Doing a Ph.D. Abroad

1. Doing a Ph.D. Abroad Biagio Cosenza, Ph.D. Illustrations by Antonio Di Matteo

2. Disclaimer • Ph.D. studentships work differently according to • Scientific field • Country • University • Research group • Professor • This presentation is just an personal view of what a Ph.D. Studentship is

3. Summary • Doing a Ph.D. • Why • What is a Ph.D. • Doing a Ph.D. Abroad • US, UK, Germany, Austria • Staying abroad during the Ph.D. • What to do next?

4. Doing a Ph.D. • Doctor of Philosophy • Highest academic degree awarded by universities in most fields of study • Equivalent titles • Dottorato di Ricerca, Doktor, Doctorat, Tohtori,… • Some countries make distinctions between Ph.D. and Doctoral studies

5. The Value of a Ph.D. • XXX vignetta? • Un idea: • "Having a PhD in Italy vs Having a PhD abroad" /oppure "The value of a Ph.D."parte sullediversitaculturali e sul come e' vista al ricercafuorivignettadivisa in dueleft (sfondounacittatedesca): "So, you are doing a Ph.D, cool!"right (sfondounacittaItaliana): "What are you doing? What does exactly Ph.D. mean? So, are you becoming a doctor helping people? 

6. Why to get a Ph.D.? • An original contribution to knowledge • Do something that most people couldn’t do • Do something that’s never been done before • Be called doctor when you finish • You don’t have to search for a real job for a while • OK, this is not a good motivation 

7. Why DO NOT get a Ph.D.? • Not wanting a Ph.D. • Happens when we choose to do it as ‘backup solution’ • Get a job before finishing • Underestimating what is required • Overestimating what is required • Relativity theory wasn’t Einstein's thesis • Having a supervisor which • Has no idea about your research • Loses contact with you • Not having a thesis Estelle M. Phillips' and Derek S. Pugh's,How to get a Ph.D.

8. Unwritten Rules of Ph.D. Research • Attending courses • Prepare lecture/tutorships • Presentations • Conferences • Reports • Annual/monthly/weekly reports …and do research

9. Understanding the Academic System • Roles • Research assistant, Postdoc, Lecturer, Professor • Publications • Books, Journals, Referred papers, Reports • Impact factor • Paperwork • Funding

10. Important Tips • Time Management • Do not procrastinate • Read • Write • Do review, get reviewed • Present/expose your work • To a critic public • Work WITH your supervisor • Do not hide yourself • Do not ignore his advices, bypass his decisions, … • Networking

11. Doing a Ph.D. in the United States • Admission • Requirements: • Master of Science/Master of Arts • Bachelor, for Master “en route” programs • Apply to open positions, usually via online form • GRE and TOEFL score • Each University has its minimal score • Interview • Sometime also Skype interview • Students usually apply to 2-6 institutions

12. Doing a Ph.D. in the United States • VISA • Ph.D. Candidacy and final Ph.D. thesis • Duration: usually from 3 to 5 years • 10 years limitation in some Universities

13. Doing a Ph.D. in the UK • Few differences with US • Funding • In UK mostly P.I. oriented • Time to completion • In UK, most PhD positions are offered as studentships that are funded from a time limited, specific grant and for a well defined project • Courses • In UK a PhD doesn’t typically involve coursework or exams, but solely researching and submitting a PhD thesis.

14. Doing a Ph.D. in Germany/Austria • Strong difference with American University system • Required: Master’s degree, Diploma, Magister, Staatsexamen • For some studies on which thesis should be written in German: TestDAF or DSH • Tenured professor and Privatdozent are aloud to make call for Ph.D. students • They are called Doktorvater/DoktorMutter • Open a positions may be • Very specific, if funded by projects • E.g. FWF Einzelprojekt (Austria), DFG Sachbeihilfe (Germany) • Topics is well defined from the beginning • More generic, if funded differently

15. Doing a Ph.D. in Germany/Austria • Individual Ph.D. vs structured Ph.D. (Germany) • Only structured in Austria • Contract may include teaching • Duration: 3 to 5 years (by law no more than 6) • In Computer Science, for big research group usually 5 years • Some groups have specific policies • E.g. 4 top conference papers, or cumulative Impact factor > 5.0 • Final dissertation

16. Going abroad during the Ph.D.

17. Going abroad during the Ph.D. • Co-PhD • Co-PhD program that allows students to earn a PhD degree jointly with two different departments/Universities • Visiting program • Country specific • In Germany • DAAD Scholarship, BMBF Mobility Funding, … • In Austria see OeAD database http://www.grants.at/ • Field specific • E.g. for High Performance Computing • HPC-Europa, DEISA-Prace, HiPEAC Network, … • May be your Supervisor doesn’t like the idea…

18. What to do next?

19. What to do next?

20. What to do next?

21. What to do next? QS International Recruiter Survey 2007

22. Doing a Ph.D. Abroad

26. Useful links • The Guardian, Higher Education http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/higher-education • National Postdoc Association http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/ • Time management http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/Randy/Randy/TimeManagementTalk.ppt • Biagio Cosenza’s home page http://www.dps.uibk.ac.at/~cosenza/ • Antonio di Matteo’s blog http://andimabe.blogspot.com/

27. Thanks! Questions?