[sheepdog]

Interesting that he mentioned the $300,000 model...

Hypothetical question for US-based folks: I wonder if there is a non-traditional path for people who can afford to research without the need for a stipend?

Technologists tend to be in the upper income brackets. For a lucky few, it's possible to achieve financial independence in their 40's. At that point conducting research may seem like an attractive intellectual pastime.

These hypothetical PhD students can sustain themselves for 4-6 years without a salary. I suppose there would still be some grant-seeking, depending on the scale of the research. Technically they could actually pay the university, becoming a funding source instead of a burden...

If someone had $2-$3 million in their retirement accounts, it seems strange to scratch and claw for $300k of research stipend funding.

Has anyone heard of such an arrangement? Is this a thing?

[ModernMech]

If you are financially independently wealthy, then you can just apply to the school and pay the full-rate tuition. Usually the way admission works is that you indicate a faculty advisor with whom you want to work. They will act as your mentor. I don't know of a situation where you would work alone, nor would you want to if you wanted to get the most out of your time there. So you would want to talk to that actual person you want to work with, and have a conversation about the fact that you can fund your own research. I imagine the funding process would have to go through the University. They get a cut of research funding, so they would want to funnel your funds through the same system set up for private grants, of which there are plenty.

So yeah, I don't see why you couldn't do this. You would just set up a private research grant with a faculty member and fund yourself with it.