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So, you’ve decided you want to do a PhD – but there’s a problem. You’re tied down in some way. Perhaps it’s a job, a partner, or children, or simply that you just don’t want to go back to university in the way everyone thinks of postgraduate study as involving.

Well, these days there’s no need to – many universities offer distance learning PhDs! There are plenty of reasons as to why some people choose online postgraduate study  and recently, it’s becoming more and more available. It is still somewhat obviously limited by subject ­ – a PhD in which you’re required to be doing lab-based research is unlikely to be possible via distance learning, but one in which you’re studying Classics? Almost certainly fine! And the great thing is it means you can study your PhD from literally anywhere!

Online study is a great way to get a PhD , but of course, online study isn’t suited to everyone, so before committing you need to make sure that a distance learning PhD program is right for you . You’ll have to be self-motivated, used to managing your time and confident that your current environment is suited for study. Still think it’s the right choice?

Then let’s take a look at...

PhD by Distance Learning

What are the main differences between doing a PhD by distance learning, and one in which you remain on campus? Well, you might be surprised to find out there’s not as many as you think. Unlike undergraduate degrees, where there’s a whole host of lectures, tutorials and classes going on, a PhD is much more self-driven.

As a PhD is research-based, rather than taught, it’s entirely possible to do in a completely different city to your university. The big differences are the environment – you’ll have less access to university resources (such as on-site libraries), a lack of in-person contact with other students perhaps doing similar topics, and you may miss out on relevant seminars. In addition, much of your communication with your PhD supervisor may be done by phone, email or other online methods.

With that said, many universities will require you to spend some time at the university – not a lot, but it’s worth bearing in mind. Many universities these days will also have online resources, meaning you should be able to access plenty of things via the internet, but certainly difficult to track down sources may require travelling!

On the note of supervisors, it’s important to remember that just because you’re doing a distance learning PhD program, doesn’t mean you can just choose anywhere. You’ll still need to ensure the department is good at the area you want to work in, and that you find a supervisor that is suited to you. Although you may not have to have in-person meetings with them, you still need to ensure that it’s someone whose research interests match yours and that you’re comfortable working with. 

Another thing to remember is that you will still have to pay fees. Though distance learning may cut down on your expenses somewhat – the lack of having to move, the possibility of keeping a current job, and so on – you will have to budget accordingly.

A distance learning PhD will still impact on your life significantly – you will have to devote the same amount of hours to research as you would doing at onsite course, and you’ll have to be responsible for your own time.

Common misconceptions about studying a distance learning PhD program

There are a lot of common misconceptions about studying a distance learning PhD, and we detail them further here . However, let’s take a look at two major ones:

#1 Employers won’t consider degrees done by distance learning

Any distance learning PhD program from a particular university will be accredited from that university in an identical manner to someone who studied the PhD on campus. Whilst it may once have been the case that people would have looked at this suspiciously, more and more employers are recognising the worth of online study – and, especially in academia, no one will look twice at the fact your PhD is done via distance learning. You can even spin it in your favour, pointing out the massive amount of organisation it took!

#2 Distance learning means you miss out on student/supervisor interaction

We’ve discussed this briefly before, but most PhD students wouldn’t be seeing their supervisor constantly. Emails and phone communication are becoming more and more popular, and should serve you well for keeping in touch. You can also arrange to visit them occasionally if you do want a meeting with them, and just go up for the day.

So that’s our look at doing a distance learning PhD, we also have some really useful information on distance learning in general as well as studying PhDs .

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What no one told me about grad school: long-distance means far away

To say that I underestimated moving across the United States is an understatement. I grew up in a small-ish town in Southern California and went to college a short 50-minute drive away. I thought this meant that I had “moved out,” like a real adult. But I would soon learn that going to your childhood home every other weekend to do laundry doesn’t count. Like most Californians, I was certain that I was never leaving California. I planned to go to grad school programs somewhere close, but not too close, like San Diego or Los Angeles. I wasn’t even letting my imagination venture as far as Davis or Berkeley. It’s almost endearing to look back at how naïve I was.

So of course, after powering through a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, I got accepted into the mathematics Ph.D. program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You know, 3,000 miles away from my beloved California. I was so excited, and all my friends and family were ridiculously proud of me. I was accepting that offer faster than you can say, “Pack your bags.” Every time someone mentioned how far away it was, I thought, “Pshhh, I’m an adult. I’ve lived away from home. I’ll be fine!” True, it’s not like everyone abandoned me. I had Facebook, a smartphone, and Skype. How could I be alone when technology was on my side? But a pesky three-hour time difference, a dramatic change in scenery, and new cultural norms meant reading texts and occasionally seeing the faces I love on a screen wasn’t cutting it.

Now, I know that for international students, this shock is way more extreme. I have the utmost respect for someone who, not only leaves their state or province, but leaves their country to pursue educational or work-related opportunities. I’m hoping those individuals will give me a little slack here and relate to my story, even though I didn’t have to learn a new language or currency system. I don’t write this to discourage anyone from traveling for college, work, or graduate school. I write this so that, when the time comes, you’re ready to make that transition and are prepared to work harder in your social life than you had in the past. Long-distance relationships can mean many things, so I’ll break mine down into three categories: Friends, Family, and My Partner.

No one tells you this on graduation day, but making friends as an adult can be rough. There’s no compulsory reason for you to be in the same place at the same time. There are no more convenient times where you all happen to be free every week to hang out. And the people around you are most likely no longer at the same life stage as you. My advice to you here? Invest in others. Be proactive, and be reliable. It may seem weird at first to have to schedule extremely specific times to hang out, (Can you get coffee with me this Tuesday from 1:30-2:00 PM at *inset central location here*?) but it’s worth it. And don’t flake out! For faraway friends, I recommend scheduled online group chats like Google Hangout. This takes investment from all parties, but it allows you structured, intentional time to catch up on everything going on in your lives. It can be a lifesaver to have something familiar like this to look forward to, especially when you’ve gone on a few awkward coffee dates with potential new friends.

None of these topics have an easy answer, but this one may be the most difficult. Family relationships are tough, and this section only really makes sense if you want to stay in touch with your family. Some things that helped me were frequent, predictable phone calls. My mom commutes to work around 5:30 AM in California. I commute to work around 8 AM on the East Coast. Perfect timing for a daily car ride chat about the goings-on in our lives, the weather, the news, anything that was on our minds. Another thing people typically love is getting real mail . I send more birthday cards than birthday texts, and I made it a conscious point to send a Christmas card every year. I didn’t know if these made a difference, but when I visited my husband’s side of the family, the Christmas cards were almost the first thing everyone mentioned. Finally, book some trips. And remind your family that planes fly in both directions. I visited home often, but it was nothing compared to the excitement of showing my mom, grandma, and aunt around my new home in New England. It made me truly appreciate where I was living and created a fondness for my new home now that I had memories of my family having brunch at one of my favorite local breakfast spots.

I consider my husband and me pretty much pros at long-distance. Not only am I a grad student, but he’s in the US Navy. Talk about jobs that take you to faraway places.  We met in California weeks before I flew to Massachusetts for grad school and he flew to Illinois for boot camp. While I continued to live in the Northeast, he moved to South Carolina and upstate New York over 2.5 years of training. Oh, and did I mention that somewhere in there we got married in California? Planning a wedding from 3,000 miles away when your partner is 1,000 miles from you is no joke. The “two-body problem” of coordinating where you and your partner will be in a transitionary period of your lives is always difficult. You both need to be understanding and, above all, excellent at communicating. Compassion is key. This type of situation only works when you’re each willing to support the other, no matter how much you don’t understand what they’re going through. The enemies here? Jealousy, immaturity, and insecurity. Despite what magazines, romantic comedies, or Nick Jonas tell you, unfounded jealousy is not a compliment. These are things that need to be communicated through early and often. Nothing says grudge like waiting to address something until you see your partner in person 57 days from now. The moral of the story is: long-distance means far away. Be realistic about where you’re going, and be ready to put in more effort than you’ve had to in the past. Relationships of all kinds require investment, communication, and empathy. But investment in others often leads to investment in your own wellbeing. “When you really want something, you will find a way. When you don’t really want something, you’ll find an excuse.” – Rachel Hollis.

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• CAREER COLUMN
• 29 April 2021
• Correction 18 May 2021

How we embarked on a long-distance relationship on behalf of our research career

• Gidiane Scaratti 0 &
• Rafael Kenji Nishihora 1

Gidiane Scaratti is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Technology in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Rafael Kenji Nishihora is a postdoctoral researcher at the Federal University of ABC in São Paulo, Brazil.

We are Brazilian chemical engineers interested in research careers in academia or industry. Because we’ve chosen these careers, we have spent approximately three years of our eight-year relationship far apart from each other.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00985-1

This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged .

Updates & Corrections

Correction 18 May 2021 : An earlier version of this story gave the wrong years for when Gidiane Scaratti and Rafael Kenji Nishihora earned their PhDs.

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When will solar eclipse reach your town? These maps show path's timing, how long it lasts.

Hundreds of cities in 13 u.s. states fall directly on the april 8 eclipse's path of totality as the moon blocks the sun's disc and ushers in darkness. these interactive maps offer a closer look..

Come Monday, millions of Americans from Texas to Maine will stop what they're doing to step outside and spend a few minutes gazing skyward .

Few celestial events have the power to capture our collective attention the way this upcoming total solar eclipse has managed to do. And for those making time to witness it, two questions are bound to be on their mind : Will totality reach my area and if so, how long will the resulting darkness last?

Most people across the country are bound to experience the eclipse in some form, but only 13 states fall directly on the path of totality, where the moon will appear large enough to shield all but the sun's outermost layer, the corona.

As you make your eclipse-viewing plans, these interactive maps should help you chart the time and duration for when totality will occur in cities along the path.

Solar eclipse experiment: Here's why NASA is launching 3 sounding rockets into space during the total solar eclipse

Total solar eclipse path of totality map

The 115-mile-wide path of totality will pass from southwest to northeast over portions of Mexico the United States and Canada.

Mexico's Pacific coast will be the first location in continental North America to experience totality, which will occur at about 11:07 a.m. PDT,  according to NASA .

As the moon's shadow travels northeast, totality in the U.S. will begin at 1:27 p.m. CDT in Eagle Pass, Texas. From there, the path will cut diagonally across the country before ending around 3:35 p.m. EDT in Lee, Maine.

Remember: If you plan to witness the eclipse, proper eyewear is a must until the eclipse reaches totality, then it can be viewed with the naked eye.

Here's a map of some of the larger cities in each of the 13 states on the path to show how the duration of totality will vary:

Cities, states on the path of totality

All told, nearly 500 cities in 13 U.S. states are located on the eclipse's path of totality. Here are some of the major cities in each of the 13 states:

• Dallas and San Antonio, Texas
• Idabel, Oklahoma
• Poplar Bluff, Missouri
• Little Rock, Arkansas
• Paducah, Kentucky
• Indianapolis and Evansville, Indiana
• Carbondale, Illinois
• Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio
• Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, New York
• Burlington, Vermont
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
• Caribou, Maine
• Erie, Pennsylvania

This interactive map provides a closer look at cities along the path, when totality will arrive there and how long totality will last:

Eclipse watch parties, festivals

Such a rare event is sure to attract skygazing tourists unlucky enough to live outside the path of totality. Fortunately, many cities that will experience the total eclipse are planning plenty of festivities for tourists and locals alike.

This map , courtesy of Kristian Campana at festivalguidesandreviews.com , includes locations of watch parties, music festivals and more all tied to the eclipse's arrival:

2024 total solar eclipse interactive map with zip code search

Perhaps the easiest way to see how the eclipse will impact your city or town, is to put your zip code into USA TODAY's interactive eclipse map .

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

When and where the solar eclipse will be crossing the U.S.

A total solar eclipse will grace the skies over North America on Monday, one of the most hotly anticipated sky-watching events in recent years.

Weather permitting , millions of people in Mexico, 15 U.S. states and eastern Canada will have the chance to see the moon slip between Earth and sun, temporarily blocking the sun’s light .

The total solar eclipse will be visible along a “path of totality” that measures more than 100 miles wide and extends across the continent. Along that path, the moon will fully obscure the sun, causing afternoon skies to darken for a few minutes.

Follow live updates on the solar eclipse

In all other parts of the continental U.S., a partial solar eclipse will be visible, with the moon appearing to take a bite out of the sun. Exactly how big a bite depends on the location.

The first spot in North America that will experience totality on Monday is on Mexico’s Pacific coast at around 11:07 a.m. PT, according to NASA .

After moving northeast across Mexico, the eclipse’s path travels through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Slivers of Michigan and Tennessee will also be able to witness totality if conditions are clear.

In Canada, the eclipse will be visible in parts of southern Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton, at the eastern end of Nova Scotia.

The timing of the eclipse and the duration of totality varies by location. Most places will experience around 2 minutes of darkness, but the longest periods of totality are typically in the center of the eclipse’s path.

This year, the longest stretch of totality will last 4 minutes and 28 seconds in an area northwest of Torreón, Mexico.

Below is a list of timings for some U.S. cities along the path of totality, according to NASA .

• Dallas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:23 p.m. CT and totality at 1:40 p.m. CT.
• Idabel, Oklahoma: Partial eclipse begins at 12:28 p.m. CT and totality at 1:45 p.m. CT.
• Little Rock, Arkansas: Partial eclipse begins at 12:33 p.m. CT and totality at 1:51 p.m. CT.
• Poplar Bluff, Missouri: Partial eclipse begins at 12:39 p.m. CT and totality at 1:56 p.m. CT.
• Paducah, Kentucky: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 2:00 p.m. CT.
• Carbondale, Illinois: Partial eclipse begins at 12:42 p.m. CT and totality at 1:59 p.m. CT.
• Evansville, Indiana: Partial eclipse begins at 12:45 p.m. CT and totality at 2:02 p.m. CT.
• Cleveland: Partial eclipse begins at 1:59 p.m. ET and totality at 3:13 p.m.
• Erie, Pennsylvania: Partial eclipse begins at 2:02 p.m. ET and totality at 3:16 p.m. ET.
• Buffalo, New York: Partial eclipse begins at 2:04 p.m. ET and totality at 3:18 p.m.
• Burlington, Vermont: Partial eclipse begins at 2:14 p.m. ET and totality at 3:26 p.m. ET.
• Lancaster, New Hampshire: Partial eclipse begins at 2:16 p.m. ET and totality at 3:27 p.m.
• Caribou, Maine: Partial eclipse begins at 2:22 p.m. ET and totality at 3:32 p.m. ET.

Other resources can also help you figure out when the various phases of the eclipse will be visible where you live, including NationalEclipse.com and TimeandDate.com .

If you plan to watch the celestial event, remember that it’s never safe to look directly at the sun, including through binoculars, telescopes or camera lenses. Special eclipse glasses are required to safely view solar eclipses and prevent permanent eye damage.

Denise Chow is a reporter for NBC News Science focused on general science and climate change.