A PhD or ‘Doctor of Philosophy’ is the highest level of degree that a student can achieve when it comes to academics and research. The pursuit of PhD is comparable to an adventure!
In my opinion, getting a PhD degree should be an aim for those who wish to go on a quest for new, original knowledge and are driven to know the unknown. Before you start planning how to get a PhD and listing PhD degree requirements, it’s important to know your ‘why’ and then prepare accordingly. You must think about what you want to investigate further and where your real passion lies.
Why should you pursue PhD
Being in academia and doing a PhD comes with its own set of significant challenges, but is it well worth the effort? As a graduate student, my experiences throughout my PhD journey have shown me the struggles as well as the ways to overcome them. Patience tops the list of PhD degree requirements, it gives you a fresh perspective and helps you view setbacks as opportunities to improve your skills and become a better researcher.
Some of the biggest gains in the PhD journey are the expertise, insight, and depth of knowledge in your subject area. Over and above this, you gain many valuable transferable skills as you train to solve complex problems, learn to be a team player, and gain presentation and communication skills, apart from developing perseverance and an analytical mind.
Finally, getting your PhD degree opens the doors to a diverse range of research roles in academia as well as related areas like policy, management, communications and outreach, etc. So, a PhD is a valuable asset that will open up more career opportunities. It also gives you a chance to build your professional network, thus, helping you in future collaborations for your post-PhD career.
What to expect in PhD
Once you have an answer to your ‘why’ and have successfully fulfilled the PhD degree requirements to get admission into your desired program, it’s necessary to understand what to expect during this exciting endeavour and how long it takes to get a PhD.
For the most part, at the start of a PhD, there is a year-long course work along with rigorous literature search and reading about your potential area of inquiry. Ideally, in the following year, you are expected to plan and submit a potential research proposal to your first doctoral advisory committee. Your doctoral advisory committee consists of your supervisor and external members specialized in your area of research.
In subsequent years, your advisory committee meets once every year to review the progress in your PhD project. Your PhD culminates into a thesis/dissertation after you defend your thesis in an open colloquium, based on the research you carried out throughout your PhD. Also, there is a mandatory requirement of publishing your research results in an academic journal, which varies with different research institutes.
How to prepare for a PhD
Speaking from experience, you may face challenges while pursuing this degree so you should know how to prepare for a PhD. Here I’d like to share my learnings to help you overcome these problems. These are some things I followed which helped me minimize these obstacles and prepare for my PhD journey successfully:
- Work-life balance: More often than not PhD students tend to work under pressure and without breaks, but in the long run this could affect your physical and mental wellbeing. ‘How to get a PhD’ is a question often asked but how to get it without losing your mind is also important. Develop hobbies and a support system outside of your research work to avoid burnout. Developing new interests, pursuing hobbies, and meeting like-minded people by joining student clubs or interest groups on your campus would help you unwind and work more efficiently.
- Networking: Having a diverse network within your research field, and even beyond, can be very helpful not just for your post-PhD career opportunities but also for guidance, support and mentorship. Attending networking events on campus and participating in meetings beyond your research work could help you prepare for PhD and future collaborations.
- Three Rs: Relax, recharge, and reinvent. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or uncertain, know that worrying about the problem may only build your stress. Instead of asking how long before I get a PhD, do something that helps you to relax physically and mentally and come back to the problem when you feel recharged. Most importantly, don’t give up if you hit a dead end; rather, approach the problem differently to gain a better perspective of the situation.
Every journey is unique, and comes with its own PhD degree requirements, but getting a PhD degree will definitely help you grow both professionally and personally. It teaches you to embrace failure and use it as a catalyst to move forward with confidence. If you face any setback navigating your PhD research, do know that you are not alone and it’s okay to ask for help and rely on your support system when needed.
