Should you do a PhD? | PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge

[@indinaut]

Just to add my 2 cents as a current Ph.D. student in physics. If anyone's reading after watching the complete video and considering a Ph.D. (in any basic science field), know this, this will not be how most Ph.D.'s will go. The scenario presented here is a rather idealistic one where you get a good college/university, a vibrant city to live in, amazing peers/collaborators, and a supportive supervisor. More often than not you'll probably get only one out of the above things if you even get one of it. So, do consider the fact that most Ph.D.'s on youtube are rather amazing high-achieving people. Their perspective is of course, more often than not, a great one, since they've gotten most if not all of the above. Having said that, the mental stress and workload are the same for any Ph.D. student anywhere in the world. So, not getting a good environment with that kinda workload can be very taxing. Plus the pay isn't great and getting funding is a huge issue (U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, anywhere), and all the problems are compounded multiply for international students. Having said all that, while most people say that you should really have a passion for the subject to pursue a Ph.D. in it, I somewhat disagree. I think it's totally fine to look at a Ph.D. as kind of a job in your selected field. Of course, the pay won't be great, but sometimes it's better than not doing anything. Ph.D.'s can be a great stepping stone for other successes. Good luck!

The survivorship bias reality check we needed.

[@Quarky_]

I very much agree with "treating it as a job", I said as much in my comment above :)

[@indinaut]

@ Haha, yeah, I guess. Just figured it might be helpful to have some POV from an average Ph.D. student too. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but it's not all doom and gloom either. Maybe you have your own experiences you can add in here?

[@indinaut]

@@Quarky_ (posted this comment earlier, not sure why it didn't show up) had to search for your comment. your comment is much more informative than anything I've commented. Agree with most of what you've said. You seem like a theoretical particle physicist. Greeting from a fellow experimental particle physicist. :) I'm from India too btw ;)

[@Quarky_]

@@indinaut Oh wow, hello! Actually I was also in experimental HEP, I wonder what made you think I'm a theoretician :-p, maybe because my comment was too verbose :-D

[@scilabus]

CONGRATULATIONS MITHUNA

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

THANK YOU VIV!

[@leif1075]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Why is it harder to go back into a competitive Phd after a break? If you have a strong record and resume, why can't it be the same? Thanks for the video.

[@ghostbluster8900]

Je mattendais vraiment pas a voir un scilabus sauvage dans ces contrées

[@Toudreyte6501]

Vous ici?

[@asimtahir7859]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Methuna can we prove God by quantum physics?

[@DistributedPondPerspective]

As someone with one more year left of a 4-year PhD course I can't recommend enough listening to the advice here regarding looking into the team/supervisor you intend to join. This really really will be a huge factor in determining how the experience goes. Beyond this, expect much of it to be very unstructured and to get stuck doing loads of work in an area for months only to find out your efforts there were entirely in vain. Potentially very interesting job though, as long as you are okay with massive uncertainty.

[@Codewithsultansalahuddin]

what do you in a PHD , like if it takes you longer than 4 years to discover something would you get your certificate?

[@wonderfulworldofmarkets9033]

I dropped out of college 5 years ago because I lost faith in my ability to do well. But watching your video 'From being terrible at math to a quantum physicist - my journey' was one thing that motivated me to try again. Instead of my old liberal arts major, I went for a difficult STEM major and finished my first semester in December with a 4.0 and five A's!!! :) Thank you for everything, you and your channel are a blessing. I am taking Data Science next semester and going to start watching all your linear algebra videos as prep!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Oh my god, I’m a bit teary. I’m so proud of you, that’s an incredible achievement. That must have taken so much dedication but it’s awesome that you proved to yourself that you can do it! Well done ❤️ If you’re doing linear algebra stuff next semester, I also recommend Gilbert Strang’s book (you’ll be able to find it second hand) and also 3blue1browns great series on it. Can you keep me updated on how you’re doing? I’d love to hear from you, and if there’s anything I can ever do for you please don’t hesitate to ask!

[@wonderfulworldofmarkets9033]

​@@LookingGlassUniverse Sorry for replying so late! I did not see this earlier as I don't use this youtube account often. Yes it was difficult, but honestly it was more about being intimidated and losing self confidence. Once you get past the initial steep learning curve, most concepts aren't that difficult. But it's easy to get scared at that initial hump and give up. (That's why your down to earth non-elitist videos were so helpful!!) And yes I just ordered the book you suggested looking forward to going through it! And I will definitely reach out again with updates! (but probably from my other account).

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@wonderfulworldofmarkets9033 I totally agree! STEM subjects have a way of being so intimidating up front, but once you get into them they're not bad. I feel you, because I've definitely experienced the same thing. I'm glad you pushed through and you're doing so amazingly! Like I said before, feel free to ask anything that comes up and keep me posted on your journey!

[@vishwanathreddy7945]

I dropped out of my Ph.D.(computational physics) after publishing a paper because I realized that it's not gonna pay off. I realized that I'm gonna be unemployed so I shifted to an IT career recently. PhDs are more about publishing papers rather than exploring deep into the field of your interest. It also depends on your guide and the funding you receive. I will do the research without anyone's supervision in the topic of my interest after getting a job.

[@theawantikamishra]

Thank you for writing it

[@AyanHussain05]

PhD kaha se kar rahe the 🤔🤔

[@mkhodadadi7714]

Phd in physics is not worth it?? U mean u can not make money by physic degree??

[@vishwanathreddy7945]

@@mkhodadadi7714 yes money for survival is one aspect. There are many dimensions to it. 1) Its not always easy to get funding in the area of your interest. 2) Your supervisor will generally be more interested in getting you publications to ensure you get degree in 3 to 5 years. 3) Most of todays research is not curiosity driven. we end up working in projects that have funding or some thing that is in the interest of supervisor. 4) Lots of sacrifice in personal life as well. 5) There will be continuous pressure in mind where we will constantly think of money and family to look after. 6) Very few PhDs are lucky to get a Job position. 7) Private sectors don't employ you especially if you work in things like cosmology, pure math etc. 8) Academia(in India) is becoming more and more toxic now a days with lot of incompetent people becoming professors. I know a professor from IIT with PhD in statistical physics but cant understanding basic things like entropy. 9) Either one has to be a genius or extremely lucky or rich enough to have a secure life after PhD

[@vishwanathreddy7945]

@@mkhodadadi7714 1) one needs money for survival. Life is hard if you are from an underdeveloped part of the world and aim for a PhD. There is always a constant pressure in the mind to look after the family. 2) Academia(India) has become toxic with lots of incompetent people becoming professors(recruiting also happens with money under the bench). 3) There wont be any jobs in private sector unless your work can me materialized commercially which happens very infrequently in basic sciences. 4) we end up burning 3-7 years of life for few publications and a degree. I am not saying PhD is completely worth less if your work gives you intellectual satisfaction. But many students work is not driven by their curiosity as they are forced to work in the area where there is funding or in the area where your supervisor wants you to work. At the end every thing boils down to money. If you are an unstoppable genius or a rich guy or an extremely lucky guy who got that 1 professor job which 1000 other PhDs have applied for then you wont notice the mental stress.

[@paul4ashraf]

Congrats !!! :D I remember watching your videos when I was in high school, now I'm doing my last year in my computer science degree! Time flies I guess..

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Wow!! I hope it’s going super well!

[@paulregan9304]

There literally couldn't have been a better time for this video to go up because at the moment I am trying to decide whether or not to do a PhD after my Masters. Thanks for the advice.

[@anonxnor]

Same here.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Good luck both of you! If you have more questions then post them as a seperate comment and I’ll get back to you!

[@samahph]

Tell us about the field you decided to carry on with

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@samahph Soon :)

[@tumbleweed4026]

Same lol

[@hamsterproductionsofficial]

Huge congratulations! I finished my physics PhD this year too, and had a pretty great experience, minus the writing up in lockdown haha :D Great video as always.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Congratulations that amazing!! So... what's next :P? Thanks for being supportive for so many years!

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

Wow! Great! What do you look forward to now?

[@rai2134]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Hii Mithuna I'm from India, Congratulations! for completing your PhD. I'm a final year masters student and I wanna do my Phd in Quantum Computation, But due to lockdown I haven't done any summer project. I have no experience of research background in Quantum Computation. What I've done is only the self study. Can you please give me a few suggestions!!🙏🙏 Your videos are always awesome!!

[@hamsterproductionsofficial]

@@LookingGlassUniverse My plan is to do part time research, part time YT for a bit, then apply for post docs later in the year when things are less intense in the UK. My PhD focused on quantum circuits at low temperature so I would love to stay in that world. How about you? Being an academic and content creator can be a tough balance! It's been awesome to see you channel grow, and I owe you for teaching me several major principles in quantum physics when I was an undergrad!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@hamsterproductionsofficial What are quantum low temp circuits? It sounds so cool! And that's awesome you're planning on keeping up the academic side and the KZbin. It's tough but I think it'll be super rewarding :)

[@KyleKabasares_PhD]

Congratulations on finishing your PhD and going into science communication! I'm currently doing a Physics PhD in the US (as a US citizen), and I'm always surprised to hear how fast PhDs seem in the UK even with a 1-2 year Masters as a requirement (which is not the case in the US). A lot of the advice you gave in terms of the quality of both the PhD advisor and the research group is also very applicable to the US system, and helps with avoiding those groups and advisors that overwork their grad students. I think I honestly just got lucky and randomly walked into the right advisor/group because I didn't do a lot of the recommended steps you suggested (i.e. went straight from undergrad to grad school, didn't have a sense of what kind of research I really wanted to do, etc.), but I'm so thankful it worked out, though I would never recommend my path to others and would much rather recommend your video! I'm still set on the academic path for now, but I think grad students should go into the job market with realistic expectations and to have alternative career options in mind besides the ivory tower. There are really many interesting jobs outside of academia and I think channels like yours help dispel the myth that PhDs are ONLY meant to become academics. Congrats again on finishing yours! :)

[@sebfox2194]

I did my PhD in the UK, and I did a 2 year Masters prior to a further 7 years full time to get my PhD. So 9 years post BSc. Some of my office mates also took 6 to 7 years to get their UK PhDs. There is a 3 year minimum, but many people take 4+ years. It is highly dependant on your subject, supervisor, and individual project.

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

How did it go???

[@veryshuai]

I did a US PhD in Econ (graduated in 2014) and I am now a tenured associate prof. I work in Europe, and the PhD life at my institution is much "cushier" than my experience at a mid-rank US university. We pay our PhD's a lot more, they are often more involved in our research rather than floundering around on their own, and generally the work-life balance is much better here. On the other hand, about 75% of my US graduating class were placed in academic jobs, and a significant number of us are now either tenured or heading for tenure, some at very good universities. Less than 25% of the PhDs at my current institution are placed into academia. I sometimes think the European PhD is trading off current consumption for future consumption. The PhD life is much nicer, but the training is narrower, and there are less academic placements.

[@icadoriogorgeousiano9454]

What was your PHd's contribution to mankind's knowledge of economics.

[@adamcylee]

Wa, you smart, me only primary school in Singapore 🇸🇬

[@adamcylee]

@@icadoriogorgeousiano9454 You badass!

[@icadoriogorgeousiano9454]

@@adamcylee My PhD is in gorgeousness

[@adamcylee]

@@icadoriogorgeousiano9454 No wonder me admire you SO MUCH!

[@chamelious]

Would love to see a/some videos taking us through your PhD in detail.

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

Why? Why would ye need or wonder about that kind of thing??

[@iTeerRex]

My favorite professor always said: Everyone should at least get an undergrad in physics, then go on to what ever they want to study. It intellectually develops you in so many ways including maths, and everything else becomes a piece of cake. I agree with him completely, but not everyone would wana do that. As far as a PhD in physics goes, you gotta love it, and do it for the love of it I would say. Again congrats on your PhD.

[@dawson6196]

I would say Engineering instead of Physics for undergraduate, since Engineering will prepare you for everything physics does and real world as well. I did the same went for Mechanical Engineering for my undergraduate, then for Physics in my postgraduate and planning for PhD in Physics. The engineering undergraduate did help me a lot for employment.

[@iTeerRex]

@@dawson6196 For undergrad they are very much a like. My friends who went into engineering and I, we all took the same classes up to junior year. But yes if you stop at 4 years, then an engineering degree would be better for employment.

[@johnnyq4260]

I have a PhD in physics, but your professor comes across as being quite naive (perhaps due to the academic environment). Just because you think everything else is a piece of cake doesn't mean you have the ability or experience to do everything else. More importantly, employers won't think that either. This kind of hubris, common among physics students, is toxic, and won't serve you well.

[@iTeerRex]

@@johnnyq4260 No no of course not. He meant an under grad in physics as a developmental tool, as a prerequisite if you well, to then go on and study what you like. But again its not practical.

[@JamesJoyce12]

@@iTeerRex You did strength of materials - surveying - metals lab - Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow in 2nd year Physics?? lol

[@salmanshafiek4334]

I'm currently almost a full semester into my chemical engineering PhD. I was in that situation right after completing my bachelor's degree where I had no idea what I wanted to do or what I even enjoyed doing so when one of the lecturers I was close to offered to be my supervisor for my PhD, I just went with it. I still don't know what I wanna do in the future, but I think I got lucky getting a supervisor I work really well with and is in a field I find incredibly interesting. I genuinely believe that these past couple months have been way more enjoyable than my 4 years in my bachelor's degree and I hope it stays that way :D

[@DrRusty5]

While doing my undergraduate degree, I just (wrongly) thought a Ph.D. was solely for an academic career (well certainly within Sciences). However, whilst out doing an industrial placement I met people with PhDs (who gave me some interesting advice as to how they see a Ph.D. in the industry) but I had my sights set on possibly doing an MSc and never thought I was ever going to be in the running for a PhD. At the end of my degree the MSc was not going to work out and (by chance, not the intention) I was offered the opportunity to do a Ph.D. (effectively starting an MSc but transferring after a year). The words of those I had met in the industry were ringing clear in my head. There is little doubt it was not easy and I almost didn't make it. But in the end, I got a Ph.D. I will always tell people to go into a Ph.D. with eyes wide open - three/four years is not that long in the scheme of things and if the research isn't working out it can be very demoralising. Too late, I found a book "How to Get a Ph.D." I could see the mistakes I had made at the start. My other advice is from day one choose and use a Bibliographic Database for references, it will pay off, when writing up. One last crucial piece of advice when writing up, always save the new version (never just overwrite the working version) as a new file (eg dated) then keep the old versions backed up in multiple locations. In the end, if something goes wrong you will only lose a day or two of work, you can also recover any deleted sections.

[@stephenbradshaw6727]

I have a great deal of experience in both the UK and US systems. My Ph.D. is from the UK (same university/department as the owner of this channel, as it happens) and I am a tenured full professor at one of the top-ranked US universities. The major reason for the extended duration of a US Ph.D. is that graduate students spend their first couple of years taking graduate classes in their chosen subject area, which typically cover material that is part of the undergraduate degree elsewhere (e.g. UK and Europe), and working as teaching assistants, which severely reduces time available for research. Undergraduate degrees in the US have a "major" focus, where students learn the core material of their subject (e.g. physics, mathematics, computer science, etc.), but they also have to take courses in subjects not directly related to their major to earn sufficient "credits" to graduate. E.g. if 120 credits are required to graduate then roughly half to three quarters might be in the "major" (it varies between majors) and the remainder in other subjects. I suppose the idea is to produce broadly knowledgeable and well-rounded citizens to engage with society. Undergraduate degrees in the UK (and Europe, I presume) focus exclusively on relevant material, such that more can be covered to greater depth during the 3 or 4 year degree, which obviates the need for graduate classes. I should make it clear that one undergraduate system is not inherently better than the other; each has its advantages and disadvantages, and suit different people differently. Once Ph.D. students in the US are able to focus exclusively on research, after successfully completing classes, passing qualifying examinations, and satisfying teaching obligations then they typically finish in another 3 or 4 years, a duration not dissimilar to their counterparts elsewhere.

[@daniellassander]

That is awesome, im not working on a PHD nor will i probably ever, its awesome that you found out what you are burning for and have a clearer path forward. Thank you for the video!

[@josev9059]

I feel glad to hear this advice while still being an undergrad, congrats, and wish you the best

[@quahntasy]

*Congratulations on completion. I just started my PhD. Hopefully this turns out to be a good choice*

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

Howz it going??

[@pranavagarwal768]

Congratulations on completing the PhD. This video made my day. I wasn't sure and depressed if I was making the right decision to pursue my postgraduate education from the UK as everyone here in India favours the US system. But I believe time plays a very important factor and every student should take this into account before blindly moving to the states.

[@louislesch3878]

That was a great video. I got my masters a decade and a half ago and although it was hard work, it was a great experience. I would have continued on and some of my professors were a little disappointed that I didn't, but exiting at 27, I just wanted to get on with life, you know. The one main thing that I remember though is finally being able to read and digest papers from my field. At that point, you can then join a much larger community all working at the frontier of human knowledge. It is that feeling of discovery that can make it all worth it. And that feeling is something you remember for a lifetime.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Absolutely! Very well put.

[@Quarky_]

Congrats on finishing your PhD! Mine (also Physics, in Europe) went wrong after spending 4 yrs (ironically the research was okay :-/), glad yours turned out great :). Talking to other students before starting is great advice, it's not full proof, but probably gets you closest to the truth. Unfortunately that's pretty difficult to do for foreign students, who happen to be the most vulnerable. EDIT: My follow up "essay" turned out to be more useful than I anticipated, so I'm replicating it at the top of the thread for visibility :-) --- Let's see, I'll give it a shot, but my perspective is fairly dark, apologies for that :-p. Even if you talk to people, check your supervisor's publications, it's just not possible to ensure you end up at a decent workplace, so I advice the following for someone who has already started their PhD. If someone is on the fence about whether they should go for a PhD, this letter from the Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg will give you an idea of what it is like if you are committed to this: math.stanford.edu/~vakil/files/nature.pdf 1. No matter how passionate you are, how good your research is going, treat your PhD as a limited term contract job. And as such, have backup plans, including for the scenario where you do not finish. To that end, try to pickup "skills" that are useful, look at your research from a different perspective of "general utility". E.g. I learned to program, so much so, despite my PhD debacle, I have been in programming centric jobs the last few yrs, with reasonable pay (I have savings, not a broke grad student any more!). Unfortunately this was not a conscious choice on my part, I would have done it somewhat differently if I were to actively cultivate this as a skill; I'm good at programming, but I don't necessarily like it, just parts of it are very exciting which makes it okay. 2. Certain research skills like, literature review, ability to do a deep dive into difficult topics, these are very useful and not very common, but employable skills. If you manage to get some experience on the side that demonstrate this, that's a great backup prep. Mithuna's advice on doing other things on the side is amazing advice. I bet if she hadn't started her KZbin channel, she wouldn't be going into Sci Com! This is also in alignment with "treat it as a job", you wouldn't want your job to take over your life, would you? 3. For your research, from the very first year, make sure _you_ are guiding your research with inputs from your supervisor, not them. You should be in control as much as possible. At the end of the day, a PhD is a very long term project, so make sure you are the project manager, and are on-board with the most critical decisions. Peripheral things like, which school to go to, which conference is interesting, who should you collaborate with, and so on, are also very important. Often you'll hear excuses like there's no money, that's all bullshit. I was told that throughout my PhD, and yet I saw other (select) students get instant go aheads. Try to find alternate sources of money, like scholarships, bursaries, side job, whatever to have some autonomy. One time I just applied for a school and notified them later, they were mad, but that was the best school I had ever been to. From their comments I'm sure they wouldn't let me go if I had asked for permission. All the other schools I went to were mandated by them, and utter drivel. 4. International students are particularly vulnerable in this setting, you should always look for supportive people in your surroundings, be it mentors, friends, other collaborators. The idea is to have a safety net, e.g. if it doesn't workout it's possible to switch supervisors, or if your supervisor isn't really supervising, you have other people you can rely on for guidance, and most importantly you are not completely reliant on your supervisor for professional success, as in, you have your own network of peers who you can work with, and in the least, finish your PhD. _Finishing your PhD is the most important goal for these few years!_ One of my collaborators was the reason I ended up at a mini conference with 2 of the Nobel laureates who were instrumental to my field (Jim Cronin, and Makoto Kobayashi, the K of CKM), never in a million years would my supervisors send me there. I also survived my PhD thanks to my friends, without them I don't know where I would be. I have looked out the grill-less window of my high rise student apartment a couple of times, that's for sure. My office mate/best friend found out institutional resources that were available to me to resolve the issues I was having (an impartial mediator/counsellor, paid by the funding agency directly, and not by my Institute/University). Unfortunately that also didn't work out, because the final implementation was in the hands of my supervisors, and I wasn't mature enough to follow-up on their promises with tenacity. 5. International students should also be very watchful of racism and other forms of discrimination (religion, language, your developing nation background, etc), same goes for women, even if you are a local. I have seen it too many times. My friend (she) and I (he) used to have a game, in any group activity how many times do I get credited for something that she did. I have faced racism from colleagues (both mild ignorable to pretty intense harassment), institutional racism (some of it was obvious, some of it I realised much later), and just racism on the street or from neighbours. Make sure your friends understand some part of this, otherwise it is very very lonely, and frustrating, and it grinds on you. 6. Save some money. If you are an international student, this is particularly important. You do not have the same resources as the locals, particularly if you are like me, coming from the developing world (I'm from India). That small financial cushion will buy you time so that you can find the right opportunities if it doesn't turn out the way you had hoped. This is a bit ironic given such paltry pay, but a little bit here, a little bit there, makes for a big difference. I wish I had invested a small amount as SIP, I would be in a far better financial situation today (not that it's bad, but if I look at my non-PhD peers, could have been better). 7. I don't think I have anything else to add, other than no one is on "your side", most people you'll encounter in a staff-like position, they don't really care about you. They have seen many students come and go, so will you, regardless of your success or failure. They are not good or bad, they just have no skin in the game, i.e. your PhD. That's how academia is structured, so you have to look out for yourself, be self-reflective (about both personal and professional matters), make great friends (including among work colleagues, but not limited to them), be decisive (e.g. if you think it's going nowhere, don't be afraid to quit, see: sunk cost fallacy), and always, I repeat, always have backup plans, several! I hope it wasn't too dark :-p.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that :( what advice would you offer people to make sure this doesn’t happen to them? What can international students do?

[@Quarky_]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Let's see, I'll give it a shot, but my perspective is fairly dark, apologies for that :-p. Even if you talk to people, check your supervisor's publications, it's just not possible to ensure you end up at a decent workplace, so I advice the following for someone who has already started their PhD. If someone is on the fence about whether they should go for a PhD, this letter from the Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg will give you an idea of what it is like if you are committed to this: math.stanford.edu/~vakil/files/nature.pdf 1. No matter how passionate you are, how good your research is going, treat your PhD as a limited term contract job. And as such, have backup plans, including for the scenario where you do not finish. To that end, try to pickup "skills" that are useful, look at your research from a different perspective of "general utility". E.g. I learned to program, so much so, despite my PhD debacle, I have been in programming centric jobs the last few yrs, with reasonable pay (I have savings, not a broke grad student any more!). Unfortunately this was not a conscious choice on my part, I would have done it somewhat differently if I were to actively cultivate this as a skill; I'm good at programming, but I don't necessarily like it, just parts of it are very exciting which makes it okay. 2. Certain research skills like, literature review, ability to do a deep dive into difficult topics, these are very useful and not very common, but employable skills. If you manage to get some experience on the side that demonstrate this, that's a great backup prep. Mithuna's advice on doing other things on the side is amazing advice. I bet if she hadn't started her KZbin channel, she wouldn't be going into Sci Com! This is also in alignment with "treat it as a job", you wouldn't want your job to take over your life, would you? 3. For your research, from the very first year, make sure _you_ are guiding your research with inputs from your supervisor, not them. You should be in control as much as possible. At the end of the day, a PhD is a very long term project, so make sure you are the project manager, and are on-board with the most critical decisions. Peripheral things like, which school to go to, which conference is interesting, who should you collaborate with, and so on, are also very important. Often you'll hear excuses like there's no money, that's all bullshit. I was told that throughout my PhD, and yet I saw other (select) students get instant go aheads. Try to find alternate sources of money, like scholarships, bursaries, side job, whatever to have some autonomy. One time I just applied for a school and notified them later, they were mad, but that was the best school I had ever been to. From their comments I'm sure they wouldn't let me go if I had asked for permission. All the other schools I went to were mandated by them, and utter drivel. 4. International students are particularly vulnerable in this setting, you should always look for supportive people in your surroundings, be it mentors, friends, other collaborators. The idea is to have a safety net, e.g. if it doesn't workout it's possible to switch supervisors, or if your supervisor isn't really supervising, you have other people you can rely on for guidance, and most importantly you are not completely reliant on your supervisor for professional success, as in, you have your own network of peers who you can work with, and in the least, finish your PhD. _Finishing your PhD is the most important goal for these few years!_ One of my collaborators was the reason I ended up at a mini conference with 2 of the Nobel laureates who were instrumental to my field (Jim Cronin, and Makoto Kobayashi, the K of CKM), never in a million years would my supervisors send me there. I also survived my PhD thanks to my friends, without them I don't know where I would be. I have looked out the grill-less window of my high rise student apartment a couple of times, that's for sure. My office mate/best friend found out institutional resources that were available to me to resolve the issues I was having (an impartial mediator/counsellor, paid by the funding agency directly, and not by my Institute/University). Unfortunately that also didn't work out, because the final implementation was in the hands of my supervisors, and I wasn't mature enough to follow-up on their promises with tenacity. 5. International students should also be very watchful of racism and other forms of discrimination (religion, language, your developing nation background, etc), same goes for women, even if you are a local. I have seen it too many times. My friend (she) and I (he) used to have a game, in any group activity how many times do I get credited for something that she did. I have faced racism from colleagues (both mild ignorable to pretty intense harassment), institutional racism (some of it was obvious, some of it I realised much later), and just racism on the street or from neighbours. Make sure your friends understand some part of this, otherwise it is very very lonely, and frustrating, and it grinds on you. 6. Save some money. If you are an international student, this is particularly important. You do not have the same resources as the locals, particularly if you are like me, coming from the developing world (I'm from India). That small financial cushion will buy you time so that you can find the right opportunities if it doesn't turn out the way you had hoped. This is a bit ironic given such paltry pay, but a little bit here, a little bit there, makes for a big difference. I wish I had invested a small amount as SIP, I would be in a far better financial situation today (not that it's bad, but if I look at my non-PhD peers, could have been better). 7. I don't think I have anything else to add, other than no one is on "your side", most people you'll encounter in a staff-like position, they don't really care about you. They have seen many students come and go, so will you, regardless of your success or failure. They are not good or bad, they just have no skin in the game, i.e. your PhD. That's how academia is structured, so you have to look out for yourself, be self-reflective (about both personal and professional matters), make great friends (including among work colleagues, but not limited to them), be decisive (e.g. if you think it's going nowhere, don't be afraid to quit, see: sunk cost fallacy), and always, I repeat, always have backup plans, several! I hope it wasn't too dark :-p.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@Quarky_ This is just incredible!! Would you mind posting it as a seperate comment? I really want as many people to see this as possible- it's more valuable then my whole video!

[@Quarky_]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Thank you for your kind words :), I have edited my original post at the top of this thread to include my comments, hopefully this helps others

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@Quarky_ Perfect, thank you. I really hope others can learn from your experiences! If you don't mind me asking, where did you study? Was it difficult applying as an international student?

[@algotrader9054]

In the US, its quite common for people to get Phd without the goal of becoming an academic. That's because so many companies pay big money for Phd and explicitly require Phds for many research roles. You have a Phd in Quantum Computing? I would assume you can get a $300-500k job in the US pretty easily.

[@NovaWarrior77]

So glad you're back! Super big congratulations!

[@DeJay7]

Okay, so this isn't talking about a lot nowadays, for some reason it's seen more and more as unfeasinble, but someone can go for a PhD anywhere almost regardless of the situation and the specific circumstances that may make it either good or bad, as long as there is enough passion, confidence and dedication. I myself want to pursue some kind of research in physics, I'm not sure for what exactly as I'll start university in a few months, but I don't expect a lot of support if any. But, as long as you can keep yourself alive and also work, maybe even work really hard, on the thing you want to do, almost always support finds you and you'll start to grow. But without initial support this is almost always extemely tough and a huge commitment as you're in your prime years of life and you need to REALLY FOCUS. You're gonna have to sacrifice more than you may want, but I believe that if you do it well, it's going to pay off. And that is my plan, sort of. I plan to actually dedicate my life on reseach, and sacrifice whatever it is I must, since time is limited. Whether or not I will endure it is to be determined.

[@blancocd]

god damn the final words of discouragement really hit me

[@benjystrauss2524]

Keep in mind this is only one person's story, and there are plenty of research jobs outside academia. Many of the jobs I've found actually want PhDs.

[@pritam9873]

@@benjystrauss2524 which jobs, like?

[@benjystrauss2524]

@@pritam9873 Oy, It's hard to remember what I was referring to one year later. Being a professor at a university for one, various research position for another.

[@pritam9873]

@@benjystrauss2524 woa!never really thought i ll be getting a reply.thanks btw but industry options after physics phd are less

[@benjystrauss2524]

@@pritam9873 I get an email notification every time someone replies, even if its over a year later. From what I've heard (and this was several years ago), many people with physics degrees wind up in CS for precisely that reason.

[@sgt.pepperlonely]

US PhDs take longer because in there you got to publish in a few good journals to get to the next step. Compared to UK, Aus PhDs, they have (on an average) better publication record with more number of citations. And you must work “hard” to earn a PhD, it’s not a part-time fun job! The process is “grueling” in the US I agree, yet we get the BEST STUDENTS all over the world coming over to pursue this degree. No joke. There’s something special in it which many people can’t actually see.

[@VincentGroenewold]

Great topic, I worked with quite a few people going for a PhD, who clearly did it as a career path, not for the science. And I think that’s actually a problem for getting good science done. So yeah, think hard about if you really want it. Regarding working hours and Europe, it totally depends in what group you are. Some feel they are sbove everyone else cause they produced the most papers and this reflects in the hours, they expect weekend hours even though not making much sense. Weekend hours should be a bonus, like something you as a researcher want to do (I did cause I was just excited about what I did), but it wasnt expected of me. Much better, again, for good science being done.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Very very true!

[@tzaidi2349]

Dedicating your degree/talents/career to science communication, especially in the age of free access on youtube, is a service to humanity for sure. We’re greatful you, and other youtube educators, chose this path.

[@gekylafas]

To validate your "do something else" argument, I was a PhD candidate until I started working, and then never looked back. Never regretted it either. 🤷 Congrats to you though! 👍

[@xolanindlovu6158]

Congratulations!! Great to hear you have gone full time into Science communication. I also have interest in Science communication. All the best.

[@neilhawkes880]

I started a PhD in thermofluids at the age of 55. Just awaiting my defense now. So don’t think you cannot do it later, if you decide you want to. I did a research Masters degree first.

[@MikeT-o5b]

You took all my worries just looking and listening to you talk Mituana. Really pretty.

[@ja_aq.ov_]

Great stuff! Currently in my 3rd year of a PhD in the States. Just to add from my own experience (evolutionary genomics/cultural evolution PhD in progress, probably 2 more years to go): - at least here in the US, many research universities have many STEM undergrads participate in research. I started during my 3rd year, and had a year of genomics research experience before applying to grad school. If that's not an option, I strongly encourage people to do an RA or summer research for the experience. - Strongly recommend maintaining connections, always hitting myself for not being as proactive on that end. Set up monthly (zoom) meetings with people, or reach out to thank them when their recommendation gets you somewhere... They appreciate it, and they might still be helpful in the future, even if it's for something little. - I didn't look for a university, but rather for a mentor: someone doing work I'm interested in furthering, and recommended by other people (I asked my undergrad professors "who is doing X research," which was useful for finding cool research but also good people). The university is still important, as they pay stipends, have a location, etc., but there are lots of great places, and relatively few great academics in any field. - make sure you can take care of yourself, and that you'll be able to live in that city (Live, not just survive!) - since the PhD->postdoc->prof market is... competitive... try to choose to do research that has some transferrable skills outside academia

[@ja_aq.ov_]

Read some other comments, and to add: - I definitely went to Grad school on inertia: I genuinely enjoyed research-my own and that of others-but didn't see much prospect with just a bachelor's in Biochem. I did think seriously about it, but I ultimately got one interview and one offer, so here I am. - I did, however, always got poor marks. Never did well on exams despite knowing the material. Turns out, the most important things for a PhD are research experience, competence, and passion, over high marks. - whatever you do, reader, PhD or not: don't let yourself hate it. Enjoy what you enjoy and avoid misery, since it only pulls you further in.

[@DebmalyaSinha]

Just found your channel and love it already. Agree with all of the above points but will add one positive - we need more PhDs in the industry. A good solution is - do a PhD in Europe but take it as you’d approach a proper job with hard deadlines and deliverables - this is a good tradeoff to finish it in time, learning things that matters at the point and not get lost in various rabbit holes. After you’re done, work in the industry and keep jumping up towards more direction-y type roles where you’ll propose ideas and others will do it for you.

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

No not really. Also, ye didn't add a positive. Saying We need more phds in the industry is never a positive thing. It's basically saying: we need to exploit people even more. Ye are talking as if people doing phd in Europe are paid to do it. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY GONNA DO IN THE NEANTIME OF THAT 5-8 YEARS??? HUH?? They need money, they need some settlement, and spouse!!! And health and relaxation and sports... Phd programmes now most of the times unfortunately take too much of ye from ye!! DON'T ye see????

[@Dave.Mustaine.Is.Genius]

No not really. Also, ye didn't add a positive. Saying We need more phds in the industry is never a positive thing. It's basically saying: we need to exploit people even more. Ye are talking as if people doing phd in Europe are paid to do it. WHAT THE HELL ARE THEY GONNA DO IN THE NEANTIME OF THAT 5-8 YEARS??? HUH?? They need money, they need some settlement, and spouse!!! And health and relaxation and sports... Phd programmes now most of the times unfortunately take too much of ye from ye!! DON'T ye see???? Why? Why all these? To learn deeper? Me a..s.... . Just to publish some essays that will barely even contribute to the science or philosophy, if at all. 🎉

[@victorz3675]

Congratulations! A data point as an experimental condensed matter physics phd in the US: depending on your subfield and advisor (and of course how good you are with chores), the workload can be anywhere between 30 hr/wk--unlimited hr/wk. Not all the hours are productive ones though, as there are often machine time constraints. I agree with most if not all of your points in the video, but want to add the fact that many of them are further compounded by immigration status, and then compounded by international/domestic politics. SO my point is: keep in mind that as a phd you are still part of the human society...

[@rafi_mota]

It's nice to see you coming back here. Also, congrats for completing your PhD!!! Greetings from Brazil

[@harikamopuri5419]

This is one of the finest videos on the phd reality, as many people don't know everything about it but you gave a very clear picture about phd thanks for your information 😊😊

[@schitlipz]

Congrats. You're a doll. What I found to be a benefit is having a prof who wrote the text books we used in his class; This one singular dude was totally animated and I got the best knowledge from him. I'm not sure how a potential student would be able to find out those kinds of details though. Lots of detective work would be ideal, but going in I think most are simply overwhelmed by everything. (Tip for teenagers: do not apply for the credit cards in the carousel outside the registrar's office. It only leads to more bothersome debt.) You said communications? What about the quantum computing thing? I guess all fields kinda blur into each other.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Thank you! Did this person become your advisor? Was he really good? What’s this credit card thing on campus thing? I haven’t heard of it. It is super tough as an outsider to find out anything about your potential supervisors. Especially since applying is already so taxing.

[@schitlipz]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Yeah, but I forget the nomenclature for his role... may have been that. I worked for five years before I went post secondary ("postal" woulda rolled off the tongue better, lulz), so I was older than most students, and my relationships with the profs weren't strictly formal -- we'd "hang out". (Except for one real doofus-head). Credit cards... you know those plastic things that are good to use for cleaning algae off of aquarium tanks. Anyways, the banks really push them cards onto new students. I fell for it and had about five, way back. If there is any debt somebody should kill first, it's those cards. One card is enough. You know what I recall that I haven't asked enough of tech people... how many of your fellow grads are left-handed? I'm not kidding that it's interesting. Of the remaining 12 or so who "got out alive" with me, I think 8 of them were left-handed. Just curious.

[@karimedx]

Thank you, I had this question in mind for a while, I guess doing a professional job for a year or two after Bachelor or Master is the first good option. BTW congratulation on completing your PhD, many greater things are ahead of you.

[@yoganmurugesu6236]

Congratulations Dr. Yoganathan! We are so proud of you. Well done. Amma

[@TheRandomwraith]

Wise words. I started a PhD because I hadn't anything else to do at the end of uni on a topic I had no interest in beyond the studentship it provided to fund my extracurricular uni life. Someone asked me are you 200% committed, "yes, yes" I nodded and smiled in reply. Two supervisors quit academia which gave me an exit without losing face. Amazing I got an masters out if it really ...

[@BrotherOfFlamingMeal]

Congratulations! I've just finished my PhD too, in functional analysis in fact. Good luck with whatever comes next!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Sorry for the diss, I’m sure it was actually fun to study 😛 Good luck to you too!

[@BrotherOfFlamingMeal]

@@LookingGlassUniverse I didn't see the notification in time to see the diss so I'll let you off the hook :p It was more on the QM/operator algebra side of functional analysis and was a lot of fun!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@BrotherOfFlamingMeal Haha! To be fair, I think that stuff is so cool and I wish I knew more.

[@mrnarason]

@@LookingGlassUniverse I get your interest in functional analysis bleed over into foundational/mathematical quantum theory due to the work on von Neumann right?

[@ReynaSingh]

Congrats Mithuna!

[@daguaishouxd]

Gratz on completion! It's also super nice to hear people talking about the miserable side of post-doc lifestyle. Some systematic changes are indeed needed!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

For sure!

[@le_science4all]

Congrats!! Also, great choice of font 😜

[@PedroBarba1970]

Do you know the name of the font? Thanks!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Thanks Le!! I only use the best fonts :P (I think he's commenting on the comic sans (I hope so) but the main font this video was chalkduster)

[@cryme5]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Chalkduster is a classic Lê font, I'd bet on that one ;)

[@Somehandle16]

Congrats on completing the phd! Great video I found it very helpful to hear another perspective on doing a PhD since I was considering one.

[@hammondvoodoo9555]

I find it extremely difficult to make a recommendation for or against doing a PhD. It depends on so many factors (e.g. life situation, financial situation, age, future research group and supervisor, topic, etc.). In the end, it comes down to how much you really want to go through with it and what hurdles you have to overcome to do so. The time factor is also crucial and can be reason enough for failure. In addition, all well-intentioned advice or empirical values are hardly or not at all transferable. It remains an individual challenge and experience. Most importantly, one should never go into this if a higher wage or better job is the only reason. Rather, think of it as the PhD is part of a journey you want to take, regardless of where that journey takes you.

[@A_Canadian_In_Poland]

I started a European PhD last year and feel the same way. I was actually given grief for working on weekends. It feels less intense than my Canadian Research-based Master degree felt in many ways. Not to mention that my PhD stipend pays a junior professional-level salary whereas my Canadian research grant paid less than minimum wage. When I started, I kept my old job as part-time for the first 3 months because I didn't know what to do with myself.

[@macroxela]

Congratulations on completing your PhD! I should also commend you for how well-written your thesis is. Most theses are filled with redundant technical jargon and equations. You managed to explain a highly technical subject in a way that's approachable for someone with a basic background. You have quite a talent for science communication and outreach. Glad you chose to continue down that path 😊

[@drd4059]

When I graduated, my PhD supervisor advised to treat the parchment as a passport that gets at least gets one meeting. What you do with the one meeting is up to you. Remember, you don't get paid for owning the parchment, you get paid for what you do with the knowledge and skills the parchment represents. I graduated in 1989, couldn't find a job in academia so started a technology company. I now own 26 patents. For tax purposes, I value my patents at $1 each ;->.

[@sepidehsepehri]

As a new graduated physics student i just got panic attack watching this video lol

[@ehsanfaridi7136]

There is no fear in the love realm of physics!

[@sandro7]

Wow, that could not have been more helpful. I'm heading into my senior year of undergrad and having a bit of a crisis because I've been planning on going for a PhD in theoretical physics but I'm not so sure anymore. I've been starting to think that I really should take a gap year even though it's really scary, so it was awesome to hear that seconded, and all your other advice was just as incredibly helpful. Thank you

[@johnstonewall917]

Congratulations Mithuna! Sadly I cannot answer your qestion, however in your case you clearly discovered your vocation during your researches and this is perhaps one objective of a PhD. It is perhaps useful to have some ideas of one's possible future career paths before starting but always be ready to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, even if it means changing direction. I am an engineer and changed tack a few times in my career which was in some cases influenced by major external influences. Quantum computing may well become a defining technology in the 21st century. However, might I suugest that you read 'The Machine Stops' by E.M. Forster (as recommended by Prof. Stephen Toope!) to give you some thoughts on what may be useful to mankind. I wish you the very best in your future life.

[@edwinty1010]

Thanks for shooting this video. Came across it just in time. After undergrad I’ve been working for a few years but only realize my passion for science never faded. Was pondering if it’s too late to jump back to grad school but you answered a lot of my questions in mind! Thanks for sharing your thorough thoughts!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Awesome ❤️ I hope you have a great time!

[@julianbandhan5273]

I prolly will have to do a PhD cause ... well astrophysics... "You probably got good grades and you really like studying" ha.. haha.. ha... *breaks down crying*

[@kapoioBCS]

@@things_leftunsaid Yes, but Edward Witten had vast knowledge of mathematics/physics from very very young due to his extreme immersion from his parents(which is a huge deal for the development of mathematical maturity etc) , and also they lived in very different times where there wasn't so much [aggressive] competition and saturation in all the theoretical and even experimental fields of physics and mathematics

[@julianbandhan5273]

I really appreciate the fact. I’m mid-20’s, and only in third year for astrophysics... and more often than not dumb af (T.T) But I try.

[@UnforsakenXII]

@@julianbandhan5273 I didn't really start physics until after high school as well and it's turning out alright; you got this, brother.

[@alwaysbored47]

@@julianbandhan5273 oh my god. I am sure you're better than me but I relate to you. My grades were awful when I started my Master's and they gradually got a bit better. Overall I feel like I'm lagging behind immensely(my course is on experimental nuclear physics and cosmophysics). All fields have massive amounts of information and I've gotten an understanding that I shouldn't try to get into everything but rather one thing as deeply as I can. Others that are necessary will follow through and I will have a basic understanding because of the various subjects. I hope we can work hard and get through it.

[@andrewfoong4310]

Congratulations! Good to see the Feynman Lectures and MacKay's Information Theory textbook on the shelf, I've got my own copies behind me now :)

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

Congratulation Mithuna! You are really looking sweet today

[@Pradowpradow]

Hey! Really glad to see a new video from you. Congratulations for your PhD, I'm still hesitating to start one next year in mechanical engineering, and I feel like your history, and studies, is like really impressing me and encourages me doing it

[@TheJackawock]

I’m just about to begin my first post doc position. I was strongly considering leaving academia until I happened to get offered this position which seemed to tick all my boxes. I’m seeing it as, hopefully, a fun few years and maybe I’ll stay in academia afterwards, maybe I won’t. I had the same view towards PhDs, which I think was healthy. I don’t think it’s good having all your eggs in one basket. Good luck in sci com :)

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Yeah, I think that’s the right way too see it! I just feel for people who are willing to ruin their lives moving to obscure places. Otherwise a postdoc life doesn’t seem bad!

[@noamtamarin4184]

Just started my physics PhD this October, funnily enough I did almost everything you've suggested in this video! A break between undergrad and masters, trying out a couple of jobs, choosing a fun city to live in for the PhD (Lisbon) etc.. I think taking that one year break was the best choice of my life and not only gave me a chance to breath and reflect on my decision to continue studying, but actually ended up improving my CV and chances of landing a PhD.. Highly recommend to any undergraduate who is considering a PhD later on!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

That’s amazing! What did you do in the break? What’s your PhD on?

[@noamtamarin4184]

@@LookingGlassUniverse my break was great, travelled for a few months which was a much needed break from studying and managed to land a summer project in particle physics which ended up also improving my cv for the PhD applications :) My PhD is on a topic called 'resurgence' which are mathematical physics tools that are quite 'new' and basic allow you to obtain nonperturbative information about quantum systems from the perturbative expansions (can read this abstract by my supervisor if you're interested 😊arxiv.org/abs/1802.10441) I appreciate your reply, I enjoyed your videos a lot during my undergrad and foundations of quantum was always my favourite topic, and your videos capture its beauty perfectly!

[@pepaxxxsvinka3379]

@@noamtamarin4184 Noam your link doesn't work and I am extremely interested in the theme! Can you help?

[@getit4595]

Congratulations, sunshine. I missed you very much

[@akinoshimo]

Speaking strictly for myself, a PhD in the USA takes 2-4years for Engineering or Physical Science like Physics after being awarded a Masters Degree. It takes 4 to 8years after being awarded a Bachelor of Science degree if in the same major/field of study. After earning an MSEE, I decided not to pursue a PhD in Engineering because I'd rather work designing new products and systems (while earning a good salary) instead of spending additional years studying in a very narrow deeply specialized field.

[@abrarshaikh2254]

Imagine a Post-doc at age of 33 without a full time job... Real nightmare! 😱

[@UnforsakenXII]

Post doc is a job! : )

[@shariyarshajid]

So true.

[@numbo655]

The minimum PhD salary in Norway is 52084.42 USD and you are pretty much guaranteed a really high salary for any job you get after the PhD. So here it's a pretty good situation (especially since people work for longer nowadays).

[@OsirisMawn]

@@numbo655 52k a year?

[@numbo655]

@@OsirisMawn Yup, minimum. The average is closer to 55k. And post-docs minimum start at 61k.

[@nukeengineer5214]

You are 100% correct. But I am one of the lucky ones that found out while doing M.S. Physics in the US, that PhD and post docs do not make $$$. I promptly switched to Mechanical Engineering MS and got a scholarship to research in Industrial Applications of High Temperature superconductors (1987-88 time frame). Mechanical Engineering had lots of NSF money but needed someone who could understand the physics. I was able to get MS in Mechanical in 2 years flat. In the end, now I am raking in the cash and doing much better than my classmates who did a PhD in Physics. BUT..The physics way of thinking analytically has helped my immensely over engineers that do not have a physics background. That way I am thankful for having done Physics...

[@Eigenbros]

Congrats! Dr. Mithuna has a ring 🔔 to it 👏👏

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Aww! Thanks guys 🥳

[@dhimanroy1671]

Just at the perfect time probably that life-saving video has been uploaded! This video has just amazingly helped me to change my mind and to think more patiently again! I was passing a quite hard time with my mind whether I should really go to the path of PhD or not. But now got some strength. Thanks you so much Dr. Mithuna

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

I’m so glad to hear that this video was useful for you. What’s the situation? If you’d like any more information I can try help? Feel free to email me (my email is on the ‘About’ section of my KZbin channel). Good luck in any case!!

[@dhimanroy1671]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Great to have your kind message and support! It literally means a lot... So my problem actually started from here, More than a year ago I completed my BSc. in Electrical Engineering and after that enrolled in MSc.. Everything was going well but then seniors started to give suggestions like, "you must go USA asap for your higher studies, why are you wasting times otherwise you'll be getting aged and losing your acceptibility, go in any way even if you don't get your own field of interest, the USA is the land of opportunities..." Also friends started to follow this so called suggestions whatever the calibre, just by giving GRE landing on USA as if it were a trend... So naturally it made my mind restless. I was also so much tired that I couldn't take any decision perfectly that what should I do now and couldn't focus my mind and becoming less efficient. However, after this video I've just thrown all of those mind weakening thoughts as a poison. This video is indeed needed for everyone and I wish I would get such suggestions like this video's at that time. The contents of this video is so clear and depicts the clear concise career guidelines. Really charged me and feels like now I'm free! So now I'll be obviously starting my journey in a new way to chase my dreams for the creation of excellence by keeping all those invaluable points of this video! Thanks again and hope for your best always... 😌✌️😌

[@pianoslayer2516]

This is the type of stuff that put me off of doing a PhD, even though I absolutely love physics. What did you end up doing, Mithuna?

[@eduardoeller183]

Science communication I believe

[@sdutta8]

Like everything else, there is a right and a wrong reason to do anything. The real question should be: should you pursue a career in science research? Pursuing a research career is much like a career in music or drama - it will be hell if don’t love it. A Ph.D is just the ticket to the first job.

[@visnu3]

Congratulations. Much needed video, just wrapping up my Master's and was thinking about going for a Ph.D. Thank you.

[@hariprasadramakrishnan6241]

Welcome back and congratulations on your phd!!

[@ashes2ashes3333]

Nice video! Since you mentioned thr US PhD, I thought I might share my experience of going from undergrad in Australia to a PhD in the US. Pros: - at Sydney, by the end of my undergrad I had reached the end of all courses taught at the uni. I was under the misconception that therefore you had to be a specialist in a given field to understand anything deeper. I was totally wrong. In my first year at Berkeley we learned an unbelievable amlunt of material at a very fast pace, and I have been able to take research level courses in my research area that I didn't believe existed. I am much better a physicist for this, and I basically have reached "my ideal understanding" of all the areas of physics. - I really feel like the supervisors at Berkeley are trying to be world changers, in a way I didn't really feel in Australia. Part of this might just be the hype culture in the US, but it makes me feel like work I'm doing actually matters. - the average PhD length was 6.1 years in the states as of 2019 when I started (but maybe will become 7 because 2020 doesn't count as a year). 2 year masters + 4 year PhD is about the same. Yes you can do both faster, but you also might not. Cons: - i have witnessed first hand how bad politics in a country can really spoil your experience of a PhD. I don't have so much optimism for America's political future (even though thankfully Trump is out, I don't believe we have actually solved the underlying issues that led to him) and this may mean more extreme political events that make us lose many more months of our PhDs. - the US PHD is very long and gruelling - UK and Europe have competetive PhD programs too which offer the same benefits as a US PhD. The most important piece of advice I have is make sure you like the place you are going to live. Dont underestimate the impact of poor governence! And like you've said, don't get tunnel vision for the states!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

This is so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing it!

[@ajkyte]

You're such a wonderful Human Being.....thank you for being you👍 Please don't stop making inspirational videos...😊

[@ccc8785]

Thanks for making this video, it was really informative! I'm considering Cambridge for postgrad but slightly worried I would feel like I was missing out by not being in a larger city like London, Oxford or Bristol. Did you find Cambridge busy enough that it stayed interesting for you throughout your time there?

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Oh yeah, Cambridge was great. (Depending on your interests) it’s got a lot on, esp the uni itself. That said, the city is tiny. I’d travel to London (or Europe) to make up for it sometimes. Easy to get to Kings’ Cross and Standsted airport. Bristol/ London/ Oxford are a lot bigger though, so if that’s important for you then those might be a better choice

[@ccc8785]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Thanks for your reply! Will definitely take this into consideration. Congrats on your PhD :)

[@sebfox2194]

@@ccc8785 I found my PhD busy enough that it wouldn't have made any difference what City I was living in, because I barely noticed it.

[@krishnaraoragavendran7592]

I did a Ph.D in theoretical chemistry only as a hobby. The hobby also paid me well. But as you said, once I entered into tenure I found that research and even teaching is relegated. Its all about management, unwanted documentation and rote learning that find importance. Still our Government insists on ph.d as mandatory for tenure. Ridiculous. 🤣😂

[@kapoioBCS]

"try to get a job" , yes sure my theoretical physics MSc opens so many doors for me, not... Also congratz for your PhD :)

[@rasmuspersson484]

Physicists are not unusual in finance and data science!

[@ThePrimevalVoid]

@@rasmuspersson484 I keep hearing this so much, but I struggle to find any jobs that want this without half a decade of experience working in the finance field.

[@kapoioBCS]

@@rasmuspersson484 Yes, provided that you have a good knowledge of programing. But as on a theoretical master you do zero programing, so most of our knowledge is python from undergrad... And with self study etc, you can learn easily everything that it is necessary, but on all the interviews, job applications etc, they ask for formal proof of you knowledge , and I doubt that you will have enough GitHub and StackOverflow score in the next 1 year of 'gap' after your last degree :(

[@rasmuspersson484]

@@kapoioBCS It of course depends a lot on the company, but I think it might be enough with one or two hobby projects on Github. The formal proof of knowledge might just be a box that they want to check to quickly filter applicants. Although if it doesn't feel fun at all to do that, then it might be worthwhile to continue experimenting with your options. Paul Graham has a really good blog post about doing what you love which helped me a lot and made me wish I had found it earlier.

[@zil1832]

@@ThePrimevalVoid you are in the theoritical cosmology too?

[@Blazikenas]

Right after school I wouldn't have thought, that taking time off is actually a good thing. I went to study in Cambridge and in my two years there I understood, that Physics isn't actually the thing I want to be focusing on in my life (still gonna watch your videos tho :D). Taking some time to actually think about what you are doing is very important!!

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Really agree! I think more kids should do a gap year. Hope you’re enjoying what you’re doing now :)

[@Blazikenas]

@@LookingGlassUniverse everything is still far from perfect. But yeah, playing music and making videos is way more enjoyable than sitting with Physics problems for like 50 hours a week :D i still keep myself in touch with science. Im even doing a bit of volutary work in a lab.

[@jeffeejenson707]

That's a load of inspiration 🙂~me:a depressed undergrad Congratulations on the PhD tho🎉

[@shawcampbell7715]

Your story and how you didn't like quantum and then realized you did always sticks with me, I'm about to start uni and keeping my mind open for all stem fields

[@AjinkyaMahajan]

Thanks a lot for sharing and congratulation for getting a PhD. Cheers ✨

[@MyKrabi]

CONGRATS!!! You are SO INSPIRING!!! (says the 40 year old upgrading their calculus LOL). I really appreciate you sharing your wisdom - you are helping so many people. Especially supporting Girls and STEAM!

[@wardieleppan8443]

North American PhDs require at least one year of courses and then comprehensive exams and only after that do you start on your research for your thesis. Those two things add at least two years onto the PhD

[@sebfox2194]

Some UK PhDs also have one year of courses and exams.

[@taylorwomack9389]

I'm actually from the US and chose to pursue a masters in theoretical physics in the Netherlands for exactly the advice that she gives in the video: the masters gives a clear 2 year stop off point if academia isn't right for you. Though the non-EU tuition really sucks in Holland (I was lucky to get a rather good scholarship which made it tenable), Norway, Germany, and Switzerland have great programs that are even quite cheap for those coming from the US or anywhere else in the world. I still want to return to California for my PhD, but I can't agree more that the European masters is the way to go! I hope the US someday moves to this system (along with free tuition for public universities!). Great video, cheers :)

[@TheoriesofEverything]

Congrats! Is your thesis online and may I take a look?

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Very soon!

[@TheoriesofEverything]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Looking forward to it. - Curt

[@devondevon4366]

You said the average time to complete a Ph.D. is three years in the UK and Australia after obtaining a Master's degree. According to the New York Times, the average time to complete a dissertation in the US is 8.2 years; for hard science, it is 5 years; for history and English, 8 years and for education, 13 years.

[@baticadavinci3984]

So when can we expect a quantum computer?

[@rushunnhfernandes]

😂

[@ashishpatel350]

10 years away. Like ussual. Lol

[@eyesburning]

Congrats on your PhD!! Looking forward to what comes next for your Science communication path. While I agree with a lot of your suggestions, one should note that a PhD can be used for other career paths than Faculty positions: Staff Scientist, Researcher at a National Lab, Researcher in Industry. If you go to Sillicon Valley, for example, you will notice that a majority of people there have PhDs. I do agree however that the academic career path (with postdocs) is a tough one that requires a lot of flexibility - not for everyone. Edit: And of course you can get into pure teaching jobs after PhD as well as Science communication as mentioned in her video.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Ah, very good point! Thank you so much!

[@LaveenaMakhaik]

You inspire me to study physics. Please tell any helpful book for particle physics 👍

[@KYATRAT]

This was incredibly helpful, thank you so much! I'm trying to decide if a masters and or PHD is what I want to do but most of the video's I've watched haven't really broken down why it isn't beneficial. Especially explaining the post-doc's after a PHD to become a tenured professor was really insightful. Congrats on finishing, it is also nice to heard someone happy about completing their PHD and having a positive experience rather than a "it happened" :)

[@schmetterling4477]

It's very simple, really. You can't get a physicist job without a PhD anymore (and you couldn't really for the past 30 years or so). A professor has around 100 students during his or her tenure. At most one of his students will replace him or her. If you couldn't figure that out the first time you sat in a classroom, then you are not smart enough to be a physicist. Fair?

[@StasGromadowski]

You are sooooo charming :) and I've learned a lot from you about QM !

[@clintanderson4591]

Congrats, Mithuna, on your accomplishments. I've been following you ever since your program began, and and very happy you finished your goal. Can only wonder what's next on the radar for you. So, might as well be like an electron, experience as much as you can at once till you finally collapse to your final job. Let us know how your journey goes.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Thank you so much!!

[@michaelc.2799]

Congratulations on Your PhD!

[@euanmackay7362]

I was discussing my future with one of lecturers and he made a point that I do think is really important if you're considering taking a year out before pursuing a PhD. When you go from graduating to working (when I say working I mean PhD or regular job) you will get a more than 100% payrise. You will go from paying money to study at university to being paid money to work. However PhDs don't pay well compared to graduate jobs (usually). If you take a year out and then pursue a PhD then that's likely to entail a big paycut. For that reason people can find it pretty hard to do things that way round. Whereas if you do a PhD directly after uni it FEELS better paid than if you do a job first because you go from negative to positive earnings. Money isn't everything but its something you should consider.

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Actually, really really good point. I hadn’t considered that obstacle. My stipend was less than minimum wage but I felt like a king. That worked out for me because all the money I earned teaching I used to pay for my masters so I didn’t feel like I was making money at all.

[@euanmackay7362]

@@LookingGlassUniverse That makes sense. Anyway great video, lots to think about. Congrats on getting your PhD!

[@peersvensson9253]

>I hope that wasn't too depressing Oh not at all /pretends to not be almost 5 years into PhD

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

Ahaha! I’m so sorry! How’s it going?

[@peersvensson9253]

@@LookingGlassUniverse I'm doing experimental quantum info, and experiments don't always cooperate haha, but I'm aiming to finish this year :)

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@peersvensson9253 That's so exciting though! Good luck!

[@peersvensson9253]

@@LookingGlassUniverse Thanks and congrats :) ps. I think your video(s) on Bell's theorem is the only actually correct one I've seen 👍

[@LookingGlassUniverse]

@@peersvensson9253 Aw thank you!!

[@itsme-notyou]

This video is full of great advice. Most people route into grad school for the wrong reasons, and when young people ask me (I'm older now) whether they should pursue a phd I generally discourage them. Only if they have an intellectual hunger that can be satisfied by a phd, should their prime earning, health, and social years be invested in this. Don't do it for money, or because you're very smart and don't have a better option, or because you have a vague vanity about being a doctor. My US PhD cost me 7 years that I treasure. It was grueling but I never thought of quitting. Many of my classmates did quit, and of those who stayed at least half vocalized their thoughts of quitting. There is a reason the US PhD carries a lot of weight, but you shouldn't subject yourself to it unless it's something really calling to you.

[@aylinespino]

me, in my first year of my BS in Physics during this video: 👁👄👁

[@pauls5745]

TYSM for the insights into the PhD program! I had no idea there is more than just advanced classes and doing a thesis

[@JohnSmith-un1zj]

American universities give out A LOT of scholarship money, don’t let the sticker price discourage you.

[@estebanvprado]

To those watching, consider that she did a PhD in theory. If you do yours in experimental physics, your skills are much more relevant when to transferring to industry.

[@KyleMaxwell]

Congrats, doctor!

[@thomascox257]

You gave some really good advice here. Also, your comments about the huge work load and length of time it takes to get an American doctorate, are 100% right. I went through two and a half years of hell just to get my MA in America. In general I think graduate students would be better off enrolling in a doctorate program in the UK or Australia. Undergraduate programs are different of course. I was very happy with my undergraduate program in America. American colleges and universities, in general, do a fabulous job of nurturing creative, original thinking in their undergraduate students. They also provide undergraduates with an incredibly rich variety of learning opportunities.