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Doing something useful with your

*** PhD ***

In pursuit of an academic career A (South) African approach

Willem Clarke

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Disclaimer

• Not for the “old hands” here– You did that, got the conference T-shirt (again)– Its too late anyway

• Unashamedly biased towards an academic career– Invite me back for another talk to get a different

perspective• No maths, sorry

– You will have to concentrate more to understand this• Not just for coding freaks• These are the sole opinions of the author

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Remember

A ***PhD*** is only the beginning, – not the end.

• Contrary to what many and their parents students believe!

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Comic Relief

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OverviewAlways customary at conferences and workshops

• What does a PhD provide?• Career planning• A career in the academic world• General advice

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What does a PhD provide?• The obvious things

– Proof that you are a specialist in your field– Proof of your ability to do research– Evidence that you have a deeper understanding of theory and technology

(we hope...)• The not (always) so obvious things

– You can work independently (with a professor nearby...)– Can assimilate complex information, create new theory – Writing ability (thesis, articles)– Can present your work orally (conferences, seminars,...)– You are clever (after all)– Show ability to be thorough and responsible with theory– Shown the potential to learn– Can actually finish something

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Comic Relief

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What does a PhD not provide?

• Any indication that you can practise what you preach– Theory good, practical skills still unproven

• Proficiency in soft skills – Career survival 101

• Any guarantee of employment• Any guarantee of quick career advancement• Work experience• Humility

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Comic relief

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A PhD: Doing a cost-benefit analysis

• A significant life investment – Is it really worth it?

• Cost– Many years of study– Missing opportunity costs

• Benefits– Hopefully pursued your research interests– Entry requirement to a career in research– Overstayed your welcome as a student– Better career prospects?!– Employability ?– Ego trip?– What else?

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Employment options

• Pursue academic/research career• PhD an entry requirement• Goal

– Research fellow– Professor

• Industry career• PhD mostly optional initially• Can be an advantage in later career stages

– Too late to do then, what with partner, children, work , bond

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Career Planning - I

• For most, career planning involves– Landing first job (which actually pays money)– Surveying the next interesting job (or project)– Managing earnings (upwards obviously)– Fulfilling some location objectives (international)– Some consideration w.r.t. employer

• Standing (size, social responsibility) • Industry sector (growing)• General work conditions (most convenient, relaxed)• Training potential• Promotion path (quickest)• ...

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Career Planning - II

• Missing– Clear objectives of where they are going– Short, medium and long term objectives – Any plan on how to get there– Cost estimation of path to achieve objective(s)– Risk assessment of path

• Do not “project manage” their CVs!

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A career in the academic world

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Reality in (South) Africa - I• School system not delivering

– Shortage of skilled teachers– Small pool of students for science and engineering careers

• Global skills shortage– Skills – South Africa’s largest export to the world– Severe shortage of skilled people (industry and academic)– Higher salaries offered by industry– Industry requires “work ready” students from universities

• Pressure on research skills

• Socio-economic pressures – Governments facing many urgent needs

• Housing, infrastructure, health, safety, ....• Research lower on their political agendas

– First generation graduates • Present unique challenges to the academic world

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Reality in (South) Africa - II

• Limited sizes of local markets– Technology trade-off • Buy (import) vs. Develop(research)

– Impact the research agenda of local industry • System designers vs product developers• Basic research not high up on the priority list

– Focus of engineering training• Generalists rather than specialists• Wider coverage, lacks depth in theory• Opportunity = Innovation

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Reality in (South) Africa - III

• Impact on academic world– Fewer people in long term academic careers– High turn-over of academic staff– Few mentors to learn from• A profession without seasoned professionals

– “One person” research groups– Difficulty in obtaining research funding– Limited funding for basic research– Shortage of post graduate students

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Academic career path

• Mostly applicable to our local context

• Academic stream– Lecturer (min Masters Degree)– Senior Lecturer (min PhD)– Associate Professor (PhD, papers, students,

funding)– Professor (same, just much more of it,

international standing)

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The Peter Principle

In any organisation, people will rise to their level of incompetence and stay there.

• Start as a gifted Masters/PhD student– Research and publications will get you there

• Appointed as a lecturer– Other skills now also required

• Teaching, fund raising, people skills, time management, guidance, ...

– Difference between being a student, and being the supervisor

• Lack of any of these may negatively impact your career.

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Job description of an academic

• Committing research– The reason why we do it!

• Teaching – Aaaaarghhh! – A necessary evil?

• Supervision and leading research– Undergraduate and post-graduate

• Administration – @#$%@# !

• Funding – Students + equipment+conferences = $$$$ you need to raise

• Committees – Meetings, politics, mostly wasted time

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Roles of an academic - I

• An expert– Expected

• You have a PhD after all!

– Don’t get stuck in your PhD topic• You can change

– Don’t change too often• Need to establish depth

– Balance between quantity and quality

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Roles of an academic - II

• A successful marketer– Market yourself, your ideas and work– You are always marketing your personal brand!– What is your personal brand?

• Define it!

– Market to undergraduate students • Future students

– Market to industry • Future funding

– Market to peers • Future collaboration

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Roles of an academic - III

• A successful salesperson– Raising funds is crucial– Successful proposal writing

• Master it or wither• In short: Sell vision, confidence and profitability

– Good relationships is a key attribute– One of the most difficult skills for an engineer

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Roles of an academic - IV

• A psychologist– Often play this role as study leader– Students go through emotional cycles• Learn to expect it, identify it, and how to manage it

– Learn about people • A tall order for any engineering type

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Roles of an academic - V

• An educator– Core funding vehicle for the university

• Important

– PhD ≠ teaching expert– Read, think, practice, evaluate, CHANGE!– Some suggestions:

• Show solution strategies rather than only solutions• Define top 5 outcomes

– Focus your teaching around them

• Plan lessons as a show, a theatre production• Get professional help

– Or marry a teacher!

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Roles of an academic - VI

• A good administrator– Need to nail this early in your career– Sustainable growth can only be built on a solid

administration system– Design (and redesign) an administration system

that works for you– Remember to ensure scalability

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Roles of an academic - VII

• A leader, strategist and visionary– Learn to formulate and sell your vision for the

future• Research• Funding

– Formulate and follow strategies for your career, research, research group

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General advice

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Comic Relief

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General advice - I

• Always be a profitable resource– Deliver more than you earn– Carefully determine how value is• Measured and treasured • Created and • Delivered

– Align your output accordingly

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General advice - II

• Make the bureaucracy your friend– Cannot actually do without it• A problem when it takes over!

– Learn the system– Utilise the system– Find the “hyper space” portals

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General advice - III

• Find the pockets of money/resources– They are always there– Find out who controls it– Keep abreast of national/international funding

opportunities– Hone the skills to write appropriate proposals

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Be a reader• Read quickly (reading speed)

– Theses tend to be large, reviewing papers– Don’t worry – it does go in!

• Read wide (be an interesting person)– Wider knowledge tends to provide a larger pool for innovation– Industry knowledge can drive novel research

• Read consistently – Different views on a topic– Refuel the knowledge tank

• Read intelligently (don’t waste time)– Overview, judge, detail

• Read with a strategy (How to build your library...)– Establish a wide introductory base (introductory texts)– Get different views for better understanding – Go into topical depths

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Choose your research field with care

• Try to join an established group– Starting new a bummer

• Learn to dig where the gold is– The more you practise, the luckier you get

• Establish your mine where there is a future– One nugget does not make a mine– What is the life span of the research field?– Where is the state of technology – did you miss the boat?

• It takes at least 5 years of hard work to establish yourself

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And finally....• Students will only achieve as much as you expect

– Therefore expect the best!• In research, meetings and in general

– Check definitions to establish a common understanding• Plan two steps ahead, rather than only one.• Religious wars about tools are a waste of time• Never relinquish quality• Pick those wars that you can win

– Negotiate peace before the first shot is fired– The first person to get angry in a meeting loses

• Get a mentor. Always!• Be known as a decision maker• Man the coffee pot – its where creativity happens