Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by is0tope 1422 days ago
In another life I might have considered doing a PhD after I finished my masters. My father (who has a doctorate) quickly put me off that idea. Looking at what you have to do and get paid to do a PhD (at least in the UK) it feels more similar to being a struggling artist busking in the streets while trying to finish their "killer track".

No wonder the most promising students drop out and go on to join finance or tech firms - the pay is an order of magnitude higher.
1 comments
feet 1421 days ago
Finance or tech firms? I think you might have a limited view of the field of PhD candidates
link
is0tope 1421 days ago
I'm sure there are various other options, but that's not the point. If you ask someone to take a supermarket salary and postpone their life till their mid 30s,then don't be surprised that people choose other paths.
link
feet 1421 days ago
The path that I'm aware of is, assuming a bsc starting at 18 and going for 4 years followed by masters for 1 year and a PhD for 4-5 we have a total of 10 years for age 28 which you could then do 2 single year postdocs to be PI/faculty-ready at 30. I'm not sure where you get mid-30s from.

The PhD programs I've looked at in the hard biosciences all provide a full tuition waiver plus a stipend with solid purchasing power for the area which definitely aren't "supermarket salaries" unless you're talking about management maybe. Maybe those people only want money out of life instead of to do research, but that's just my perspective.

link