The illustrated guide to a Ph.D.
Matt Might
(School of Computing, University of Utah, USA)
Very fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is.
It's hard to describe it in words.
So, I use pictures.
Read below for the illustrated guide to a Ph.D.
Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge:
By the time you finish elementary school, you know a little:
By the time you finish high school, you know a bit more:
With a bachelor's degree, you gain a specialty:
A master's degree deepens that specialty:
Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge:
Once you're at the boundary, you focus:
You push at the boundary for a few years:
Until one day, the boundary gives way:
And, that dent you've made is called a Ph.D.:
Of course, the world looks different to you now:
So, don't forget the bigger picture:
Keep pushing.
原文完!以下是后来的补充
By request, a print version of The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. is on sale.
Click here to preview or buy it: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Issue/105539
Any and all proceeds will fund graduate students whose work may impact the discovery, diagnosis or treatment of genetic disorders.
It is available at $6.50 for a limited time thanks to Hewlett-Packard's high-quality on-demand publishing service, MagCloud.
It's sixteen pages, saddle-stitch bound and in full color.
It's a good gift for new students, the recently defended and relatives thereof.
Why genetics research?
If you zoom in on the boundary of human knowledge in the direction of genetics, there's something just outside humanity's reach:
My wife and I chose to start funding these graduate students after we learned that our son has a rare, fatal genetic disorder.
It may be too late for my son, but it's not too late for other children.
Even one child suffering is one child too many.
The only way to end this kind of suffering is science.
And, the best way to do science is through graduate students.