Ask HN: PhD in the UK or US?

It might help to know which country you're a citizen of. For example, having to deal with visa issues or adjusting to an unfamiliar culture could be a distraction from your PhD work. Also, trying to finish up a PhD while interviewing for jobs in a different country might be stressful.

You may also wish to compare the funding situation for the various advisors. Each country and university has access to different grants and other sources of funding. You have to keep in mind that doing a PhD is a full-time job. You won't be able to have a part-time job and do quality research, so unless you are able to self-fund, the money aspect is critical.

I believe that, in general, PhDs take longer to complete in the USA, especially with the top universities. And of course, the cost of living varies with different cities.

When you write "potential advisors", have you actually engaged in communication with them? Typically principal researchers have a clearly defined programme, often tied to specific grants, funding contracts. They will only take on advisees whose proposed work dovetails into their group's work. In my experience it is very difficult to be accepted when you propose specific research and it is outside any existing scope.

To better understand the "potential advisors'" situation, I recommend that you locate recent papers by them, read those papers and compare their current and recent work with your intended work. When you contact them, you could frame your proposal to align with their research programme.

I am not a ML expert, so I can only comment generally. I would expect that post PhD opportunities in industry would be better in the USA. However, academic opportunities might be more comparable.

UK will be faster. US if you get into Stanford or another big name school.

UK will not only be faster (you concentrate 100% on research with no extraneous busywork) and you will get to tick the “international experience” box at the same time.

I recall reading some article about someone who got into a pickle financially in part because they went to school overseas, so their American student loans were due while they were in college overseas because being in college elsewhere somehow didn't count for deferring payment or something.

Make sure you understand that angle. Find out before you go overseas whether or not that has material impact on your student loan situation, assuming you have student loans.

I would opt for the UK because i'm from europe and don't plan on going or moving to the US, so i think UK would be a more logical choice. I would expect the PhD process to be equally intensive and hard work, and the end result to be of equal validity and value. that being said, if for example you have a big name university wanting to take on your phd project in either and a smaller name in the other, you might opt to go for the big name because it will look more fancy on your resume if a person looks at it who is not in-depth in the field and doesn't know how to compare them apart form knowing some big names.

For you i would suggest taking a look at your future and seeing where and what you want to do there. if you want to do something in the US i would recommend following in the US as employers there will probarbly be favorable to US based universities as obviously some parts will be more tuned to the US market and academic culture, where the UK will be more tuned to their own environment there.

I think in the end your own personal input is what makes a phd valuable and good, as it's your own research project and it's in your hands what quality you will deliver. it will be judged on correctness and all sorts of things, but you are the master of your own project and research so it's your own input which matters most. this will be the same in the UK and the US.

I would go for one based on my future plans and geographic location of those plans more than 'quality' of the establishment, as it's not a course you will be following, but your very own hard work which will be the value and object of the Phd.

If you can do it at Oxford I would definitely say do it there. It'll be faster, you get to experience in the UK, and Oxford is a really nice city and university.

Even more important than the country, you should be very careful on choosing the right advisor and topic.

Your supervisor and the program should be your main criteria, not the country. Many of my friends have had miserable PhDs if they had the wrong supervisor for them.

My 2 cents of experience based on Oxford, for what it's worth.

It's a beautiful city and the University still opens doors 10 years later, when I think it shouldn't matter. The network is also a powerful one, which you can leverage in your career, if you make the effort.

During exchange programs, I noticed students at Oxford and Cambridge generally cover more material than their American counterparts, as the undergraduate degrees are more specialised. The CS departments at both also emphasised mathematical content over software engineering - I'm not sure where you want your focus to lie

Both are great but for me, UK, just for the diverse people experience which IMO opens your whole education sphere.

If Oxford then UK, otherwise I would look for a us university that has the been awarded the specific nih or nsf funding that related to what you are studying. A PI would be thrilled to find you.

Look at the University of Luxembourg, the best salaries in Europe, good conditions and it's a good point to travel around Europe for conferences. They do a lot of biology and CS. The LCSB is focused on parkinson and other stuff. They have good resources to send you to conferences or courses.

Echoing what others I've already said, it's your supervisor and topic should be your main criterion.

Secondly, it depends on what you want to do afterwards whether is a career in academia or industry. If academia see the first point I made.

If it's industry then I'd stress on the networks the institutions afford you. OxBridge in the UK and the usual suspects in the US including Stanford. Remember in industry, the value of the PhD is more in the process rather than the achievement of the title,

Finally look at the time and monetary cost. It takes less time in the UK (3/4 yrs Vs 5/6) and you obtain the same utility from the title as you do from the US equivalent if and only if your optimising for industry placement.

Personally I think the right mix for industry is Undergrad in the US, PhD in the UK; and for academia UK for undergrad and US PhD ( all things being equal).

I hope this helps.

Kind of curious about your position as I am in the same boat. Have you done any research while in your Master’s? If so, what sort of topics have you written about?

UK, you can be done in 3 years and if the Wellcome Trust are still running their program getting STEM graduates into Neuroscience you can get about £20k per year stipend and your fees paid (my wife was in the first year of this program).

I would say that getting paid to do your PhD and focusing on getting in and out as quickly as possible should be your focus (I am prepared for the downvotes, I was 2 years 10 months and started my business at 2.5 years). A PhD is a tool to entering academia (if you want) or getting a higher degree to stand out from the crowd in industry (the reason I did mine)/raising money.

Talk to grad students of these professors, find a professor who is good to their students and who you know will match what you need. This is like a boss on steroids, if they want to they can snip years off your career and fail you on a whim. Also dont incur debts, it shouldn't be done for a PhD

If you already know what you want to do during your Phd, definitely go to the UK. You will be done in 3 years, and the quality of universities is world-class.

Everyone is talking about Oxford and Cambridge, but the best rated Computer Science department in the UK is actually in St Andrews[1], the third oldest university in the English-speaking world.

It's more focused on software engineering than theoretical mathematics, though.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/education/ng-interactive/2018/ma...

Start with your step after you get your PhD and make your way back. If it's for the industry, I would stick with the US. which companies are you targeting? (Google, Microsoft,....) they probably have a preference. Usually it's only companies with R&D that would higher PhDs. If it's academia, it's also important to pick a top tier school. Schools usually hire from the same tier or higher. pay close attention to this on.... Overall if you're looking for employment in the US, stick with the US. Americans we don't know much about the rest of world's universities.

You need to think about funding. Most U.K. funded PhD opportunities will not be open to you as a US citizen.

Most U.K. PhD funding is now being routed through what are called ‘Doctoral training centres’ and these generally only have funded places for students from the U.K. or the EU, unless it’s an industrially funded one in which the scope of the project will generally be very strictly defined.

Most non-EU students come in on special programmes where their country pays for the PhD I.e. Chile has a programme called CONICET that a colleague of mine was funded through.

In all my time in research heavy (look for the “Russell Group”) Universities I’ve not met a couple of PhD students from the US for that reason.

If you have the option then the country is not your primary concern. The quality of your PhD experience is 95% determined by the quality of your supervisor and lab-mates. So you should judge based on that irrespective of the country. How much attention can they give you, how successful have previous students been, etc?

The Gatsby group at UCL might be up your alley too. But wherever you sign up, make sure you know exactly what your supervisor is like and what their management style is. Some are very hands off, and you need to make sure you're ok with that.

The UK will be faster, but that does not mean it will necessarily be better. What are you goals post-PhD? Are trying to stay in Academia? If so, then the US is most likely better.

On the average, US PhD students graduate with more, and higher impact, publications than UK PhD students. The reason for this is that US PhD graduation is typically contingent upon producing two or three significant publications in your field. So you might have to stay for six or seven years, but you will have an established publication record when you leave.

As far as I am aware of, no such publication requirement exists for any UK university. UK PhD graduation is contingent upon completing a thesis and viva (defense) but often times the research within the thesis has not yet been published. There is typically a period after PhD graduation where UK students then focus on publishing.

I'd say look for good funding and someone who is willing to provide plenty of freedom on your research program (the ones who people say they are always busy are good candidates for advisors) make sure that this person is well connected and can get you some contact to help whenever you are stuck.

OP as a US citizen, extending your network outside the USA is probably a good idea. If you want to stay after, it's easier to immigrate having done your education there both for legal reasons + simply having a network.

You will possibly never have a chance to study abroad again. If you don't have a partner or children, I strong consider taking the chance now while you can.

Also as a practical matter it's my understanding there's more work life balance in a UK PhD, better pay (you won't get rich but less worry about rent etc) and often subsidized housing.

To be honest if I had to choose between Oxford and a top place like Stanford or CMU, I'd take the chance OP. I think in an increasingly global word, you should seize the chance to extend uour network abroad.

And on a practical note, doing weekend trips to Paris or Amsterdam instead of Santa Cruz or Vermont is preferable IMHO ;)