- #1
Floatzel98
- 9
- 0
Hey everyone,
So here in Australia things are a bit different to Europe (and the US). Here you would usually finish your honours year and then apply to a PhD. How I understand it is in Europe is it goes - BSc, Masters then PhD.
I'm close to finishing my honours year (which includes a research component - I might be able to get a publication out of it), but I'm not planning on applying for a PhD in Australia, for a couple of reasons.
I'm hoping I can get into a PhD program somewhere in Europe, but it seems my honours isn't equivalent to a masters, so to apply for PhD programs in Europe I would need a masters degree. So I've been looking at masters degrees (in Europe), which leads me to my question(s):
Are master's degrees all coursework, or do they usually have a research component? I've looked at a few physics master's programs in Europe (offered in English) that I technically am eligible for, but they are all coursework, no research. Does this matter when applying for PhD programs in Europe? Its hard to tell whether universities want masters programs that have research components or not. Would a coursework masters be fine given that I do have 'research experience' through my honours degree?
Honestly I am fine doing more coursework, because even though my honours year had a coursework component I feel I've barely learned anything. I still don't really know quantum field theory; I haven't got the best understanding of the standard model (and my research project is in supersymmetry...and I barely have a working knowledge of that).
I feel that I don't know enough to start doing a PhD at this point anyway. Obviously more research experience is only a good thing; I'm not averse to that.
But my question is: Is a master's by coursework a valid prerequisite for a European PhD, or it is expected that the master's has a research component to it?
Thanks for reading. Hopefully my question is clear.
:)
So here in Australia things are a bit different to Europe (and the US). Here you would usually finish your honours year and then apply to a PhD. How I understand it is in Europe is it goes - BSc, Masters then PhD.
I'm close to finishing my honours year (which includes a research component - I might be able to get a publication out of it), but I'm not planning on applying for a PhD in Australia, for a couple of reasons.
I'm hoping I can get into a PhD program somewhere in Europe, but it seems my honours isn't equivalent to a masters, so to apply for PhD programs in Europe I would need a masters degree. So I've been looking at masters degrees (in Europe), which leads me to my question(s):
Are master's degrees all coursework, or do they usually have a research component? I've looked at a few physics master's programs in Europe (offered in English) that I technically am eligible for, but they are all coursework, no research. Does this matter when applying for PhD programs in Europe? Its hard to tell whether universities want masters programs that have research components or not. Would a coursework masters be fine given that I do have 'research experience' through my honours degree?
Honestly I am fine doing more coursework, because even though my honours year had a coursework component I feel I've barely learned anything. I still don't really know quantum field theory; I haven't got the best understanding of the standard model (and my research project is in supersymmetry...and I barely have a working knowledge of that).
I feel that I don't know enough to start doing a PhD at this point anyway. Obviously more research experience is only a good thing; I'm not averse to that.
But my question is: Is a master's by coursework a valid prerequisite for a European PhD, or it is expected that the master's has a research component to it?
Thanks for reading. Hopefully my question is clear.
:)