I question the adequacy of the training in research methods being acquired by the apprentice researchers at China's Beijing Genomics Institute (Nature 464, 7; 2010). My own experience suggests that their scientific maturity may not measure up to that gained through a PhD qualification.
I was forced to abandon my PhD after a year at the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology in Kolkata, because of the death of my supervisor. After two years lecturing in an engineering college in West Bengal, I joined the R&D division of Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds, which was responsible for introducing India's first genetically modified crop, Bt cotton.
But my career prospects were evidently limited without a doctorate. Eventually, I enrolled at the age of 32 for a PhD at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Besides the stimulation of working with a motivated group of research scholars in a well-funded laboratory, there were lively weekly journal clubs and seminars.
In my view, time-constrained systematic laboratory training is essential for learning how to handle research projects independently. A PhD adds to the time needed to establish a career. But doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants and other professions all have to undergo comparable periods of gestation.
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See also PhD: routine technical work of sequencing is no substitute.
See also PhD: still necessary for independent research leaders.
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Chatterji, B. PhD: time and effort invested foster scientific maturity. Nature 464, 831 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/464831c
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/464831c