STEM PhD - Becoming a Scientist/Research Engineer

[CARDOZZO]

I'm a computer scientist and a firmware/nanoeletronics engineer.

I really like reading papers, doing research, experimentation, knowing about cutting-edge/sci-fi technology and startups.

I'm thinking about getting a PhD on AI/Robotics at Carnegie Mellon, TÜM, ETH Zürich, Georgia Tech or Tsinghua. 

I need your opinion on that. Do we have scientists here doing research or PhDing?

[chess_king]

Yeah do it 

[CARDOZZO]

😉

[DianaFr]

Yeah. 

Can you be more specific about what would you like to know? 

[CARDOZZO]

45 minutes ago, DianaFr said:

Yeah. 

Can you be more specific about what would you like to know? 

Are you doing a PhD? Just to clarify. 

[DianaFr]

1 minute ago, CARDOZZO said:

Are you doing a PhD? Just to clarify. 

Yep. I'm also involved in a mentoring role for aspiring PhD students or people interested in the academic/research path. My first PhD was in molecular biology. The one I'm doing currently concerns the well-being of researchers within the academic system from the organizational ergonomics standpoint. I'm sort of doing a PhD about doing a PhD

[CARDOZZO]

1 hour ago, DianaFr said:

Yep. I'm also involved in a mentoring role for aspiring PhD students or people interested in the academic/research path. My first PhD was in molecular biology. The one I'm doing currently concerns the well-being of researchers within the academic system from the organizational ergonomics standpoint. I'm sort of doing a PhD about doing a PhD

This is perfect. 

I would like to know about:

• What do you do as a PhD?
• How free are you to choose what you research?
• What is your routine/day to day as a PhD/Scientist?
• Are you mentoring people to join R&D positions?

[DianaFr]

What do you do as a PhD?

PhDs normally have similar core tasks but the way they are executed and how the work is organized can be very different depending on the position.

1. Studying theory from your chosen field - in order to develop your own theory or prove your hypotheses, you need to understand what is going on in the field, in depth.
2. Doing your own research or gathering your own data - this purely depends on the type of research you’re doing.
3. Publishing peer-reviewed articles (there might be a few places that don’t require this, but it’s very rare).
4. Networking, going to conferences, collaborating.
5. Teaching and supervising.
6. Research mobilities are highly encouraged (practicing in other labs/research groups in other countries, short term or long term).
7. Writing and defending your dissertation.

How free are you to choose what you research?

This again depends on many factors but, in general, the answer is - you are NOT very free to choose your research. It will be limited to two main things: (1) what your supervisor/research group leader is interested in, and (2) what is eligible or competitive enough to receive funding.

Essentially, the formula for a successful PhD is as follows:

1. Your supervisor is a respected authority in the field with high publishing and PhD defence rates
2. Your supervisor is willing and motivated to work with you or arrange things in a way that you have access to the support you need
3. Your supervisor is able to consistently attract funding (strongly linked to the first point)
4. Your PhD position has a funding secured for the duration of the project (usually 3-5 years)
5. Your PhD topic is related to the research direction of your chosen research group and builds upon the previous work
6. You already have data and proof that backs your proposed PhD project up (goes with the previous point)
7. You are a motivated and hard-working individual capable of independent work and leadership, as well as collaboration, often internationally
8. You are willing to make sacrifices this path will require

As you see, the more aligned your project is with the previous work, the better your chances for success. In that sense, you don’t want too much freedom. A good compromise is that you find a PhD position that strongly aligns with your interests from the beginning, or you find a flexible supervisor in your chosen field that is open to studying new problems.

What is your routine/day to day as a PhD/Scientist?

This can be very different depending on your specific project and contract. It also depends on the phase of your project. If you’re involved in teaching/student thesis supervision, it also depends on the activities of the academic semester. Sometimes all you do is sit in front of your computer and either analyze your data, or do literature searches, or write your own stuff (writing is an endless thing - proposals, conference abstracts, reports, publications, editing other people’s work etc.). If you’re actively collecting data, than you could spend most of your days (and nights) doing that. One of my favorite parts is designing experiments (or research in general). A big portion of time will be spent dealing with frustration because failure is almost guaranteed. A lot of traveling is also involved (conferences, research mobilities).

Are you mentoring people to join R&D positions?

You mean R&D in the PhD context? Yes, as it concerns the general path. Obviously, I’m not able to provide institution-specific mentoring.

[Davino]

My advice would be to do your research while working in a research centre. Univiersities usually do a poor job (unless you go to an elitist one) in guiding your project and in giving financial support. The only drawback is that you won't have full ownership of the work you do, as it is property of the research centre which is paying you (although must universities take the credit as well and don't pay you back).

You'll have to become adept at paper writing, applying to congresses and publishing in scientific journals. You said you liked that so it shouldn't be a big deal. Most of my collegues which are post-phd and publicly claim disliking this whole academic system and parafernalia, although they confess that no better system has been found yet.

[CARDOZZO]

6 hours ago, Davino said:

My advice would be to do your research while working in a research centre. Univiersities usually do a poor job (unless you go to an elitist one) in guiding your project and in giving financial support. The only drawback is that you won't have full ownership of the work you do, as it is property of the research centre which is paying you (although must universities take the credit as well and don't pay you back).

You'll have to become adept at paper writing, applying to congresses and publishing in scientific journals. You said you liked that so it shouldn't be a big deal. Most of my collegues which are post-phd and publicly claim disliking this whole academic system and parafernalia, although they confess that no better system has been found yet.

Thanks for your input. What do you do as a researcher/PhD?

Do you think about joining industry?

[CARDOZZO]

18 hours ago, DianaFr said:

What do you do as a PhD?

PhDs normally have similar core tasks but the way they are executed and how the work is organized can be very different depending on the position.

1. Studying theory from your chosen field - in order to develop your own theory or prove your hypotheses, you need to understand what is going on in the field, in depth.
2. Doing your own research or gathering your own data - this purely depends on the type of research you’re doing.
3. Publishing peer-reviewed articles (there might be a few places that don’t require this, but it’s very rare).
4. Networking, going to conferences, collaborating.
5. Teaching and supervising.
6. Research mobilities are highly encouraged (practicing in other labs/research groups in other countries, short term or long term).
7. Writing and defending your dissertation.

How free are you to choose what you research?

This again depends on many factors but, in general, the answer is - you are NOT very free to choose your research. It will be limited to two main things: (1) what your supervisor/research group leader is interested in, and (2) what is eligible or competitive enough to receive funding.

Essentially, the formula for a successful PhD is as follows:

1. Your supervisor is a respected authority in the field with high publishing and PhD defence rates
2. Your supervisor is willing and motivated to work with you or arrange things in a way that you have access to the support you need
3. Your supervisor is able to consistently attract funding (strongly linked to the first point)
4. Your PhD position has a funding secured for the duration of the project (usually 3-5 years)
5. Your PhD topic is related to the research direction of your chosen research group and builds upon the previous work
6. You already have data and proof that backs your proposed PhD project up (goes with the previous point)
7. You are a motivated and hard-working individual capable of independent work and leadership, as well as collaboration, often internationally
8. You are willing to make sacrifices this path will require

As you see, the more aligned your project is with the previous work, the better your chances for success. In that sense, you don’t want too much freedom. A good compromise is that you find a PhD position that strongly aligns with your interests from the beginning, or you find a flexible supervisor in your chosen field that is open to studying new problems.

What is your routine/day to day as a PhD/Scientist?

This can be very different depending on your specific project and contract. It also depends on the phase of your project. If you’re involved in teaching/student thesis supervision, it also depends on the activities of the academic semester. Sometimes all you do is sit in front of your computer and either analyze your data, or do literature searches, or write your own stuff (writing is an endless thing - proposals, conference abstracts, reports, publications, editing other people’s work etc.). If you’re actively collecting data, than you could spend most of your days (and nights) doing that. One of my favorite parts is designing experiments (or research in general). A big portion of time will be spent dealing with frustration because failure is almost guaranteed. A lot of traveling is also involved (conferences, research mobilities).

Are you mentoring people to join R&D positions?

You mean R&D in the PhD context? Yes, as it concerns the general path. Obviously, I’m not able to provide institution-specific mentoring.

 

This is solid advice, I really appreciate that.

How do you see PhDs leaving academia to work on startups? How do they feel about this contextual shift?

[Davino]

13 hours ago, CARDOZZO said:

What do you do as a researcher/PhD?

I researched how to make an integral monitoring system for nanosatellite constellation in the Low Earth Orbit.

I have no PhD but as I studied two degrees I was able to access into the research centre and carry the project myself.

13 hours ago, CARDOZZO said:

Do you think about joining industry?

Yep, today is my last day on the job actually. I'll orient my career towards technological consulting in a big firm. 

I wanted to make a contribution in the engineering and research field. I've already done it to my satisfaction and hence now it's time to move on.

[CARDOZZO]

11 hours ago, Davino said:

I researched how to make an integral monitoring system for nanosatellite constellation in the Low Earth Orbit.

 

Awesome. I've worked with RISC-V architecture, they use on nanosatellites.

11 hours ago, Davino said:

Yep, today is my last day on the job actually. I'll orient my career towards technological consulting in a big firm. 

 

Good luck on that path, brother!  

I'll orient towards a Masters and PhD + building deep tech startups.