cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/2444019
I have electronics and digital design/verification background (MSc and some industry experience). As in the title, I am interested in learning and lately I got particularly interested in formal verification and started reading books, watching tutorials, on top of applying it at work. I really would like to learn more, participate to its advancement and contribute even slightest. I also enjoy academic environment. This is why I am considering a PhD. However leaving my job for full-time PhD means significant paycut even if I get into a funded PhD, also I am here on visa and many programs require you to pay the difference between foreign student price and domestic student price out of your packet, after receiving the funding. So leaving my job is likely not an option. I thought about doing a PhD part-time on top of my job. It will be very time and energy consuming, but I think I can take that. My bigger concern is, part-time PhD will take long time (6-8 years) and field is ever-changing, I am afraid my thesis may become irrelevant by the time I finish it. Also what I hear is that, if you do it part-time, you will not get the best subjects since professors would like to provide better supervision to and quick return from a full-time student. So I am hesitant about a PhD, even though it was something I was thinking of since a very young age. What do you think about a PhD, do you have any advice, some opportunity or downside which I did not consider? And if not with a PhD, how do I learn and research more? Reading and taking online courses are always options, but the problem is without any supervision, clear goal and guidance, I am sure I will get sidetracked and it may not be very fruitful.
The experience will be exactly what you make of it. Yes you might have trouble of finding your initial advisor taking you on a part-time role. But if you can demonstrate domain knowledge, the ability to be more functional, less handholding than a normal student, you can build a relationship with an advisor and be able to woo them into your increased contributions even at a part-time level.
If you love learning, and doing research, and being challenged, and forced to self-evaluate, do it. It’s a great experience. It is a long experience. But it’s great
It is definitely not something I will rush. There is nothing that forces me to get PhD right away so I will wait until I find something very interesting, and a good advisor.
TBH the longer you wait, the more you aren’t going to want to do it. Depends on who you are as a person, but if you working toward getting married and havinf kids, then doing a PhD is going to feel like a truckload of extra responsibility that really isn’t worth it. The only reason I am doing my now is that it gave me an excuse to leave my previous residence, but I was in a really stable place making plenty of money. That is a hard thing to give up.
Also usually you get a PhD because you want a specific job. If you want to do it to learn, it is a mistake most of the time. You want to be setting up your post-degree career sooner than later, because your pre-degree career is likely not going to count for much after the first few years.