Questions tagged [phd]
Questions about the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree, including requirements such as dissertations and university programs leading to a Ph.D.
7,192
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If you want to do a PhD in mathematics, how important is it to start immediately after finishing undergraduate studies?
I'm about to finish my undergraduates studies; I majored in mathematics and minored in physics, and I always intended on going to grad school to pursue a PhD in mathematics, but I've been having ...
4
votes
1
answer
2k
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Stuctured vs Individual German doctoral program
I am looking for a Ph.D. in a German-speaking country in Europe.
I am looking at some possible institutes for applying on Ph.D. program.
Some offer "individual" and some "structured" doctoral ...
7
votes
1
answer
1k
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Is it sensible to do two PhD's simultaneously?
I have finished my master's degree in Physics (Radiation and Health Physics Option) with distinction, but I want a PhD in Medical Physics. My university does not offer that pathway and other ...
11
votes
3
answers
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Is independent research a good long term goal for a bachelor's degree holder with experience and interest?
Bear with me while I put some biographical information here.
I'm a bachelor of engineering graduate from India with approximately a decade of work experience in design, engineering and project ...
0
votes
1
answer
1k
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Highlighting sentences in the statement of purpose
I am under the impression that admissions officers are busy people and they have lots and lots of applications to review, especially in top schools. Because of this, it could happen that the some ...
34
votes
8
answers
5k
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What can I do to be able to understand conference presentations?
(I wish to remain anonymous, so I've omitted many details here. If those
details make this question unanswerable, please don't hesitate to vote it
down or close it.)
I've been a PhD student in ...
4
votes
2
answers
1k
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Mediocre Thesis Topic. Does this Hurt my Reputation
Just curious as to the effects of publishing a mediocre PHD thesis:
After sitting down and taking a cold, detached, look at my thesis topic, I realized I was given a pair of coobook-style problems, i....
1
vote
1
answer
520
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PhD defence announcement
What information should contain a (A4-sized, landscape-oriented) poster announcing a PhD defence? What idioms, jargon or style is usually used? Could you provide some models or examples?
5
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1
answer
1k
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How to formulate my resume, if a PhD defense exam fails with mark “Dissertation passed, Oral failed”
My PhD examination consists of two parts namely the dissertation note and the oral note. Unfortunately, it was fails with “Dissertation passed, Oral failed”.
What could be the best way to form it in ...
7
votes
1
answer
3k
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Writing a research statement in mathematics without having any research experience
It's pretty common that European universities ask for a Research Statement when applying to a PhD program. The problem is that at my current university where I did my undergraduate and where I'm ...
50
votes
11
answers
20k
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Career advice: How can I move on from my probable PhD flop?
So thing aren't going well for me with my PhD and I sort of think I'm not going to get there (hard deadline is September and frankly I think I'm fairly close to having a breakdown). I'm in the UK and ...
2
votes
1
answer
837
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What to do if I only want to study master not PHD with a professor
I decided to study math after graduating from business department. I entered a 2-year taught program in the same university in Asia and used the time to take all the necessary courses. In the first ...
21
votes
6
answers
4k
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How much involvement should my advisor have in deciding my availability and actions for me? [closed]
I worked in the industry for a few years before starting my PhD and learned many do's and don'ts in the workplace for how you guide subordinates to attend meetings and do things you want them to do. I'...
8
votes
1
answer
3k
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Selecting references for PhD applications: are industry references OK?
My background:
Final year computer science undergraduate in the UK.
Spent one year working in a scientific facility developing software for scientists. My colleagues had previous academic experience (...
1
vote
2
answers
2k
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How do I answer a question on the ethical implications of my work at PhD viva?
I am defending my PhD thesis soon and have been told to practice some questions that I should expect, one of which is:
What are the ethical implications of your work?
How should I go about answering ...
34
votes
4
answers
7k
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When should one include the proof of known results in a mathematical PhD thesis?
When writing a PhD thesis on mathematics one needs to quote many results by others, such as
The following theorem was proved by ABC in [1].
Theorem. Bla, bla, bla...
My question is when should one ...
2
votes
2
answers
3k
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When a PhD program asks for academic transcripts, are they referring to university-level transcripts only or also earlier transcripts?
I have some questions regarding graduate admission (PHD) in us university. The guidelines stated on the maximum university websites are that they require academic transcripts. My question is ...
0
votes
1
answer
485
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Difference of a PhD program for students entering with BS and MS
Students who have a BS can apply for PhD programs like students with a Master's degree (in the US). I was thinking why should students with only Bachelor degrees be admitted while many with Masters ...
0
votes
1
answer
608
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What features should be included in your actual accomplishments and skills to be accepted in a top university like MIT [duplicate]
I was wondering about
how can one apply for a PhD program in a top ranked university.
I can tell you about a namely accomplishments and skills which is labelled as 'very good' for a graduated M.Sc ...
13
votes
4
answers
2k
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How much do my career prospects suffer if I start a mathematics/CS PhD. at the age of 27?
I was doing a PhD in a different subject and that was going nowhere and I lost interest in everything that I was doing. But I always loved mathematics and during the dark days of my 3rd of my (former) ...
10
votes
1
answer
718
views
How can a decent student find a doctoral advisor from another faculty? [closed]
I am a last year student at the Moscow State University (I study maths). At our university there are two somewhat similar mathematical faculties: Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics (this is where I ...
1
vote
1
answer
178
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Mentioning advisor qualifications in statement of purpose
I am doing my master's in a relatively unknown institution, but with an excellent faculty. Most of them are graduates from top universities (TOP 10) and my advisor is one of them.
Is it OK to ...
8
votes
2
answers
13k
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Can I apply for PhD without recommendation from my masters advisor?
I am currently applying for a PhD in a very competitive top tier university, which requires three references. I have two referees (my tutor and my undergraduate research project supervisor) who I am ...
11
votes
2
answers
855
views
What makes good research questions good?
I am in Computer Science and currently in my proposal phase. For my problem statement, I want to come up with good research questions. However, at the moment I am struggling with the definition of "...
8
votes
2
answers
2k
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Importance of having a "connection" while applying to PhD
I am applying for a PhD to top schools in engineering. Whenever I talk to my peers I hear the word 'connection' very often. I started thinking that it is almost impossible to be admitted to these ...
1
vote
0
answers
227
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Importance of diversity statement in graduate application [duplicate]
I am applying for a PhD in engineering and some universities require a diversity statements which is considered an optional part of the application.
How important is this to the admission ? They don'...
4
votes
1
answer
6k
views
How does a low quantitative score on GRE general exam affect admissions to mathematics PhD programs?
I am applying to pure math grad school for Ph.D. this fall (usually top 20-25).
I just took my GRE test and found out that my Quantitative score for General GRE is 156. I am not sure about the ...
10
votes
2
answers
9k
views
How common are interviews for Computer Science PhD programs?
I am applying for admission to several CS PhD programs (in the US), and I am just wondering how common it is for schools to request interviews with the candidates. I will be out of the country for ...
14
votes
4
answers
14k
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Has anyone failed coursework requirement and got terminated from PhD program?
I'm doing a PhD in Economics, a 3-year program. I am required to do 4 coursework and receive a grade of B+. The thing is I didn't meet the grade requirement of all four courses, although I didn't fail ...
12
votes
3
answers
2k
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How does time off for a serious illness affect funding and duration of PhD?
I am a PhD student from India studying in the UK and I have been diagnosed with Hepatitis B during my recent visit to India. The sad part is that it is a recurrence of the disease as I contracted it ...
2
votes
1
answer
600
views
Does a low GPA in an unrelated (second) major affect math PhD admissions?
I'm a second year undergrad in Canada, double majoring in math and philosophy. I take philosophy only because it is a spare time interest in high school, but I'm planning to apply math PhD after my ...
0
votes
1
answer
867
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Does the graduate admission committee automatically consider you for a Master's program if they don't accept you for their Ph.D program?
I am applying for Math Ph.D programs, some of the schools say in their websites that they'll consider one for their MS program if one is not accepted to their PhD program.
I was wondering if all ...
0
votes
2
answers
416
views
Searching for open source literature management software [duplicate]
I recently started my PhD and now try to find a convenient software for managing my literature research. What I want it to be able to do is:
Let me highlight PDFs
Add notes to PDFs
Add tags to my ...
3
votes
1
answer
312
views
How to make a mathematical text more concise?
My PhD thesis has 175 pages A4 and I shall provide also a compilation that will summarize the main results on 20 pages A5. My thesis contains algorithms and theorems examining their properties.
After ...
2
votes
2
answers
233
views
Is it a good idea for an international student to use his master's thesis preprint as his writing sample?
I am applying to doctoral programs in the US.
I would like to use my master's thesis preprint as my writing sample because it was written in English and is in the field on which I intend to ...
-2
votes
1
answer
282
views
Pursue new PHD program
I was dismissed from vet school because a few professors felt I was not professional. I completed almost 4 years before this decision was made. I have tried to reapply but they won't take me back. ...
5
votes
6
answers
2k
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Are there any universities in US/Europe which will give PhD in Engineering in 3-4 years?
I know that PhD is not like other degrees which ends in a span of 2-4 years.
Also, one cannot control the span of the program which entirely depends on topic and guides.
But I heard from some where ...
1
vote
1
answer
154
views
Any disadvantage to multiple applications?
I am considering applying for PhD programs in CS. I've been reading about the process, reading the sorts of things that programs want and I would say that I am an OK (but not stellar) applicant. For ...
12
votes
3
answers
3k
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Cumulative versus monographic dissertation
I am in the beginning of my phd studies in computer science. Specifically, I am in the area of machine learning and linked data. I have talked with my professor about these both types of dissertations,...
23
votes
2
answers
12k
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How were people able to graduate with a PhD at a such young age in the past?
When I read up the bibliography of the mathematicians and scientists in the early 19th to 20th century, I am always shocked at how they were able to graduate university with PhD(s) at such a young age....
7
votes
4
answers
1k
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Is it possibly considered weakness in my statement of purpose if I mention that I would like specific people to advise my PhD programme?
I'm writing a statement of purpose for my PhD applications and in some cases I'd be very happy if any person from a certain group (say the Algebra Group) would take me as his/her student. Could this ...
-1
votes
1
answer
28k
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How should I reply and thank a potential supervisor's email? [closed]
This is a mail I received from my potential supervisor who is willing to supervise my PhD study. I want to thank him for the email.
Dear XXX,
I would like to know how it goes with your ...
7
votes
2
answers
2k
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Is it ok to call the professor in this situation?
I had a telephone conversation with a proposed Ph.D. supervisor last Monday and he agreed that he will double-check my research proposal before I submit it. Then I emailed him the proposal. However, I ...
38
votes
6
answers
8k
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How do advisors typically apply pressure on PhD students to get work done?
I tend to get much work done when some external force (a teacher) applies pressure. Skills such as speed reading and rapid writing come to me only while working under pressure. Also, sometimes the ...
10
votes
2
answers
3k
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How to tell my co-advisor I am leaving for PhD?
I am doing my master's and I am considering doing my PhD at a different institution. I asked my advisor for reference and he was fine with it. My co-advisor insisted on me staying. I tried to talk him ...
2
votes
1
answer
194
views
Is it evident whether I am a masters student or a PhD student just by looking at my transcript?
After I finished the first year in a PhD program, considering that I took the same courses that masters students in the same school take, is there a way other institutions can tell if I am a masters ...
8
votes
1
answer
552
views
Was it a mistake to act more interested in a potential advisor's work than I actually am
I am a prospective PhD student who is applying to several schools.
A couple months ago I spoke with an advisor from a school I was somewhat interested in. We talked for quite a while, and he seemed ...
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What is a "very good higher education degree" when applying for a German PhD?
I plan to do a PhD in Germany. I have read some material that said that:
"The most important formal qualification for being able to do a
doctorate in Germany is a very good higher education ...
2
votes
1
answer
509
views
Pros and Cons of Enrolling in coursework units during a PhD
In my university PhDs are assessed purely on dissertation,
there is no coursework component or oral defence or anything else
(this is not unusual for Australia, as I understand).
There are no units ...
13
votes
3
answers
3k
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What is the difference between a thesis and a dissertation?
I have seen some sites that distinguish a dissertation as what is written as the requirements of a doctoral degree.
Others that distinguish a thesis as a document written for the fulfillment of any ...