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CDT (Centre for Doctoral Training) vs. funded PhD

I am an international student trying to understand the value of so called "CDT's".

They are advertised as:
"CDTs tend to have more specific research goals, and the PhD students funded in this way are trained in ‘priority’ areas. There are many CDTs based around the UK. Each has a focus on training doctoral researchers in a specific area of priority."

Does anybody have experience with the 4 year CDT? Are the 'priority areas' really of priority (i.e are CDT graduates in more demand and command a higher salary than PhD graduates on average?) or is this purely advertisement?

Kind regards,

Tom Waits

Reply 1

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by tom waits

...............

The way funding works for CDTs is that usually, they can have additional 'bells and whistles' to a standalone funded PhD. So they have the money to arrange conferences or support publications which CDT students then get priority access to. They can pool resources across a number of institutions, so if you are in the CDT at Uni X and Uni Y is in the same CDT and has a whizzy bit of kit you need, or a superstar academic, it is easier to access them with the support of the CDT. The CDT might have a consistent view of paying for research travel etc.

With a standalone funded PhD, you might get more money, you might get generous additional grants, but you might not get such easy, laid on access to partner institutions equipment and staff, conferences, paper opportunities etc.

I think it is a stretch to say that CDT students are more in demand by employers. CDTs are meant to enhance the power of the collective, and while that might suit some people, serendipitous connections, collaborations and success gained through hard work can all be found in a standalone PhD as well.

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