>> My colleagues, and the fact that I work on "real" problems motivates me Unfortunately, both of these are hard to come by when working on a PhD. They are act

>> My colleagues, and the fact that I work on "real" problems motivates me Unfortunately, both of these are hard to come by when working on a PhD. They are actually the two areas that I struggle with most in my PhD research. Getting a PhD is very isolating -- you are often the only one working on your problem, and it often seems like no one else cares. Also, I enjoy more real-world, applicable problems, yet most of what PhD students work on is theoretical or not market-ready by far.