- #1
fiziks
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Graphene research has been going on for a decade now, with huge numbers of researchers piling into get a cut of the magic. I have a PhD offer in the topic of the mechanical properties of graphene, and I am pondering whether to accept and join the bandwagon myself.
I would be interested to hear people's experiences and opinions on situations like this, in which there is a sudden explosion in research in a completely new area. I have a few questions of my own:
1. Does the fact that so many people are in the field now mean that it will be harder to do a phd with a strong impact? With so many competitors who have been in the field a while, is it not harder for a student to catch up and do something worthwhile in their thesis when the pace of the field is so great?
2. What happens to the job market in these situations? Will the large cohort of phd students trained in the graphene boom years be in trouble when research subsides and funding decreases?
3. After my graphene phd, how easy would it be to move to a different area of research in the broader field of nanoscience/nanotech? If I had been trained in 2D materials, could I make the move to say microfluidics or microrobotics or similar?
I have little understanding or insight into the pro's and con's of joining emerging fields such as this, so would be grateful for any offered here. Cheers!
I would be interested to hear people's experiences and opinions on situations like this, in which there is a sudden explosion in research in a completely new area. I have a few questions of my own:
1. Does the fact that so many people are in the field now mean that it will be harder to do a phd with a strong impact? With so many competitors who have been in the field a while, is it not harder for a student to catch up and do something worthwhile in their thesis when the pace of the field is so great?
2. What happens to the job market in these situations? Will the large cohort of phd students trained in the graphene boom years be in trouble when research subsides and funding decreases?
3. After my graphene phd, how easy would it be to move to a different area of research in the broader field of nanoscience/nanotech? If I had been trained in 2D materials, could I make the move to say microfluidics or microrobotics or similar?
I have little understanding or insight into the pro's and con's of joining emerging fields such as this, so would be grateful for any offered here. Cheers!
