Questions from PhD students 3. Howis the title of a professor awarded in England? 2. Do you have to take any other exams to be awarded a PhD apart from a final oral exam when you defend your thesis in front of a panel of experts? 3 Ts there any difference between a thesis and a dissertation? Can you use those words interchangeably? 4 While being a PRD student do you have to teach classes with undergraduate students as part of your duties? Do you have to do anything else for the university? 5. How about the financial side of doing a PhD? Is it expensive? Do you have any access to grants, scholarships, any help from the state? Hello, this is Christopher Stokes at the University of East Anglia, and I am very pleased to answer your questions about aspects of university life in Britain, The title ‘professor’ denotes the highest academic rank, and is conferred only by universities. Often a professor will be the head of a university department, although the title is also awarded for exceptional academic achievement. When professors retire they may be awarded the title Emeritus Professor, acknowledging an outstanding career and maintaining links with the university. The word ‘emeritus’ comes from the past participle of the Latin 'emereri', meaning to ‘earn one's discharge by service’. Let me tell you a joke about professors. Because they tend to devote much of their time to their research interests, authorship, and representing their university at conferences and international academic gatherings, they are often away from their offices and can be very difficult for undergraduate students like me to find. Some years ago a popular radio Programme in Britain organised a lighthearted phone-in competition for its listeners, who were given a noun and asked to suggest an imaginary collective noun for it. When listeners were asked to suggest a collective noun for university professors’, the prize was awarded to the listener who suggested an ‘absence’ of university professors. You asked whether PhD students are required to sit examinations as well as writing their theses, and they are not. Assessment for the award of a PhD degree is entirely based on the thesis, which reflects years of extensive research and must make an original contribution to scholarly knowledge, and on the wide-ranging interview about the thesis which the student's supervisor conducts with the student. Universities call this interview, in which the student defends the thesis, a Viva Voce ~ from the Latin for ‘live voice’ — usually abbreviated to ‘Viva’,‘The difference between the terms ‘dissertation’ ‘and ‘thesis’ is understood only in the academic world. In everyday speech the terms are interchangeable and mean a written discourse on a given subject. In universities, however, ‘thesis’ implies original research while a ‘dissertation’ is an extended essay. Thus the term ‘thesis’ is reserved for higher degrees ~ that is, a Master's degree or a PhD - while a ‘dissertation’ is written by undergraduates like me in the final year of our Bachelor's degree course. In Britain PhD students are not required to make any contribution to university life beyond pursuing their research, writing their thesis and making their thesis available to successive generations of students by placing copies of it in the university library. Some talented PhD students may be invited to teach on an undergraduate course at their university, or to lead an undergraduate seminar group, and if they do so they are paid by the university for the hours which they devote to teaching. PhD students with a flair for teaching often seek academic careers when they achieve their PhD degree, and the very best of them might be invited to join the academic staff of their own university. The cost of studying for a PhD in Britain is extremely high and, sadly, this can deter promising students from pursuing postgraduate study. Some bursaries and scholarships are offered by universities and by professional organisations, but the competition for these is intense and many prospective students are unlucky. At British universities fees for British students are, however, subsidised by our Government and are therefore significantly lower than the fees paid by international students who attend our universities, A typical fee for a British student on a PhD course would be about £3500 (about 16,000 zloty), for each year of study, while international students would pay about £10,500 (about 47,000 zloty) each year. Inevitably these very high fees mean that most PhD students do part-time jobs while they are studying, unless they happen to come from wealthy families who meet some of the costs of their studies. Even though the fees for international students are considerably higher, there is no shortage of international applicants for PhD courses at British universities because the excellent reputation of our degrees is acknowledged worldwide. Of course, all PhD students hope that the high cost of postgraduate study will eventually be rewarded when they enter their careers, because a PhD degree can be the passport to some of the top academic and professional jobs. Please do let me know if you have any further questions, and I shall be delighted to answer them. In the meantime I wish you every success with your studies in Warsaw.Questions from PhD students 3. Howis the title ofa professor awarded in England? s 2 Doyou have to take any other exams to be awarded a PhD apart from a final oral exam when you defend your thesis in front of a panel of experts? 3. Is there any difference between a thesis and a dissertation? Can you use those words interchangeably? 4 While being a PhD student do you have to teach classes with undergraduate students as part of your duties? Do you have to do anything else for the university? 5. How about the financial side of doing a PhD? Is it expensive? Do you have any access to grants, scholarships, any help from the state? Hello, this is Christopher Stokes at the University of East Anglia, and I am very pleased to answer your questions about aspects of university life in Britain, The title ‘professor’ denotes the highest academic rank, and is conferred only by universities. Often a professor will be the head of a university department, although the title is also awarded for exceptional academic achievement. When professors retire they may be awarded the title Emeritus Professor, acknowledging an outstanding career and maintaining links with the university. The word ‘emeritus’ comes from the past participle of the Latin 'emereri’, meaning to ‘earn one's discharge by service’. Let me tell you a joke about professors. Because ‘they tend to devote much of their time to their research interests, authorship, and representing their university at conferences and international academic gatherings, they are often away from their offices and can be very difficult for undergraduate students like me to find. Some years ago a popular radio programme in Britain organised a lighthearted phone-in competition for its listeners, who were given a noun and asked to suggest an imaginary collective noun for it. When listeners were asked to suggest a collective noun for ‘university professors’, the prize was awarded to the listener who suggested an ‘absence’ of university professors. ‘You asked whether PhD students are required to sit examinations as well as writing their theses, and they are not. Assessment for the award of a PhD degree is entirely based on the thesis, which reflects years of extensive research and must make an original contribution to scholarly knowledge, and on the wide-ranging interview about the thesis which the student's supervisor conducts with the student. Universities call this interview, in which the student defends the thesis, a Viva Voce — from the Latin for ‘live voice’ — usually abbreviated to 'Viva'.