<p>A friend of mine was recently given some advice from a PhD at an interview that I found interesting.</p>
<p>The person said basically: You shouldn't focus your PhD work directly on what you want to work on for the rest of your life. It can be somewhat related, but by working on something different you are learning new ways to tackle problems. If you work on the same thing in your PhD training as you do afterward, you will be too one-dimensional. </p>
<p>He said Post-Doc should be career focused, but PhD training should be different to give you more experience to see issues from multiple angles. I am wondering peoples thoughts on this advice? It would help a lot as I am torn right now between one school which is huge into the kind of research I think I want to work on after PhD and Post-Doc and another school which is doing somewhat related work but made a better impression on me during the interview weekend.</p>
<p>I got similar advice. The ph.d. I was talking to pointed out that a lot of development comes from taking principles or methods from one area and applying them somewhere else. By focusing too close on one area you shut out this opportunity. Even though my company is offering to fund my degree, he (my boss) recommended that I find something only tangentially related to what the company does.</p>
<p>My husband heard the same thing and thought it was strange but according to head of his lab it works for some situations. He said that if you are interested in working at NIH or CDC then this is something they are looking for.</p>
<p>I never thought about it either, but it makes sense I suppose. What do you think about using graduate school to maybe work on a "weakness?" Not a complete weakness mind you, but an area of importance in your field where your experience is limited?</p>
<p>This is something I am also trying to figure out. I know that eventually I would want to do research directly involving autoimmune disease, neuro-degenerative, or something of that nature.. However, it seems reasonable that I should pursue a PhD in a lab that will maximize my skills and really help me to become a great researcher, independent of the specific topic I wish to pursue. That is, take a possibly less interesting route, so that later down the road I am more prepared. Am I thinking too much? haha</p>