Pure science and research are really so underrated and undervalued in India. It's nice to see videos like this one that talk about research and PhD in India. A country that encourages scientific literacy and temper encourages its overall development. 👍
Yup , Engineering and Doctory lines are so overpopulated , while Pure Science line is disappearing.... You see a smart student he has got be a NEET OR JEE aspirant , but people get shocked when they say they want to learn pure science
@@cyber_gypsygaming7452 I agree. It's sad that people don't realise pure science and it's research is fundamental to almost every other subject like engineering or medicine. These subjects wouldn't exist without Biology, chemistry and physics.
It is very hard with the amount of funding in India and many other countries. You're working 11-12 hrs a day and still don't get paid enough. It's demotivating.
It's so sad how the only rewarding professions in India are either mind numbing corporate jobs or government service jobs where you suck up to corrupt and immoral politicians. The ones that actually help give back to the country in the real sense are not given importance.
I am a msc student and now preparing for phd in these days and in this precious time this video is just a best motivation for me. And i can feel their statement very deeply😊
Only two scientists told that it is fun. Dilemma, confusion, hypothesis, research, failure...everything else is secondary. The basic essesnce of PhD should have been that you love to do research and love the subject or at least love to do something about the subject. However, everyone is talking about milestones and process of Ph.D. This is really astonishing and to some level depressing.
When the entire educational ecosystem from primary schooling onwards is predicated on a monthly-paychecks-earning paradigm and little else, this will be the continuing predicament. That's why no one is happy deep down.
It depends on your field and topic of research too. Very few fields offer problems which are inherently fun to work on. Something like archeology can be very fun, provided that you get a passionate mentor as well...
I am really thankful to you for producing this video. I am currently in my 4th year of PhD (Mechanical-Automobile). The wait for publishing, the deadline for funding, and the loss of time got to me, so I began questioning my career and life choices. The opinion of the doctorates really helped me calm down.
PhD is a black hole..once you get into it, "downwards is the only way forward".. financial instability, demotivation, academic plus family pressure starts mounting up with each passing day..
In my PhD days in BHU we were often told that "you're doing science!" The result of that approach: all of us (some 20 students in total) took 6-7 years to complete; the years beyond the fifth year were unpaid as well. In Johns Hopkins University I met a PhD student who said this: the day he joined the lab he was handed over a written 'schedule' that said what all things one needs to do. That also had suggestion as to at which stage of PhD one should start applying for post-doc. PhD, above everything, is a career path.
Hi. This just popped on my feed and I truly appreciate the effort. Also truly appreciate the time these scientists have given to answer this critical question "what is PhD?". I am from Pakistan, currently enrolled in PhD-biotech and sometimes it makes us question the life choices because of funding scenarios, stipend issues and lack of communication within scientific community. People like to hide things. I think the situation is similar in india. Although india have 3rd largest pool of scientists and engineers. I do hope one day we will be able to make things better. 😊
There are levels to the "why" questions that you can answer. You look at a system and ask the question, why does the system behave like this? You found an answer. Then you go a level deeper and ask again, why is the answer like that? And you can continue like this 4-5 times. By the 4-5th time, the question becomes so hard that it requires immense hard work and creativity to answer such questions. Famous scientists like Einstein or Newton answered such " why" questions. But in today's date, most supervisors focus on answering the easier "why" questions which can help them publish a ton of papers and gain reputation and promotion due to that. That is why, you will see although there are lots of researchers, only a few of them are working on cutting edge research. It is very disheartening to see the kind of research work conducted in some big institutes in India. I was a part of such an institute.
It is the art of creating a sensible and a significant problem. The execution is not just finding an answer but exploring the meaning of the PhD problem and then giving the results as obtained rather than solving it.
Ph.D. should not be considered as just another degree or job for money. It should be only adopted when a candidate love to explore things in one's own way but off course verifying with the well-established knowledge. Thanks for sharing such videos.
can we just appreciate the editing, soft Jazz in the background and the scientist describing the phd is like a wonderful journey had started and we are floating in it.
finding a small problem is itself a task and justifying the answer in a whole new way is an another perspective that an individual will go through in PhD.
This is what is PhD from supervisors' perspective. You should also see what PhD students are actually thinking. There are many grey shades! If you truly want to motivate students for this journey, you should show the true scenario.
Finding the right executable problem is the responsibility of the guide as much as it of the student since they have more experience. In India, i don't think it is the quantity of scientists that is problematic it is the quality.
I have passed 12th this year ........and i m going to take up science (bs-ms) inspite of having a good rank in JEE. ...........this video gave me a clear perspective that what am i going to do in my life after completing masters !.........thankyou very much it helped me a lot ................
Great video! :) Keep sharing these insights! It was an amazing experience to listen to all the scientists about their understanding and experience of "What is a PhD?" while being in that journey.
How about a video with Indian PhD students both in India and abroad ? There are bunch of us and many of your buddies too, I guess, who wouldn't mind talking about their opinion of what a PhD is
From my perspective, the most important question can be: How is the relationship between PI and PhD student in India compared to abroad? Who has more liberty in choosing the PhD project, Indian PhD student or abroad PhD student?
More or less, everywhere it is the same. It only and only depends on the PI's open-mindedness. Even in science, there are not to many open-minded PIs in the whole world. There is only one difference between doing PhD in India and abroad. In abroad you are on your own not in choosing PhD project but in performing your assigned project. Whereas in India PhD students are spoon-fed. Both In India and abroad, sometimes you get to choose your project if you PI is open. Another difference is in abroad no one cares about a PhD student. PIs only depend on postdoc and research assistants. But in India, it is actually the opposite as PhD student is the prince/princess. I am saying this as I have seen both sides very closely.
@@BinayKSahoo spoon-fed??? Where??....forget about spoon feeding, the supervisor wont even guide which path to choose...infact forget about a path, they wont even tell whether the path chosen by a candidate is right or wrong!!!.....they are only busy proving that the candidate is worthless....Or am I in the wrong place????!!!!!
Right now I am in Msc and I have published article, according me PhD is about patience, do the thing to help society, and last do what we love it with fun.
I think that, though it is a part of education system but it is a way of life, about training ur brain to think deeply, analyse the situation, collection evidences and understand the root problem...and then finding solutions
I am surprised no body talked about less fellowships.... definitely they are not Indian scientists they might have done their PhD from different country
I'm preparing for CSIR NET this year and it's a great motivation for me..cleared my insight for pursuing it even more lyk damn this is what I wanna do in lyf
Well done mate... We as a community need to devlope critical thinking in our pedagogical methods of imparting education.... The curiosity to learn about functional aspects of any system/any phenomenon.... This practise of questioning ultimately helps an individual to become more aware and less judgemental in his approach.
Nice video. I would like to request the admin to search answer for another question from these eminent scientists. The query is "What's the importance of NET in doing PhD in India?"
@@nikhileshjoardar1938 just ask those professors who have got their phd by publishing in journal, now they are sucking blood of system and ruining future of many students. At least exams like NET/GATE will make sure their fundamentals are clear. And for these professors talking here about big abstraction of phd in reality they haven't done anything most just rely on their research scholar not only for publication but also their daily work as well.
there work sometime go unseen.. like by seeing you no one can tell that how much care and nurture you have received from your parents... similarly there little contribution help upcoming researchers to countinue the work... #the show is must go on.✌️😉
Excellent video. Interesting replies. Insightful! After watching this video, i realize that it is very important to ensure that a person is able to answer this question clearly before they are allowed to start a research group and supervise PhD students. I agree, it is good to reimagine the PhD education/training. But, the people who do the "reimagining" should have a clear idea of what PhD is. Although all these scientists gave excellent answers based on their experience and understanding of the process, only some of them were able to clearly articulate the objectives of PhD training. Next time, I hope you ask people (not just the professors, but also some PhD students) what the word "philosophy" means in PhD. I am sure it will be even more interesting and enlightening.
Dr. Shashi Tharoor did his Masters in 2 Years and continued for 1 more year at Tufts University to obtained his PHD thats the shortest time I have come Across
Interesting! However to reach this level to explore and dive deep into topics for years together without worrying about the end result requires a backing at least monetarily either from the government or family. You need to be least careful of fulfilling the basic needs. The more we grow as a nation(atleast economically), the more we will have people who can have the liberty to "research" which will result in more growth and the cycle continues...
Couldn't have agreed more..the financial instability and the end of fellowship tenure is a nightmare..even if you love science and want to do more, the cash crunch starts biting you..
Next time ask the Scholars, the real heros who actually suffer every day and how they plan to kill their selfish PI or guides in their mind.. And also ask them about in lab student guide politics, pressure of maintaining lab and representation of blameful stories and criticism about phd students from the mouth of guides to others like they are not responsible for anything wrong only the scholar is.. 😂 Funny and shameful, the kind of humanity they show.. And what is the everyday process of work in labs in abroad and what is happening in India ? Do they treat students like slaves or there is a professional relationship ? In India these 'guides' people when they get the chair their sole aim become how to just consume their prey for own benefit They forget how to behave.. Most of them..
Its a process of going into a tunnel/cave where you leave the rest of the people & worldly matter out and you go alone in a cave for 5-6 years. You cant focus on anything other than your topic and anything and everything associated with it.
A PhD in basic science makes you have the license to practice science. A University scientist/researcher/academia/professor is just a special extension of Government employees. If the "Government" wants you, you will be hired to start as an assistant professor. Then all these factors will dictate your research and academic career for the remaining of your life: number of publications, citations, impact factors and government research grants. It has to be similar both the government and scientists, example, Thailand government- Thai scientists, German government- German scientists, Japan government- Japanese scientists, Canada government- Canadian scientists, etc. Stephen Hawking is a British scientist, his employer is British government.
A very well-made video, thanks to the scientists who made the answer easier for us. However, being in an early stage of my Ph.D. I can not but think why only Ph.D. is so much (in comparison) in talk compared to postdoc or other stages of the research endeavors. Is that because Ph.D. is the first platform where we are trained to ask questions? If so, then it is sad and a bit late as well.
School students who had/have innately exhibited the same attitude, curiosity and the rigor to find out the academic truths ( behind the acceptance of the scientific & mathematical & allied disciplines' postulates, theories,theorems & proofs into marks-demanding school curricula) from their Teachers were belittled and brushed aside by their teachers and mocked at by their mug-pot classmates ...and they became the disillusioned Backbenchers in every school!
PhD in India is devastating effect. UGC regulations acts as monopolitics and lobbyist promoting groupism and restriction for good a researcher. Tell me how many IIT and IIMs or private universities researchers have helped in grow or develop good academics... very few. Need to jnclude foreign graduates acceptance and drive innovation allow good people to work in government as well non government universities. UGC has closed door and lobbyist group policy for not allowing good researcher to work together.
wow i got nice channel interesting answers....currently im doing MS material physics and passionate about doing phd after a year but now i have to think again
Permanent Head Damage that led a person to inhabit in a new world with new perception of reality. But to most Indian PhD is about getting a degree, to get a job and fulfilled UGC norms.
How do human👥 civilizations evolve from Middle Dark Ages to Industrial🏭 Age and then onto Modern 20th and 21st century? Answering this question completely will help you to realize😃 the critical and crucial connection between a PhD📜 (in STEM 🧬📡field) and industry🏭. "From where does the industry comes from?" Try answering it completely and on the spot under 10 seconds.
My PhD journey was not a bed of roses. But it does teach you a way of life and gives you memories for a lifetime. Currently, I am unable to find a job in research. But I hope that sometime in the future things would change :)
just encountered this video, while struggling with some PhD related problem and thinking about leaving. Everyone has some sort of the same story, I might be able to tell mine someday.
I think, the same question should also be asked to people who somehow avoided PhD insted of having that opportunity. Because here in this video you will get a biased view (that may or may not be right).
Phd- Pick a problem and publish research papers on it Solving the problem is not that necessary but publish papers at any cost Or else how will the community grow
I don’t agree that PhD is necessarily a license to practice science. It is only a few centuries ago PhDs became a thing but science and research has been the trademark of humans as a species. Particularly, researchers that contributed very early in the field of science, the very fundamentals of all core sciences didn’t have a phd. The only thing they were driven by was their very thirst for exploration. Making a phd a license to practice science is a noble idea by motivating more students to obtain a doctorate degree but in the hindsight it also kills the very essence of research that is exploration. Everything in research that we know of now starte with exploration, and a mandatory phd to execute exploration can kill the quest for it. So, it is very important for the government and the society to fund exploration, not just phds. Because scientific research can be done by anyone, a person who is not even remotely connected to science. One such example is Mary Anning, the fossil collector. Also, particularly for biologists and naturalists in India, exploration driven researches are very important to be independently and state funded because we’ve vast biodiversity to explore. So many such research are funded in Europe but unfortunately in India, major funding goes to phd or post doctoral research that contribute in terms of service. Remember, science is not service, it may provide many a times but at its core it is exploration. If not then humans as a species would be unidentifiable from ants or bees whose sole purpose is to serve and live, not explore.
