20 PhD students reveal what a PhD is REALLY like
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- I condensed twenty, 20-min interviews into a 10-min video that explains what a PhD is really like to do! I asked about workloads, social life, best parts vs worst, challenges and whether they might do it again.
Hopefully this video can be useful to anyone interested in doing a PhD, or just generally who's curious about what the heck a PhD really is!!
The guest (stars) do (or did) a big range of PhD subjects: Maths, Physics, Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Neuroscience, Psychology, English, and Classics (in no particular order) ;)
If you have any particular questions about doing a PhD, or how you get into one, feel free to drop me a message and I'll do my best to get back to you :)
IG: alexandersneyd
Twitter: @alexander_sneyd
LinkedIn: Alexander (Sasha) Sneyd
Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:17 Typical day
01:06 Workload per day
01:53 Social life
02:20 What are the other people like?
03:38 What do you like the most?
05:29 What do you like the least?
08:01 Biggest challenge?
08:39 Was the PhD worth it?
10:32 Credits
Music cred:
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
uppbeat.io/t/sensho/coffee-break
License code: VCICVH6SE3U1G3VR
Hey guys, I want to try an experiment - a couple of people in the comments have raised the (very good) point that the people I interviewed in this video were mostly doing their PhD at Cambridge. Not exactly representative of all the different PhD experiences people might be having at different places! So I was thinking to make a similar video, but this time telling the story of a much wider group of PhD students from all across the world. 🗺 If you're interested in participating, feel free to fill out this google form here: 👉 forms.gle/y2cn8imVyWcZW2o49 😃 Don't know if this will work, but would be pretty cool if the internet managed to pull it off, and we share the stories from people around the world!
My own boss told me “Eight hours must be enough. If you can’t manage to achieve something in 8 hours, you are doing something wrong” and I agree with him.
The PhD students in the Netherlands don't work those long hours, and they publish too, with great results. Example: WiFi was invented here (no Australia, you did NOT invent it, you simply hold the patent, big difference!).
I heard that Australia invented it@@annekekramer3835
@@annekekramer3835 excuse me but counting countries as here and there is less than ideal. nations are like living beings, but they are also fluid. the inventions inventor matter less than the system that brought them up.
that being said, i would kill to live there 😂
20 hours... bull... u will die😅
@@annekekramer3835 yeah this reallt does not track woth reality, I study physics in Groningen and my lab TA had to have meetings with us once a week ( he was right at the end of his Bsc) about our lab idea. This man would vode his thesis while talking to us and when asked why is he doing this he said I do not have time to sleep otherwise. 3 years later I met him at the end of his masters and when asked about the workload he said it is pretty much the same. So yeah we may get good results, but the workload is insane.
As a PhD student + an international student where I am studying, it can be hard sometimes, especially when my one goal is to work and live here after my thesis. Sometimes it feels overwhelming but I tell myself that I am on the right path. For anyone reading who is in a similar situation as me, I wish us the best of luck and I hope you can also take care of yourself.
if you can't type, then don't 🤡
I can relate, exact similar situation. 😅 Best of luck to us.
Very kind words, ignore the negative resposes.
@@victorgadamba5518 Thank you ☺
Its not the right path if youre focused on work lol most of the time its just prestige
Authentic and heartfelt responses to questions every potential PhD student should be asking. Love it !
Thanks, appreciate it!
These lovely PhD students have a very different experience than I do in my PhD work. My work is mainly online and alone. I must extend myself to socialize and interact with others in the same situation. I would love the Cambridge experience, but I am also quite excited to continue my PhD journey. Best wishes to everyone embarking on this journey!
Nice to see all these heartfelt and varying perspective on the PhD life. I'm about to start mine this year, hope I can be as chill as these folks 😄
Super helpful! Nice to see a variety of academic disciplines represented. I'd love to see more from your channel!
Great Video!! As an undergraduate trying to pursue research and get into a postgrad program this video eradicated the self doubt I had. :)
Glad you found it helpful! :)
Excellent video! I could really relate to many points, even though for sure this is not a representative sample. Sometimes you simply wonder how people have courage to continue. Everyone has a unique experience, but for me it is totally worth it.
Wow this video just motivated me! Thank you
I'm just about to start my PhD and the content of this video was really good and relatable, so yeah, kudos and I hope you make more content like this soon! I just subscribed to your channel as well! :)
great video mate thank you for the effort put in
ahhhh so good! Thank you for sharing😊
Tysm for the video!
I haven't watched the whole video, but the segments I saw reminded me of my overseas PhD days in the US. I can't begin to thank my friends enough for everything. The only thing I regret was not visiting Latin America beyond that one trip to Mexico.
Great video editing! I’d be curious to see what these students had to say in a few years about how they’re using their PhD and how it helped them transition further into academia or into the industry of their choosing.
keep uploding this type of content
"Some days none, other days 48".... same girl. Sometimes my "motor" keeps running, other days it just wouldn't start up.
4-16 hours on my doctoral work, depending on how long I work at my full time employer. Working full time and pursuing a doctorate level degree can be incredibly intense. My weekends are typically full of research and feeding.
I'm always impressed when people pursue grad school and external work, even part time. Your time management skills are godly
Chris, I appreciate that. I sometimes feel that I am teetering on madness. Haha.
@@HE-KevinH.idk how you do it. How do you deal with the stress? I get so stressed sometimes I can’t think well. And I’m only finishing my sophomore year. How do you keep morale up, and not procrastinate? And not just not procrastinate but actually focus hard on the task at hand for extended periods of time?
I would LOVE a response. Thank you and good luck!
Dear god, I clicked this video being pessimistic, but it's one of the most positive videos about phd I have ever seen❤
Great video! Loved to see familiar faces like Mithuna (LookingGlassUniverse) here who’s e been a great inspiration to me 🙏🏾
Does anyone know if you can perform a PhD in a team or is it performed individual?
The Chinese PhD and post-doctoral students are the only ones I've seen that work 20 hour days. I don't quite believe that guy. Thank you.
After my MBA, I did a lot of vocational training followed by a whole bunch of certifications like the PMP, RMP, ACP and about 25 others, all while working full time. I switched majors multiple times so that I had 270 semester hours by the time I finished it. That gave me a Plan B, C, all the way through Z. It was one of my last certs that got me my last job.
So whats your current job?
@@arifazman5057 Manager of Risk Management on a $Multi-B contract I cannot specify.
did you use chat gpt to solve all the certification prerequisite
@@josephmargaryan Yes, it was the precursor to chatgpt, called an abacus 🤣😂
May I ask what equipment you used to film this video? It’s stunning!
Sounds fun honestly, looking forward to pursuing a Chemistry phD, I want to learn absolutely everything I physically can over my career
Same with my PhD. Too stressful for me sometimes, I give myself too high standard lol
Great video but it DEFINITELY does not reflect all aspects of a PhD experience and is rather positively biased.
So. This is my short story. I completed my PhD in Switzerland in April 2019 and I`m still unemployed. I applied for more than 2100 positions in academia, NGOs, private sector, institutions, adminsitration without any sucess or even in-person interview. I have four degrees and I`m fluent in four languages, a lot of certificates and connections and I`m still unemployed. I have enough resources to have pleasent life but I`m a little bit suprised that I can`t find any normal and adequate work.
Start your own business
@@sofianatasha7889 I don't generally recommend starting a business if you've never worked a full time job. You can be incredibly smart and good at your subject matter, but that doesn't mean you'll like or be good at product development, marketing, business and finances, etc.
In which field are you?
@@oskarj7036 Legal studies and risk analysis.
@@lawstud1879 wow, how is it possible that you cant find a job. Thats crazy
im currently only in year 12 but it looks like i have a decent shot at getting into cambridge or imperial and hope to one day go onto doing a PhD for nuclear engineering, so its nice to see that everyone seems happy at that point in their lives. However i would love to see you speak to people who dont currently attend so that you can find out if their opinion changed now its done.
amazing vid! what camera are u using? it looks so lush!
I'm doing a PhD in South Korea (which is known for hard work) and I'm doing 12 hours everyday (9am till 9pm). It might be overwhelming at times.
Why not start at 5 am and end at 5pm? If you have the will to start work 12 hours a day surely you have the will to wake up at 5 am
@@shannont8169 my brain wouldn't work at 5am. I'd rather start at 9
@shannont8169 As morning person and PhD candidate I start 5am and leave at 5pm. There are like 3 of us in the department the others are more night people lol.
I think this video is really biased. As a former Cambridge graduate and now a PhD student in the US, the experince in Cambridge is, hands down, really unique compared to what I am experincing right now.
My hours are long. Experiment are difficult. Plus, 70% of my work is not even research! Its grading and teaching. Hence, the statistical significant of this video for the experience of all PhD students is really not representative. I would recommend the youtuber to interview more PhD students from outside of Cambridge
I've always noticed how quickly people in the UK can finish doctorates compared to the US (especially in humanities degrees). You don't even really specialize in the US until grad school, and when you are in grad school, you are bogged down with teaching and grading, so doing intensive research on a sustained basis is difficult.
I haven't had firsthand experience in the UK university system, but it appears that you can "read" a subject in undergrad and start to specialize (the first year in the US is mostly taking all the required courses in subjects you did in high school, barely beginnig to specialize by your fourth year). In the UK, it appears that you can then do a one-year master's and leverage your specialized research into a three-year doctorate. It seems a lot more efficient, but I guess you get a more well-rounded experience in the US overall.
For sure. In the US here doing a PhD in cancer research and I wouldn’t do this over again even if you paid me
@@JasmineDCarter may I ask why? Cause I've already considered doing it🤦♀️
@@maryamk3977 I mean for me it’s been just constant unrelenting stress! I feel like I’m under immense pressure to perform 100% of the time. Additionally, unless your family also went to college, you kind of lose touch with them as you begin to realize their limited thinking capacities. I’m very alone struggling to perform experiments that repeatedly fail, all while subjected to the nasty and cruel environment that is academia. Not very conducive of failure. I’m overworked, underpaid, and more depressed than I’ve ever been. This is just my experience, but I would checkout r/PhD and r/labrats to get a taste of our daily frustrations. Some people love their PhD. Anything STEM has a greater chance of driving you mad
@@JasmineDCarterplease tell why. I am applying for it.
ahh.. procrastination. currently watching this instead of writing my PhD thesis that's due in less than 2 weeks 😅
I thought the scholars would curse like anything and I'll achieve catharsis. However, this video has profoundly demotivated me and cultivated heightened doubts about my PhD.
Hi what is the income of a PhD student at Cambridge in general?
I just defended 6 months ago. It was an incredible experience in so many ways.
can you create a vedio on 4th dimension conscious singularity world there we come from i mean soul there is no time no space no matter somthing build with nothingness element less element end of the zooming point its the baseless base of the universe beyound the creation action and reaction and out of reach of mind origin of the gravity
Hi Alexander - a great video! If you are ever thinking of interviewing Australian PhDs I would be very interested! I am a 3rd year in intervention-based research ☺
Great vidio
Can a PhD inform me? I always hear that for a PhD you need to work 6 hours a day. Is that true? Is it also possible to work normal work hours a week?
My PhD in the US during the pandemic surly was very different from what these folk experienced. My colleagues and I had to rotate day and night shift for the sake of social distancing. Plus I had to work alone in a small lab in the basement the whole time, often around 60 hours a week. There was no social life on campus for more than two years. I had a good advisor who gave me good research advice and funding. BUT I would never ever do it again.
I’m working full time and doing my PhD full time (computer engineering). Sometimes, I barely have time to breathe
I’m in the full time work and full time study boat too. It’s hard. We’ve got this though! 💪🏻
honestly thats crazyyyy 😮 i have so much respect for you
@@AelitaKeti thanks! I want to quit every day
Why do you need to work on top of the PhD. Doesn’t the stipend cover the cost of living?
@@jacobharris5894 I'm non-traditional. I have a family to take care of
I'm working full time in automotive engineering while doing my PhD. It's the loneliest road I've ever walked. I have no idea what these people mean by "social life".
I don’t know if you believe in God or not, but I will say this: our lives on this earth are so short and rather than taking the route that says do everything you wanna do because life is short, I would say develop a relationship with God or at least seek the answers to whether or not there is life after death so you can know that God is good and he does love you. Just remember, these accomplishments, however awesome they may be, don’t define you. You are already a marvel as creation being a human being, living on a planet that was literally designed perfectly for your species.
Do a computer science video please
Please keep updating video
Hello can you recommend me some books about astrophysics
7:46 hits hard for me LMAO
I did my PhD second time, but I only hold one PhD diploma. Even though I could able to get my first PhD, I prefered to quit from the program with just a MSc degree. In my 2nd PhD, I was working 80 hours per week with almost all the weekends and vacations since the university was demanding from PhD students 3 papers and finish the selective and compulsary courses within 3 years. In my field, it is not easy to publish three papers in a short time, even one is so difficult within three years. Thus, I had to work quite hard to complete my PhD on time. Otherwise, as an international student, I would end up with financial and practical problems like residance permit, if it was extended. PhD is not easy, especially if you are an international student in a foreign country.
Meh. Just more cool, attractive people describing their casually perfect lives. More social media torture for the 99.99% who think these existences are normal or even real.
Exactly. This is a pure fiction.
How many degrees do they have?
I wonder if students in different countries would respond differently, or if these are largely universal experiences
The European PhD experience is VERY different from the American PhD experience.
Not a single one from economics background :(
For some reason my body got hot when they showed Mithuna . I have felt something I did not feel before .
Same video. US universities.
WADR, a "Studies" degree from a for profit Tier 4 University is not the same as a STEM degree.
As PI/professor in a PhD program I would like to hear the same questions asked to people in my position.
Also, for those considering it: If you have good self discipline, can deal with stress, and work hard you do great on a PhD. It's not about how smart you are. Being really smart helps a little, but isn't required.
It's kind of like military boot camp. You aren't going to get kicked out, but you are definitely going to want to quit 100 or more times.
Thanks, this was really encouraging!😊
I worked a lot of hours as a graduate student, thinking that it would eventually bring me to the point that I could be in a management position and relax a bit.
Instead, as a professor (in the US) I’m basically working every waking moment of every day, especially if you count sitting at home writing proposals at 6 am on a Sunday morning.
However, the difference in enjoyment is huge. As a graduate student, the work didn’t really feel like mine, because I knew I’d be moving on in a few years and wouldn’t be taking the work product with me. Instead I just wanted papers so I could get ahead.
In contrast, as a PI, I care deeply about the work product because it’s actually going to stick with me for the rest of my life.
Man thinking military boot camp as an encouragement that’s probably not a good idea.
@@Katadori09sounds like you just like working a lot 😂😅
I earned my PhD and luckily my field isn’t science (biology, chemistry, physics, and all their children), because they work a lot more than the rest of us.
Definitely feel like I shouldn’t have chosen STEM lol, it feels like I am drowning
@@JasmineDCarter I’m sure you’re doing the best you can. That means something, and it’s significant. Keep moving forward! Remember: you stand on the shoulders of those who came before you, whether it’s your ancestors or previous PhDs.
I didn’t even know that phd students in other fields work less hard.
@Katadori09 yeah but they also don't get funding. You're way more likely to get paid in a STEM PhD program
Each day 8 hours of honest hard work including study, 8 hours of sleep and 8 hours of family, friends, health and wellbeing meaning 8+8+8=24 hours! Perfect!
For the first time I am seeing some positive responses for PhD. Otherwise nowadays everyone is busying to portray PhD as end of life and it's one of the worst decisions you take in your life.
7:22 this is the realest response in the whole video
I feel like every waking moment is working. lol.
3:30 i tink nails what creeps me out about academia longterm. Its such a homogenous crowd its kind of off-putting😰
If ONLY school was affordable and not as expensive i would go back to get a PhD.
PhDs are paid for, and if yours isn’t, they don’t really want you there.
The guy in red pants though😂😂😂😂why does his facial expression say otherwise about doing a PhD again?
Wonderful movie! The only problem is that, your guests will not openly talk about the dark sides of academia to the camera, so this movie might be unbalanced and overoptimistic.
Yes none of the rampant bullying I hear about mentioned. This is a bunch of candy coated propaganda
Hi
A PhD is a life style
It's not "work" when you are having fun! If you are not having fun doing a PhD, just quit! Seriously, a phd means nothing in the industry and it's a heck of a lot of "work" if you are not having fun. But if you are having fun, you will even "work" on it during your sleep and can't wait to wake up to continue! :D
Do you make good money or not? Was that sarcastic or an authentic answer? I don‘t know her so I can‘t tell.
During a PhD typically not allthough it varies a lot. After a PhD you tend to earn well
They live what are they doing that is why they can spent more hour on their job
What is the purpose of a PHD?
To become a researcher or a professor. If the purpose is not either of these two. Then, it's a waste of life.
@@JJ-fb2lp I've looked into doing one after a masters degree and on a universities website it says it takes 3-4 years to complete. Where are you getting 8 years from? Is a professor a teacher? What else can a professor do?
To do original research in your field and show your capability in doing so.
Social life for PhD lol:)
Turn off the music. It's distracting.
Please then why is my social life full of depressed coworkers
PhD students be like "I work 140 hours a week" but you never see them do anything other than re-read the same thing over and over.
Hi, I don't know if you activated this or if it's CZcams's doing. Anyway, the fact that I'm getting the title and subtitles automatically translated into German is extremly annoying by itself and even worse because the German translation of the title is nonsensical. If you translate it back to English, the title says "20 phd-students reveal, how a PhD Title is REALLY like" ("20 Doktoranden verraten, wie ein Doktortitel WIRKLICH ist"). I'm pretty sure, that this isn't some sort of absurdist video that interviews humans on how it is like to BE a PHD-TITLE. Anyway, this is annoying and unprofesional and I hope the allseeing algorithm sees my rage and learns that automatic translations are awful. Give me the option to make them go away. Please.
Too many people getting PhDs in this day and age. It should be acquired for the right reasons, which is normally to gain deep knowledge in a particular field.
That’s a good thing a lot more researchers
Don't they all do that tho? No one is doing a PhD without wanting to pursue a bigger knowledge in given topic lol, too much hustle
*second most advanced degree. :)
What's more advanced?
least depressed cambs phd students 😭
I thought this was a joke video saying the opposite of what a phd is. Haha, if this is meant to he legit its insanely biased and untrue. Go interview the same people in 10 years after they've finished and aren't being paid by the same institutions, and see what they say then ;)
They don't work 20 hours a day.
No shit bro
Fake!
Calling a PhD the most advanced degree sounds ignorant. What about a доктора наук? My Russian “bachelor’s degree” is treated as a Master’s degree all around the world. Furthermore, I’m supposed to have a dissertation completed to finish a Master’s degree in computer science.
Who said your bachelor degree is treated as master’s?
@@olesianitsovych4632 the government of a few countries including China.
@@user-yd9xy3rb4x you said “all around the world “. Few countries including china is less than a world….
You sound ignorant.
As a fellow russian, phd is the equivalent to our д.н. also, your Bsc is NOT an equivalent of a Msc anywhere. Its just a longer form of Bsc
We're a mother-daughter duo pursuing our PhD and BDS journeys. Join us as we share our experiences in academia and dentistry, along with adventures in travel, culinary delights, and the latest fashion trends. Subscribe to explore our world of learning, exploration, and style! www.youtube.com/@prodoclife
I found my piece with this video and I am going to write my thesis again 🥰🫶