Hi All

I recently received an offer to pursue a PhD at one of the world’s top 10 engineering schools on the following arrangement:

- Fully funded by my company for 4 years. Condition is I’ll have to stick with the company for 2 years post-graduation and I’ll have to repay the funding if I leave before then. Doesn’t count if I’m made redundant.
- Working with familiar supervisors (we have collaborated on different projects).
- PhD topic is work related. I will still be working for my company for 4 days with 2 remaining days (including weekend) spent in the university. The research and my work are inter-related / complimentary.
- Because I’m working for 4 days, I will have to take a 20% pay cut.

I’ve considered the pros and cons.

Pros
- Connection between work + research will mean after I graduate, I have enough knowledge and experience to be an expert in my field.
- Promotion to director level as a technical expert. This is as discussed with the company manager responsible for this.
- Additional opportunities to move into lecturing at university. This aligns with my longer term plan.
- Satisfy my personal aspiration of contributing to the scientific knowledge.
- A subject that I like (I’m already doing research in this area on my own time). A PhD is to formalise this.

Cons
- Loss of 20% additional income for 4 years.
- Will be 35-36 by the time I graduate.
- Primary focus for four years will be on the PhD and not developing my career.
- Not being able to finish the PhD (time wasted).
- Change in company manager, i.e. reporting to a new manager not as keen on these things.
- Stuck with the same company + manager for the duration of the PhD. Less flexibility to change company.

In short, I’m trying to decide, and see if there’s anything I need to be mindful of.

All opinions welcomed, many thanks!

This post has been edited by Geminist: Aug 18 2015, 02:18 PM

Many thanks for the opinion.

This was one of my worries, i.e. why the supervisor thinks I can do it in 4 years part time and if so, why would a full time PhD also take 4 years.

The career workload was a worry and I discussed this with past students of the supervisors who completed it under similar arrangement, i.e. work + study. I have the advantage I will be continuing the research I did with the supervisors and I am coming in with my own topic, so I've done a lot of the initial leg-work.

I'm single currently. That's one reason why I want to do it now, than say when I'm 40 with more commitments.


Yes I've done the initial work, but will obviously need to do more digging. The work / PhD schedule concern is more of my company plucking me away on a major project and that eats into my PhD time.

My other worry is it'll be quite intensive, and whether I can deal with the PhD pressure or not. There is also the concern I may not be technically good enough to finish the PhD. The supervisors seem to think I can handle it (we've worked together before), but self doubt is one of my traits!

Thanks again for the comments.

This post has been edited by Geminist: Aug 18 2015, 01:25 PM

Many thanks for the comments!

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to ask the question publicly as I know how narrow our vision can get when we are emotionally invested in a decision. My gut feeling tells me I want to do it, but I still want to make sure I weigh the pros and cons, and understand what potential mess / downfall I could be walking into.

Thanks for the comment.

Re the research, I am actually publishing them and also doing some peer reviewing work. I currently have one paper under review and I'm writing up the other. Publication is quite a good motivator for me to get things done!

My personal target is to submit one manuscript a year.

The own research done is for my own interest, but by publishing them, I can use them in my work as well.

This post has been edited by Geminist: Aug 21 2015, 09:41 AM

Thanks for the example. Hopefully it pans out that way for me too!

Ha ha, I believe this is a professional habit as I do work involving risk so I always like to get a good picture of something before deciding.

Thanks for the comment. Yes re the dropout rate hence I wanted to set a realistic timescale as I don't think I'd want to pursue a PhD that takes 6-8 years.

Unfortunately the university is abroad so I don't think I'm covered by local funding.

Hi All

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I have more or less decided to accept the offer. The university and my company will need to negotiate the finer details of the funding, including IP rights etc.

Hi All

Following on my previous post, there has been some changes to the situation. While my company is still sorting out the paperwork, a different startup heard about this and approached me. Essentially the startup offered to fully cover the tuition fees but the total amount is less than what my company offered because the offer includes expenses + conferences costs etc.

Note that the startup is unlike the IT world. It's currently making a healthy profit and is not reliant on external sources of investment.

So in summary:

Startup Pros
* My research is interesting to and aligns with the work of the startup, but the primary reason is they wanted me to join them.
* Very flexible working arrangement, i.e. remote work from home and not fixed hours + some shiny new gears (engineer here!)
* I know the startup and the people well, so for a start I know they will do what they reasonably can to help me, i.e. I wouldn't be immediately tossed aside.
* Offered profit sharing

Startup Cons
* It's a startup so the company currently has a good 1 year workload projection but not beyond that. (Note the tuition fees will be paid upfront).
* I might burn bridges with my current company if I were to leave after all the effort they put in.
* The funding covers tuition fees only so I'll have to make up the rest via different funding. The startup tentatively suggested depending on financial performance they could cover those too.

Company Pros
* Funding is twice as much as the startup.
* Big company so better prediction with workload.
* Big company with a number of experts in there that I can more easily tap into.
* Maintaining the current reputation and relationship I built.
* I wouldn't burn bridges.

Company Cons
* Standard work arrangement, i.e. 9-5 office work.
* Salary offered is ~18% less than the startup.
* No profit sharing scheme.
* Less flexible than a startup due to the size of the company.

Personally I'm leaning towards going with the startup, provided I don't burn bridges with my current company. Can anyone think of anything else? Any opinions and suggestions are very much welcomed and appreciated, many thanks!