Phd should i do one

PubMed Article Google Scholar. Oswalt, S. Sverdlik, A. Dr Stud. Download references. Career Column 12 NOV News 11 NOV News 09 NOV Editorial 03 NOV News 29 OCT Career Feature 19 OCT University of Washington UW. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

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But that one time it works makes up for all of it. Source: Nature PhD Survey References 1. Article Google Scholar 2. PubMed Article Google Scholar 3. Article Google Scholar 4. Article Google Scholar Download references. Close banner Close. Email address Sign up.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. I knew that global warming was an issue and I knew this would remain an issue for people in the future. I started looking into getting masters degree in an area that will help me to make such a contribution. I already had a background in power and environmental engineering, and this background helped me understand that the power industry is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

To understand how we can decarbonise this industry, I started to dig deeper during my masters in clean coal technologies and carbon capture.

There were so many unknowns. So the only way I could contribute towards solving these challenges was to was either to get a job in industry and start discussing that with other engineers and researchers, or to focus on an academic career path. And then this question came to my mind. Will I have enough energy to do it in a couple of years or will I simply change careers? I came up with a list of good reasons to do a PhD to weigh the pros and cons.

I particularly focused on answering the question of what to do after a PhD! I started exploring what does PhD mean, what it takes to do a PhD. Also, during my masters, I realised that I actually like doing research and this career path is quite appealing to me. It was appealing that I can focus for several years on my project and explore solutions to a specific research challenge.

I thought this would be enough time to actually progress in that research area. I found it really encouraging, motivating, and inspiring at the same time.

I felt the need to actually find answers to the challenges that the industry is actually facing now. That was the main reason for me. I was motivated to solve climate change. I was motivated to help the power industry out. And I knew that a PhD would be a requirement at some point in my career.

I was able to secure PhD funding and a position in the PhD program at a university with an industrial focus. I just wanted to solve challenges and solve problems.

As you can see there are many reasons why I decided to do a PhD. Let me unpack this and let me talk about other reasons to get a PhD, what are the main motivations and reasons for you to do a PhD. It means that you recognise that there are some recent problems, which we like to call knowledge gaps or research gaps, that you would like to contribute to solving.

You know that there are some challenges yet to be solved that will make our lifes better in one way or another. Or maybe you are just eager to dedicate your career to solving these specific challenges, finding solutions. If you wanted to do research and if you wanted to stay in academia, regardless of whether this is in the UK, US or European Union, you really need to have a PhD degree.

Increasingly more and more people actually decide to do a PhD actually stay in their jobs or progress in their careers. Therefore, doing the PhD program at the early stage of your career can actually have benefits. The key benefits include the fact that you will develop necessary skills, such as grant writing, time management, as well as other technical skills, soft skills and transferable skills that will help you advance your future career and get the research positions that you wish.

Remember, PhD graduates are also sought for in industry , mostly because of their transferable skills and the fact that they become subject matter experts. Make sure you explore job prospects in your research before you apply! This is quite a good reason to do a PhD. We are all passionate about different things, and your big research idea can be a route to a career with high job satisfaction.

Therefore, being passionate about a specific research area may be one of the good reasons to do a PhD. If you love learning, developing your skills, coaching others, and want to become a subject matter expert, a career in higher education may be for you.

Here are the main reasons why I think it is worth exploring career opportunities in higher education , from the job satisfaction point of view. Another reason to continue your postgraduate degree and get a PhD is the fact that you might have a really good idea that you would like to explore in details. You may already have a background in doing research, and you would like to have academics who already have significant experience to support you in developing that research idea, while you get a PhD degree.

Having an idea is an important aspect of any PhD. But doing a PhD can be a cost-effective way to develop and demonstrate the viability of your idea. Yes, you may go ahead, gather a team and launch a start-up. Working with academics can help you to develop your idea, apply for patents and get it closer to the market. You always wanted to develop an academic career and wanted to become a professor.

This is a very valid reason I would say. The oversupply of early career researchers means they often feel exploited by their universities. According to the University and College Union, which represents lecturers, more than three-quarters of junior academics are on precarious or zero-hours contracts.

Meanwhile, competition for research funding and power-imbalanced relationships between supervisors and junior researchers can make labs and libraries ripe for bullying. The result, according to recent research from the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust, is that academia is one of the worst careers for stress. Nearly four in 10 academics have reported experiencing mental health conditions. So why do so many intelligent people who would probably do fantastically well in alternative careers, put themselves through this?

In some countries, such as the US and Germany , PhDs are increasingly seen not just as a conveyor belt to an academic job, but as an important high-level qualification that leads to a diverse range of careers.

In certain industries in the UK, such as science and pharmaceuticals, demand for PhD graduates is growing as their emphasis on research increases. In some industries, a PhD might even set you back, as business leaders often see them as driving a largely pointless three-year wedge between an undergraduate degree and an entry-level position.

This is often compounded by unhelpful careers advice from academic supervisors disinterested in the world outside academia.