Reputation of the University for PhD

Hi guys,

I noticed that the best universities recruited lecturers only from top universities. Not 100% but at least 95% of the lecturers at LSE, Imperial, UCL, Cambridge, Oxford have done their PhD either in US or in one of the top Universities in Europe.

My question is whether or not, worth to do your phd in a university like Nottingham, Bristol, Edinburgh which are also very very good universities but are not in the top universities of the world. Should I tried to do my PhD in US?

One of the most important thing about PhD is to have a really good supervisor but I noticed that the best supervisors are lecturers and professors from Imperial, LSE, Cambridge.. .... I am not saying that all the lecturers from UCL are good but most of them are really good!

I would like to hear your opinion about that. Is it worth to do your phd with a good supervisor in a university like Bristol, Lancaster and Manchester?

thank you

Reply 1

ThisIsTheLife

Original post by zziippoo

The PhD isn't tied so tightly to the reputation of the University as undergraduate courses are.

The PhD is externally examined, and you only get one if you meet a criteria of research which is nationally/internationally standard. So when it comes to deciding what your PhD is "worth", then the reputation of the University has no bearing. If you have a PhD from the worst university in the UK, it's just as good as a PhD from the best university anywhere in the world.

With that said, the best universities do often have the best facilities and the best staff for supervisors, so it can make your time as a PhD student easier to go to a better University, but generally speaking, it doesn't affect the quality of the end product.

The only reason I suspect that the top UK unis recruit their lecturers from the US, etc, is that the PhD programme in the US is usually a lot closer to 5 years than the 3.5 that is standard in the UK. The reason for those extra years is not usually more research, but experience in taking classes, teaching, and taking courses in education/lecturing etc.

So a PhD graduate from the states usually comes to their first job already with a fair bit of teaching experience and teaching qualifications. Whereas a PhD graduate from the UK has generally only done 3 to 3.5 years of research, with not a lot of teaching experience or qualifications.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2

UNCguy

While I do agree that the quality of the PhD research is immaterial in relation to the university the standing of the university itself will likely have some bearing on your job prospects in academia, at least that seems to be the case in the US.

If you are looking to secure a tenure track position at a top US school then your PhD will need to come from a top US or UK school, or you will need to spend 5-10 years as an Associate or Assistant Professor at a mid-tier school, get a couple of books published and then move on to a top tier school. And even with the top tier PhD you will likely start out as an adjunct or lecturer at that top tier school anyway.

There is a certain level of prejudice towards the UK PhD at US schools unless it is from one of the top programs.

I am curious, what discipline are you studying? I ask because Edinburgh and Nottingham are top schools in several categories, both being ranked overall in the top 1% worldwide and very high in some categories (like mine - history).

Reputation of the University for PhD

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you