PhD Theoretical Physics - Part 2

[The Moon Gauge]

Hello,
I have several questions around the application process as well as the organization.
1. Are you aware of any reference website centralizing PhD offers by countries?
2.When it comes to the organization/management/ supervision of a PhD program, I wonder if there are differences by countries (UK,France,Germany,USA..) when it comes to how close the monitoring of our advisor is, presentations, evaluations...
3. Following question 2, which countries offer the best supervision for a PhD for you?
4. Is it possible to do a PhD at distance with your supervisor being in another country? Is it equally recognized? Is there a website for it?
5. Is it ok to ask for a recommandation letter (for a PhD application) from a summer school prof. supervising the program?

Many thanks

 

[CrysPhys]

* With respect to 5, it's OK.

* With respect to 2 and 3, there will likely be differences between universities that require a master before applying for a PhD and universities that require only a bachelor. But in any case, the wide variation among individual professors within a country will likely swamp out any generalizations among different countries.

 

[Choppy]

1. Are you aware of any reference website centralizing PhD offers by countries?

You might want to check out https://physicsgre.com
Maybe it's not exactly what you're looking for, but the applicant profile thread is quite popular.

2.When it comes to the organization/management/ supervision of a PhD program, I wonder if there are differences by countries (UK,France,Germany,USA..) when it comes to how close the monitoring of our advisor is, presentations, evaluations...

Yes. And it varies from school to school as well. And supervisor to supervisor. If you're not locked into a particular place by geography, you might do better to filter by topic. Look at the strongest schools in the fields you're interested in, and then research the details of each program. Another way to look at it might be this: if you had the opportunity to work with a brilliant mentor on a PhD project you're going to love would it be a deal breaker if you had to first enroll in a masters program and then transfer to the PhD? Or if you had to do a written comprehensive examination instead of an oral?

3. Following question 2, which countries offer the best supervision for a PhD for you?

Not sure why that would make a difference for anyone else, but for me personally it was Canada.
Given the relationships with professors you've developed so far, it's worth taking the time to think about what kind of mentorship will be most effective for you. Do you like rigid deadlines and a clear project map? Regular meetings? Or do you work better with more independence? Do you want to be one of a small number of graduate students, or have lots of colleagues but less access to your supervisor? Where are recent graduates of this mentor ending up? Is that were you see yourself in several years?

4. Is it possible to do a PhD at distance with your supervisor being in another country? Is it equally recognized? Is there a website for it?

Possible - sure. But a lot can depend on the details of the program and what the individual supervisor is willing to do. With the pandemic, a lot of PhD supervision has moved online... students meeting with their supervisors via Zoom, Skype, etc. and so I suspect where things have been rigid in the past, they may be more pliable in the future. There are also regulator issues such as student visas to consider.

5. Is it ok to ask for a recommandation letter (for a PhD application) from a summer school prof. supervising the program?

Sure. If you've developed a good working relationship with a professor, or you feel that person is in a good position to evaluate your ability to succeed in graduate school then yes. Generally though, you're looking for something better than "this student attended a summer course I taught in thermodynamics and did okay in it."

 

[The Moon Gauge]

Hi,

Thank you for the detailed answers.

Yes. And it varies from school to school as well. And supervisor to supervisor. If you're not locked into a particular place by geography, you might do better to filter by topic. Look at the strongest schools in the fields you're interested in, and then research the details of each program. Another way to look at it might be this: if you had the opportunity to work with a brilliant mentor on a PhD project you're going to love would it be a deal breaker if you had to first enroll in a masters program and then transfer to the PhD? Or if you had to do a written comprehensive examination instead of an oral?

Honestly, for 2, it will definitely be an issue for me since I already have a Master’s degree which was 2 years full-time in 2016 so my priority is to jump into PhD research. Furthermore, I also noticed that the knowledge we get during the Master’s does not really prepare for research.

Not sure why that would make a difference for anyone else, but for me personally it was Canada.
Given the relationships with professors you've developed so far, it's worth taking the time to think about what kind of mentorship will be most effective for you. Do you like rigid deadlines and a clear project map? Regular meetings? Or do you work better with more independence? Do you want to be one of a small number of graduate students, or have lots of colleagues but less access to your supervisor? Where are recent graduates of this mentor ending up? Is that were you see yourself in several years?

For 3, I really would prefer to be part of a small cohort of PhD student so that our supervisor will have time to focus more effectively on each of us. I also heard that the more prestigious your mentor is the better…

The Imperial College London theoretical group seems good but they have a very large intake of PhD student, what UK department would you advise for a PhD?