Are you looking to pursue a PhD? It’s a big adventure, and you have lots of options as you navigate the path to the degree. Last fall, I offered some advice about choosing a PhD research topic (and supervisor). For many folks, that’s the most daunting of the choices to be made, but it’s not the only one. So, today: how might you choose where to do the degree?
First, a small note of caution: I can’t tell you everything. The way PhD programs work varies a lot among countries, and among fields, and so you should be a bit wary of generalised online advice (including mine!). Look for help from a trusted mentor in your field – but I hope that first, I can equip you with good questions to ask.
There are two pieces to the “where” we’re talking about. In addition to considering research topics and supervisors, you’ll want to consider your choice of PhD program (which university will you attend?), and your choice of geographic location (in which city/country will you be living?). They matter for different reasons, so let’s consider them one at a time – even though they’re obviously not independent.
Program
Once you’ve chosen a supervisor and topic, it will often feel like you’re doing a PhD in a lab (or other research group), not in a university’s PhD program. But the program matters, because different universities structure and administer the PhD in different ways.
Finances
Probably the most important question you should ask is whether a program you’re considering offers financial support. Some programs expect you to pay tuition and fees in order to attend. Others waive tuition, but leave you on your own for expenses. Still others provide financial support to cover tuition, fees, and living expenses – either in the form of fellowships or via employment (usually, teaching assistantships). If a program does offer financial support: how much? And is it guaranteed (providing you’re making appropriate progress towards the degree) for a year, two years, four years, or for as long as your degree takes?
Structure
The structure of the PhD program may also matter to you. In most programs, you’ll join your supervisor’s research group right away; but some programs (especially biomedical and other science programs in the USA) have a “rotation” component. In a rotation, you’ll spend six to twelve months moving between a few different labs, doing small projects, before you start your “real” PhD work. That can be a real plus if you haven’t yet narrowed down your choice of topic, or if you can arrange to be in research groups where you can pick up new skills.
But it can also just be a delay: if you already know which PhD supervisor you want, a year is a long time to defer joining them. Ask, also, about how much coursework is expected of PhD students. In some programs, you’ll spend a year or more taking multiple courses, reducing time available for your research. In others, coursework will be minimal, and you’ll jump right in – but then you’ll be expected to learn your new field on your own.
Location
Here’s the part that, in my experience, many students overlook. Your PhD program will (obviously!) be located somewhere. Do you want to live in that somewhere? I think this question gets neglected for two reasons. First, it’s a widespread stereotype that PhD students, and the academics who advise them, are in the lab (or the archives, or whatever) 14 hours a day, 7 days a week – so it doesn’t really matter what’s going on outside. But this isn’t true, or at least it shouldn’t be. (If you suspect that a potential PhD supervisor is expecting this kind of overwork, run.) Second, many students reason that they’ll only be working at the PhD for a few years, and that for a few years, they can manage living anywhere.
The reality is, though, is what wherever you end up, over the course of a PhD you’ll do a lot of living there.
You should, therefore, think about what that will be like:
- Will you be a small-town person exhausted by urban life – or a city-lover bored in a small college town?
- Will you find things to do nearby in your spare time: hiking, if that’s your jam, or art galleries, or concerts, or stock-car races?
- Will the climate suit you, or will you spend your time hiding from the heat or from the cold?
- What kind of politics dominate local discussions and local government (keeping in mind that, sadly, there are places where you might not feel or be safe, especially if you’re of a minority gender, sexuality, or other group)?
- Finally, do you have a partner whose needs must be met where you study, and is distance from friends and family comfortable, or possible, for you?
It might sound like I’m discouraging you from making a bold move. Not so: I made one myself, from small-town Canada to the grit and bedlam of inner-city Philadelphia. Despite more than a few moments of stress, I don’t regret it. It’s just that big leaps work out better if you look first at where you’ll land. With some thought about the program you might join, and the place it’s located, you can make it more likely that your PhD is an adventure – the good kind, not the bad kind.
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