| I don't think there is a clear-cut answer, but rather some pros and cons, which you're already weighing. I'll just pass on some helpful advice that I got, and some of the things I learned while doing a Ph.D. - A Ph.D. opens up two things: (1) ability to do research, and (2) ability to teach at a university. A Ph.D. makes more sense if you really want one or both of those things. If you're already involved in research at your company, and want to go into the same research area, what a Ph.D. offers is the ability to continue doing research in an academic context. There are a lot of benefits to working at a university (the profs I know really appreciate academic freedom), but I also hear persistent complaints about funding and how difficult it can be to find. - Choice of advisor matters a lot. A great advisor is a very influential mentor, who will help you grow intellectually in very many ways, and help you make connections to other researchers. A bad advisor can be really destructive. You need to put a lot of effort into evaluating your top several possible advisors. Which of them do you like? What are their former students doing now? (All of their students, not just the most successful.) What are their research groups like? What can you learn about the advisor from their students? If you were as successful as their median student, would you be happy? - Some departments have more cooperation, some are more competitive. One of my friends ended up in a department that was ridiculously competitive, to the point of students excluding and undermining each other when studying for qualifying exams. She didn't like it and left after getting a master's degree. >I joined a really cool team Don't underestimate the satisfaction that can come working as part of a great team. There are no guarantees that you'll be able to recreate that on demand at a later point, or that the research group you end up joining will be as good (though who knows? it could be better). Also, I'm sure you've looked into this, but is there a possibility of doing formal research work at your company (taking classes towards a Ph.D., finding an advisor at a university to oversee the academic side of your research, etc.)? |