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Is a PhD Worth it? - In computer science - my perspective after 6 years
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- čas přidán 17. 08. 2024
- In this video I will provide my perspective on whether or not a PhD in computer science is worth it. What will you learn doing a PhD? What are soft skills you need and will learn that will help you in a software engineering career? What are other benefits of doing a PhD?
And of course I will also discuss the financial aspects of doing a PhD and what salary you might be able to get with a PhD.
More about me:
My name is Florian Leitner-Fischer and I'm a computer scientist, software engineer and software engineering manager based in Germany. I have experience both in academia as well as in industry managing a globally distributed software engineering team. In my videos I talk about programming, software development, software engineering and computer science as well as the occasional tech / gadget review.
Also check out my latest Video on 5 SIGN THAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO a PhD in Computer Science czcams.com/video/rYa2k6HiBxk/video.html
Thanks for Sharing. Enjoy it very much! Hope my son will be following your path.My son is a student at MIT now and will be pursuing his master program next Fall 2022.
There's lots of push-back against any CS degree, mainly from the "learn to code" camp with their "real skills for the real world" agit-prop. And of course the PhD has a reputation of being elitist and ivory-tower. Still, it's a fact that CS is a sort of applied math, and math is the elephant in the middle of the IT room. If you want to work for the lower 50% then no, you don't need any CS degree, just "learn to code," i.e., learn evermore clever programming tricks. But if you want to be in the upper 50% of the IT world, learn the applied math fundamentals behind CS.
Your just talking like this cuz u don’t like the fact that someone who spent less time and effort on something your doing got close to the same result as u in the parts of it that matter
@@irukaonwubiko6926 No, not really. I'm speaking from a lookback on my career as a non-CS-degree programmer where there was always a glass ceiling, where I was always having to rabbithole down into something they knew but I didn't. CS concepts are really important if you want to not just be guessing and faking it at critical junctures. Having said this, yes, just LTC is fine for lots of programming tasks. But if you want to be involved in, e.g., a start-up developing something new and cutting-edge, no way can you just rest on a LTC background -- cool Javascript/Python tricks notwithstanding.
It really boils down on which part of IT world you are involved in. If it's more machine learning or research based, then of course there will be math involved. If it's more of application based, unless it's about measuring performance or errands like that, I highly doubt there will be intensive math involved. Phd to me it's more for ambitious people who want to be famous in the computer history, like having name on some algorithms or paper, otherwise it's better to pay off college tuition/debt earlier during the same time as if you choose Phd, and have a head start in your career.
phd is not top 50%
PhD is top 5%
@@irukaonwubiko6926 The parts that matter are 80% mathematics and deep academic work and I bet you are not strong in it as are most of this cult. I was the same too after mediocre uni experience, although i have a degree and now I am humble and going back to academia at least to learn. Rejecting academia is like teenagers rejecting society and norms. Its useful to grow and to form antithesis but its vital to overcome, return and that is synthesis. Its not superiority compex by the elite (although it can be some times) its also inferiority coplex by the plebs. Climb the stairway to heaven if you are worthy
I am a PhD student many years into the program but many life circumstances have changed for me in the past few years. I am now trying to decide if completing this work is still right for me. I found your video to be helpful to frame my thoughts. Thank you, Florian!
Finish what you've started ❤ hope everything works out.
'like somebody who had never eaten pizza in his life telling you that pizza isn't really tasty'. That's a choke slam right there, my friend. Love it.
Nice video Florian. I for one ignored all those losers who discouraged me from getting a Ph.D. (in stochastic dynamic programming and its application in Macro econ) and persuaded that. In my view, if you love the topic and would like to stay in the field and have an upper hand in many negotiation-type settings, the "right" Ph.D. would actually be pretty useful.
depends on your goal! if your goal is huge ego or maybe becoming professor, then good! if your goal is making a nice living and building amazing things for humanity, not necessary !
Wrong. You're assuming PhDs or professors either have a huge ego, or are not building "amazing things " for humanity (as you put it.) It's just nonsense. There's plenty of evidence to the contrary.
@@imveryhungry112
So where do you apply that dynamic stochastic programming stuff in macroeconomics? Which work uses that?
How did the phd work out for you? I just noticed today everyone is getting laid off from tech. Did that affect you with the phd? Or are you good to go?
I work as a self-employed AI/Machine Learning consultant. If anything, the recent mass lay offs worked in my advantage. I believe the employee/employer model we had for centuries may come to an abrupt interruption, if not termination.
@@imveryhungry112
Very good info. Thanks for sharing your experience. It will be good to share your daily routine as a PHD student.
Thank you for this video! Very helpful
Thanks for uploading. I think the points explained in this video applies to other fields of engineering too.
Thanks alot for explaining, really helped me redirect where i'm going
Good to hear, in which direction are you heading?
@@fleitnerfischer I've always thought a simple CS degree was all I wanted. But after watching this I've now realized that I actually want to get into machine learning research. 😁
@@jothamsoboyejo4889 That’s awesome
@@jothamsoboyejo4889hey i know this was 2 years ago and i hope you see this but im just curious how that machine learning research is going? i’ve been getting into it for the past maybe 6 months or so and i’ve really enjoyed it
Hi Florian thank you for this video. This really helps me to decide for a phd or not
Fantastic content! Gold
Thank you for this content Professor
I NEEDED THIS!
Thank you for presenting your insight about your PhD and how it shaped your career in Germany!
Afaik in the US the situation is pretty similar to Germany: If a professor really wants you they will pay you to be their PhD student.
Being German myself that's a misconception I had about the US system which I only realised after a US professor told me about it.
Even in Germany you might have to fund yourself unless the professor really wants you.
Additionally the pay increase you get from a PhD mostly applies to traditional (German) companies.
Unfortunately those companies might still end up paying a PhD graduate less than a big US company pays Bachelor graduates (in Germany).
The entry level pay at a place like Google in Munich is around 100k just for reference while a company like BMW or SAP might not even pay PhD graduates that much.
Big US companies will usually only pay you a higher salary if your PhD is required for the job.
Of course I agree with you that money isn't everything but fortunately for us as CS nerds we can have both fun and a decent salary.
Also I definitely agree with you that in a traditional, hierarchical German company having a PhD will probably help you getting into leadership positions.
Personally I'm considering doing a PhD nevertheless - especially if it's a well funded one at a top university.
I would love to learn more about computer architecture and GPU design.
I'll see first though if I can even publish something within my Masters degree...
That seems to be an unwritten rule for most competitive PhD programs...
Thank you for the lengthy comment, yes you are absolutely right at companies like Google you have a high entry level salary. I also know a lot of people from PhD programs that started their career at Google, of course it is difficult to say whether they would have gotten that opportunity without a PhD.
Regarding the publication during your masters being an entry criteria: it makes sense from two perspectives first it serves to show that you are able to publish too the PhD program / professor but second of all you are able to get a feeling of what you will be doing during your PhD. If you don’t like writing research papers it might be a tough couple of years …
@@fleitnerfischer Did your friends start out as researchers at Google? My PhD friends that started as software engineers at these big tech companies would often times tell me: "I would not have done a PhD if I had gotten the job otherwise."...On the other hand in those rare cases where someone got a research position they feel like the PhD was worth it a lot more often. I'm kind of torn between the two statements because my US professor told me that most of his students already had job offers to work at a place like Google before they joined the lab. Maybe that's because he's working at a top US university and in Germany there are fewer opportunities so German PhD students use it more as a stepping stone for the industry? I'm not sure what to make of it to be honest.
Oh for sure the paper thing does make sense. Especially if it's a competitive university where they have high expectations of you publishing in your first year even.
@@developandplay well we basically had almost all of the potential cases: people dropping out of the PhD program to join Google, people joining Google after both in research and product development… if you goal is to join Google then I guess applying there before, during and potentially after grad school is the way to go ;)
@@fleitnerfischer I'm currently finishing up my internship at one of these US tech companies and I'm just trying to make up my mind on what's next...
So it's really more about whether a research career in academia or industry is realistically attainable. That's why I'm curious whether your PhD graduate friends ended up actually pursuing research after graduation. To put it bluntly I'm afraid that after pursuing a PhD I'll end up with pretty similar industry options compared to what I have now.
The question is would this be bad? I actually would look at it as a positive thing, you can explore research and after you have your PhD you still have both options … staying in research or an industry career.
Very informative, thank you
there is any scope of phd in tech industry , because in India everybody thinks or believes that the scope of phd is only in academic , and with phd it is hard to get job in industry , most of the time they reject because we become over qualified and if one gets then he we be treated as same or less then the bachelor's who has the experience of 5-6 years.
Hey Mukeshkumar, thanks for this insight in how the situation is in India. Would you agree that also there a PhD specializing in e.g. machine learning at for instance the IIT opens positions in research at the big companies?
@@fleitnerfischer thank you for replying me, there are some positions available in iits but its very hard to get in but most of the phd students go abroad for post doctoral or some join the academics and talking about the industry i India its too hard because opportunities are very less. as compared to abroad.
Coming from India , I don't agree that PhD degree is only foussed on academia. Yeah maybe 5 years ago things were different , not anymore. There are many jobs in industries reserved for PhD candidates. Examples - Flipkart labs, Meesho, Amazon, Intel etc.
Dear Professor: How does one determine that they have the qualities to take up the Phd Program. Because sometimes I may have passion and interest and on some days it could be not there (may be my Phd guide said something discouraging or I am not able to make progress). How to choose a Phd guide or professor.? What criteria can be used to select a Phd Guide. For example, there may be this famous xyz professor having 100 publications but he may not have time for me. It can also be that the professor is a great researcher with bad attitude. Your guidance and thoughts in this topics is really appeciated.
WHAT FOR? I am unemployed 5 years after my PhD in LAW in Switzerland
- I am the author of 8 books, more than 1200 citations, 4 degrees, fluent in 4 languages, a lot of connections and I am unemployed person! I applied for 2200 positions without any success.
How's this possible? You are making this up. I can't believe after all what you have done you didn't land a single job
@@avijitmishra1936 Somehow, It`s possible: No jobs, No interviews, No interest.
How many people are going to admit that the time and money sunk into getting something was pointless? I can think of just one person that got an engineering PhD (specifically chemical) that said it was a waste of his time. Most are going to simply default to "it was difficult to do, I'm proud of the work I put into it, it has worth it."
Let's face reality here. People ask about getting advanced degrees thinking it will enable them to make more money. That is pretty much the driving motivation of making the inquiry. Anybody that has genuine interest in doing research isn't going to ask "is it worth it?"
If the research you want to do is actually good you could find a company willing to pay you very well to do that research anyway.
well, before i continue from 0:56, i currently have pizza on my table. i know its tasty LOL :)
one question if i want to do phd:
1) should i get job first and find the problem and topic then apply for phd with specific problem to fild solution with industry experience
or
2) get directly involved in phd and try to find the topic in course work time , (in india phd duration is 5 years, first two years for course work) because i don't have any perticular topic right now .
i am interested i machine learning , should i go i industry and find how machine learning is use in industry and try to figure out some topics and problems?
I have only limited experience with academia in India but my recommendation would be to already get in touch with Professors that work in the area that is of interest for soy (in this case machine learning) during your masters degree. Even if they don’t have a position the usually have a network they can use. (this is a general advice not only limited to India). I also know that some of the big companies over PhD positions once you are in but those are very limited and hard to get.
If you want to do a PhD abroad, first working in India and then applying from there might be a good option.
Hello Dr. Florian Leitner-Fischer : Nice video! I have 8 years experience as software developer and have worked in companies like Walmart. I work in India and my intrest is in doing research preferably in Germany in software development topics like memory management, improving performance, app optimization etc. I want to do PHD as I have intrest in research. I want to take few suggestions from you.
Is it wise choice to pursue for PHD after 8 years working in industry? Can pursuing PHD help me getting oppurtunities to work in research development? How can I serach for good PHD programmes in Germany? Will appreciate your suggestions.
Hi, it is hard to tell whether or not doing a PhD after 8 years of industry experience is a wise choice, that really depends on your motivation. If you are really interested in doing research then it is a wise choice, if you only do it to get the title I would not recommend it.
The best way to find PhD student positions in Germany is on www.academics.de where most Universities publish their openings.
My recommendation would be browse the openings there to get a feeling what opportunities exists to do a PhD and whether or not you find a good match with your research interests.
Regards
Florian
thank you .
Hi Florian, I would like to ask you, how log did it take you to finish your Phd?
Hi, I started in September of 2010 and had the defense of my thesis in March 2015. But I also did teaching at the University and we had some industry projects that I worked on, so that extended the time a bit.
Thank you for the video! Do you think it is the right moment to learn CS in these pandemic days when the students study alone at home. Is it better to wait until we can go to the university in person.
From what I see universities do there best with remote learning and video lectures. I would say the current pandemic is not a reason to wait. Of course access to labs etc. might be limited but most of CS can be anyhow studied virtual.
@@fleitnerfischer Could you suggest me some CS books?
@@hammer9185 Sure but it also really depends on the topic you are interested in. Maybe that’s also a good video topic.
- Software Engineering: amzn.to/3mP0DhA
- Software Management: amzn.to/300IfZY
@@fleitnerfischer Thank you!
You seem really tired and worked out Sir. What was it like balancing the social aspects of life while doing a Phd? Is it possible for me to maintain a healthy social life whilst working so hard?
I'm an average student, not good at math. Would you recommend me to do a Phd? in NLP field
By the time you finish that PHD the way they do NLP will probably be like 80 percent different. Those fields move fast.
I do not see jobs that even scratch the average you name. I am passionate about it. But I need some training or to simply flex my muscles.
The numbers shown are US averages so depending on your region this might be different but at least in my experience considering cost of living comparable.
Is it Ok to da a PhD in computer science at the age of 40?
Everything is ok it depends on why you want to do it whether it is a good idea
What do I know
Hallo florian, vielen Dank für das Video. Ich möchte fragen, ob man mit einer Ausbildung in der Anwendungsentwicklung einen PhD machen kann?
Hallo Johann, ein PhD ist ein Doktorgrad, d.h. die Ausbildung alleine reicht nicht aber mit der Ausbildung hast du in der Regel ein Fachabitur und kannst dann nach einem Bachelor und Master-Studium auch den PhD machen.
@@fleitnerfischer Alles klar Flowian, vielen Dank für die Information :)
Hello sir, can a person do direct PhD without masters and what are the pros and cons of it?
Hello, no usually a Masters degree is required
@@fleitnerfischer Hello sir, I've heard that people with good grades in their bachelors with honours and thesis or research can do a direct phd in countries like Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, etc. so i was asking if doing a direct PhD after bachelors with honours and research is beneficial in the field of computer science or not?
@@chaitanya9747Yes some universities offer to start directly with a bachelor of honors, what I would look for here is that you have the option to graduate with a Masters in case the PhD doesn’t work out.
Whether this is an advantage compared to doing a Masters first (and potentially also already working in the field you will be doing your PhD in) is hard to say.
the us pays you for a PhD, all universities
Hallo Dr. Florian.. @Dr.Florian Leitner-Fischer i was curious and doubtful to do Phd and then i found this video. Many of my friends and colleague who are currently working in an IT industry always suggested me not to go for Phd as they say it is not worth it. But for me, i am more into research than building application everyday. i am interested to do my Phd in image processing specially in the field of medical science. My motivation is to combine medical science and computer science and cure cancer and many other diseases. But so far, i haven't found any university or professor offering such program. is there any advice for me on this. thank you
Hi @Tenzin Gyurmey your motivation to do a PhD seems to be an excellent one. You also seem to be interested in doing research so that's a good match. You can google for PhD program image processing and you will find a list of potential programs. You can also add your country or countries you might want to do your PhD in to filter the search.
@@fleitnerfischer thank you for your reply. i heard that inorder to get into Phd program, i have to first contact the university professor and than depending upon his or her requirement, selection is done. can you please enlighten me on what is the normal procedure for Phd application and how long it takes to get into one. What about the case in Germany?..
@@chaicoder1835 in general there is both options, but usually at least on Germany there will be “job postings” for the PhD positions either directly from a professor or a institute or a graduate school program
Any sort of biomedical engineering program should allow you to research that
Hi Dr, I need your advice. Currently I'm holding a BSc double major (Maths and Info System) and I'm planning to do masters software engineering next year. Is this OK? Given that I didn't have degree in computer science.
Hi, there are two aspects to consider here: 1) of course you need to meet the formal enrollment criteria for the masters program 2) if you do a CS masters you should have some previous experience in programming and computer science basics like algorithms and data structures but I assume this is part of your Info Sys. degree?
@@fleitnerfischer Yes, also I have take some elective courses before, learning the basics C++, Python also Sql database.
Hey Gregorio,
Sure, your strong math background will definitely help you a lot, if you gonna do masters in CS. Mostly, CS - is a large field and there‘re plenty available majors to concentrate on. One of them could possible be AI/Machine Intelligence, where you’re required to know maths better than actual coding😅
Do a PhD you if want to get paid to do research in the field. Financially, however, it does not make sense.
You dont need a phd to do research in tech. I dont get why everone thinks this lol.
@@imveryhungry112computer science != tech
@@tratbagd4500 I don't understand the idea your trying to convey.
Ofcourse smart people has glasses
13:41 I think nobody got that 😂 *as a millionaire 😂
Meaning?
Firstly, why would anyone call themselves Prof.Dr? That makes no sense. Secondly, this guy only has 240 citations. I had more during my time as a PhD Candidate. I think it is best not to listen to people working at very low level universities. Thanks.
Michael, Prof. Dr. is an official academic title in Germany.
As I discussed in the video doing a PhD is a personal development step, I don’t think the number of publications and or citations is mattering here a lot. What is your opinion was your PhD worth doing it?
@@fleitnerfischer please get some help
@@mickeykozzi that’s why I asked whether you want to share your opinion here?
No.
I would be interested in why you come to this conclusion?
@@fleitnerfischer For industry, PhD trains you well to be at the Senior Engineer / Scientist level (i.e., senior-level individual contributor) but not above that. Above that, you need (1) manager skills, (2) business skills, (3) negotiation skills, (4) marketing skills, (5) networking / social skills, (6) unfettered confidence. PhD primarily trains you to solve hard problems as an individual (and beats down your confidence in the process).
Hi @@bioshed, interesting, I'm actually in a management position responsible for 100 SW engineers globally, doing my PhD I learned (1) manage myself but also students supporting me (2-4) marketing myself and my research on several conferences, pitching research projects to industry partners and making budget planning for project grants (5) building a research network globally within the community (6) building confidence because I could solve hard problems and sustain months of not making progress. So I would say there always is to sides of the coin ...
@@fleitnerfischer congrats on fully utilizing your PhD experience. A lot of PhDs get stuck in the senior individual contributor position, since it is a different skillset and mindset at higher positions, which are more about business strategy and people management.
Whatever you do make sure you start investing in your first job. They dont want your old ass in these tech jobs once you hit 50. So , if you get a degree in CS and you turn 50 and you dont have enough invested to where you could stop working that day, YOU FAILED. If you dont have a million at least invested by 40 you FAILED. Take this into account when considering your phd. Because thats years doing the phd where you wont be earning enough to invest a lot and TIME IS PRECIOUS. And you dont learn anything in there that cant be found on youtube so you can still do badass work in tech without the phd. Look at elon musk the guy only has a BSc.