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I'm quitting my PhD

blog.derhagen.eu

21–30 of 382 posts

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#21

Probably for the best. Usually “I quit my PhD” stories are people who spent 6 years and got fed up, but if if the author can’t last 6 months it sounds like they had the wrong expectations going in.

> if the author can’t last 6 months

This doesn’t seem like an entirely fair take. Nobody has perfect expectations fresh out of undergrad. PIs chasing funding is real, and using those funds on grad students who are excited but don’t know what they’re getting into is extremely common. The one thing that is less common is providing zero resources & guidance to get the job done. This definitely sounds like at least as much advisory failure as student expectation.

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#22

Probably for the best. Usually “I quit my PhD” stories are people who spent 6 years and got fed up, but if if the author can’t last 6 months it sounds like they had the wrong expectations going in.

[deleted]

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#24

Why higher edu institutions are so disappointing and mediocre? I dont think ive ever heard good things about phd except the chance to work in cool places like e.g microsoft research

A PhD arguably gives you the opportunity to run very fast into one particular direction. Much longer than you would be allowed to run in any commercial setting.

Whether or not that is a good idea is an open question. Societies, institutions and supervisors clearly benefit from individuals taking this huge risk (and often failing).

One of the main problems is that we communicate very badly what a PhD is about.

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#25
Good for him. Because of this: "My supervisors have a rather superficial understanding of Quantum Computing, and I feel like their idea to start a project in that domain was to a not inconsiderable extent motivated by the prospect of granted research funds, not primarily by their desire to achieve a deeper understanding of quantum stuff."

It's always about grant money. Especially with anything that starts with Quantum

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#26
> However, just a couple of months into my project, I figured out, I wouldn’t find anyone to discuss my research with: My supervisors have a rather superficial understanding of Quantum Computing, and I feel like their idea to start a project in that domain was to a not inconsiderable extent motivated by the prospect of granted research funds, not primarily by their desire to achieve a deeper understanding of quantum stuff.

Sounds very familiar. I saw this a lot in grad school. My first advisor was also fed up with the nature in academia and left tenure path to work in private industry, leaving me to fend for money in this vein.

So then my graduate research topic came into this line. I stopped that after I realized that not only was it fishing far off the path of my social support, it was also weapons research disguised via a friendly sounding problem.

I switched programs, to an advisor who seemed to want me to work in something he actually does. Then I had zero relationship with him and became basically a highly underpaid developer to crank out the numbers that corroborated his research at 100+ hour weeks. In the marginal time I was tying to figure out if I could somehow make the small corner I thought might make a thesis fit into his unspoken program. I got the hint that my PhD was predicated on making his research stand up, and having a part in it is what my PhD would represent, not any actual original work.

I became a little more cynical but continued, now paying much more attention on the side to other's experience. I found this was nearly universal from 'top schools', and then with the overflow of candidates to academic jobs they take this style to the next tier of schools where they get tenure by making a lemming line of candidates do the same.

At this point it was the breaking point. I had a great internship the previous summer. I had a "come work for us now or maybe never" ultimatum. I took the plunge.

ABD Twice. And that I consider a great accomplishment that I am quite proud of.

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#27
I feel for the student writing this piece and I'm sad that they've developed some bitterness at their advisors and the entire field (which I read in the piece, even if it wasn't the intent.)

Everyone needs to understand something important: a PhD is first and foremost an apprenticeship. It is your opportunity to study under someone who has done a specific kind of research, and learn from that person. If that relationship isn't a good fit, the PhD itself won't be a good fit: it's like trying to learn neurosurgery from a cardiac surgeon. You cannot fix this with reading or online lectures, the apprenticeship is the whole point.

Occasionally I run into students who have these advisor mismatches and my instinct is to try to help them. However what I've learned is that good intentions (try to advise a student who is interested in a different area) don't actually translate to good outcomes. I am monomaniacal (only) about the research that interests me, and that doesn't translate into other areas I'm less familiar with. They will be frustrated with my lack of expertise in those other areas, and I will end up frustrated by my inability to properly advise them. In the worst case, that bad fit can turn to resentment against the entire scientific process (I see this process starting in the post above.)

If the author of the post wants to pursue a PhD, I would first urge them to stop for a while and not think about research: just do something else. When and if they've reached the point where they are bored to tears with whatever they're doing (I recommend taking a "real" job for a while) -- and can only think about the research they're missing out on -- then go figure out whose papers are actually exciting to them. Then go find out how to work with that person, whatever it takes. Sometimes there are ways to work with someone that don't require a formal PhD admission, and enough persistence can make the difference. I'm not saying this is easy. The point is: don't do it because it's easy, do it because you want to do it enough that it doesn't matter if it's hard.

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#28

I'm someone who finished a PhD, here's my perspective. You don't believe your supervisor or your research group and so you quit, great. It's great that you have the critical thinking abilities and confidence in yourself to make such a decision. However, I think it's extremely unprofessional to write a blog post saying that your supervisor is superficial or your research group is performative art. I don't say this bec…

Edit: removed to follow rules

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#29

I'm someone who finished a PhD, here's my perspective. You don't believe your supervisor or your research group and so you quit, great. It's great that you have the critical thinking abilities and confidence in yourself to make such a decision. However, I think it's extremely unprofessional to write a blog post saying that your supervisor is superficial or your research group is performative art. I don't say this bec…

Edit: removed to follow rules

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: I'm quitting my PhD

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Physics it's not unusual to start a PhD in a sub-discipline that you've got little experience in (I realize the author works more on the information theory side of things). When I started my PhD in experimental quantum computing I had experience with superconductivity and low-temperature physics but none with qubit design or high-frequency RF system design. It's the point of a PhD to learn about these things and g…

Yeah, but at least your PI should know about your field. This is a really weird article and weird PhD experience.

Advisors also have to start somewhere. There will always be a first PhD student who works on something everyone has only vague ideas about. I have worked with such students and they are genuinely a different kind of person from other PhDs. They require little to none guidance and have very strong opinions on how to do their work. I believe OP was a poor choice for this position.
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