A researcher’s discipline

Can a PhD be of even greater benefit to a candidate than just the award of the PhD? This paper argues yes. A PhD is a process of learning by doing, during which the successful candidate discovers what being a researcher is all about, and how to write academically. The PhD dissertation is the artifact that demonstrates that the process has been undertaken successfully. It might appear that this is as much as you can expect from a PhD. Upon completion and successful defense, the intensity of focus and effort in the last stages often leaves the successful candidate almost bereft, so all consuming has this been. It would be asking too much perhaps to want more. This paper sets out to show that more should be required, not for the PhD itself, but to benefit the candidate even more. The question is how?