogation and post-processing. The candidate will have an opportunity to work closely with DOE national laboratory, industry, and other academic collaborators in development and application of the state estimation control system and edge analytics with experimental sensor data interrogation framework in part through the University of Pittsburgh Infrastructure Sensing Collaboration .

Desired Interests and Qualifications:

Successful applicants should have interest in embedded system, control algorithm, on-device analytics with AI techniques, and applications of battery and grid asset sensor technologies. Applicants should have a BS or MS degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, robotics control or related field. Candidates with experience in embedded system, MCU/PCB prototyping, and fundamentals in computer architecture and firmware development are preferred. Prior knowledge and experience with control theory and state estimation is a plus.

Anticipated Start Date:

Summer 2024 or Fall 2024 Semester

Application Details:

Interested candidates should contact Prof. Paul Ohodnicki with an updated resume at [email protected] and also submit an application to the electrical engineering graduate program at their soonest opportunity.

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• NEWS FEATURE
• 17 July 2024

The ‘PhD influencers’ logging lab life on TikTok and Instagram

• Carissa Wong

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Left to right: Ria Chopra, Ellie Hurer, Yasmin Meeda and Lindsay Ejoh have built followings on social media by posting about their PhDs. Adapted from Getty

You have full access to this article via your institution.

In January 2023, Lindsay Ejoh posted a TikTok video of her work dissecting a frozen mouse brain. In it, the neuroscience PhD student uses a bladed machine to cut paper-thin tissue slices that she’ll later examine with a microscope. She also complains about the hour she spent trying to get the machine to work. The post racked up an impressive 5,000 views and dozens of comments. “What a cool life you lead,” wrote one user.

Ejoh, at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, is one of a growing number of PhD students building a following on social media by posting about their lives in research. Globally, an estimated 200 million people now consider themselves ‘content creators’ . But some graduate students are progressing to be ‘influencers’ — with large followings and, in some cases, brand partnerships that can earn them hundreds of dollars per post.

These PhD influencers post on Instagram and TikTok about their day-to-day struggles with graduate studies. They offer research tips, share protocols and build networks. Many also share their experiences as members of under-represented groups in science. “This is so important for expanding the public image and broadening public perceptions of who is a scientist,” says Jocelyn Steinke, who studies media portrayal of science at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.

But broadcasting a PhD comes with downsides. It can be time-consuming and elicit harsh comments about how people look or conduct themselves in the laboratory. A looming ban on TikTok in the United States is forcing some users to rethink their approach . Four influencers discussed their experiences with Nature .

Showcasing science on TikTok

Ejoh started using TikTok during the second year of her PhD. She enjoyed watching videos of others documenting their daily lives, she says. But she could see only a few people posting about life as a PhD scientist — and hardly any were Black women like her.

Lindsay Ejoh documents her life as a PhD student on TikTok and Instagram.

This prompted Ejoh to start her account @neuro_melody in 2021. “I thought it could be really cool to talk about what I do every day,” she says, and by doing so challenge stereotypes about who succeeds in science. Steinke says that, as well as striving to build a large community of followers, influencers typically distinguish themselves from other content creators by focusing “on one specific area of expertise”, such as fashion, sports or science. So far, Ejoh has gained more than 18,000 followers on TikTok and 53,000 on Instagram .

In one TikTok post, she suggests that PhD applicants can strengthen their applications by presenting undergraduate research data in conference posters. She also points to grants that people from under-represented groups in research can access. “Academia can be very gatekeeping,” says Ejoh. “The account is a nice way to share what I know about how to get in and how to thrive here.” Followers responded to the post positively. “You make me want to get a PhD so bad!!” read one comment.

Ejoh also posts about life outside work, such as a trip out of the city to pick apples with other graduate students. Some followers “are here because they’re interested in the brain and neuroscience and pain”, she says. “Others are interested in seeing a successful Black woman living her life and having fun.”

Ejoh has ambitions to build her following further and to become a principal investigator (PI). If TikTok is banned, she knows she’ll have to focus her efforts on Instagram. “I plan to post throughout my postdoc, I want to post about being a PI,” she says.

A lucrative biology Instagram feed

Since 2019, PhD student Yasmin Meeda has been approached by companies asking her to feature their brand on her booming Instagram feed. The marine microbiologist at the University of Exeter, UK, has gained more than 45,000 followers on her Instagram account @marinebiologywithyaz by posting about her PhD work on marine algae ( Phaeodactylum tricornutum ) and how it responds to changing environments. Now biotechnology firms, such as Thermo Fisher Scientific and Qiagen, and the media company BuzzFeed, pay her to feature their products in short videos, or reels.

PhD student Yasmin Meeda features biotechnology brands on her Instagram feed.

Advertising through influencers has become a huge market — estimated to be worth more than US$35 billion this year. In one reel that Meeda created jointly with Qiagen, she showcases a new kit for isolating bacterial DNA and says it generates less plastic and cardboard waste than an earlier version. She makes between £200 and £1,500 (US$255–1,900) per post, she says, which supplements the grant Meeda receives: “I’ve actually been able to save.”

Meeda didn’t set out to turn a profit from social media — she wanted to challenge the idea that some people are not smart enough to do a PhD. In one post about her final school assessments, she wrote, “11 years ago, I failed my A-level exams.” But she retook some of them and earned a place studying biology at the University of Brighton, UK, before proceeding to graduate studies. By posting about her experience, she hopes to show others that a PhD is achievable regardless of school performance and to better represent women in science.

Setting up brand partnerships has had other advantages for Meeda. It has helped to develop her negotiation skills, which, she thinks, could help her to discuss salaries in her future career. And she’s gained a better idea of what that might be. Either presenting TV documentaries on natural history or becoming a lecturer at a university “would suit me well”, she says.

The power of perseverance

When Ellie Hurer was around three years into her PhD, she started using Instagram to find researchers who were dealing with chronic illnesses and to post about her own. Hurer’s conditions include depression, anxiety, benign tumours and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. “On Instagram, I found so many people, PhD students and academics that were in a very similar situation to me,” she says.

Cancer researcher Ellie Hurer uses Instagram to show how people with disabilities can pursue research.

Hurer, who studies pancreatic cancer at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield, UK, uses her Instagram account @myphdexperience to show how people with disabilities can pursue research. She has more than 88,000 followers. “I want to prove to myself & others that even with chronic illnesses & disabilities, we can achieve anything if we just keep trying,” she says in a post that garnered more than 3,000 likes. A graduate student with chronic illness wrote in response: “It can feel so isolating and seeing you persevere makes it feel possible.”

Hurer also posted about suspending her PhD — for about three years in total — to undergo tumour surgeries and manage her mental health. “If suspending wasn’t an option, I probably would’ve had to quit,” she wrote in a step-by-step guide to taking time off . Her funding was paused and she lost a sense of purpose during her early time away, she wrote. “I wish I had looked after myself more.”

For Hurer, creating online content became a source of income, too. She has made reels featuring a figure-making tool made by the company Mind the Graph , and for BBC Bitesize — an online study resource for UK school children. She says a reel can take around ten hours to produce in collaboration with a company. “You get paid proportional to how much engagement you get and the number of followers you have,” she says — for her, about £1,500 per reel.

Hurer has faced drawbacks to being a PhD influencer. When her account hit around 20,000 followers, “I got a bit obsessive,” she says. “I was trying to post all the time and get the numbers up, and it became a bit unhealthy.” Now Hurer is more careful about how often she posts. She’s also dealt with negative comments about her appearance, which she handles by reporting and blocking the related accounts. “Maybe once in a blue moon, I’ll get a comment about my lip fillers,” she says. “These people would never say that to your face.”

Logging the 24-hour #PhDlife

In 2022, cancer biologist Ria Chopra posted a reel of herself working through the night in the lab. Chopra is studying how a disrupted body clock might accelerate the growth of cancer — work that involves monitoring the protein levels in cancer cells from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.. “I have to sleep in the lab and collect samples every four hours,” says Chopra, who studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong .

Ria Chopra, a cancer biologist, posts on Instagram about her PhD studies in Hong Kong.

Chopra has gained more than 15,000 followers on Instagram partly by posting such nitty-gritty scenes of lab life: one post shows her collecting prostate cancer cells from storage in liquid nitrogen, staining them with a bright green fluorescent marker and placing the samples in a −80 °C freezer. She sets most of her reels to dance music — a nod to her other passion and inspiration for her Instagram username @phdwhodances.

Chopra was one of the first PhD influencers to post about studying in Hong Kong — something that attracted followers, she says. Although Chopra, who was born in India, grew up in Hong Kong, she does not speak Cantonese or Mandarin fluently, she says. Prospective graduate students from India, Pakistan, the United States and Europe messaged her to find out how she navigated a PhD despite language barriers.

Chopra is currently posting only once every few months as she focuses on wrapping up her PhD. But in the future, she says, she might document her transition from academia to industry. “I think people would be interested to see the journey from a PhD to biotech or pharmaceutical companies,” she says.

Nature 631 , 724-725 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02294-9

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This post was authored by Academic Affairs on 07/29/2024.

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Mintai Kim appointed as associate dean of graduate studies for the College of Architecture, Arts, and Design

Krista Timney

29 Jul 2024

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Mintai Kim , professor of landscape architecture, has been named associate dean of graduate studies for Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture, Arts, and Design . His five-year appointment began on June 25.

In his new role, Kim will provide leadership and support in all areas related to graduate programs and students within the college, encompassing programs and activities in Blacksburg as well as those taking place at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center in Alexandria.

Immediate priorities for the position are increasing enrollments in the college’s current master’s, doctoral, and graduate certificate programs, which span across four top-ranked schools, and building a sense of community among graduate students and the college faculty and staff who are involved with and invested in the success of these students.

Kim also hopes to maintain a strong presence on campus, serving as an advocate and champion for graduate students. In addition, he will lead efforts to investigate options for developing additional degree programs in the college.

“I am particularly excited about expanding the college’s graduate offerings,” said Kim. “Additionally, I look forward to building strong, supportive communities. As an international student, I greatly appreciated the support from the graduate studies community at my previous institution. My goal is to foster a similar environment at Virginia Tech.”

Kim is a professor in the Landscape Architecture Program in the  School of Design , having joined the university in 2007. Since 2022, he has served as co-coordinator of the Ph.D. program in architecture and design research.

“Mintai Kim is a longtime member of the college faculty and has been very successful in his prior leadership roles, including chair of his school’s curriculum committee and co-coordinator of the Ph.D. program,” said  Dean Lu Liu . “He has many years of experience supporting and creating productive research collaborations with graduate students, and we are looking forward to his work in enhancing our community and elevating and growing the college’s advanced degree offerings.”

As a researcher, Kim has focused on helping communities deal with disturbances such as climate change and sea level rise, as well as on projects related to controlling light pollution and other factors to improve nightscapes. He started the Climate and Community Resilience Laboratory at Virginia Tech and uses Geodesign, a collaborative framework, to solve complex design and planning problems related to climate change. He has built and sustained strong collaborative relationships with stakeholders in Virginia's coastal region, providing alternative design and planning solutions.

Kim received the Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence in 2023. He has been recognized with the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture’s Excellence in Research and/or Creative Works Award at the senior level and the Best Scientific Paper at the 18th International Conference on Information Technology in Landscape Architecture.

Kim earned his bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Seoul, Korea, and both a Master of Landscape Architecture and Ph.D. in environmental planning from the University of California, Berkeley.

The position of associate dean of graduate studies in the college has been held by Paul Emmons, the Patrick and Nancy Lathrop Professor of Architecture, since 2018. Based at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center, Emmons is a registered architect and co-coordinates the doctoral program in architecture and design research.

“We sincerely appreciate Paul’s service and accomplishments, and his work to maintain the high quality of the college’s graduate programs and promote the success of individual students,” said Liu. “He has played a major role in helping us prepare for what will be the next chapter in the college of expanding both our enrollments and degree programs. Paul was a very valuable colleague during my first year as dean of the college, and I remain grateful for his shared strategic insights and acumen.”    

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PhD Student vs Graduate Student [Correct terminologies]

As you progress down the academic pathway it can become confusing to work out what the appropriate terminology is for your current level of education. Is it PhD student? Is it graduate student? Is the PhD student the same as a graduate? Well, this article will answer all your questions.

Graduate student is an umbrella term for someone with an undergraduate qualification (bachelors, diploma), they are often performing graduate research in a Masters or PhD program. All PhD students are graduate students but not all graduate students are PhD students.

To fully get our heads around each of these definitions, we need to understand exactly what each term really means.

This is where we can look at the actual definitions of PhD student vs graduate student.

Definition of PhD student

A PhD student is someone who is currently enrolled in a doctorate degree program and is in the early stages of their course.

Some institutions require students to undergo a coursework component of their graduate program and are called a PhD student .

After the completion of the coursework component, with the research component still to go, they can be called a PhD candidate .

Definition of Graduate student

A graduate student is a known for a student who continues their studies after completion of their undergraduate degree.

The Cambridge dictionary defines it as:

A student who is studying for a degree that is higher than the one received after four years of study at a college or university.

Who is considered a graduate student?

Graduate students can include:

• Masters students
• PhD students
• Professional Masters
• Graduate academic certificate programs
• undergraduate/graduate hybrid degree programs

Even if you have got an undergraduate degree, there are many more options for you to obtain many more qualifications and build on your education. In these instances, you will be known as a graduate student.

Is a PhD student a graduate student?

Yes, a PhD student is a graduate student.

They have spent up to 4 years in their undergraduate programs in order to qualify for admission into a PhD program.

PhD students are able to call themselves graduate students but many choose to refer to themselves as PhD students or candidates.

Is PhD the same as graduate?

A PhD is the highest education attainable as a graduate.

In order to obtain a PhD one must graduate from an undergraduate degree. From the moment of graduating in their undergraduate degree they are known as a graduate.

The order of becoming a PhD from a graduate is shown in the table below. It also includes what happens after you get a PhD.

Is a doctoral student the same as a PhD student?

Strictly speaking, a PhD student is someone who is pursuing a doctor of philosophy.

A PhD student is a type of doctoral student but not all doctoral students are PhD students. Anyone aiming to achieve the title of ‘Dr’ is a doctoral student.

There are many other different types of doctoral students including:

• Doctor of Arts (DA)
• Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
• Doctor of Design (DDes)
• Doctor of Engineering or Engineering Science (DEng, DESc, DES)
• Doctor of Education (EdD)
• Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA.)
• Doctor of Juridical Science (JSD, SJD)
• Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)
• Doctor of Music Education (DME)
• Doctor of Modern Languages (DML)
• Doctor of Nursing Science (DNSc)
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
• Doctor of Public Health (DPH)
• Doctor of Sacred Theology (STD)
• Doctor of Science (DSc, ScD)
• Doctor of Theology (ThD)

There are also professional degrees that lead to the person being called Doctor. These professional degrees result in honorific doctor titles, including those found in the table below.

In my 15 years in academia, I would only really refer to someone as a PhD student. However, if someone was to introduce themselves as a doctoral student I would understand them to be a PhD student.

Wrapping up

In this article, we have learned the difference between PhD student vs graduate student.

In summary, a graduate student is an umbrella term that includes anyone that has done an undergraduate qualification and is continuing their education. It includes Masters students, PhD students and others.

All PhD students are graduate students but not all graduate students are PhD students.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

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Bristol University student, 62, allowed to graduate 41 years late – on the same day as his son

Jonny Clothier, 62, studied architecture at the University of Bristol and finished his studies in 1983. He graduated on Thursday alongside his youngest son Carter who read biology.

Monday 29 July 2024 02:06, UK

A former university student has finally been allowed to graduate 41 years after completing his degree - on the same day as his son.

Jonny Clothier, 62, studied architecture at the University of Bristol and finished his studies in 1983.

But after the pet parrot of one of his flatmates defaced their accommodation - they were left with a bill of £64.80 for the final term - despite going to live elsewhere.

A long-abandoned rule dictated that students with outstanding debts were allowed their degrees - but not a graduation ceremony.

Mr Clothier has always refused to pay on principle.

But last Thursday the university decided to waive its usual restrictions, enabling Mr Clothier to graduate on the same day as his youngest son, Carter.

Carter studied biology and is hoping to pursue a career in sustainability.

After his mother and father met and studied alongside each other at Bristol - Carter is the last of his family to graduate from the university.

The Clothiers' daughter Tiger studied law and works in marketing, while her brother Quito studied music - and now works as an art dealer.

Read more from Sky News More 'inappropriate behaviour' alleged on Strictly Why butterflies are migrating Rita Ora sorry for last-minute gig cancellation

Their mother Helen, 60, read Russian and French and worked making TV documentaries in Russia.

Mr Clothier, who lives in Petersfield, Hampshire, said: "They haven't mentioned the money, so I'm keeping quiet.

"It's not really about me, it's about them, and signing off on the 20-year project to get the kids through the whole cycle of education."

But he added he "loved his time doing architecture". "We worked really hard but we also played hard. We danced, we partied and then we went back to work," he said.

"It's been really nice watching the kids go through the same things 30 years on."

He left architecture for a career in TV, but has returned to his original vocation, currently working on a contemporary net-zero treehouse in the Forest of Dean.

Carter Clothier said: "It's definitely a unique experience graduating with your dad, but it was an amazing day and a beautiful ceremony. It was the perfect way to close off an incredible three years at Bristol."

Professor Evelyn Welch, the university's vice-chancellor and president, conferred Mr Clothier's degree.

She said: "After 41 years, we thought it was finally time to waive the bill and it was great to see Jonny officially graduate.

"We are so pleased that Jonny, Carter and the rest of the family had such a great day, and we wish them all the best of luck in the future."

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General Assistantship (2124-2024)

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The SIUE Department of Mass Communications seeks a graduate assistant for Fall 2024 who can help create a monthly podcast with SIU System President Dan Mahony as the host. This graduate assistant will be responsible for working with the president, the SIU System executive director of marketing and communications and mass communication faculty to come up with podcast episode topics; screen and arrange interviews; record, edit and produce the podcast with SIUE equipment; collaborate on a promotion plan for the podcast; track and grow the podcast audience; and help coordinate video elements when needed for the podcast. Other duties may be assigned.

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