Phd

[geordie1]

Im interested in becoming a lecturer eventually and notice a lot of them have pHD's! How do you go about doing a pHD? are they advertised on any websites or anything? or do you contact the individaul school of pharmacy!

Is a pHD needed for lecturing?

[Pharmanaut]

Re: Phd

Im interested in becoming a lecturer eventually and notice a lot of them have pHD's! How do you go about doing a pHD? are they advertised on any websites or anything? or do you contact the individaul school of pharmacy!

Is a pHD needed for lecturing?

It probably is, unless you become a teacher-practitioner.

[johnep]

Re: Phd

I was going to do a Ph.D on cell membranes, early work on wht was to become liquid crystals. However, no grant available and so I had to let it drop.

Others did one years Masters.
johnep

[hannahd]

Re: Phd

Some of my lecturers don't have a PhD so I guess it's not essential for lecturing but it looks good on your CV.

More info on how to go about it (at my uni) here:
Postgraduate research (Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences - University of Manchester)

[_Rob_]

Re: Phd

I do a little lecturing. Not for pharmacists though. I teach student nurses, paramedics and emergency care practitioners some pharmacology & therapeutics. I don't have a PhD but I do have an MSc, I think that helped me get the job.

[johnsmith]

Re: Phd

Dear Geordie,

In short (bar teacher practitioners) generally you will need to have a PhD to become a uni lecturer....

In long:

Most lectureships will require someone with a track record of original research (publish papers/patents) and an ability to bring in funding. Most people have to do a PhD to get their research career started.

Typically a PhD is 3 years of hell in which you pursue 2 years of original research that doesn't work, 6 months that does and 6 months writing a story about it. Unless you have rich parents you'll need to be an EU citizen to study in the UK and you'll need to have a 2:1 or higher. A studentship covers consumables and equipment and will pay around 10-16 grand a year (which is an education grant and is invisible for tax purposes). If you're not finished after 3 years you'll be working in your own time for no money. So think very carefully before you start a PhD, its not like an undergraduate degree you will be working fairly hard for much of it.

Following this you probably won't get a lectureship straight away and will end up doing at least one "post-doc" where you work on a fixed term contract for 2-3 years. This may well be in a different part of the country/world to your PhD and if you started one today you'll get about 26 grand (which is taxed). You'll work evenings and wkends for no extra pay and generally find other bits of your life squeezed to the periphery. This is where I am and I'm currently looking for my first lectureship.

If none of this puts you off... congratulations you're already half way there.

To apply; look at university websites, contact lecturers that you're friendly with and let them know you're interested and look at the PJ and New Scientist, which carry some adverts. I hope you have already decided on a subject area.

Finally: I've spent time in retail (manager and locum) and at the MHRA and despite the fact that every change of career I make I get paid less whilst others have sports cars and houses I'm still certain that I've made the right choice.

I hope this helps.