PhD in X vs. PhD in Y

[klaf]

Hi,

 

Assuming that you conduct the same research and publish the same papers, how important is it whether you get your PhD in X or in Y? Concretely, how will my prospects for getting a faculty position in cognitive science differ depending on whether I receive my PhD in neuroscience or in psychology assuming that I do the same research in computational cognitive science? Would psychology departments be reluctant to hire me, because my PhD is in a different subject, or would they only care about my research?

 

Best, Klaf

[ak48]

I can't imagine it makes that much difference, if you are publishing the same paper. Everything is so intertwined these days

[fuzzylogician]

Look at recently hired assistant professors who have jobs like the ones you might want to have when you graduate. What kind of degree did they graduate with? Is it all psych or all neuro? if there is a healthy mix, it probably doesn't matter much which one you choose for your chances of getting these jobs. If there is just one or just the other, you have your answer there. Either way, your research will count a great deal more but lets not kid ourselves that your advisor(!) and institution name don't matter at all. Your letters will come from different kinds of researchers at these two institutions and even if your work is the same, your application packet will look different.

[juilletmercredi]

It does matter in psychology.

 

Psychology departments are kind of insular, and they like to hire people who got PhDs in psychology.  People who have gotten degrees in interdisciplinary fields that include psychology sometimes have difficulty getting positions in psychology departments.

 

However, neuroscience is a slightly different deal since so much of neuroscience is from psychology.  I just checked the PhDs of the neuroscientists in my department (which has a strong neuro subfield) and actually slightly more than half earned their PhDs in neurobiology, neurobehavior or neuroscience.  (The other ~40% got their PhDs from psychology programs with concentrations in biological psychology or neuroscience.)

 

So if you get a PhD in neuroscience and do pretty heavily psychological research, then you can probably get a job in a psychology department - as long as that psychology department has a pretty heavy neuroscience focus or philosophy.  Some departments have a more social/developmental/applied angle to them, and you probably won't get as much interest there (but then you wouldn't want to be there anyway!)