Hi there all.i just had a thought.why is that no one try for their higher studies to countries where english is not prominently spoke(eg:japan).is it not worthwhile taking a Higher degree from such countries?Anyone any suggestions....^^

Because the supervisors at the respective institutions aren't proficient enough in English to be able to supervise you and assess your work? Unless of course as in your example, the student speaks fluent Japanese. I think that embarking on a PhD is tough-going enough without having the language barrier to contend with! Besides, doing your PhD in a foreign country where you're not familiar with the ways of research is a risky business anyway.

I think generally people are too afraid to do things even slightly "risky". Come on, you only live once and the world isn't made of English-speaking countries only. You will be dealing with people who have been to university for years - there ought to be at least one lab where you can understand your co-workers and they can understand you, right?
Now, I don't mean to say that the culture/language thing might not be an issue, I just don't think it will be impossible to deal with.
Good luck! Have fun!

Anna, do you have any experience of working in a foreign country?

Working no, studying yes. I spent one year in Germany. All lectures were in German which was tricky, since I wasn't fluent on arrival. If I'd been in a lab it would've been a lot easier because I could've spoken English! Proficiency in English can vary from country to country, but keep in mind that most scientific literature and journals are in English. I think it's rather the social situation (living in a country where you don't understand the newspapers, signs, your neighbour...) that can be a little difficult.

Myself I'm in Germany at the moment having finished working for a year at a research institute. The risk factor that I was referring to wasn't anything to do with the language barrier, but to do with the VERY different research ethos in my field of study (see for example earlier "PhDs in Germany" thread). i.e. that I think it would be far more desirable for researchers to stick with the kind of research environment they know, even if it would be an adventure to live abroad.

I didn't find your thread, but on a more general level I think that experiencing different views on research is exactly why people should go abroad. The world of science is international and the more we learn from each other the better. Then again, doing a PhD abroad might not be the best way, because it takes several years and there might be problems with funding. It's probably easier as an undergrad or a postdoc.

I'd agree that going abroad can help to broaden people's minds etc. The reason I came here though was because I believed at the time that research institutes in Germany are generally better funded/equipped. I discovered though that that's all very well, but if the quality of the work that goes on is such that there is little to gain from it, there really is no point. There is probably regular employment abroad for British people who are drawn to the experience of living abroad, but research-wise I really wouldn't recommend coming here!

Don't know about you, but I'm not able to select the 'All' to see all threads. The thread that I was referring to is quite an old one, which is maybe why you can't find it.

Sorry about the 'View All' threads problem, which has now been sorted. You can click here to see the message Anon is refering to.

By the way Anon, it may be easier to pick a different, but equally anonymous name - lots of people use anon and it can make it confusing for other forum users.

Hi all. I am persuing the Masters in IT in Italy. Now profs of the university want me to join PHD program dealing with "Real Time Systems". I am confused wht to do now as join the PHD for 3 years or join any company. Wht may be the Value of PHD from Italy ?

yes anon, the different research ethos is an issue. In germany if you did the work, you were on the paper as author. Here, you're not - because of politics. There are too many names on the cell paper, so my supervisor put me on another paper I didn't do a single experiment for. I prefer german ethos.

In my PhD lab here we have Spanish, French, Irish, German, Chinese, two english, Irish and a KiWi working in the UK. We all speak English as a general language and working with them is great fun. We always understand each other, even if it gets difficult inbetween.

When you choose a lab for your PhD look at their publications to see if they are good. Either they have their fair amount of recent cell, nature and science papers - or they don't. Crap labs can be found in the uk as well as in germany. When you apply for a postdoc people won;t say: Oh wow, you've done your PhD in the UK!, They'll say Oh , that cell paper you got out of your PhD was really interesting! Or: You were in the lab of X. Impressive, that's a really top quality lab.