08/08/2026
research
A PhD, by its very nature, is a fundamental research degree, and therefore its intellectual purpose and scholarly expectations should be clearly distinguished from those of action research or purely applied research. While applied and action-oriented research are undoubtedly valuable in addressing immediate practical problems, doctoral education should ultimately cultivate a deeper capacity for theoretical engagement, critical inquiry, methodological rigour, independent scholarship, and the generation of new knowledge.
Equally important is the scholarly socialisation that accompanies doctoral education. A PhD candidate—particularly one coming from a non-academic or professional background—should have meaningful opportunities to interact and engage with academics, professors, researchers, and other scholars. Such engagement does not take place only through formal supervision or classroom activities. It can emerge through symposiums, conferences, research seminars, academic colloquia, scholarly discussions, and even informal conversations over a cup of coffee ☕️ or tea 🫖. These encounters provide opportunities to absorb intellectual perspectives, academic traditions, research philosophies, and tacit knowledge that cannot always be acquired through reviewing past studies or completing a research project alone.
Certainly, completing a PhD within three to three and a half years is an admirable achievement, particularly when the candidate has demonstrated the required level of scholarly maturity and produced research of genuine doctoral quality. However, the speed of completion should not become the principal measure of doctoral success. There are circumstances in which candidates, especially those transitioning from non-academic professions, may successfully complete the formal requirements of a PhD within a relatively short period but may not yet have had sufficient exposure to the broader academic ecosystem to be fully “cooked” intellectually and academically to carry the title Dr with the depth, confidence, and scholarly responsibility that it represents.
The issue, therefore, is not about advocating unnecessarily long doctoral candidature. I am certainly not suggesting that a PhD should take six, eight, or ten years to complete. Rather, the emphasis should be on achieving the appropriate balance between timely completion and genuine scholarly formation. A doctoral degree should produce not merely someone who has completed a research project, but a scholar who can think critically, engage intellectually with other scholars, defend knowledge claims, contribute meaningfully to academic discourse, and continue learning beyond the thesis.
Ultimately, a PhD should be understood not merely as a three-year or four-year qualification, but as a transformative journey into scholarship. The objective is not simply to finish quickly, but to ensure that when the candidate finally earns the title Dr, he or she is not only qualified by examination, but also sufficiently formed by scholarship, experience, intellectual engagement, and academic culture to carry that title with substance and responsibility.
(Prof Dr Ali Salman - [email protected] / WhatsApp: +60196126568)
