An Experiential Degree

The Value of a Ph.D.

A university provides lab space, access to high-powered machines, advanced researchers in disparate fields (essential for interdisciplinary work), and funding and training through and beyond graduate school.

That is, a Ph.D. bundles together training, resources, and credibility. The credibility is necessary for convincing investors or academics to give you a job.

If you are able to provide yourself sufficient resources and training, and don’t need the credibility, then a Ph.D. may possibly be an inefficient way to get the training and begin research. While the program involves a lot of cutting-edge classes, it also involves working on other people’s research, doing lab scut work, and teaching classes.

Unbundling the doctorate?

How much money would it take to replicate graduate school in molecular biology? Let’s say you had 45000 USD to live on for three years. Access to research is free. You need equipment, most of which you can create for about $1000. You need further materials, such as reagents, so budget a few thousand for that. You need a lab space, though perhaps you could get lucky and use a friend’s garage.

You then set yourself the task of replicating the most useful and accessible current results: an experiential, experiment-based science education.

Collect a list of the most essential results to understand, and the most educational results to replicate. Group these into prerequisite groups: this requires more statistics knowledge, this more chemistry knowledge. Begin reading papers and performing experiments at a regular pace. Each paper should have the time required for reading or replication attached. By grouping the papers, you can prepare ahead of time for the groups in which you are weakest.

This course of action would probably result in a better quality education than found in many university laboratories. The sticking point is cost. A university provides the $45000, equipment, materials, and lab space.

A recent innovation

Freeman Dyson is rather proud that he never got a Ph.D., and that his children did not either. The German innovation which has become the standard still has a lot going for it, but as Peter Medawar wrote, “science is as science does.” Real work could occur outside the halls of academe.