Career as a Researcher

Graduate School
1

<p>I am currently looking at the possibility of pursuing a career as a researcher in the field of electrical and computer engineering. What are the pros and cons? </p>

<p>My expected graduation date is May 2013 for my bachelor’s degree and graduate school is included in my post-graduation options. I am open to the idea of going all the way to a PhD and working as a professor at a university. I am quite flexible with research or industry. </p>

<p>However, I am not yet sure if working as a researcher is beneficial or not.</p>

2

<p>Beneficial in what way?</p>

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<p>Beneficial as in is the pay usually good enough to support yourself throughout until you finish your PhD and start your career as a professor?</p>

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<p>Engineering grad students can expect a yearly stipend in the 20K to 35K range, depending on funding source and location. Enough to live on, not enough to start a retirement account.</p>

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<p>You made that sound so easy :)</p>

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<p>You made that sound so easy :)</p>

7

<p>B@r!um: my daughter was accepted to 3 top 15 schools in 2009 and never had an offer above your low end, had one offer of zero :(</p>

<p>interxavier: your phd acceptance will come with a financial offer and it is very likely that you will work as a TA or an RA as part of that offer, it isn’t a choice unless you get a fellowship. You can get a research job or internship in the summer.</p>

<p>some reading for you:
[A</a> graduate school survival guide: “So long, and thanks for the Ph.D!”](<a href=“http://www.cs.unc.edu/~azuma/hitch4.html]A”>A graduate school survival guide: "So long, and thanks for the Ph.D!")</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~harchol/gradschooltalk.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Career as a professor is another ball of wax. Don’t expect that to come easy. Or researcher positions, even. 1/3rd of Google employees are PhD’s and don’t think they are all doing academic research. They may well be doing the same work as the other 1/3rd who have masters.</p>

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Always working on new stuff (that’s good!), a lot of it won’t work (that’s bad!). Research-type jobs in industry usually pay pretty well compared to engineering in general (that’s good!), but can be high pressure (that’s bad!). Academia gives you a level of freedom and control you will not see without starting your own company (that’s good!) but it is hard for an engineering PhD to get a tenure track professorship, much less tenure, and when you do it typically takes at least 6 years past the PhD - age 30+ (that’s bad!).</p>

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You pay for your undergrad, and probably a masters if you go for one independently (i.e., not as part of a PhD program). During your PhD (including a subsumed masters) you get an RA, TA, or fellowship that is typically enough for one person to survive on - b@r!um nailed my range exactly, lowest offer $20k, highest offer $35k. IMPORTANT NOTE - if you don’t get full support for an engineering PhD, don’t do it.</p>

<p>If you become an industry researcher, $100k starting is not out of range with a PhD from a good school. If you become an associate professor you will probably make a bit less, but get a bit more freedom and privilege. At this point you can start worrying about things like family, retirement, and vacations not involving the words “road trip!!!”. Top engineering spots in either industry or academia can reach $250k in my experience, presumably more for some even without considering some of the additional money available through stock options, management, or starting your own company.</p>

<p>Personally, whether it is academia or industry, I LOVE research. Much cooler than the alternatives I’ve experienced.</p>