This post is related to the Ph.D. students in science/ technology subjects in Indian higher educational institutes. It could well be extended to other subjects. The purpose of this document solely is to provide indicative pointers to improve the quality and life of those involved. This is written to benefit the scientific community in good faith. The reason of writing this post is feeling responsibility for the profession one has been working for: "if not people like me, then who?" In case, any one finds any information incorrect, or it appears to be misguiding, kindly double check it with relevant sources and act. **The author is no way responsible for any conflicts arising out of this post. **
I am a student of science and hence this write up may have biasing towards other subjects. But I hope that this article will help people in other disciplines equally well when taken with a pinch of salt. In general, after the masters or even after 4 year B. Tech degree course (direct Ph.D.) students can register for the Ph.D. degree. The time-line and other details are somewhat as follows:
The selection criterion of the Ph.D. students varies across the institutes. However, there are some national level test that are popular to be used for the admission for Ph.D.
1. Course work: Students will go through a kitty of few 'core' and 'elective' courses. The core courses are what a department / institute thinks that are necessary to be taken by the students. The elective courses are generally relate to the student's research area. The course-work is supposed to be completed in the first year.
2. Fellowship: From the government funding agencies, it is assumed that (in India) that a student will complete the Ph.D. degree in about 5 years. Therefore, first two years are as a JRF (juniour research fellow) and next 3 years are as a SRF. The fellowship amount is more than sufficient for living expenses and etc. If the institute accommodation is not available, then a component of house rent allowance is also available. The government revises the amount of fellowship time-to-time. For instance, JRF and SRF respectively were Rs. 1800 and Rs. 2100 per month in 1987; it is Rs 37000 and Rs. 42000 in 2023. In addition, there are facilities and funds for consumables depending on the requirements of the research work. There are special fellowships such as Prime Minister Research Fellowship (PMRF) with even higher emoluments. In most of the fellowships, there is only one restriction : the fellowship is not available beyond 5 years from the regular agencies. This point is important for the very reason- this post is motivated for.
3. Comprehensive viva, or candidacy exam, or Synopsis acceptance: After the course work is successfully completed by the candidate, they are supposed to qualify the basic exam- known as the comprehensive exam. This is also known with other names such as "candidacy". What it means is that after qualifying this exam, the student is eligible to complete the Ph.D. degree. However, this is an enabling step but not the guarantee of getting the Ph.D. degree. Unlike B.Sc, B.A, M.Sc. , B. Tech. or M.Tech. degrees, Ph.D. degree is not 'given' by the educational institute in a time-bound manner. Obtaining a Ph.D. degree depends on various factors as may be seen from some of the points highlighted under following heads.
4. Full training for the innovation and leadership
Basically, Ph.D. degree is a "training" being imparted to the candidate. The research field of Ph.D. could be either theoretical or experimental in nature or, it can even be the combination of the two. Generally there are two distinct areas even on the same field of research as "Theory " or "Experiments". These classifications exist more from the kind of training required in the development of the person which continues and builds up the outlook.
Therefore, Ph.D. is a complete training given to help tackle a research problem that may result in certain innovation in that field. During the course of the Ph.D. degree, the candidate may publish some new ideas, or even patent some of the innovation in the technology of that time. However, there is a fine line between the innovative research and work for the Ph.D. degree. The Ph.D. degree is generally awarded on a Ph.D. thesis. The thesis is a report of the work done by the candidate on the subject. Broadly speaking, the thesis contains the "experimental tools" or "theoretical techniques" used or "the developed software" or developed experimental set ups. This is followed by a few chapters on the research work done by the candidate and a summary of the research.
5. Development of scientific temper and professional approach
We may remember the 'Ph.D. student' of today is a 'leader' of tomorrow. In the process of obtaining the Ph.D. degree, a high impact of the faith (not intended to be religious/regional) and practices of the guide, culture of the institute and the
department is very much taken along by the
student. Needless to mention, therefore, it is very important that institutes have the modules that train the students with a certain philosophy that remains with them throughout the career.
6. >90% of the work already exists in literature
You may be surprised but more than 90% of a Ph.D. thesis or the research work done by a person already exists in the literature. Therefore, a good amount of 'research work' deals with the 'literature survey'. In principle, one must know that in the area of the research what work has actually been already carried out by other people- world wide! Therefore, in a way, the moment you enroll in the program, you are supposed to be an "international citizen". This is so as you now have to really think of all the countries- and research groups working on that fields. Returning back to the remaining 10%- a few percent of the work may be already done by your seniors around. That has to be repeated by you to standardize your style of the work - this is known as reproducing the existing literature. Once you are through with these techniques and literature- you are now ready to do some thing new. By the time you complete the degree- you come to know that you have actually (i). exposed yourself to the existing literature, scientific practices and knowledge in the field of your research, (ii). not many people around you know more than you in this field (often the supervisors will not know that much-specially the experimental/ simulation skills that your generated) and (iii), you know what exactly you have contributed (about 2-3%).
7. Conferences, workshops, schools: Networking
It is very much of the use to attend the small conferences/ workshops to learn the techniques and developments in the area. This also helps in knowing other people- that helps in the long run. However, one should be careful not to be only involved in Networking alone- that takes away the originality from the work and often results in missing work in their own labs/ area.
8. So- 5-, 6-, 7- or even more years for the degree?
As mentioned in the fellowship head above, it is supposed to take about 5 years. However, there are exceptions who complete the degrees in 3 , 4, or even 8, 9 years or so. One of the necessary condition for the thesis submission is to have a few topics of your research work published in journals. Journal submissions are refereed by other scientists in your research area- who are supposed to aware of the state of the art. The problem comes when the student is not able to submit the thesis even after publishing a few papers in refereed journals. Here is the catch. This could be due to a few factors- either not planing the thesis submission at all, or other problems. The thesis supervisor or, the institute rules should come for the rescue here. As the most of the thesis are written in English, often the writing skill is a minor problem and supervisor has to spend a lot of time on repeated corrections. All this can be taken care if the thesis submission is planned well before. As a rule of thumb, it will take about 10-12 months for thesis submission AFTER one has planned the thesis chapters. If you now look at the 5 year time-line, one should start at 4th year and so on! Okay, how about thesis submissions that take 6, 7, or more? The onus is on the institute and the supervisor. The institute should feel concerned - as there will be large number without getting degrees and many of them leave in between; the supervisor- as the only responsibility of the supervisor was to look after the Ph.D. submission of the candidate. The supervisor, either was lacking the required training during the Ph.D. ( as mentioned in the head 5 above) or is eying something else (such as an award by doing even 'better' work). [Notice here that the supervisor now is already has completed 10 more years after the Ph.D. and has other responsibilities as well]. We remember here the sentence Ph.D. degree is not 'given' from the head 3. It has to be 'earned by the scholar' on the 'research work' 'with the help of the 'supervisor' and the 'institute/ department'. If either of these '4 pillar' has any problem, you know what I mean.
9. What after the Ph.D. degree?
Whether you like it or not, its only after the Ph.D. degree you come to know how to solve a problem in any field. Ph.D. degree provides the "third eye". Employers know this very well. You could be getting an excellent job in the industry, a scientific research institute or an academic institute as a teacher. This is due to the following facts: (1). You posses the highest-level skill of 'literature survey' in any field , and hence (2). You could prepare a info-talk on background information on a given topic within a very short time (3). You are competent in writing a manuscript (and patents!- see last header below) on a given data and editing it in a way it is done. (4) if you have been working in experimental science, then you also know how to deal with the purchases/ purchase and account sections of the industry/institute and you will definitely know the technical write up on purchase, arranging quotations, placing orders and custom clearance of items. (5). you also develop a teaching attitude for the rest of Janta (with the diverse duties as teaching assistant (TA):- resist being TA of a single equipment /course for 5 years).
One of the popular ideas is to go for a post doctoral fellowship (PDF) at the institutes/ persons with whom your supervisor/ institute has collaborations. One can also simply look for the positions at other places. In science, recommendations are of prime importance as no one would like to spoil the working atmosphere of their lab by inviting a 'bad' guy. Therefore, during the Ph.D. degree, it is always better to have good relation with the members of the doctoral committee (including the supervisor) who know your work.
10. What else during the Ph.D. degree? Communicate!
During the course of the Ph.D. degree, there are several ups and down. One striking thing you come across is a thought -you know most of things as you are already 20 ( Even your parents do not know as much you do (which is not true))- who else can teach you any thing? The fact is you do not know ANYTHING about the Ph.D. (see above first para of point 9). Besides, there are several known unknowns (read misguide by your seniours, others ) and unknown unknowns (from Mr. Rumsfeld popular statement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_are_unknown_unknowns), e.g., the actual research topic. Therefore, you just do what comes to you while on the move. It may be like a several things you already knew - you need to connect them well to your work. However, the reason I am writing this para is to tell you that you should also develop some hobby that takes a bit of time of your week. This could be something like solving a puzzle, swimming, running, walking or even Pranayam! -which will help you (unknowingly). Also give your phone number to your friends' parents and vice-versa and reach out (tell it) to your family friends. [you may not share details of your research- see the next point]. For other finer details, follow the culture of your research group. Take help from seniours in the research group and the supervisor. Communicate! Communicate!! Communicate!!!
11. Non disclosure agreement (NDA) , Patents, Intellectual property rights (IPR)
After all, it is a "research work" and you may strike some new thing that could be patented/ published. It could also be a collaborative work as the world has become small. Supervisors are supposed to be aware of the fact- what needs to be patented before publishing (Generally, its not other way around). At times, you forgo patenting as you need to publish it. But nowadays the procedure is quite fast- institutes have IP cells to help you. However, with reference to friends and family- I wanted to bring one point regarding "communication": You can talk everything about your life in hostel/ lab except that "new idea" you are working on. This is so as- almost 100s of people all over the world are working on the same topic or even same problem (due to literature survey stage- see point 6 above). Its like those artists in Bollywood- who have 'cut-throat competition' among them. Therefore, be aware of not to disclose the details of your research without 'internal group discussions' with the supervisor. I mean -you should know the limits : 'what you can tell about your/ your group's research to others (even your parents)' . A related term is known as non-disclosure agreement (NDA)- which the research groups/ institutes/ Industry sign with each other 'not to disclose any research without the consent'. Otherwise, the ideas are known to all can not be sold in millions/ billions! On the other hand, if some one has published the same thing before you- your paper can not be published- it could be considered as the copied idea- that falls under the term "plagiarism"!
More later,
Prem Oct 19, 2023
