Question: What is a PHD?

Emilia Arguello answered on 4 Nov 2024:

A PhD is an advanced academic degree, considered to be the highest level of academic qualification in many subjects. It usually involves enrolling in a university or research institution and performing original, independent research under an advisor who will guide you in your research question and provide resources (e.g., a lab space or office to work in; funding for consumables, books, stipend, etc). You will be answering questions nobody knows the answer to yet in your discipline, so you will be at the forefront of that knowledge. Depending on your area, you might be doing this by performing lab experiments, developing new code, doing field research, working with animals or old artifacts/texts, or interacting with other ppl via surveys, clinical studies, etc. The whole point of a PhD is to be deeply engaged in this research and contribute to the world of knowledge, and typically people spend between 3-6 years on it (depending on the question answered or country), although some programs can definitely last longer. Despite being an “academic” degree, Ph.Ds don’t involve taking that many classes, at least in my experience. Most of the learning is done by you independently.