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The way a Cambridge PhD works, I believe – and I think this is the same across the UK – is that the only things you actually have to do are; a) write a thesis
by adw 9y ago
The way a Cambridge PhD works, I believe – and I think this is the same across the UK – is that the only things you actually have to do are;
a) write a thesis
b) find examiners (internal and external) who agree to examine you; if you're a grad student this is your advisor's job. The examination is by thesis review followed by pass/pass-with-corrections/fail oral exam. It can take as long as it needs to (typically three to four hours), and is in private; it's not like public defenses elsewhere, which are for show, this is a real live-fire exam and I know people who have failed
c) pass
d) ... that's it; there is no part d)
In particular, there are no quals or other requirements; the degree is an old-school medieval masterwork deal. You submit your thesis and get examined on it. Typically you write your thesis through an apprenticeship to your advisor, but that's not actually required, it's just conventional; in Aubrey's case, the thesis was the book and the research proceeded by unusual means over a long period of time. Nevertheless, he got examined in the same way everyone else does, he passed like everyone else did, so he has his PhD.
(source: my own memory, I know Aubrey and have worked with him on a couple of non-science things fifteen years ago, and I got my PhD from Cambridge through the traditional route of being a grad student – thesis at https://aspace.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/218854?show=full https://aspace.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/218854?show=...)
- gowld 9y agoIt was only slightly unusual. de Gray got an undergrad (computer science) degree from Cambridge and married a Cambridge biologist and then worked at a biology-computing lab while writing the book. With the professor and the lab (and the upper class boarding school and multimillionaire mother), the only thing missing was a formal admission to the PhD program.
- jamessb 9y agoIf you are seeking the Ph.D. Degree under the normal regulations, you are required to have "kept three terms at least by residence" (i.e. have lived within three miles of Great St. Mary's Church for a year) [1]. There is also a minimum time of 9 terms (ie. 3 years) that must be spent as a Graudate Student [2]. The alternative 'special regulations' apply only to graduates of the Cambridge University, or graduates of another university who have been admitted "to some office in the University or to a Headship or a Fellowship of a College" [3]. > d) ... that's it; there is no part d) Well, the most likely outcome of the viva is a pass with minor corrections, so there typically is a part d - "make the corrections requested by the examiners and re-submit". [1]: https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/2017/chapter02-section9.html#xref-A-4137-1 https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/2017/chapter02-section9.... [2]: https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/2017/chapter07-section13.html#heading1-13 https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/2017/chapter07-section13... [3]: https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/2017/chapter07-section13.html#heading2-54 https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/so/2017/chapter07-section13...
- adw 9y agoI'd forgotten about the Great St. Mary's deal. :-) (I spent my PhD firstly in Jesus College and then living out in a couple of places in Castle and Abbey, so I'm glad in retrospect that I didn't breach those rules...) I think the spirit of what I wrote is broadly accurate. d) was definitely a rhetorical indulgence!
- huac 9y agosaw this amusing story about how Prince Charles's bodyguard got a degree from Cambridge https://www.quora.com/Why-do-members-of-the-British-royalty-not-attend-Oxford-or-Cambridge-Does-that-mean-these-are-not-the-best-universities-in-the-UK/answer/Alex-Davis-149 https://www.quora.com/Why-do-members-of-the-British-royalty-...
- stordoff 9y agoWorth noting that "for a standard undergraduate degree there are specific and strict academic requirements for admission to Oxford and Cambridge" isn't strictly true. A College can vary the admission criteria as it sees fit, and EE/unconditional offers can and have been given. https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/entrance-requirements https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/entrance-...
- mikhailfranco 9y agoI think those low offers were typical in the days of the separate entrance exam. I took the (4th term) undergraduate entrance exam for Oxford. When I got the telegram "not required for interview at Oxford" I thought I had failed. But then got accepted with an EE offer (two minimum-pass E grades at A-level) without the need for an interview.
- lozenge 9y agoNowadays the low offers are for those competing in the International Maths Olympiad and similar competitions, so they can spend less time on the irrelevant A Levels.
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