PhD or Doctoral Study Planning

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Studying for a PhD or a Doctoral degree is considered by many as the pinnacle of academic achievements. From the perspective of certification and award of academic degree, this is true for those who intend to attain a PhD or Doctoral degree status only for the title but not necessary to pursue an academic career. However, if your intention is to pursue an academic career or even industry career after attaining a PhD or a Doctoral degree, it is important to have a plan and a strategy for your PhD or Doctoral degree. This is because although it is highly beneficial for personal and career development, PhD can also be a “baggage” if you rush to get it for its academic lure rather than its practical benefits to yourself, industry, and society as a whole.

Planning and strategizing for a PhD or Doctoral study involves a lot of questions to answer. In answering these questions, you must be true to yourself and to your circumstances that require you to pursue this study. Here are some of the important questions that you need to answer before making a decision.

• Why do you want to study for a PhD or Doctoral degree? For many people, studying for a Doctoral degree is a path to pursue academic career after obtaining a Masters degree or even an Honours degree in some countries. Others choose to study for a Doctoral degree because they could not find a suitable job after the first or second degree. There are lot of people who also pursue Doctoral degree just for self-fulfilment or self-actualisation rather than what the degree prepares them to do in practice. Some may want to pursue a Doctoral degree simply because it offers the easiest and affordable means of relocating to an overseas country of their choice. Some study for a Doctoral degree so they could work in an industry of their choice. Whatever your reasons are, you’re not wrong. However, your reasons should be well-grounded with facts, not emotions, about your current and future circumstances as well as career aspirations. If your reason for pursuing a Doctoral degree is not well-grounded, you might choose a wrong country, city, University, time, programme, or even supervisors for your study, and any of these can affect you adversely.
• Where do you want to study for a PhD or Doctoral degree? Where to study for a PhD involves the choice of country, city and University for your study. This decision is crucial because different countries, cities, and Universities have established reputations for different things which might enhance or negatively affect your study or your reasons for choosing to pursue the degree in the first place. Some of the platforms that can be useful to select the right Universities include: FindAPhD, World Higher Education Database, Universities Worldwide,   Top Universities by subject ranking.
• How long do you want to study for a PhD or Doctoral degree? How long you intend to study for a PhD depends mostly on many factors including country specific factors, duration of funding for the programme, personal commitment and other factors. In United States and Canada, duration of a PhD may last for between 5-7 years. Although this may seem too long, the length of time to study for a PhD in North America can be advantageous because it prepares you to have the relevant research outputs and publications that may be needed to secure a full-time faculty position after the PhD. Essentially, you may not have to stay at home for too long looking for a full-time faculty position if you pursue your PhD in North America because the duration of study may give you enough preparation to transition to a full-time role after studies. However, in UK, Australia and many other European countries, PhD can last for 3-4 years. This duration may seem enticing but it also means that you may have to spend some extra years after the PhD to do prepare yourself through casual academic jobs and independent research publication to enable you convince potential employers of what you are capable of adding to their faculty if they hire you.
• What do you want to study for a PhD or Doctoral degree? Deciding on a field of study for a PhD or Doctoral degree can be easy if you have a background degree in the discipline or subject area you want to study for a PhD and you have funding that enables you to pursue the PhD in any University of your choice. In this case, you may freely select any University that offers a PhD in the discipline or subject area of your interest. However, in selecting a University, a consideration may be given to the ranking of the University in that subject area through Top Universities by subject ranking. Of course, it must be noted that Universities that rank high in a subject area may be looking for high calibre students in the area and so your expectations must be measured against your own academic credentials. Alternatively, if your decision on the field of study for a PhD depends on pull factors such as availability of funding for the subject at a particular University or in a specific country, don’t rush to take the opportunity simply because it is available. You must consider what the benefits of this study will be for you after the PhD. It is important to choose a field of a PhD study that is consistent with your career, family and/or personal aspirations rather than rushing to take an opportunity, which later turns out to be a waste of time or an impediment to your aspirations. You can find details of PhD opportunities on FindAPhD. 
• How much will it cost to study for a PhD or Doctoral degree? For many prospective PhD candidates, the cost of studying for a PhD can be a major deterrent. The first major cost of the PhD to think about is the tuition fees for the programme. Other costs may include visa application fees and airfare (if you want to pursue a PhD in a foreign country), living expenses, rental costs, and food expenses. Therefore, in making a choice to study for a PhD, it important to consider the country, city, and University factors to enable you to assess the financial cost factors that might impact your study for a PhD. Aside from the financial cost, it is important to consider the opportunity cost involved in a) opting to study for a PhD instead of working in industry, b) choosing a particular country instead of another for your PhD, c) choosing a particular city instead of another for the PhD, and d) choosing a particular University instead of another for a PhD. Just like any choice in life, the decision to pursue a PhD in a particular country, city or University may lead to an opportunity forgone in other areas of your career or life. These opportunity costs must be evaluated carefully to ensure that that you are, indeed, making the right decision.
• Who will fund your study for a PhD or Doctoral degree? Many people with the potential and interest to study for a PhD have had their hopes dashed because of their inability to find funding for their PhD study. Most often than not, people who want to study for PhD degree for self-fulfilment, self-actualisation or reasons other than the pursuit of academic and industry career, have their own funds to fund their study. However, most people who want to study for a PhD to pursue an academic or industry career or even to increase their opportunities in life may not have the funding needed to meet the cost of the study. For most of these people, funding of the PhD may come from personal savings, family and friends support, part-time and casual jobs while studying for the PhD, or a scholarship. Funding your PhD from personal savings and family and friends support may put a high strain on your own budget and the budget of other people. These sources might not be able sustain the PhD study through to completion. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to consider the options of part-time and casual jobs while studying for the PhD, and PhD scholarship opportunities.