A PhD In Australia, for real this time

Lately, I've been feeling a little guilty about the people who google things like "How many years does it take to do a PhD in Australia?" and then somehow find my page only to learn about what I'm making for supper or what Gus said yesterday.

So, here's some info for you who googled "Is a PhD in Australia worth it?" and landed on my page. Remember that this is all from my perspective, and someone in a different department or at a different university might have a completely different perspective. I'll store it under PhD so you can find it again, and may even add more questions and answers in the future.

Also important to keep in mind is that I'm an international student, which has a big impact on a number of aspects of my PhD.

Q: How many years does it take to do a PhD in Australia?

Dana: It takes a minimum of 3 years to complete a PhD, you can't submit your PhD anytime before three years. But based on what I've seen, it usually takes about 3.5 to 4.5 years as a full-time student to complete a PhD.

If you're an international student with a scholarship, like me, you'll be trying hard to meet the 3 year mark, because scholarships tend to be for 3 years only. Last time I checked, the tuition for international students was about $10,000 per term.

Q: What's involved in doing a PhD in Australia?

Dana: There are two options for doing a PhD in Australia, a PhD by research or a PhD by coursework. I know nothing about doing a PhD by coursework, you'll have to do your own research on that one.

I'm doing a PhD by research, which is exactly what it sounds like - one great big research project. The department or faculty you're in might have a few courses for you to take, if you so choose, but there are no mandatory courses. This means there are also no quals (as there would be in a Canadian or American PhD). You do have to go through annual reviews, at which you present your progress to-date and a review panel gives you a rating of either satisfactory, marginal or unsatisfactory. You want to be getting a satisfactory at every review, because this rating allows you to apply for funding for fun things like conference fees.

that's it for now. phew! guilt is lessened. more to come on this topic in future posts....maybe.

Things I wish I had known...

Oh yeah, there's lots I wish I had known before I moved to the other side of the world to start this PhD almost a year ago. Here's one of my top ten: being a phd student is lonely! Before I started the program, I had read about the sense of isolation that most PhD students feel, but I ignored the warnings because I like to think of myself as immune to all those wussy feelings. Well, turns out those PhD blogs and websites were right, and it is indeed an isolating experience, especially if it's something you're doing full-time, like I am.

Here's a picture of the post-grad room, where I spend most of my weekdays reading and writing. My desk is the one in the left corner by the window, with the heater in front of it. Sometimes there are one or two other students in the room with me, but we're all working on our own thing, hence that isolation thing. The other six or so students that have desks in this room are MIA, which is not unusual in PhD by research programs.


Gone are my public servant days of working as part of a team, and consulting with everyone and their grandma before taking a step. Now it's just me and my research, which is sort of free-ing, but also a little scary.

Here's some of the stickers on my filing cabinet left behind by the last student. Is it any wonder that I'm feeling a little off meat these days?!?

A PhD in Australia

Since I'm switching gears with this blog, and planning to blog more about my PhD and my day-to-day attempts at staying healthy, you'll need to know a key piece of information about doing a PhD in Australia. There are two options here in oz, you can do a PhD by coursework, or a PhD by research. The latter is the one I'm doing. In Australia, a PhD by research means there is no required coursework whatsoever. This is the "british system" and it means that your 3+ years as a PhD Candidate are spent entirely as you wish, with only 2 major deadlines to meet: submitting your thesis proposal for approval some time at the end of your first year (check), and then submitting a PhD-worthy 70,000+ word thesis at the end. Sure, there are annual reviews and regular meetings with your supervisors, but generally, it is up to the student to keep their act together, stay motivated and stay on track.

Although all that flexibility and time probably sounds like shangri-la to all you 9 to 5 workers out there, I'm here to tell you that it is insane-making, because of these two added factors:

1. Most academics within my section of the University have gone through the British system and as a result have spent 5, 6, or 7+ years working on their PhDs and believe that 3-4 years is just not enough to produce a truly PhD-worthy thesis, and
2. I'm here on a time-limited scholarship and student visa. So when my carefully laid out 3-year plan gets derailed, as it has in these past few weeks, I seem to be the only that seems concerned. Aaargh!

Tonight, my coping mechanism for this insanity involves tea and a tim tam (lately I've been enjoying the hazelnut mousse flavour, which is just about the tastiest thing evah). If you're reading this and you're living in Australia and you haven't tried this version yet, do it! I promise you it'll make everything better for about 10 short but blissful minutes.

Gus likes them too.