#26 Is it still worth doing a PhD in 2025? (Computer Science / Machine Learning)

Is the academic system broken in this publish-or-perish landscape? When is a PhD not worth pursuing?

About this Episode

In this Dev and Doc episode, Zeljko (now associate professor!) and Josh (doctor, PhD drop out) talk about the good and the bad of PhD life. They provide insight into the academic world with a focus on computer science and machine learning.

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🎙️ Hosts

• 👨🏻‍⚕️ Doc - Dr. Joshua Au Yeung - LinkedIn
• 🤖 Dev - Zeljko Kraljevic - Twitter

⏳ Timestamps

• 00:00 - Start and highlight
• 01:42 - Intro
• 03:11 - What made you pursue PhD in the first place
• 05:05 - Industry or PhD first
• 10:00 - Positives - Moonshots
• 17:03 - Positives - Access to world experts and collaboration
• 20:55 - Positives - Open source and open science
• 24:49 - Positives - A good environment enables a smooth PhD
• 27:04 - Negatives - You are a one-man show
• 31:33 - Negatives - Publish or Perish
• 45:44 - Bring your research closer to the audience through blogs and other media, journals are legacy media
• 51:20 - Verdict - Is a PhD still worth it in 2025?

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🎞️ Video Production

• 🎬 Editor - Dragan Kraljević - Instagram
• 🎨 Brand Design & Art Direction - Ana Grigorovici - Behance