<p>It is an extremely broad question, and probably the wrong question, but I actually think the answer is pretty short. I'll just give you the advice that I was given (from multiple people), and the advice that most people I know would give:</p>

<p><a href="http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/" rel="nofollow">http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/</a></p>

<p>In other words, you start with an interest, and that interest develops into a specialty. You deepen that interest, and then you expand a small amount on it in your PhD. Telling you what to do not only in some ways would defeat the purpose of you actually getting a PhD (i.e., you picking a specialty and pursuing it <em>because you like it</em>), but it says some pretty strong things about a PhD: that is, I personally think it's more helpful to think of a PhD not as the crowning achievement of your career, but as a good start, and since yours will almost certainly not be revolutionary (like, say <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntactic_Structures" rel="nofollow">Syntactic Structures</a>), it is <em>much</em> more descriptive to explain the process than it is to tell you what specifically to do.</p>

<p>Good luck, though!</p>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T14:11:03.453Z
2010-09-22T14:11:03.453Z
apc
<p>Since this community seems to include a lot of Ph.D. students, and because there is a provision for attracting even more, I think this question is very appealing:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>What topics do you suggest for Ph.D. students to consider for their thesis?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I intentionally didn't restrict the topic to any field in TCS.</p>

<p>Obviously, very broad subjects of study, such as "logic" or "complexity theory" are not adequate answers.</p>

<p>On the other hand, ideas like "combine logic X with Y algebra to solve problem Z" are completely acceptable. (Since this is not MathOverflow, "problem Z" should have some TCS flavor.)</p>

<p>The more you elaborate, the better!</p>

CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T09:16:06.017Z
Should this be CW?
Sadeq Dousti
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T09:17:10.227Z
I think this question is too broad. At the very least it should be community wiki.
Dave Clarke
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T09:20:52.400Z
I think it's way too broad as well. it should probably be closed. @Incredible, why don't you look at the list of major unsolved problems in TCS (http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/174/major-unsolved-problems-in-theoretical-computer-science). In any case, this really isn't a good way to go about choosing a Ph.D topic.
Suresh Venkat
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T09:23:58.013Z
I made it community wiki. @Suresh Venkat: because they are really "major." There is zero hope that a Ph.D. student selects the topic "Solving P vs NP" for his/her Ph.D. thesis.
Incredible
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T09:33:34.633Z
Theoretical computer science is a massively varied field. You'd need to at least narrow down your quest to the sub-area you are interested in. Then, you need to find adequate supervision, which may not be available at university you attend. An alternative way of finding a research topic is to find a good supervisor and then work with the supervisor to find an appropriate topic. This may well depend on how flexible you are in terms of where you are willing to live.
Dave Clarke
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T09:37:01.770Z
Please look at this discussion on how to ask a question: http://meta.cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/300/how-to-ask-a-good-question
Suresh Venkat
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T09:49:46.290Z
http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/1015/open-problems-on-the-frontiers-of-tcs
Jukka Suomela
CC BY-SA 2.5
2010-09-22T13:42:50.877Z
This question is indeed too broad. Voted to close.
Robin Kothari
<big-list><soft-question>
What Topics Are Suggested for Ph.D. Research?
Incredible
# What Topics Are Suggested for Ph.D. Research?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2010-09-22)

Since this community seems to include a lot of Ph.D. students, and because there is a provision for attracting even more, I think this question is very appealing:

> What topics do you suggest for Ph.D. students to consider for their thesis?

I intentionally didn't restrict the topic to any field in TCS.

Obviously, very broad subjects of study, such as "logic" or "complexity theory" are not adequate answers.

On the other hand, ideas like "combine logic X with Y algebra to solve problem Z" are completely acceptable. (Since this is not MathOverflow, "problem Z" should have some TCS flavor.)

The more you elaborate, the better!

**Tags:** big-list, soft-question
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Should this be CW?  
> **username_2**: I think this question is too broad. At the very least it should be community wiki.  
> **username_3**: I think it's way too broad as well. it should probably be closed. @Incredible, why don't you look at the list of major unsolved problems in TCS (http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/174/major-unsolved-problems-in-theoretical-computer-science). In any case, this really isn't a good way to go about choosing a Ph.D topic.  
> **username_0**: I made it community wiki. @Suresh Venkat: because they are really "major." There is zero hope that a Ph.D. student selects the topic "Solving P vs NP" for his/her Ph.D. thesis.  
> **username_2**: Theoretical computer science is a massively varied field. You'd need to at least narrow down your quest to the sub-area you are interested in. Then, you need to find adequate supervision, which may not be available at university you attend. An alternative way of finding a research topic is to find a good supervisor and then work with the supervisor to find an appropriate topic. This may well depend on how flexible you are in terms of where you are willing to live.  
> **username_3**: Please look at this discussion on how to ask a question: http://meta.cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/300/how-to-ask-a-good-question  
> **username_4**: http://cstheory.stackexchange.com/questions/1015/open-problems-on-the-frontiers-of-tcs  
> **username_5**: This question is indeed too broad. Voted to close.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2010-09-22. Score: 4

It is an extremely broad question, and probably the wrong question, but I actually think the answer is pretty short. I'll just give you the advice that I was given (from multiple people), and the advice that most people I know would give:

<http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/>

In other words, you start with an interest, and that interest develops into a specialty. You deepen that interest, and then you expand a small amount on it in your PhD. Telling you what to do not only in some ways would defeat the purpose of you actually getting a PhD (i.e., you picking a specialty and pursuing it *because you like it*), but it says some pretty strong things about a PhD: that is, I personally think it's more helpful to think of a PhD not as the crowning achievement of your career, but as a good start, and since yours will almost certainly not be revolutionary (like, say [Syntactic Structures](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntactic_Structures)), it is *much* more descriptive to explain the process than it is to tell you what specifically to do.

Good luck, though!


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