Tuesday 19 January 2016

The Illustrated Guide To A Ph.D | Business Insider

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-illustrated-guide-to-a-phd-2012-3

The Illustrated Guide To A Ph.D

Matt Might
Dec 21 2014, 5:43 AM

Every 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.

The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence. This post originally appeared at Matt Might’s Blog.

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The Illustrated Guide To A Ph.D | Business Insider