Let's face it, a PhD nowadays takes anywhere between 4 to 7 years, and I have seen even 8 or 9 in some special occasions. That's almost 10% of your life, assuming a life expectancy of about 80 years. Most PhD students are getting paid way below the poverty line, and even with teaching duties and obscure scholarships, it's still gonna be a little tight to cover the basics. Mugu has seen enough PhD students subsisting on eggs, toasts, and the occasional canned corned beef. I am probably missing a vegetable somewhere, but you get my point.
On the other hand, Mugu also knows a few PhD students who managed to conduct their studies with a humane salary and healthy life style. These are not super geniuses, but their being in creature comfort let them do some pretty impressive work unimpeded. To quote Charleston Heston in the Ten Commandments, "A city is made of brick, Pharaoh. The strong make many. The weak make few. The dead make none."
Now, Mugu wants to throw some ideas at you. While you are not going to get rich doing a PhD, you will not worry whether you will have enough dough to pay rent, or decide on what major food group to skip. I will make two assumptions, and I think they are crucial in getting the most (money) out of your PhD studies ...
1) You don't really care (too much) what the project is, as long as it is in the general direction you are looking for.
2) You have been in the same field for a some time. So you have some experience already, and more importantly, you have a rough idea of what ideas works and what doesn't.
3) You don't belong to any elite or privileged social class, or you are, but don't receive a penny from Mum and Dad.
Out of Mugu's time as a veteran grad student, he has seen three exceptional cases. He wish he could only knew about them ...
Method 1: Become a research engineer. Towards the end of your Masters degree, you might be approached for a position of the "research engineer" at some professor's lab. They are usually offered in 2 or 3 year terms, and the pay is usually quite reasonable, though not as high as working in the "real world." But if the project has potential as a PhD project, you can effectively get a 2-3 year head start, in terms research progress and wealth accumulation. When the contract is up, switch to a PhD. At this point you don't have much time left. Just sit for 2 years tops and get the helluva there. Since all publications you wrote while working as a research engineer will be considered "pre-PhD", they go a long way i n scholarship applications. This gives you extra cash to fund your PhD! Speaking of double Whammy!
Method 2: Piggy back with a company project. This favors the older folks who are already working for a while. Sometimes there are technical problems faced by your company, and you'd be surprised how clueless your colleagues can become, not because they are incompetent, but because they don't have the time and just want to maintain status quo. If you are involved in such a project, pitch this idea to your boss, to get some academic collaboration with a Professor and do a PhD at the same time, albeit part-time. Some of your work will contribute to the research, and you're earning a normal man's salary. If you are persuasive, you can even get your tuitions paid for by your company.
Method 3: Be a resident PhD student at a company. This works usually in Europe, when there is a very well established system for something like this. Some companies offer "research student" positions, where you will work on a project for a fixed time, usually 3 to 4 years. These positions usually pay a lot better than an equivalent position at a university. You are also guaranteed that whatever project you end up taking will bear some practical value, and it is in the interest of your company correspondent to get you out as quickly as possible because, for them, research is high risk, and they want to invest at little on it as possible. Being a company, you will learn about getting things done as well.>
I think that's it. Again, you're not going to get rich from a Ph.D, but at least don't sell your talent for much less than its actual market value!
