Skip to content

PhD Should Be PSD (Problem-Solving Degree)

MIT’s Donald Sadoway advocates “science and service to society” as opposed to “science and service of career building.”
Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

The world of academia, according to MIT’s Donald Sadoway, functions all too often as a mutual admiration society. Scientists tend to work on what is au courant (current), endlessly praising and citing each other’s work. 


This might help academics build their careers, but it doesn’t help society solve tough problems. Sadoway says he therefore advocates “science and service to society” as opposed to “science and service of career building.”

That is why, in the XPRIZE Insights video below, Sadoway says that a PhD degree should be rethought (and relabeled) as a PSD Degree: problem-solving degree.

Watch here:

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Sign up for Big Think on Substack
The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

Related
The hospital where Rainn Wilson’s wife and son nearly died became his own personal holy site. There, he discovered that the sacred can exist in places we least expect it. During his talk at A Night of Awe and Wonder, he explained how the awe we feel in moments of courage and love is moral beauty — and following it might be the start of our spiritual revolution.
13 min
with

Up Next