2. What is a PhD?

As we spoke about in rule number one, you may sometimes feel that you’re about to panic. It may then be useful to take a deep breath, and gain some perspective on what a PhD actually is. Whether you’re new or old in this PhD game (because it is very much a game with rules and bosses and whatnot; we’ll get to those later) Matt Might’s illustrated guide to a PhD is always very enlightening and is here reproduced in full.

Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge:

By the time you finish elementary school, you know a little:

By the time you finish high school, you know a bit more:

With a bachelor's degree, you gain a specialty:

A master's degree deepens that specialty:

Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge:

Once you're at the boundary, you focus:

You push at the boundary for a few years:

Until one day, the boundary gives way:

And, that dent you've made is called a Ph.D.:

Of course, the world looks different to you now:

So, don't forget the bigger picture:

Keep pushing.

That was nice, wasn't it?

If you feel very small and insignificant looking at that tiny tiny pimple on the huge circle, don't worry. Just keep swimming. I mean reading.

Go directly to Part 3 or use the top menu.