The illustrated guide to a Ph.D.

[Admin]

I thought this was amusing, and a bit relevant to those considering specializing in robotics.

http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

But of course, I'm not happy with just making a tiny dent

[madsci1016]

Are you a PhD Admin?

Working for the Navy with just a BS in EE has made me really glad I didn't stay in school and suffer for a MS or worse. At NSWC, all three eventually stop getting promoted at the same level, it just takes longer (only a few years) to get there with only a BS. Also, if you prove yourself, you get the same level of responsibilities, I'm already the Lead Electrical Engineer for an acquisition program. Is NRL the same way?

So personally, I know without a doubt i made the right decision not staying for more education, I'm having way to much fun building robots and getting paid well to do it.  And if i do decide to go back to school, the Navy will pay for it!

Just food for thought to any that are facing this decision.

Good illustration though.

[Admin]

Nope, I just have a BS in mechanical engineering. But I do research and write papers as if I was a PhD.

I don't recommend a PhD either, unless you develop some product as part of your thesis that'll make you rich after you graduate, or you want to do basic research all your life.

As a government job, your pay is determined by your degree - not by your skills. You can get raises from your boss dependent on your skills, but you max out depending on your degree. I did some math, and for robotics, you'll fair only slightly better with a masters degree.

Just not enough to want to be a student again

[madsci1016]

As a government job, your pay is determined by your degree - not by your skills. You can get raises from your boss dependent on your skills, but you max out depending on your degree. I did some math, and for robotics, you'll fair only slightly better with a masters degree.

Not true for us here at least. It may be harder to get to the same pay level, but it's very well possible. We are on the newer ND scale as opposed to the old GS, i don't know if that's the difference or not. But we all can equally achieve ND-4 no matter your degree, and then either go the management route to get ND-5, or technical High grade, which is rare on our base even for PhDs, only 2-4% of the population. My dept head is an ND-5 and only has his BS in EE.

Masters come in as ND-3, and guess what? I got promoted to an ND-3 this month, after one year of employment. So it took me one year to get promoted to the same level as a Master's student, in less time then it takes to get a Master's degree!

[Admin]

Are you a Fed or a contractor?

(I'm the latter)

[madsci1016]

Ahh, that may be it then. I'm a certified US Government Employee.  (Fed)

[vinito]

I thought you were going to show a real PHD, not that intangible abstraction nobody uses.