Rationale of a PhD
Posted: 10 Aug 2018 10:21
There's an interesting article on PhDs at https://www.theguardian.com/higher-educ ... emic-kudos
Overlooking issues like 33% of students get depression, 50% don't finish, and the average completion time is 13 years, there are some important things here.
The main argument seems to be that the prime goal of a PhD should be to have an impact on the real world rather than publishing for other researchers to read. Do you agree with this argument? Does it apply to your own research? When judging students' proposals for topics, should we be judging them on their real-world impact rather than the likelihood of leading to a quality publication (as at present)?
Overlooking issues like 33% of students get depression, 50% don't finish, and the average completion time is 13 years, there are some important things here.
The main argument seems to be that the prime goal of a PhD should be to have an impact on the real world rather than publishing for other researchers to read. Do you agree with this argument? Does it apply to your own research? When judging students' proposals for topics, should we be judging them on their real-world impact rather than the likelihood of leading to a quality publication (as at present)?