ON THE evening before All Saints Day in 1517,Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of achurch in Wittenberg. In those days a thesis wassimply a position one wanted to argue. Luther, an Augustinian friar, asserted that Christianscould not buy their way to heaven. Today a doctoral thesis is both an idea and an account of aperiod of original research. Writing one is the aim of the hundreds of thousands of studentswho embark on a doctorate of philosophy every year.

　　1517年的万圣节前夕，马丁路德将批判教会的95条纲论钉到了威登堡一教堂的门上。那时，论文仅作为人们辩论的场所存在。路德，一个奥古斯丁教的传教士，他认为基督徒们不能买断到天堂的路。今天，一篇博士论文是一种想法也是对某一特定时期原创性研究的陈述。完成一篇博士论文是成千上万一届又一届为取得博士学位而奋斗的博士生们的目标所在。

　　In most countries a PhD is a basic requirement for a career in academia. It is an introduction tothe world of independent researcha kind of intellectual masterpiece, created by anapprentice in close collaboration with a supervisor. The requirements to complete one varyenormously between countries, universities and even subjects. Some students will first haveto spend two years working on a masters degree or diploma. Some will receive a stipend;others will pay their own way. Some PhDs involve only research, some require classes andexaminations and some require the student to teach undergraduates. A thesis can be dozensof pages in mathematics, or many hundreds in history. As a result, newly minted PhDs can beas young as their early 20s or world-weary forty-somethings.

　　在大多数国家，取得博士学位是进入学术界的基本条件。博士是独立研究的开始，有点学术著作的意思，通常是在与导师密切合作的基础上完成的。不同的国家、大学甚至是不同的学科，取得博士学位的要求也不尽相同。有些申请者需首先读两年的硕士并取得相应学位或学历。他们中有些在攻读博士学位期间可以获得一定的补助，而有些则完全是自费。有些博士生专门搞研究，而有些则需完成一些课程和考试，还有些需他们给本科生上上课。至于博士论文，数学的需要几十页内容，而历史方面的需要更多。因此，博士毕业有的年轻才20多岁，而有的都到不惑之年了。

　　One thing many PhD students have in common is dissatisfaction. Some describe their work asslave labour. Seven-day weeks, ten-hour days, low pay and uncertain prospects arewidespread. You know you are a graduate student, goes one quip, when your office is betterdecorated than your home and you have a favourite flavour of instant noodle. It isnt graduateschool itself that is discouraging, says one student, who confesses to rather enjoying thehunt for free pizza. Whats discouraging is realising the end point has been yanked out ofreach.

　　博士生有一个通病：不满足。有些博士认为他们干的是奴隶们才干的活：一周工作7天、每天10个小时、低薪以及不确定的未来，这些都很普遍。有这么个讽刺：当你工作的办公室装修的比你家漂亮时，当你端起一碗泡面的时候，你就知道自己是一名博士生了。其实学校本身并不让人沮丧，采访中的一个博士这么说道，他坦言宁愿，而真正让人沮丧的是不知道这样的生活何时才是尽头。

　　Whining PhD students are nothing new, but there seem to be genuine problems with thesystem that produces research doctorates . There is an oversupply ofPhDs. Although a doctorate is designed as training for a job in academia, the number of PhDpositions is unrelated to the number of job openings. Meanwhile, business leaders complainabout shortages of high-level skills, suggesting PhDs are not teaching the right things. Thefiercest critics compare research doctorates to Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

　　这些博士生们牢骚不断也不是什么新鲜事，但培养学术型博士的机制似乎的确出了什么问题。尽管培养博士主要是针对学术研究方面的，但有很多博士专业的设置与需求却不一致。同时，企业老板们总是抱怨缺少高层次人才，表明博士期间所学的内容完全不对口嘛。更有甚者，将整个学术型博士的培养机制比作是一个庞兹骗局。

　　Rich pickings

　　丰厚的外快

　　For most of history even a first degree at auniversity was the privilege of a rich few, and manyacademic staff did not hold doctorates. But ashigher education expanded after the second worldwar, so did the expectation that lecturers wouldhold advanced degrees. American universitiesgeared up first: by 1970 America was producing justunder a third of the worlds university students andhalf of its science and technology PhDs . Since then Americas annual output of PhDs hasdoubled, to 64,000.

　　历史上的多数时期内，在大学里读到最高学位是少数富人们的特权，而许多教员们并没有博士头衔。但随着二战后高等教育的扩招，教员们取得博士学位也是自然之事了。美国的大学首次扩张始于20世纪70年代，当时美国每年毕业的大学生接近世界总数的1/3，而自然科学和技术方面的博士生人数占全世界的一半，要知道当时美国人口才占全世界的6%。此后，美国每年毕业的博士生又翻了一番，达到64000人。

　　Other countries are catching up. Between 1998 and 2006 the number of doctorates handed outin all OECD countries grew by 40%, compared with 22% for America. PhD production sped upmost dramatically in Mexico, Portugal, Italy and Slovakia. Even Japan, where the number ofyoung people is shrinking, churned out about 46% more PhDs. Part of that growth reflects theexpansion of university education outside America. Richard Freeman, a labour economist atHarvard University, says that by 2006 America was enrolling just 12% of the worlds students.

　　美国以外的国家也在追赶。98-06年间，经合组织各成员国的博士数量增长了40%，同期美国的增长率才22%。而在墨西哥、葡萄牙、意大利和斯洛伐克，这个数字更大。甚至是在人口老龄化的日本，博士生数量也增加了约46%。增长的部分原因表明美国以外的地区大学教育正在扩招。哈佛大学的劳工经济学家RF说，到2006年为止，美国各大学每年录取大学生的数量仅占全世界的12%。

　　But universities have discovered that PhD students are cheap, highly motivated anddisposable labour. With more PhD students they can do more research, and in some countriesmore teaching, with less money. A graduate assistant at Yale might earn $20,000 a year fornine months of teaching. The average pay of full professors in America was $109,000 in 2009higher than the average for judges and magistrates.

　　但各大学也发现博士生已沦为廉价但主动性强同时可任意使用的劳动力。博士生越多，可以做的研究也多;但在有些国家，做老师的博士生越多，工资越少。而在美国，耶鲁大学的一个研究生助教每年授课9个月就可以有2万美元的收入。据统计，2009年美国各大学教授的平均工资为10万9千美元，比法官和公务员的平均收入还高。

　　Indeed, the production of PhDs has far outstripped demand for university lecturers. In a recentbook, Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, an academic and a journalist, report that Americaproduced more than 100,000 doctoral degrees between 2005 and 2009. In the same periodthere were just 16,000 new professorships. Using PhD students to do much of theundergraduate teaching cuts the number of full-time jobs. Even in Canada, where the output ofPhD graduates has grown relatively modestly, universities conferred 4,800 doctorate degreesin 2007 but hired just 2,616 new full-time professors. Only a few fast-developing countries,such as Brazil and China, now seem short of PhDs.

　　事实上，博士的供给已远超过了大学的需求。最近有本书，是学者AH和记者CD合著的，该书称美国在 05-09年间培养的博士已经超过10万人，而同期需求却只有1.6万。而用大量的博士生给本科生代课又挤占了全职教师岗位。甚至是在博士培养数量一向严谨的加拿大，07年也有4800人博士毕业，而这一年只需要新招聘2616名全职教授。目前，似乎只有个别发展迅速的新兴国家博士供给不足，比如巴西和中国。

　　A short course in supply and demand

　　华尔街短期培训课程对物理学博士的冲击

　　In research the story is similar. PhD students and contract staff known as postdocs,described by one student as the ugly underbelly of academia, do much of the research thesedays. There is a glut of postdocs too. Dr Freeman concluded from pre-2000 data that ifAmerican faculty jobs in the life sciences were increasing at 5% a year, just 20% of studentswould land one. In Canada 80% of postdocs earn $38,600 or less per year before taxtheaverage salary of a construction worker. The rise of the postdoc has created another obstacleon the way to an academic post. In some areas five years as a postdoc is now a prerequisitefor landing a secure full-time job.

　　研究过程中发现，情况基本一致。有个学生将博士生与合同教员---也就是我们所说的研究员---比作学术民工，因为目前他们的工作量是在太大。不光博士生多，博士后也多。DF将 2000年前的资料汇总概括得出这样一个结论：假如美国在生命科学方面每年多提供5%的编制，那么也仅仅只有20%的学生可以获得。在加拿大，80%的博士后每年的薪水是税前3.86万美元，与建筑工人的均薪一个水平。博士后数量的增加也使得想要获得一个学院岗位变得困难。在某些领域，具备5年的博士后研究经历是目前获得一个可靠全职工作的前提。

　　ON THE evening before All Saints Day in 1517,Martin Luther nailed 95 theses to the door of achurch in Wittenberg. In those days a thesis wassimply a position one wanted to argue. Luther, an Augustinian friar, asserted that Christianscould not buy their way to heaven. Today a doctoral thesis is both an idea and an account of aperiod of original research. Writing one is the aim of the hundreds of thousands of studentswho embark on a doctorate of philosophy every year.

　　1517年的万圣节前夕，马丁路德将批判教会的95条纲论钉到了威登堡一教堂的门上。那时，论文仅作为人们辩论的场所存在。路德，一个奥古斯丁教的传教士，他认为基督徒们不能买断到天堂的路。今天，一篇博士论文是一种想法也是对某一特定时期原创性研究的陈述。完成一篇博士论文是成千上万一届又一届为取得博士学位而奋斗的博士生们的目标所在。

　　In most countries a PhD is a basic requirement for a career in academia. It is an introduction tothe world of independent researcha kind of intellectual masterpiece, created by anapprentice in close collaboration with a supervisor. The requirements to complete one varyenormously between countries, universities and even subjects. Some students will first haveto spend two years working on a masters degree or diploma. Some will receive a stipend;others will pay their own way. Some PhDs involve only research, some require classes andexaminations and some require the student to teach undergraduates. A thesis can be dozensof pages in mathematics, or many hundreds in history. As a result, newly minted PhDs can beas young as their early 20s or world-weary forty-somethings.

　　在大多数国家，取得博士学位是进入学术界的基本条件。博士是独立研究的开始，有点学术著作的意思，通常是在与导师密切合作的基础上完成的。不同的国家、大学甚至是不同的学科，取得博士学位的要求也不尽相同。有些申请者需首先读两年的硕士并取得相应学位或学历。他们中有些在攻读博士学位期间可以获得一定的补助，而有些则完全是自费。有些博士生专门搞研究，而有些则需完成一些课程和考试，还有些需他们给本科生上上课。至于博士论文，数学的需要几十页内容，而历史方面的需要更多。因此，博士毕业有的年轻才20多岁，而有的都到不惑之年了。

　　One thing many PhD students have in common is dissatisfaction. Some describe their work asslave labour. Seven-day weeks, ten-hour days, low pay and uncertain prospects arewidespread. You know you are a graduate student, goes one quip, when your office is betterdecorated than your home and you have a favourite flavour of instant noodle. It isnt graduateschool itself that is discouraging, says one student, who confesses to rather enjoying thehunt for free pizza. Whats discouraging is realising the end point has been yanked out ofreach.

　　博士生有一个通病：不满足。有些博士认为他们干的是奴隶们才干的活：一周工作7天、每天10个小时、低薪以及不确定的未来，这些都很普遍。有这么个讽刺：当你工作的办公室装修的比你家漂亮时，当你端起一碗泡面的时候，你就知道自己是一名博士生了。其实学校本身并不让人沮丧，采访中的一个博士这么说道，他坦言宁愿，而真正让人沮丧的是不知道这样的生活何时才是尽头。

　　Whining PhD students are nothing new, but there seem to be genuine problems with thesystem that produces research doctorates . There is an oversupply ofPhDs. Although a doctorate is designed as training for a job in academia, the number of PhDpositions is unrelated to the number of job openings. Meanwhile, business leaders complainabout shortages of high-level skills, suggesting PhDs are not teaching the right things. Thefiercest critics compare research doctorates to Ponzi or pyramid schemes.

　　这些博士生们牢骚不断也不是什么新鲜事，但培养学术型博士的机制似乎的确出了什么问题。尽管培养博士主要是针对学术研究方面的，但有很多博士专业的设置与需求却不一致。同时，企业老板们总是抱怨缺少高层次人才，表明博士期间所学的内容完全不对口嘛。更有甚者，将整个学术型博士的培养机制比作是一个庞兹骗局。

　　Rich pickings

　　丰厚的外快

　　For most of history even a first degree at auniversity was the privilege of a rich few, and manyacademic staff did not hold doctorates. But ashigher education expanded after the second worldwar, so did the expectation that lecturers wouldhold advanced degrees. American universitiesgeared up first: by 1970 America was producing justunder a third of the worlds university students andhalf of its science and technology PhDs . Since then Americas annual output of PhDs hasdoubled, to 64,000.

　　历史上的多数时期内，在大学里读到最高学位是少数富人们的特权，而许多教员们并没有博士头衔。但随着二战后高等教育的扩招，教员们取得博士学位也是自然之事了。美国的大学首次扩张始于20世纪70年代，当时美国每年毕业的大学生接近世界总数的1/3，而自然科学和技术方面的博士生人数占全世界的一半，要知道当时美国人口才占全世界的6%。此后，美国每年毕业的博士生又翻了一番，达到64000人。

　　Other countries are catching up. Between 1998 and 2006 the number of doctorates handed outin all OECD countries grew by 40%, compared with 22% for America. PhD production sped upmost dramatically in Mexico, Portugal, Italy and Slovakia. Even Japan, where the number ofyoung people is shrinking, churned out about 46% more PhDs. Part of that growth reflects theexpansion of university education outside America. Richard Freeman, a labour economist atHarvard University, says that by 2006 America was enrolling just 12% of the worlds students.

　　美国以外的国家也在追赶。98-06年间，经合组织各成员国的博士数量增长了40%，同期美国的增长率才22%。而在墨西哥、葡萄牙、意大利和斯洛伐克，这个数字更大。甚至是在人口老龄化的日本，博士生数量也增加了约46%。增长的部分原因表明美国以外的地区大学教育正在扩招。哈佛大学的劳工经济学家RF说，到2006年为止，美国各大学每年录取大学生的数量仅占全世界的12%。

　　But universities have discovered that PhD students are cheap, highly motivated anddisposable labour. With more PhD students they can do more research, and in some countriesmore teaching, with less money. A graduate assistant at Yale might earn $20,000 a year fornine months of teaching. The average pay of full professors in America was $109,000 in 2009higher than the average for judges and magistrates.

　　但各大学也发现博士生已沦为廉价但主动性强同时可任意使用的劳动力。博士生越多，可以做的研究也多;但在有些国家，做老师的博士生越多，工资越少。而在美国，耶鲁大学的一个研究生助教每年授课9个月就可以有2万美元的收入。据统计，2009年美国各大学教授的平均工资为10万9千美元，比法官和公务员的平均收入还高。

　　Indeed, the production of PhDs has far outstripped demand for university lecturers. In a recentbook, Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus, an academic and a journalist, report that Americaproduced more than 100,000 doctoral degrees between 2005 and 2009. In the same periodthere were just 16,000 new professorships. Using PhD students to do much of theundergraduate teaching cuts the number of full-time jobs. Even in Canada, where the output ofPhD graduates has grown relatively modestly, universities conferred 4,800 doctorate degreesin 2007 but hired just 2,616 new full-time professors. Only a few fast-developing countries,such as Brazil and China, now seem short of PhDs.

　　事实上，博士的供给已远超过了大学的需求。最近有本书，是学者AH和记者CD合著的，该书称美国在 05-09年间培养的博士已经超过10万人，而同期需求却只有1.6万。而用大量的博士生给本科生代课又挤占了全职教师岗位。甚至是在博士培养数量一向严谨的加拿大，07年也有4800人博士毕业，而这一年只需要新招聘2616名全职教授。目前，似乎只有个别发展迅速的新兴国家博士供给不足，比如巴西和中国。

　　A short course in supply and demand

　　华尔街短期培训课程对物理学博士的冲击

　　In research the story is similar. PhD students and contract staff known as postdocs,described by one student as the ugly underbelly of academia, do much of the research thesedays. There is a glut of postdocs too. Dr Freeman concluded from pre-2000 data that ifAmerican faculty jobs in the life sciences were increasing at 5% a year, just 20% of studentswould land one. In Canada 80% of postdocs earn $38,600 or less per year before taxtheaverage salary of a construction worker. The rise of the postdoc has created another obstacleon the way to an academic post. In some areas five years as a postdoc is now a prerequisitefor landing a secure full-time job.

　　研究过程中发现，情况基本一致。有个学生将博士生与合同教员---也就是我们所说的研究员---比作学术民工，因为目前他们的工作量是在太大。不光博士生多，博士后也多。DF将 2000年前的资料汇总概括得出这样一个结论：假如美国在生命科学方面每年多提供5%的编制，那么也仅仅只有20%的学生可以获得。在加拿大，80%的博士后每年的薪水是税前3.86万美元，与建筑工人的均薪一个水平。博士后数量的增加也使得想要获得一个学院岗位变得困难。在某些领域，具备5年的博士后研究经历是目前获得一个可靠全职工作的前提。