Research-only PhD

[pondelniholka]

Hi gang. Please forgive my total ignorance about the above. I'm interested in doing a PhD program in New Zealand, because my area of research is in Polynesian migrant communities. I've written to some professors and they've been helpful and encouraging, but I don't want to betray my lack of familiarity with a research-only PhD. I'm assuming that

Comments

[indigo_black]

Well, in the UK we have research-only PhDs. I am in the US getting mine but I did do my MA by Research in the UK and so learned a lot about the PhD students' work at the same time.

At my school, all the research students were just encouraged to meet with advisors every 2-4 weeks (perhaps less often if you're in the writing up stage, perhaps more if you're really working through some tough problems) and then the university ran fortnightly seminars for research students to get together. These usually had a theme such as how to structure a dissertation, how to find the best resources, how to overcome writer's block, or something along those lines. Otherwise, it was a very isolating and isolated experience. It's nothing like in the US. Here I'm on campus most days taking classes, although the ABD students are on campus a lot less often because they're writing up at home. So a PhD in the UK (or in other countries with similar systems) is much like the ABD stage of a PhD in the US. Obviously in the US, you might be teaching while ABD, which is possible but less likely in countries where less emphasis is placed on teaching while you're still a grad student.

Expect to spend a lot of time at the library or at home.

[pondelniholka]

Thanks for the info. The isolation aspect definitely sounds unappealing, as does less chance of teaching. I'm a very social creature. One of the hooks about NZ are that many of the classes sound awesome! Did you know anyone who sat in on classes?

One of the things that has put me off about research-only is that I think additional coursework would be really helpful and even necessary for me to write a good dissertation. Well, this adds to the list of questions I need to ask before applying.

[indigo_black]

Well there weren't any classes to sit in on unless you wanted to take undergrad classes, which wouldn't make a whole lot of sense if you were a PhD student. I can't speak for other fields but I know for sure in the humanities (at my school and I assume at others) that there weren't any PhD-level classes offered.