Are PhD Students and PhD Researchers the same thing?

Question

Similarly to how a Postdoc researcher is a researcher, I think that a PhD student should be considered a researcher. Especially when:

A salary is obtained for the research that is done as part of the PhD studies. Per definition, I would say that students pay, they are not paid.
A research master has been studied before and there are no lessons, classes, exams, etc. So in fact the person is not a student, but "at least" an "apprentice".

I know that naming things in one way or another may not make a big difference for those in academia that read the CV, but it may evoke different ideas for those out of academia that read it.

As far as I know, they are absolutely equivalent, even if one is more used than the other (mistakenly, IMHO). Nevertheless, I would like to get confirmation, if possible from an authoritative source (like a dictionary for titles), and at the same time I think that the question may be useful for many people.

A "PhD researcher" might easily be confused with a "researcher who has a PhD". PhD students are researchers in training, and hence of course do perform research. — Gerhard, Jun 19 '16 at 21:43
I think the main issue is that people who are working towards their PhD are considered "students" in many places, but not all. For example, I obtained my PhD in The Netherlands, where most PhD "students" are employees and a master is a prerequisite. Others and I have used the term "PhD candidate" to distinguish from the "student", but this term also has other connotations in English, see https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/10972/phd-candidate-vs-phd-student — Jaap Eldering, Jun 20 '16 at 01:05
I agree with @Gerhard, and I'd go a bit further. To me, "Ph.D. researcher" unambiguously means a researcher who already has a Ph.D. — Andreas Blass, Jun 20 '16 at 02:12
There is no correct answer. Language varies wildly across disciplines, countries, and institutions. For extra confusion, let's throw in "PhD candidate"! — JeffE, Jun 20 '16 at 02:26
@Gerhard Doctoral researcher should then convey the meaning unambiguously, thanks to the term "Postdoctoral researcher". — Trylks, Jun 22 '16 at 19:40
@AndreasBlass Doctoral researcher should then convey the meaning unambiguously, thanks to the term "Postdoctoral researcher". — Trylks, Jun 22 '16 at 19:40
@Trylks: i unfortunately do not think so. "Doctoral researcher" might be a bit more ambiguous (in a good way from your perspective), but comparing it to "postdoctoral researcher" has the same problem as distinguishing between graduate and postgraduate students: there is no difference. Many languages have a separate word for phd students, like "Doktorand" in German, which reflects what you want to say. English unfortunately does not. The closest I can think of is "PhD candidate". I have also seen people advertise Predoctoral posts, which might also work, but sounds quite odd to my ears. — Gerhard, Jun 22 '16 at 19:48
Predoctoral, as predoctoral fellows (in wikipedia) refers to people still not studying a PhD, who might be considering whether to study one or not, possibly depending on whether they can find a grant or some funding for the duration of their PhD studies or not. If there is no difference between graduate and postgraduate students, I think we have found a "bug" in English, and IMHO it's a bad one http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/71563/7571#comment-174731 — Trylks, Jun 22 '16 at 20:00
@Trylks: language is the way it is, and unilateral "bug fixing" does not work, as communication requires both parties to buy into the premise. As for "pre-doctoral researchers": I agree with you (and wikipedia) that I would interpret it as a period BEFORE the start of a phd-project. I just described that i have phd-project advertised as pre-doctoral-positions, usually from Spanish universities (so possibly it is a 1:1 translation from the original Spanish term). — Gerhard, Jun 22 '16 at 21:37
And if you really just want to avoid the word "student" on your CV: why not just write "PhD-project", potentially adding "in subject/topic"? Or maybe "PhD research project"? — Gerhard, Jun 22 '16 at 23:01
Anecdote: During my PhD I always wrote "PhD researcher" on business cards etc. There are two audiences: One is people in academia, who will know exactly what that means. The other is people outside academia, who may see "PhD student" as "student". For those people, the fact that I was a researcher was more important for most intents and purposes than whether I had a PhD or not. — Flyto, Sep 30 '19 at 19:58

score 16 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 19 '16 at 20:45

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I don't see the point in your distinctions in either bullet. Some students get a salary, some do not. Neither of these is determinative of whether a student is a researcher. Not every PhD student did a Master's degree before the began their PhD studies. I certainly did not.

Why do you care if PhD students (who I agree do "research") are "researchers" or not? Of course they are researchers because I think that anyone who does research is a researcher (paid, student, or otherwise). Are you looking to validate your ego, to overcome an officious rule that says that only "researchers" may do some thing or other, or are you looking for something else? Except in a few places, titles matter little. If titles matter where you are, then find the law or bureaucratic codes that define "researcher" and follow them. If you don't like the answer you find, you can either live with that, find a workaround, or fight (presumably through a legislative body if that place has one) for change. You haven't given us enough detail about why you care for us to helpfully answer your question.

answered Jun 19 '16 at 20:45

Bill Barth

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Some time ago I have read some papers about the separations between phd students and junior researchers in terms of the possibility to apply for grant applications. – Nikey Mike Jun 20 '16 at 11:22
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@MikeyMike, I've seen similar things, but they almost always make the distinction that the applicant must be within X years after receiving their PhD. They're often very clear about their requirements. Being just a "researcher" is not a requirement I've ever seen. The word may be thrown around a bit cavalierly in the RFP, but the Requirements section lays out the details clearly in every case I've ever come across. – Bill Barth Jun 20 '16 at 11:52
Being a researcher is important, to become a senior researcher after several years of research. Not being a student is important, because a PhD is a real job, even if it is not recognized as such, and the pay is really low. Both things are important for the salary, a very important thing, especially when it means the difference between being able to afford something important or not. Human resource departments are (or pretend to be) quite clueless in many occasions. Therefore, it is better to write things in a way that gives them little excuses to not acknowledge your work or skills. – Trylks Jun 22 '16 at 19:52
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@Trylks, that's a pretty vague response to my question. Are you being rejected for a position or pay level because you're not a "researcher" in someone or some bureaucracy's eyes? I think PhD students are researchers and should be paid. I was regarded so and was paid, though not very well, but tuition was free and I got healthcare benefits. If you're trying to fudge or puff up your CV by adding the word "researcher" to it somewhere, that might not be OK. Some people might not even read far enough to notice. My student title was "Graduate Research Assistant" and everyone knew what that meant. – Bill Barth Jun 22 '16 at 20:05
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@BillBarth Well, I personally finished the PhD and moved out of academia, where HR people may care or not care about the word "researcher" (which I think would be the appropriate term), but in general they despise the word "student". However, I think that the whole topic may be relevant and important for people that are not me (or you for the matter). As such, I have not tried to be vague, but to be general, for the general interest of the community. – Trylks Jun 22 '16 at 20:24
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@Trylks, I haven't seen this to be a problem. Not all places use HR people to do the screening, and many hiring managers are aware of what a graduate student researcher was doing when they are looking to hire a PhD. They know that being a student researcher was part of the role, and they know this because they have hired PhDs before. – Bill Barth Jun 22 '16 at 20:28
@BillBarth I really doubt that even a PhD can know what was part of the role or other PhD. There is a huge variability, especially depending on the supervisor, who may be guiding the student, micromanaging the student, or giving a complete freedom (doing of the student more of a research fellow). There is also a huge variability in theoretical vs applied fields, and many other variables. In any case and to the very least, the word "student" is misleading. – Trylks Jun 22 '16 at 20:51
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@Trylks, which is why we don't have discussions in the comments. I meant that people who hire PhDs generally know what the role of a PhD student entails. It shouldn't be a downside to see the word "student" on a CV. – Bill Barth Jun 22 '16 at 20:53
"people who hire PhDs generally know […] entails." My point: That is impossible. 2. "It shouldn't be a downside […] on a CV." Few things are the way they should (if any is). If they were, we would not be using misleading terms in our CVs. Maybe we can fix that! Maybe there is already a fix for that, some common alternative term, I thought I found one, that's why I asked. A correct answer would have been "No", a good answer: "No, but X is equivalent". Where I live people are going on strikes for similar matters. But that's not the point, the question was meant to benefit all in the community

Trylks

Jun 22 '16 at 21:13

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@Trylks, technically impossible, yes, but likely close enough. Maybe you can edit your question to add the stuff about strikes so that it's not so vague. Things are basically fine in the US right now. There's no apparent need to point out to everyone who reads your CV here that students and research assistants are researchers, too. People seem to get it. I hire PhDs who are mostly off the academic track, and I don't need to ask "Did you do research during your time as a PhD student?" – Bill Barth Jun 22 '16 at 22:54

Many people don't know the term 'PhD'. If I say I am a PhD student then people think I'm just a student. What I do doesn't correspond with their mental image of a student. That is one reason for using the term 'PhD researcher' – Tim Kuipers Apr 02 '20 at 10:40

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 15 '22 at 17:27

"PhD Researcher" implies that this person has a PhD. Also a post-doctoral researcher is something more specific. It usually refers to a person taking a short term 1-3 years individual Post-Doc after his/her PhD. Also, if you are a Researcher it should imply that you have a PhD since a PhD candidate/student is learning how to be a researcher and therefore not a qualified researcher yet. Also, a "PhD Researcher", "Researcher" or "Researcher PhD" could be more experienced than a Post-doctoral Researcher and it usually implies a more permanent position.

Personally I think it is important to stick to the title to avoid confusion. Personally I would like to see "PhD candidate" instead of "PhD student" since it sounds better. PhD candidates should be paid in my opinion as they do research for the university. But payment is independent of the title. Avoiding using wrong name is also advisable. If I was an interviewer and I had found out that I was cheated on thinking that you have a PhD, then I would not appoint you. I will loose trust on the rest of your skills on your CV. Keep your CV as truthful as possible.

score 1 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 10 '20 at 14:12

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PhD students and PhD researchers are not the same thing.

A "PhD researcher" is a researcher who has a PhD, while a PhD student is working on a project in order to obtain a PhD (i.e. does not have the degree yet).

I agree with you, that the term "PhD student" in English is rather unfortunate - in reality, it is much closer to an apprenticeship, as you are training to perform research. And you do this by performing research under guidance.

Other languages have separate words for people doing a PhD, e.g. "Doktorand" in German, which give less of an impression of "studentship". In English, this is (AFAIK) not possible, and the closest I can think of is "PhD candidate".

If you just would like to avoid the term "student" on a CV because you believe that it could be misinterpreted by people outside academia, I would instead refer to something along the lines of e.g.

"PhD project (in SUBJECT)"

"PhD research project"

This still covers what you have done, but avoids giving the job title you feel is ambiguous.

Making up new "job titles", especially if they can be misinterpreted, is not a good idea, as unilateral "bug fixing" of a language does not work: communication requires both parties to buy into the premise. In the best case, you will create confusion, in the worst case you will be guilty of fraud.

edited Jun 10 '20 at 14:12

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answered Jun 23 '16 at 07:51

Gerhard

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The closest translation of "Doktorand" seems to be "doctoral student". The latter is also a preferable term to "PhD student" because the German doctoral degree is not actually called "PhD". – lighthouse keeper Jun 23 '16 at 08:40
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@lighthousekeeper: for all intents and purposes the translation of German (science) doctorates is "PhD", so making a distinction between "doctoral students" and "PhD students" is mainly academic (pun intended :) ). Neither of the terms helps the OP. – Gerhard Jun 23 '16 at 08:46
About unilateral "bug fixing", I completely agree, that is why I am asking and I consider this very important. What would be the name for a person that has finished a master and is doing research (just like a PhD student would be) but is not pursuing a PhD? Predoctoral researcher? Could PhD Students be semantically equivalent to predoctoral researchers? – Trylks Jun 23 '16 at 21:09
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What would be the name for a person that has finished a master and is doing research — "Researcher". – JeffE Nov 08 '17 at 23:35
@Gerhard: The German term that helps your argument is Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter: "knowledge employee." – aeismail Nov 09 '17 at 00:03
@Gerard, at our uni in Austria, pre-docs are always PhD students (who may or may not be PhD researchers, depending on whether or not they have a research job at the uni) in contrast to postdocs, who already hold a PhD. – henning Nov 24 '18 at 17:45
@aeismail or 'scientific employee'. – henning Nov 24 '18 at 17:47

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 08 '17 at 23:14

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The generally accepted job title of a researcher who already has a PhD is a post-doctoral researcher. Unless you want to argue that doctoral and post-doctoral mean the same thing then a doctoral researcher is a researcher who is seeking a PhD. This makes sense considering that we do not say doctoral student for students that already have obtained their doctorates. The purpose of avoiding saying "PhD Student" as your job title on your CV is because a common prejudice against people with PhD's seeking to work in the private sector is that all they know about is life as a student. This is obviously not the case if you work at a research institute where some of the researchers may not even have a phd and get to claim there time there as work experience. In German and French this is not an issue because the meaning of the words "doktorant" and "doctorand" are commonly known. In English, "doctorand" is actually the word you are looking for (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctorand), but it is not as widely known which makes it less suitable for a resumé/CV. When I did my PhD there was a person from human resources responsible for all the doctorands in the French speaking part of Switzerland who explained all of this using survey data and examples. My suggestion is to use "Doctoral Researcher" because "PhD Researcher" could potentially be confused with "PhD-level researcher".

answered Nov 08 '17 at 23:14

Alex

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Downvoted. People are not dictionaries, and human language is not logical. Idioms also vary significantly across different countries, institution types, and research communities. – JeffE Nov 08 '17 at 23:34
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"The generally accepted job title of a researcher who already has a PhD is a post-doctoral researcher." This is just not true. Postdoctoral researcher means something much more specific. "This makes sense considering that we do not say doctoral student for students that already have obtained their doctorates." In modern anglophone academic parlance, once you get your doctorate in X you are no longer any kind of student of X. Also, "doctorand" and "PhD student" are synonymous. If someone wants to stigmatize PhD students, then they will regardless of what they are called. – Pete L. Clark Nov 09 '17 at 00:11
@JeffE Idioms are expressions whose meanings are not deducible from their individual words and doesn't have anything to do with job titles. Also, language does have logical structure, it is called grammar. I think what you are trying to get at is that expressions evolve based on repeated usage, regardless whether it is correct or not (e.g. main courses are called entrées in the US). – Alex Nov 09 '17 at 00:58
@PeteL.Clark This was based on a seminar that was available to all PhD students in Switzerland to help them plan their careers. They specifically advised us to avoid the term "student" for these reasons. Take from it what you want. I didn't make it up. It is possible that postdoc has a different connotation in certain countries such as the US. I only have experience with the Swiss and French systems where a postdoc is just a category of professional researcher who has already obtained their PhD and is not a part of the permanent staff (like a senior scientist). Maybe you could explain what you – Alex Nov 09 '17 at 01:06

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 24 '18 at 03:05

Perhaps the difference is in what Masters and PhD entail in different countries. I've spoken to several people in the US who have very different course content in comparison to what we have here in the UK. In the UK, Masters level research is of higher quality and rigor than a Masters in the US (the same can be said about Bachelors in the US and the UK). By the time we finish our Masters here in the UK, we are quite familiar with how to do research. We are no longer students of research. From this perspective, I believe those who are doing PhD are researchers, not merely students. Someone who is already granted a PhD is a post-doctoral researcher, not a doctoral researcher.

I don't think this applies anywhere near as universally as you claim here: if what you say is true, I think this is going to depend heavily on the institution and the discipline. (And by Masters in US are you thinking MSc, MPhil, .. ? ) — Yemon Choi, Nov 24 '18 at 04:16

score -1 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 21 '22 at 22:28

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Six years late, but I would say they are the same.

An undergraduate researcher implies an undergraduate student who does research.

Similarly, a Ph.D. researcher implies a Ph.D. student who does research.

In my opinion, Researcher, in general, without the degree as prefix, is someone who does research as a job.

answered Jun 21 '22 at 22:28

Huyen

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"a Ph.D. researcher implies a Ph.D. student who does research" - does it, though? Could be someone with a PhD doing research. A PhD student is not a PhD, so why use PhD as an adjective? Perhaps (PhD Student) Researcher is implied, but perhaps not. – Bryan Krause Jun 21 '22 at 22:56
As a Ph.D. student, you may do extensive research and prove it in a number of ways, like soloing papers and having an h-index in the double digits. Still, when you hand your CV to some people in the industry they will look down on you and think that "you have no real experience". What I have learned in these 6 years is that those people are idiots, and you are better off ignoring them and working with someone else, if you can. By discarding your CV, they are making you a favor. – Trylks Jun 24 '22 at 09:12

Are PhD Students and PhD Researchers the same thing?

6 Answers6