cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/2444019

I have electronics and digital design/verification background (MSc and some industry experience). As in the title, I am interested in learning and lately I got particularly interested in formal verification and started reading books, watching tutorials, on top of applying it at work. I really would like to learn more, participate to its advancement and contribute even slightest. I also enjoy academic environment. This is why I am considering a PhD. However leaving my job for full-time PhD means significant paycut even if I get into a funded PhD, also I am here on visa and many programs require you to pay the difference between foreign student price and domestic student price out of your packet, after receiving the funding. So leaving my job is likely not an option. I thought about doing a PhD part-time on top of my job. It will be very time and energy consuming, but I think I can take that. My bigger concern is, part-time PhD will take long time (6-8 years) and field is ever-changing, I am afraid my thesis may become irrelevant by the time I finish it. Also what I hear is that, if you do it part-time, you will not get the best subjects since professors would like to provide better supervision to and quick return from a full-time student. So I am hesitant about a PhD, even though it was something I was thinking of since a very young age. What do you think about a PhD, do you have any advice, some opportunity or downside which I did not consider? And if not with a PhD, how do I learn and research more? Reading and taking online courses are always options, but the problem is without any supervision, clear goal and guidance, I am sure I will get sidetracked and it may not be very fruitful.

  • @Bye
    21•1 year ago

    Hi I have one. Grad school was the most fun part of my life, but let me give you some advice:

    1. Your relationship with your advisor makes or breaks grad school for you. Don’t take a gamble.

    2. Research is not what most people think it’s going to be. Almost regardless of field these days, get ready to learn how to write code, and get ready to teach yourself everything.

    3. If they don’t have a plan to pay your salary for at least 4 years, don’t bother. No, you can’t count on external money in this funding climate.

    4. Read the book “getting what you came for”

    5. Talk to potential advisors. The ones you want to be with won’t have time to talk to you. It’s a paradox.

    6. You want to be a person who wants a “hands-off” advisor, and then you want to get one. If you want a hands-on advisor, my advice is to go do some work on your confidence, and come back when you think you’re ready to teach yourself everything.

    7. Don’t go into grad school thinking you know what you will work on. Projects evolve and change based on funding and whims and chance.

    • @qooqie
      8•1 year ago

      Adding to this:

      1. Publications are important and the journal is too. Research the journal find out impact factor and the unspoken reputation of journals (pay to publish sorts of stuff).
      2. Get comfortable reading, presenting, and writing publication style works. Most hands off labs have at least one day for journal club where you meet with everyone in the lab and the PI.
      3. If you’re good at talking in front of crowds go to conferences! Not many people like them, but if you can flex that extrovert muscle you can make some extremely valuable connections.

      Also don’t worry about your research being irrelevant. Most phd projects are niche and cutting edge. You will be pushing your field forward, you’re not just along for the ride anymore as a phd.

      • @Bye
        4•1 year ago

        That’s all fantastic advice, thanks for adding to my post! Especially agree about not worrying about broad impact in grad school.

    • @cabron_offsets
      2•1 year ago
      1. Be prepared to be seen as pigeonholed and overqualified for 95% of jobs and struggle to make something of yourself outside of academia.
      • @[email protected]
        1•1 year ago

        Yes and no. I would say for the field OP is in, a lot of jobs will have B.S. or M.S. as the “required” education, and then M.S. or Ph.D. as “preferred”. The U.S. just dumped $280B into the CHIPS act, so now is a pretty good time to be in semiconductor R&D. The folks I work with seems to have little trouble popping back and forth between industry, academia, and government.