Research
PhD students carry out a certain amount of research throughout the year. As research assistants, they are involved with faculty in joint research activities. They also contribute to the development of sound dissertation research ideas and pursue their own research objectives under faculty supervision. These activities normally result in the authoring or co-authoring of one or more research articles by the time the student is ready for dissertation research. By presenting their research at seminars and academic conferences, they will likely gain the self-confidence needed to complete a high-quality dissertation.
The PhD degree requires intensive academic study and research, which cannot be accomplished on a part-time basis. Courses cannot be scheduled to accommodate a part-time program. A strength of the Vanderbilt PhD Program is its opportunities for joint work and interaction with faculty and fellow students—which would be forsaken by part-time efforts.
Teaching
Some teaching experience is highly desirable to enhance a student's portfolio on the academic job market as they are coming out of the program. Therefore, PhD students are provided, where possible, an opportunity to teach. In addition to serving as faculty research assistants, they also will assist faculty members in teaching certain courses. In some instances it is possible to secure a position as a part-time instructor in Vanderbilt undergraduate programs or at nearby colleges and universities, but to do so for income reasons, beyond that needed for experience, would be ill-advised.
