On 17-2-2009 19:39, Darren New wrote:
> Invisible wrote:
>> I very much doubt you can actually do a PhD in "doing cool stuff with 
>> a computer". It's a tad vague, eh?
> 
> The way it works (here at least) is that there is someone who is 
> sponsoring and tutoring you called your "adviser". He has a particular 
> area of interest (like compiler construction, network protocols, or 
> whatever), and he helps you pick a topic that would be interesting, 
> publishable, etc.

Things work sometimes a bit different here. I did mine while working on 
some projects. Though graduation was not part of the job description, 
after some years my choice was write a thesis or look for another job. I 
didn't want to do either, but chose the lesser evil.
In our lab it is not uncommon if a lab technician gets a PhD. Then again 
we do have some very good ones.

> So what you need to do if you want a PhD in something you find 
> interesting is go to universities and find out what potential advisers 
> are interested in. You won't be able to do a PhD on Haskell compiler 
> optimizations if nobody at the university is interested in compilers.
> 
>> My course was 4 years too, but it was only a BSc. I might be wrong 
>> about the MSc requirement, but that's what I heard.
> 
> I said that's true of the places I looked in the US, and someone 
> contradicted me and said the UK works differently.

As far as I know it you need a MSc or equivalent in the Netherlands. 
Though things have shifted a bit, perhaps 4 years of BSc may be 
equivalent to something here. Andy graduated before the European 
normalization of grades, so I would need to ask foreign affairs in his 
case.

>> Besides, don't you have to, like, spend years searching through the 
>> library to find every piece of work that has ever been written about 
>> your subject,
> 
> No. That's why you have an adviser. He tells you where to look for 
> related information. There's a lot of reading and understanding, and you 
> need to summarize it enough to show why what you're doing is different, 
> but that's about it.
> 
>> ancient sage to consult on the works on the Ancient Masters to see if 
>> they have anything relevant to add?
> 
> That's why they invented university libraries. :-)

Actually the citable history for many students is whatever is on-line. 
Nobody uses the library anymore. Unfortunately people are scanning in 
old years of the main journals.

>> I don't think I could do that from my desk at work.
> 
> I was often met with astounded surprised when I mentioned that I was 
> paying my own tuition. You don't need a job to get a PhD if you get 
> accepted.
> 
>> Meh. I doubt it. It seems everybody just asks "how many years' coding 
>> experience do you have?" and "what are your customer service skills 
>> like?"
> 
> You'd be applying for different jobs.

I agree, he is looking for the wrong jobs ;) He looks for jobs where he 
can do things that he thinks are interesting. He should look for a job 
in something that he is good in, make himself irreplaceable and grow 
from there. That may look like the long path, but staying with his 
current job won't bring him anywhere either.

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