Study abroad during PhD program?

[hejduk]

I always wanted to do this during undergrad and my MA, but didn't have the opportunity. Has anyone done this during their PhD? I'm guessing it's more dependent on the culture of the program, the discipline, and how far you're into your program? I'm in the social sciences, so I'm thinking it might be an opportunity?

Love to hear if anyone else has done this.

[ZeeMore21]

I never got the opportunity to study abroad either, so I'm looking forward to people's answers. From people I've spoken to, it could be possible to go abroad during summer breaks for research or language intensive courses. I am also sure that if your research area revolves around other countries, you would be traveling for research. So I'm sure abroad time is possible.

Edited June 4, 2011 by ZeeMore21

[hejduk]

I never got the opportunity to study abroad either, so I'm looking forward to people's answers. From people I've spoken to, it could be possible to go abroad during summer breaks for research or language intensive courses. I am also sure that if your research area revolves around other countries, you would be traveling for research. So I'm sure abroad time is possible.

I'm not taking any language courses, and it's hard to tie into my research, so dang! Both good points...

Looks like we sit and hope for responses.

[singlecell]

I may have the opportunity to do an internship abroad as part of my fellowship. Most people in the program intern for biotech companies in the US but a handful of students have gone to Germany, Australia, and Switzerland for the summer. So, I think that yes it is possible as long as the trip relates to your research.

[Eigen]

I plan on trying to get one of the NSF Nordic Research Opps in my last year, so I can go spend a while working abroad before I graduate.

[rising_star]

"Study abroad" per se is not common in my field. However, a lot of graduate students in my department conduct their research outside the US, so they spend summers and/or an entire academic year living and doing research in another country. A lot of people also have FLAS fellowships in the summer that send them to various countries to improve their language skills for research. I only know of one person (a historian) that has actually done a study abroad program where classes were taken abroad. I guess what I'm saying is that yes, it's possible. But, if your research doesn't have an international component and you can't plausibly give it one, it may be more difficult.

[StrangeLight]

as others have said, in the social sciences, you'll usually only have the opportunity to work abroad as part of research (archival, fieldwork, etc.) or language training. if you're learning a very common language that your school offers or if your research doesn't require you to go out of country, then you may not get the chance to do these things.

there are some schools or programs that have sister schools and joint programs in countries abroad where you may have the opportunity to study for a semester or two. for example, at the university of british columbia in canada, they have joint engineering programs with the university of monterrey in mexico, so students will exchange for a semester or more. NYU's french program has a joint program in france, so students can travel abroad then as well. it'll all depend on the school and program you're attending, though. it's not terribly common to find opportunities to do coursework abroad. you will also occasionally see opportunities to TA for a semester abroad. my own school will take one TA to nicaragua once a semester to teach a few classes with undergrads. the downside is that student won't have the chance to take grad courses, so they need to be post-coursework.

but, once you have your research done and you're in the dissertation writing stage, if you're on fellowship and don't have to TA, you can live pretty much anywhere you want to (with permission from your advisor). that would be a great opportunity to live and work somewhere you'd never otherwise have the opportunity to.

[runonsentence]

International conferences! It's only for a week or two, but that's how a good handful of my colleagues have gotten a bit of international travel in. If you work it so that you can stay an extra week or two post-conference, it's like a mini vacation.

[juilletmercredi]

I'm in the social sciences and I did study abroad in undergrad. That was my first time out of the country ever, and I would've loved to study abroad again in my PhD program, but my research is domestic (and I would like it to stay that way) and I don't have any pressing language needs, plus the language that would be most useful for me to learn in the context of my research - Spanish - has plentiful opportunities to learn here and practically no funding for studying it abroad. I even live in a Spanish-speaking enclave of a city.

Given all of this, I have basically given up on trying to study abroad during grad school. The only other option was doing an Minority International Research Training program, but a lot of these programs have gotten funding cut recently, in addition to the fact that most of them are institutionally limited or only take on 2-3 grad students (who usually have international research interests). I applied to one for Ghana that's solidly within my research area of interest, but I didn't get it and I suspect that the 3 graduate students they did choose not only have research interests like mine but ALSO are specifically interested in African countries.

That's why I always tell people that if they really want to do international travel or live abroad, and don't have international research interests, to do that before graduate school. My one big regret is that I didn't chase that Fulbright ETA or Watson fellowship that I wanted to try and went straight to grad school instead. Not that I won't have the chance to travel after the PhD, but you're no longer eligible for those programs and it's a bit harder if you're trying to get tenure to go live somewhere else.

[runonsentence]

My one big regret is that I didn't chase that Fulbright ETA or Watson fellowship that I wanted to try and went straight to grad school instead. Not that I won't have the chance to travel after the PhD, but you're no longer eligible for those programs and it's a bit harder if you're trying to get tenure to go live somewhere else.

It IS possible to do a Fulbright fellowship as a doctoral candidate, though. One of my colleagues just passed her exams (i.e., she's officially ABD) and she's going to Korea to translate Korean poetry and write her dissertation next year.