How do I become a Doctor?
Like a real Doctor, not a "Doctor" who went to a medical school.
Don't just say 'you need to do a PhD.
What sort of things would I need to do in order to become a Doctor. Say I my field was earth sciences. What would be an example of what I would be doing?
Is it as soon as you get work published you become a doctor or something?
What is the difference between a Doctor and a Professor?
Don't just say 'you need to do a PhD.
What sort of things would I need to do in order to become a Doctor. Say I my field was earth sciences. What would be an example of what I would be doing?
Is it as soon as you get work published you become a doctor or something?
What is the difference between a Doctor and a Professor?
Original post by bestofyou
Like a real Doctor, not a "Doctor" who went to a medical school.
Don't just say 'you need to do a PhD.
What sort of things would I need to do in order to become a Doctor. Say I my field was earth sciences. What would be an example of what I would be doing?
Is it as soon as you get work published you become a doctor or something?
What is the difference between a Doctor and a Professor?
Don't just say 'you need to do a PhD.
What sort of things would I need to do in order to become a Doctor. Say I my field was earth sciences. What would be an example of what I would be doing?
Is it as soon as you get work published you become a doctor or something?
What is the difference between a Doctor and a Professor?
A professor is a job usually teaching at a university. A Doctor is someone who holds a Doctorate. A phd is a doctorate of philosophy (technically). But phd applies to all fields now. It is a qualification for producing original work that contributes to your field.
Look at phd positions in your chosen subject for ideas on what people do for their phd.
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How do I become a Doctor?
Getting a doctorate (which includes PhD but also other qualifications) usually takes around three years and involves producing original research which makes a significant contribution of new knowledge and understanding to your chosen specialism.
Is it as soon as you get work published you become a doctor or something?
Most universities will expect you to publish work and give conference papers as a doctoral condidate, although these will not contribute to your final outcome i.e. the y will not determine whether or not you get a doctorate.
What sort of things would I need to do in order to become a Doctor. Say I my field was earth sciences. What would be an example of what I would be doing?
It's very difficult to say what you would be doing as a Doctoral candidate as this would vary wildly, even within a broad subject like Earth Sciences. This includes oceanography, geology, geography and geophysics amongst other disciplines. In each of those individual fields, what someone has to do to get a Doctorate can be very different.
Generally speaking you work independently (although team working is more common in the Sciences) under the guidance of two or three supervisors. If you have a funded PhD then you will be told you what you're expected to research but it may offer some leeway as to how you go about it. If you're self-funding or have funding for your own research, then you must decide what and how to research. Your supervisors are expected to offer advice and guidance but are no longer there to teach you as undergraduate lecturers would.
Your final outcome is determined by an external examination of your research. You present this as a large piece of writing called a "thesis". The word count can vary between fields and universities, but 40,000-100,000 words is a reasonable range. You submit this and then you have what is called a "viva". This is something like a job interview, where you sit in a room with a panel of experts who have read your thesis. They then question you in detail about what you've produced - issues like, why did you reach this conclusion, why did you not take something into consideration, why have you decided to leave something out etc. It's called "defending your thesis" and is exactly that. Whilst it's a nerve-wracking and intense process, many people I've spoken to have found it an interesting exercise in thinking about what they've done and how they've gone about it.
There are four potential outcomes for a viva at my current uni, although these can differ:
- Awarded a doctorate (around 10% of candidates at my uni)
- Minor corrections (should take around six months - it doesn't need to be resubmitted, it just needs to be done to the satisfaction of your supervisors)
- Major corrections (can take up to a year and must be resubmitted/re-examined by viva)
- Outright failure with no opportunity to correct
As long as you've kept in touch with your supervisors and they've done their job, the majority of candidates at my uni expect to come away with minor corrections and will have a Doctorate about three and a half years from when they started.
What is the difference between a Doctor and a Professor?
In the UK, a Professor is someone who holds a Chair or senior post at a university. It is essentially a job title rather than a qualification. Sometimes retired Professors can choose to continue calling themselves "Professor" for the rest of their lives (designated "Emeritus Professors"), even though they no longer hold that job.
These days it's usual for candidates to need a Doctorate before they are considered for Professor status positions, although historically some have not e.g. Time Team's Mick Aston, who was a Professor at Bristol but never completed his Doctorate. He's also an example of a retired Professor who has retained his title.
I'd also add that strictly speaking, if you have PhD you should call yourself 'a doctor'; you have a doctorate, and the right to refer to yourself as Dr. Nonswimmer.
Unless, I guess, you call yourself a "doctor of philosophy". But then people will stop inviting you to the pub.
By the way, what everyone is being too polite to say so far, is that deciding you want the prestige of the title, and then looking for the route, is a really stupid and expensive thing to do. And the result will be as follows:
Unless, I guess, you call yourself a "doctor of philosophy". But then people will stop inviting you to the pub.
By the way, what everyone is being too polite to say so far, is that deciding you want the prestige of the title, and then looking for the route, is a really stupid and expensive thing to do. And the result will be as follows:
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