I do not completely deny author's idea. I do understand there is an enormous amount of effort that goes in PhD. ( and thats why it is also called Permanent Head Damage :) ).
The only point in the favor of author that I have is what if a PhD is not so active 10 yrs after he receives it in his field. There are woman who receive PhDs but end up being house wives. Just because they have PhDs their opinion cannot be taken for granted even if they are not active in their field.
Another point in favor of those who oppose this article and my earlier point. If someone is inactive in his field they today's industry may not reward him either. One has to keep abreast of changes otherwise (s)he may not be position to give value added inputs. The system will itself fail the individual.
I can forsee that this idea may not die as number of PhDs are increasing and at some point where there is a competition, one may even have to prove that (s)he is competitive even 15 yrs after receiving the PhD. Thats my $0.02
RE:A neutral vuew point
by arvind singh on Jan 19, 2008 11:50 PM Permalink
Hi, I do respect the idea but before that I would like to insist on the point that the PhD itself should be given to the correct person and correct effort. There should be certain standars for awardng PhD itself. In India atleast what I feel is that the award of PhD itself depends a lot on the guide, the lab and the nature of work. Why not have strict standards for PhD itself. Why should a person gets PhD just becasue he is in a certain lab under certain guide merely and not becasue he or she possess the qualities of being a good researcher? I think improve the standards at college and university level itself , reduce the numbers and increase the quality & competition. There will not be any need for expiry then. Its a complex matter. It depends on the nature of work / problem also. It took a long 10 years for certain protein in a lab. not if the expiry would have been less than 10 years the guide would have not even tries to continue that work instead he would have done some smaller work and published a number of papers in smaller journals!
RE:A neutral vuew point
by parasu gokulan on Jan 20, 2008 08:38 PM Permalink
PhD work takes around 5 years to complete. It is not an easy job and fixing an expiry date is the most idiotic thing to do. An idea proposed is an idea sown. The researcher might not be active but the PhD is the degree given in recognition of his effort put in realizing something new.
