A second PhD????? *sits in a darkened room rocking and humming quietly to herself* - errr NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO8-)

Lol, I can see the appeal in a way if money was no object and time not an issue - say I'd won the lottery or something and was intent of a form of self harming.... but just the thought of starting again right now is enough to put me in a mental institution! I love researching, would love to publish and make a life in academia, but not sure that the stress of the PhD would be the way I'd want to go. Just think, 2 vivas........ shudder.

On reflection I think that a 2nd PhD would only be an option if I was reincarnated ;-)

LET ME THINK !!!!! mmmmmmmmmm NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Never ever ever ever even if we pay me £10000000000000000000000000000000000000 !!!!!!
I want my life back! I want to have friends! I want to be stupid and do stupid things! I want to sleep without processing information all night in my head! I want to stop being stressed, anxious and tired!!!!

I WANT A LIFE!!!!!!!!

PS: I have my VIVA today so a bit stressed
PS correction: PANICKED not a bit stressed :$

I think I may be prepared to do a second PhD, maybe part time, something like history of cricket, probably self funded once i'm retired from my day job, (so in about 2050).

I've got no formal history qualifications, apart from a GCSE(B) in history, so would probably have to do the degree first.

Personally I think the whole PhD process would be alright if you:

a. Found a friendly supervisor
b. Had as much time as you wanted to do it.
c. Did not have to worry too much about passing/job afterwards
d. Would be so interested in the topic that you would ordinarily read about it anyway, as I would read about cricket.
e. Did not have to worry too muh about expenses

Considering most of us are lucky to fulfill 1-2 of these objectives, I don't see how a second PhD is not possible, it could even be fun.

Hey! Yeah I would definitely do another PhD if I didn't have to worry about career progression etc. I have enjoyed my PhD so much and have often thought that I could just carry on and do PhDs for the rest of my working life, except for the shit pay! But in terms of career progression it is probably not very helpful, so I'm looking at post-doc projects for when my PhD comes to an end, if I'm lucky enough to get funding! Best, KB

Despite the fact that i am currently feeling really quite anxious about finishing writing up and looking for a job, there isn't a snowballs chance in hell of me starting down this route again. I want my life back!!!

Would I heck as. And I'm shocked that, so far, 28 % have said they would. I mean, no offence, but did they have a gun pointed at their heads whilst the answered the question? Still, each to their own.

Hey Cakeman, just had to respond. I've fulfilled all of those criteria, and the PhD's still torturous. My sup is fab; I already have a career (somewhat now destroyed thanks to the PhD); work and used to volunteer in my research area anyway; and a PhD in my country is free for domestic students.

But it's still awful. The research and field work were kinda enjoyable, but I've hated writing up, and the way the PhD has affected my life has not been worth it. So, for me, I don't think there's ever any way doing a PhD could be ok - only, possibly, if you were absolutely guaranteed a decent paying job in academia.

Hi DanB, maybe I would, in my retirement. I'd love to do a fine art degree when I'm a pensioner, it's what I look forward to, and perhaps it would develop from that. The pressure to make a mark in my field wouldn't be there and, I hope, I will have enough money for a reasonable life, so I could just enjoy it and be like that one from Queen (Brian May???) who took forever. I'd have to have lots of sociable hobbies though.

I do love my PhD, but I feel massive pressure - from myself - to be really good at what I am doing, make a mark and become 'someone' in my feild, to push my ideas etc and get them known, crazy, ambitious and, I hope, a phase I will be over by the time my dotage comes along.

Thanks for all your replies! It's been great to read, and yes, i am a damn crazy fool anyway!

Maybe one day... 8-)

At the university where I am doing my PhD, I met a student who was going his third PhD based on History. I would imagine that doing a second or third PhD would not take much time as the first PhD. The advantage I see is getting academic articles published, or a book chapter or even an academic book. I would imagine that a second of third PhD would be based on part-time and not full-time studies. Personally I find my first PhD degree very tough and I cannot imagine doing a second PhD even on a scholarship.

Not unless my employer were paying me to do one, or I needed one to do a particular job and was guaranteed of that job on finishing. Neither is very likely to happen in my field so I'll stick with this one :)

Another very old thread resurrected. :-)

My answer is I don't know. If money and time were no object, then I might be tempted. I'm in a rut with my real world career and a new PhD (as was my original PhD) might represent a reboot in a direction I wanted to go. My job is basically that of a paper pusher, one of the reasons (though not the main one) I launched into my original PhD.

Practically, time (I'm a good few years older) and money (PhD bursaries go nowhere to matching a salary nor do they pay into a pension) are finite. Also, a PhD can deter real world employers on looking at your CV, so what would two PhDs do?

Better as suggested earlier to create jornal papers, book chapters and enhance your publication record if you want to improve your research career prospects

That said, I've been out of the research game long enough to say a second PhD might actually be a help. And having done one, I now know how to approach one. :-)

Ian

I am currently doing my second post-doc and still have 1 year to go. This probably would be my last academic pursue in the field of science unless I get a professorship position. However, I have been always tempted to go and do an MA in math since I like the subject so much and because I always wished I would pursue an abstract field rather than my current slow-pace experimental topic.

But no matter how I calculate the time and the money, I can not (logically) convince myself that this is doable (this is for a 2 years MA taught program not a PhD). My university of choice do not admit students on scholarship bases from other fields to MA program if they already have PhDs. If I have to pay for it then a 2 years MA program costs like:

2 years of tuition (international fees) + 2 years of no income from myside + cost of apartment rentals in a different city in a different country + paying mortgage for our current home + 2 years of no income for the family if the hubby cannot find a job in our new city + 2 years worth of additional child-care cost as we are getting away from grandparents + taking 8 to 10 courses which translate to 16 to 20 exams (mid and final) + 8 to 10 projects + possibly a 100 plus page thesis (if I take a thesis route) + 2 stressful years (as it is never easy to have young kids around and study for exams, let alone pure math) + 2 years having no time for anything but completing class projects and studying for exams + opportunity cost of not being in job market for another 2 years (right into my 40s) + more....

When I tell this to my friends they tell me that if I choose to go for the MA, my new MA is a fast slope into poverty and debt with little gain (the only gain is mostly for selfish reasons)... No one can argue with that!

I can't see me ever doing a second PhD. I see very little value in the concept, except in some very specific circumstances. The reasons people give would often be best served by a masters/diploma, post doc or regular job. I would, however, consider another Masters and have my eye on one I'd like to do in a few years when I've recovered from my PhD!

KimWipes, I don't know where you're based, but in the UK a lot of people in your situation would consider doing a degree via the Open University (http://www.open.ac.uk/) which offers long distance learning in modules that can be taken one at a time over several years, or as a regular degree if that is preferred. It reduces the cost and risk. In fact there are quite a number of well respected providers of distance and flexible learning (e.g. http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/). Might be worth considering. It's also worth noting that most UK masters programmes are just one year, or 18 months tops.

Hi HazyJane
Thanks for the reply. I am in north america. In the US (and Canada) a MA degree takes about 2 years on average. I have seen people have done it a bit shorter but most of the people I know have done it over 2 years. My experimental M.Sc. took about 3.5 years since the supervisor was very demanding, She made me to take 10 courses + 200 plus pages thesis which I spent almost 2.5 years experimenting in the lab. The university I like to get MA from is in the US and is one of the best programs offered in math and they also mentioned in their website that it is a 2 years program which includes 8-10 courses (taught route) or 5-6 courses + a thesis. Online programs work well for some people (i.e. my sister who took an online BA degree in accounting and finished it in 6 years) but I personally like to be focused and get'er done asap. The tuition fee for a good US university is extremely high and for the program like the one I like to take is almost $44,000 per year and there is not scholarship for the people who already have a PhD! How much does it cost to get a MA degree from Open University in UK?