为什么读博是浪费时间.docxVIP

校园生活: 为什么读博是浪费时间ON THE evening before All Saints Day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenberg. In those days a thesis was simply a position one wanted to argue. Luther, an Augustinian friar, asserted that Christians could not buy their way to heaven. Today a doctoral thesis is both an idea and an account of a period of original research. Writing one is the aim of the hundreds of thousands of students who embark on a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) every year. 1517年10月31日，也就是万圣节前夜，马丁·路德在威登堡城堡大教堂门口以学术争论方式张贴出欢迎辩论的《九十五条论点》。在那个时代，论文只是阐述作者观点。这位新教创始人路德在论文中论证了基督教通往天国的道路，其实不是由金钱铺筑而成。而今天，学术论文不仅仅阐述作者观点，同时还代表作者的一段时期内的研究成果。每年都有成千上万的学生们想要拿到博士学位，前赴后继辛苦劳累，就是为了完成这样一篇博士论文。In most countries a PhD is a basic requirement for a career in academia. It is an introduction to the world of independent research—a kind of intellectual masterpiece, created by an apprentice in close collaboration with a supervisor. The requirements to complete one vary enormously between countries, universities and even subjects. Some students will first have to spend two years working on a masters degree or diploma. Some will receive a stipend; others will pay their own way. Some PhDs involve only research, some require classes and examinations and some require the student to teach undergraduates. A thesis can be dozens of pages in mathematics, or many hundreds in history. As a result, newly minted PhDs can be as young as their early 20s or world-weary forty-somethings.在大多数国家，博士学位是进入学术界的门槛，进入独立研究某个领域的敲门砖，也是与导师合作的研究成果。各个国家，不同大学，不同专业，要求也有所不同。有些要求学生两年时间才能拿到硕士学位，有的学生会得到一些补助，而有些完全是自费。获得博士学位只需要完成研究论文，而有些还需要参加一些必修课或选修课或是助教工作。一篇学术论文有几十页，甚至是几百页。这些博士有的还是二十出头的小伙儿，有些已经是知天命的四十岁中年人了。One thing many PhD students have in common is dissatisfaction. Some describe their work as “slave labour”. Seven-day weeks, ten-hour days, low pay and uncertain prospects are widespread. You know you are a graduate student, goes one quip, when your office is better decorated than your home and you have a favourit