What is a Ph.D. in Computer Science?

Created in January 10, 2025

2025

Note: This is not an exhaustive list in any way, there are many awesome people who have created better curated lists elsewhere. This is merely a self-reflection on the things that I have found very useful during my Ph.D and often end up revisiting from time to time.

Ph.D. is a very arduous journey and there are several anecdotal reflections from graduates that can attest to it [1, 2, 3]. This is not a reflection, given that I haven’t graduated yet, but also because there is already a lot of good advice to find from these sources and elsewhere on the Internet.

I wish to use this space to document resources that I personally have found valuable during my Ph.D. journey. I discovered some of them prior to my Ph.D., most during, but I find myself coming back to them every once in a while. I document them here mostly for personal reference, but also publish them online in hopes that someone might benefit.

The singular motivation behind this collection is to (hopefully) answer the question ``What is a Ph.D in Computer Science?’‘. Coming from a first-generation college student background, I have been faced with this question (and variations with WHY?) more times than I could keep track. I started reading anecdotes from other Ph.D. students (nay survivors!) to somehow convince myself that I too can come up with an answer. I can not, in any certain terms, state a constructive answer just yet. Perhaps, one day when I am done with my Ph.D. I might be able to reflectively articulate it. Until then, this collection shall remain to guide others to a treasure I cannot yet possess.

  1. The Ph.D. Grind by Philip Guo is a highly-recommended read for any Ph.D. student. He wrote the book immediately after finishing his Ph.D. and chronicles the pitfalls, struggles, the highs and lows of his journey in this memoir accurately detailing all the frustations of being in academia.

  2. Research Advice List. This repo partially also serves as the motivation for documenting things on this page.

  3. Andrej Karpathy’s Survival Guide to a PhD has been very instrumental. I think he encapsulates the various facets of doing research and being a PhD student really well.

  4. The Illustrated Guide to a Ph.D. by Matt Might. This is one of the best explanations (probably the only illustrative explanation) of what a Ph.D. is. As he right fully points out ``It’s hard to describe in words’’, his illustrative explanation has become the go-to way of describing a Phd to my friends and family.