[michael_nielsen]

Thanks for the kind words.

On institutions: I did my PhD at the University of New Mexico. A fine institution, but also not Harvard / MIT / etc. I went there because Carl Caves had created a great environment to work on quantum information. Carl encouraged me to work on whatever problems I wanted, but was also happy to provide advice upon request. My fellow PhD students enjoyed similar freedom, and I believe it benefited them enormously as well.

Edit: To clarify my earlier comment: I am certainly _not_ saying that it is universally the case that people are able to choose their PhD project. That's not true, especially in fields involving expensive experimental equipment. I'm saying that someone not able to choose their project is being badly trained. It should count as a very heavy mark against doing a PhD when the advisor believes they should control the direction of the project.