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年的萬圣節前夕，馬丁路德將批判教會的95條綱論釘到了威登堡一教堂的門上。那時，論文僅作為人們辯論的場所存在。路德，一個奧古斯丁教的傳教士，他認為基督徒們不能買斷到天堂的路。今天，一篇博士論文是一種想法也是對某一特定時期原創性研究的陳述。完成一篇博士論文是成千上萬一屆又一屆為取得博士學位而奮斗的博士生們的目標所在。

　　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.

　　在大多數國家，取得博士學位是進入學術界的基本條件。博士是獨立研究的開始，有點學術著作的意思，通常是在與導師密切合作的基礎上完成的。不同的國家、大學甚至是不同的學科，取得博士學位的要求也不盡相同。有些申請者需首先讀兩年的碩士并取得相應學位或學歷。他們中有些在攻讀博士學位期間可以獲得一定的補助，而有些則完全是自費。有些博士生專門搞研究，而有些則需完成一些課程和考試，還有些需他們給本科生上上課。至于博士論文，數學的需要幾十頁內容，而歷史方面的需要更多。因此，博士畢業有的年輕才20多歲，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.

　　博士生有一個通病：不滿足。有些博士認為他們干的是奴隸們才干的活：一周工作7天、每天10個小時、低薪以及不確定的未來，這些都很普遍。有這么個諷刺：當你工作的辦公室裝修的比你家漂亮時，當你端起一碗泡面的時候，你就知道自己是一名博士生了。其實學校本身并不讓人沮喪，采訪中的一個博士這么說道，他坦言寧愿，而真正讓人沮喪的是不知道這樣的生活何時才是盡頭。

　　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.

　　這些博士生們牢騷不斷也不是什么新鮮事，但培養學術型博士的機制似乎的確出了什么問題。盡管培養博士主要是針對學術研究方面的，但有很多博士專業的設置與需求卻不一致。同時，企業老板們總是抱怨缺少高層次人才，表明博士期間所學的內容完全不對口嘛。更有甚者，將整個學術型博士的培養機制比作是一個龐茲騙局。

　　Rich pickings

　　豐厚的外快

　　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.

　　歷史上的多數時期內，在大學里讀到最高學位是少數富人們的特權，而許多教員們并沒有博士頭銜。但隨著二戰后高等教育的擴招，教員們取得博士學位也是自然之事了。美國的大學首次擴張始于20世紀70年代，當時美國每年畢業的大學生接近世界總數的1/3，而自然科學和技術方面的博士生人數占全世界的一半，要知道當時美國人口才占全世界的6%。此后，美國每年畢業的博士生又翻了一番，達到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.

　　美國以外的國家也在追趕。98-06年間，經合組織各成員國的博士數量增長了40%，同期美國的增長率才22%。而在墨西哥、葡萄牙、意大利和斯洛伐克，這個數字更大。甚至是在人口老齡化的日本，博士生數量也增加了約46%。增長的部分原因表明美國以外的地區大學教育正在擴招。哈佛大學的勞工經濟學家RF說，到2006年為止，美國各大學每年錄取大學生的數量僅占全世界的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.

　　但各大學也發現博士生已淪為廉價但主動性強同時可任意使用的勞動力。博士生越多，可以做的研究也多;但在有些國家，做老師的博士生越多，工資越少。而在美國，耶魯大學的一個研究生助教每年授課9個月就可以有2萬美元的收入。據統計，2009年美國各大學教授的平均工資為10萬9千美元，比法官和公務員的平均收入還高。

　　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.

　　事實上，博士的供給已遠超過了大學的需求。最近有本書，是學者AH和記者CD合著的，該書稱美國在 05-09年間培養的博士已經超過10萬人，而同期需求卻只有1.6萬。而用大量的博士生給本科生代課又擠占了全職教師崗位。甚至是在博士培養數量一向嚴謹的加拿大，07年也有4800人博士畢業，而這一年只需要新招聘2616名全職教授。目前，似乎只有個別發展迅速的新興國家博士供給不足，比如巴西和中國。

　　A short course in supply and demand

　　華爾街短期培訓課程對物理學博士的沖擊

　　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.

　　研究過程中發現，情況基本一致。有個學生將博士生與合同教員---也就是我們所說的研究員---比作學術民工，因為目前他們的工作量是在太大。不光博士生多，博士后也多。DF將 2000年前的資料匯總概括得出這樣一個結論：假如美國在生命科學方面每年多提供5%的編制，那么也僅僅只有20%的學生可以獲得。在加拿大，80%的博士后每年的薪水是稅前3.86萬美元，與建筑工人的均薪一個水平。博士后數量的增加也使得想要獲得一個學院崗位變得困難。在某些領域，具備5年的博士后研究經歷是目前獲得一個可靠全職工作的前提。

　　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年的萬圣節前夕，馬丁路德將批判教會的95條綱論釘到了威登堡一教堂的門上。那時，論文僅作為人們辯論的場所存在。路德，一個奧古斯丁教的傳教士，他認為基督徒們不能買斷到天堂的路。今天，一篇博士論文是一種想法也是對某一特定時期原創性研究的陳述。完成一篇博士論文是成千上萬一屆又一屆為取得博士學位而奮斗的博士生們的目標所在。

　　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.

　　在大多數國家，取得博士學位是進入學術界的基本條件。博士是獨立研究的開始，有點學術著作的意思，通常是在與導師密切合作的基礎上完成的。不同的國家、大學甚至是不同的學科，取得博士學位的要求也不盡相同。有些申請者需首先讀兩年的碩士并取得相應學位或學歷。他們中有些在攻讀博士學位期間可以獲得一定的補助，而有些則完全是自費。有些博士生專門搞研究，而有些則需完成一些課程和考試，還有些需他們給本科生上上課。至于博士論文，數學的需要幾十頁內容，而歷史方面的需要更多。因此，博士畢業有的年輕才20多歲，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.

　　博士生有一個通病：不滿足。有些博士認為他們干的是奴隸們才干的活：一周工作7天、每天10個小時、低薪以及不確定的未來，這些都很普遍。有這么個諷刺：當你工作的辦公室裝修的比你家漂亮時，當你端起一碗泡面的時候，你就知道自己是一名博士生了。其實學校本身并不讓人沮喪，采訪中的一個博士這么說道，他坦言寧愿，而真正讓人沮喪的是不知道這樣的生活何時才是盡頭。

　　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.

　　這些博士生們牢騷不斷也不是什么新鮮事，但培養學術型博士的機制似乎的確出了什么問題。盡管培養博士主要是針對學術研究方面的，但有很多博士專業的設置與需求卻不一致。同時，企業老板們總是抱怨缺少高層次人才，表明博士期間所學的內容完全不對口嘛。更有甚者，將整個學術型博士的培養機制比作是一個龐茲騙局。

　　Rich pickings

　　豐厚的外快

　　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.

　　歷史上的多數時期內，在大學里讀到最高學位是少數富人們的特權，而許多教員們并沒有博士頭銜。但隨著二戰后高等教育的擴招，教員們取得博士學位也是自然之事了。美國的大學首次擴張始于20世紀70年代，當時美國每年畢業的大學生接近世界總數的1/3，而自然科學和技術方面的博士生人數占全世界的一半，要知道當時美國人口才占全世界的6%。此后，美國每年畢業的博士生又翻了一番，達到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.

　　美國以外的國家也在追趕。98-06年間，經合組織各成員國的博士數量增長了40%，同期美國的增長率才22%。而在墨西哥、葡萄牙、意大利和斯洛伐克，這個數字更大。甚至是在人口老齡化的日本，博士生數量也增加了約46%。增長的部分原因表明美國以外的地區大學教育正在擴招。哈佛大學的勞工經濟學家RF說，到2006年為止，美國各大學每年錄取大學生的數量僅占全世界的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.

　　但各大學也發現博士生已淪為廉價但主動性強同時可任意使用的勞動力。博士生越多，可以做的研究也多;但在有些國家，做老師的博士生越多，工資越少。而在美國，耶魯大學的一個研究生助教每年授課9個月就可以有2萬美元的收入。據統計，2009年美國各大學教授的平均工資為10萬9千美元，比法官和公務員的平均收入還高。

　　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.

　　事實上，博士的供給已遠超過了大學的需求。最近有本書，是學者AH和記者CD合著的，該書稱美國在 05-09年間培養的博士已經超過10萬人，而同期需求卻只有1.6萬。而用大量的博士生給本科生代課又擠占了全職教師崗位。甚至是在博士培養數量一向嚴謹的加拿大，07年也有4800人博士畢業，而這一年只需要新招聘2616名全職教授。目前，似乎只有個別發展迅速的新興國家博士供給不足，比如巴西和中國。

　　A short course in supply and demand

　　華爾街短期培訓課程對物理學博士的沖擊

　　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.

　　研究過程中發現，情況基本一致。有個學生將博士生與合同教員---也就是我們所說的研究員---比作學術民工，因為目前他們的工作量是在太大。不光博士生多，博士后也多。DF將 2000年前的資料匯總概括得出這樣一個結論：假如美國在生命科學方面每年多提供5%的編制，那么也僅僅只有20%的學生可以獲得。在加拿大，80%的博士后每年的薪水是稅前3.86萬美元，與建筑工人的均薪一個水平。博士后數量的增加也使得想要獲得一個學院崗位變得困難。在某些領域，具備5年的博士后研究經歷是目前獲得一個可靠全職工作的前提。