I had written this back in late 2010 and saved it as a draft, then never got around to publishing it. Obviously, finishing a Ph.D. is a tough experience, and I wasn't sure if my comments were biased by that frustration or not. Now, in reviewing this post two years later, I still agree with the way I wrote it. Overseas students in Australia unfairly have many things stacked against them, and it's hard not to view those difficulties as purely coincidental. If Australia wants to truly move forward and be more innovative in science and technology, it needs to grease the wheels more for everyone instead of installing deliberate roadblocks.
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The international move combined with the final writing period for my thesis consumed a tremendous amount of time. We left Australia on 25 September 2010, and I spent most of October putting in 10-12 hours per day writing. Our stuff arrived from Australia in mid-November (winter clothes just in time for winter). My supervisor gave me his o.k. to get my thesis printed, so I really thought I was nearly done. Meanwhile, my co-supervisor wanted to review the thesis. I just got his comments back today, and it's been a bit of a let-down. So many of his comments leave the impression he did not even read the important theoretical chapter of the thesis--and then gave the comment that the theoretical chapter doesn't seem to fit. Many of my co-supervisor's comments contradict the past several months of revisions my primary supervisor and I had worked on.
Writing the thesis has been enormously frustrating. Every time I think I'm close to done, I get shot down. No big deal to my supervisors, I guess. It's only my life on hold, not theirs.
The entire PhD experience in Australia has been a tremendous let-down. There were so many points it's hard to know where to begin.
(1) Welcoming overseas students to the university: There was an official "welcome week" where overseas students have the chance to get details on local living. But if you miss this week due to delays in visa approval, then you are on your own.
(2) University housing is practically non-existent. What is available through universities is either sub-standard and over-priced, or decent by Western standard but horribly expensive. Everything else is all privately-owned apartments, and overseas students are not really given any guidance on how to handle the rental market. From the scholarship provided, about 90% of it would go to paying rent.
(3) Stacking on to point (2), there are typically few affordable places to live that are close to universities, so that means to make ends meet, students must live farther away. But public transport everywhere but in the largest cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and maybe Perth) is severely lacking. Therefore a student must have a car to get around.
(4) Overseas students do not get student concessions on public transport and must pay full price. This further encourages the purchase of a car.
(5) University parking is nearly non-existent. Thought university parking in North America was insufficient? Parking at the University of Wollongong was so bad even university employees would often find themselves unable to park. The official answer to this problem is that (inadequate) public transport is "encouraged," but of course that only applies to the peasants and not university management.
(6) Students are expected to complete an annual assessment. This is supposed to be an official document where issues affecting the student's work can be formally addressed. However, supervisors are not to be criticized, as such comments would be washed over and turned back onto the student.
(7) In my experience, I had two supervisors (one primary and one secondary). The primary supervisor was supposed to be the one who had final say on my work, but the secondary supervisor often contradicted this. Having two supervisors who could not agree on the direction my research was supposed to take really had a hindering effect on the success of my work and the timeliness of my completion. Additionally, these supervisors were split between two campuses, so I was left to fend for myself individually with each, rather than have them together in the same room during monthly meetings. (University parking contributed to this problem, as the primary supervisor would lose his parking spot and be unable to find another upon return from the meeting.)
(8) Actual supervision is practically non-existent. A supervisor can take 8 weeks per year off and be madly busy the 10 months actually on the job such that there is little time to mentor students. There is nothing in university policy that governs such absenteeism, and the students are expected to shoulder the entire burden and guidance of their research. Some students have a very clear picture of what they want to do. Others need more guidance, and absentee supervision fails them.
(9) Australian visa and immigration policy is nonsensically strict. Student visas are limited to a 3-year time period, with the possibility for one extension of 6 months. My extension visa specifically stated no further extensions would be granted. This meant I was up against a visa deadline to finish my work, rather than completing the project on its own. While I did manage to finish enough, there were some additional measurements that could have been done to enhance my thesis. This strictness unfairly punishes overseas students, while Australian students don't have this issue.
(10) The Australian work ethic amounts to extremes of laziness and the worst British or Soviet-style bureaucracy one could imagine. For example, at the University of Wollongong, the fabrication of keys (which are important for PhD students needing access to labs after-hours) is outsourced to a contractor. This arrangement would be fine except for the fact that the contractor does not follow a regular schedule. It might take a few weeks to make a set of keys or a few months -- it just depends on whatever the contractor feels like. With the strict deadlines imposed on overseas students, this kind of erratic schedule is unacceptable.
(11) University parking permits are a hassle to obtain for students. The process requires a form with a stated reason for why the parking permit is needed, and the supervisor and the dean must sign it. Surely the dean has more important things to do? And that's just for a lottery style-draw for a parking permit -- not a guarantee. If public transport was more robust, and overseas students weren't penalized to pay full fare, this issue would diminish significantly.
(12) Lab space and office space only gets allocated months after an overseas student arrives. Again, with the strict deadlines imposed on overseas students for visas and funding, this is unacceptable.
(13) There is a more severe shortage of post-doctoral opportunities in Australia than the rest of the world. So if you go to Australia for an advanced degree and want to immigrate there following graduation, then do not study science! Look at the Australian job market and see what jobs companies are desperately hiring for, then study that skill at university. Even doing that, though, will not guarantee you an easy immigration experience. Unless you are very (VERY!) wealthy such that you can sponsor your own way in, you will likely need a corporate visa sponsor upon graduation. Most companies don't want to deal with the hassle of sponsorship, because it requires them to "certify" that they could not find an Australian with the same skills. Only universities truly do sponsorship routinely, but they use the "academic expert" trump card which is rarely questioned. Most new graduates are not thought of as academic experts in their fields.
So my advice for anyone wishing to pursue an advanced degree outside their home country would be to inquire from other former students who have studied in those countries as to how they can expect to be treated. Make sure to have a substantial amount of cash handy for unexpected expenses (something unexpected will happen requiring you to have such cash: a death in the family and you wish to fly home for the funeral; a medical emergency). Treat the experience as just another stepping stone in life and not a stopping point (as in immigration). That way, you are not deeply disappointed if you are forced to leave at the end.
