Has anyone done a Ph.D. in CS, IS, or a related field part-time?

[jgunaratne]

I'm curious if anyone has worked towards a Ph.D. while employed and, if so, what advice do you have? Career-wise I'd like to get an applied research position in an industry research lab, not a faculty position at a university. I'm currently employed as a software engineer and my employer will pay for tuition (since I likely won't be taking a graduate assistant position).

[joeclark77]

From what I've seen, PhDs in IS (aka MIS) are typically full-time; the professors are interested in having research assistants who will help them produce publications during and after the PhD. Also, IS departments are very small compared to other departments within the b-school. If an IS department only takes on 1 or 2 new PhD students per year, you would have a hard time convincing them that you're their best bet. Some business schools, however, have "DBA" programs which are doctoral programs geared toward tuition-paying students.

I would not assume that my generalizations apply across the board, and certainly not count on them applying to engineering schools, i-schools and other programs.

What part of the country are you in, by the way? That's probably going to determine your options.