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Asked by catherines12 to Kieren, Roy, Nicola on 13 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
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Kieren Bradley answered on 13 Mar 2014:
PhD stands for doctor of philosophy, which is quite an old fashioned term to do with philosophising (thinking) about how the world works. As well as thinking about how the world works we also do experiments to try and find out if how we thought the world works is actually correct.
A PhD course is a 3 to 6 year course depending on country where you research a small area of science that no one else has done before, it will most likely be something very similar to what has been done before, but a new aspect. In the last year or so you have to write up lots of your results into a thesis which is a 100 to 200 page book that explains your work. You then have to do a 3 to 6 hour interview with an expert in the same field to prove you did the work yourself and that you understand it all and that it is new to science.
Once I have done that I will be able to call myself Dr. Kieren Bradley PhD (but maybe not in Christmas cards)
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Nicola Rogers answered on 17 Mar 2014:
A PhD scientist is someone who is working towards getting their PhD qualification, whilst conducting research. To be awarded your PhD, you have to conduct original research, and then as Kieren says, write up a thesis, and be examined on it by interview. Whilst you are a PhD scientist you basically wok as a researcher, within a University department usually, and you also have a few other commitments as well, such as some teaching of undergraduate students at the Uni, or demonstrating lab experiments etc.
I finished my 3 years in December, and handed in my 300 page thesis at the end of January – I have just started a research job as a post-doctoral researcher, and I am waiting for my examination interview – which will happen in April
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