Back to Campus — Fail is an Option, Ph.D is not for Everyone

My Three-Year Journey of a Highly Challenging Academic Life

**Dr. Andi Sama — **CIO, Sinergi Wahana Gemilang

Please refer to the two earlier articles in the series “Back to Campus — My Ph.D. Journey, Doctor of Computer Science,” (Andi Sama, 2025) and “Back to Campus — Navigating the Qualification Exam: A Doctoral Student’s Journey” (Andi Sama et al., 2025).

TL; DR;
- Ideally, the doctoral program in computer science can be completed within 6 semesters (3 years), with maximum of 14 semesters (7 years), in Indonesia.
- Dr. (Cand.) title (equivalent to Ph.D Candidate) is awarded after passing the qualification exam.
- Dr. title (equivalent to a Ph.D) is awarded after passing the open oral exam (viva).

During a coffee break in my first year of doctoral study in computer science, a casual conversation with the visiting Professor, who was lecturing on research trends in information systems, led to something like the following. It was sometime in mid 2023, my first year in the program.

• The Professor: "Are you an active lecturer at a university?"
• Me: "No, I am just an industry professional seeking to explore what it's like to take the highest education level in computer science. However, I taught for two years at the university as a part-time lecturer in computer architecture and operating systems. Following that, I occasionally served as a guest lecturer at several universities on emerging technology topics, including cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and quantum computing.
• The Professor continued: "Actually, a doctoral degree (Dr.), doctor by research, commonly referred to as Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy) in some other countries, is not necessary for those who are not a lecturer or planning to be a lecturer."
• Me: "Oh, I see…," smiling and speechless, since I was not planning to devote my life to lecturing :-).

The Challenges in Navigating the Doctoral Journey

Experiencing three years in the program (graduating on time) has been an exceptional and exciting journey for me, with many unforeseen surprises, especially since I had been in the industry for so long since graduating from my first and 2nd master's degrees in computer science and business administration.

While I was briefly aware that a doctoral degree by research required conducting research, obviously, I learned that it would take a lot of effort, spending many days and nights (including weekends and holidays), focusing deeply on a specific chosen area of research for years, which is what the students needed to devote themselves to. These were all expected.

My Journey in the Doctor of Computer Science Study

In my case, I was initially accepted into the information systems stream (focused on developing a framework or model for doing predictive analytics on operational technology data stream) of the Doctor of Computer Science (DCS) program at Binus University in Indonesia. Later, in the early second year, my research was redirected to a different focus within the computer science stream (focused on a symmetric algorithm modification), with an emphasis on its application within an Industry 4.0 framework from a computer engineering perspective. This alone was a big shift in focus area in the middle of the journey.

A Doctoral Journey (Elementary -> High School -> Bachelor -> Master -> Doctor).

The requirement to have some accepted papers in conferences and journals within a predefined timeframe was quite shocking and stressful (optionally, two International conference papers in the first year; later, one International conference paper and two International journal papers towards the dissertation, starting in the second year). I just found out all that during first-year coursework.

Furthermore, so many new things (at least for me) came all at once — like "what is a scientific paper?" and the difference between conference paper, conference proceedings, and journal paper. Not to mention Scopus, Google Scholar, Mendeley reference manager, and many other sources — including the complexity of the independent blind-reviewing process from paper submission to acceptance, before publication, and indexing. For lecturers, all these are not new. They are accustomed to publishing papers in conferences and journals as part of their role as lecturers.

An ideal three-year journey for the doctoral study — regular track, Doctor of Computer Science, at Binus University.

Time management is definitely very important, especially for me, who was researching while also working professionally. A few hours of sleep were common during those three years, constantly day to day, week by week, month by month, and year by year; one might wish to get 8 hours of sleep daily in the 4 hours actually available.

In the dissertation for algorithm modification, I wrote a lot of code in my second and third years, mostly in C on Linux and Windows, and sometimes in combination with Python for visualization.

Completing My Dissertation

Prototyping through experimentation includes using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) on Siemens PLC (using Assembly, C, Ladder Language Diagram/LLD, and Structured Text programming) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (OpenSCADA), with some industry-grade hardware sensors and actuators. Yes, it involved soldering the actual components.

SPSS software was used as a statistical analysis tool, for example, to determine whether there was a significant difference at a given p-value between the reference data and the generated data from our experiments.

A few students I know struggled all the way, finishing the program in the 14th semester (seven years)—finally earning their degree at the maximum study limit, thanks to God—while a few others finished it within three years. On average, students can complete the study within four to five years. A few also decided to quit within the first or second year for various reasons — high stress and frustration were among them, or around the time they were about to finish the dissertation.

Aside from continuous writing and reviewing to complete the dissertation, the journal paper's acceptance was the main factor preventing students from graduating on time. Often, the dissertation was ready for the final oral exam (the viva); however, it could not be scheduled as the prerequisite had not been fulfilled (one accepted conference paper and two accepted journal papers must be Scopus-indexed).

Preparing the paper alone could take a few months (at least for me). Then, selecting the right conference or journal to submit to, and waiting for acceptance of the submitted paper (3–6 months if lucky; can be 12+ months if rejected and need to resubmit). Grammarly, an AI-assisted tool available with a paid annual subscription, contributed to my paper and dissertation writing.

I was fortunate to achieve All Done But Dissertation (ABD) in the fifth semester, a quite rare situation in which the student has completed all the prerequisites early (including papers for conferences and journals) and just needs to complete the dissertation documents to be scheduled for the final exam (open oral exam, the viva), which I orally defended and passed in the sixth semester.

Conclusion

While being smart is good, it is not a significant factor in completing the program successfully. The determination to pursue what we love and, in the process, contribute new knowledge through years of research requires a strong commitment from us and the support of those around us. Our direct bosses at work, family, and the assigned supervisors for the dissertation at the university, consisting of one professor and two doctors.

There are three luxuries that not everyone can have. In addition to our intellectual capability and willingness, regardless of the motivation.

1. Funding for the doctoral study can be obtained either through a scholarship or privately. Funding includes tuition fees as well as conference and journal publication fees, which can be costly, especially for top-tier open-access journals.
2. Support from our bosses (in the majority, students are working for someone — either at a university, a private institution, or a government institution). This provides flexibility in timing throughout the study, as the program requires thousands of hours of dedicated effort.
3. Support from our family. One of the most important factors. As we focus on pursuing the highest academic degree, we want to minimize the impact on our relationship with our family.

The supervisors would guide us on our journey to discover the novelty, our contribution to knowledge, and the key requirement for getting a Ph.D. Doing research involves exploring the current state, typically by conducting a systematic literature review, identifying gaps, conducting research, and contributing to knowledge by publishing the findings in a paper in a conference or journal.

In summary, the doctoral program in Indonesia can ideally be completed within three years; before that, one cannot graduate, even if all requirements have been fulfilled, and must wait to be eligible to participate in the graduation ceremony. Students typically complete the doctoral program in four to five years, with seven years being the maximum.

Anyway, whether graduated on time or pushed all the way to the maximum allowable time, one is still called a Dr. (or Ph.D.), a doctor by research, a doctor of philosophy.

Since graduating from the doctoral program, I have occasionally guest-lectured at universities and spoken at conferences. I continue to work professionally at Sinergi Wahana Gemilang and do not pursue a tenured professor position at the university.

References

• Andi Sama, 2025, "Back to Campus — My Ph.D. Journey, Doctor of Computer Science", https://andisama.medium.com/back-to-campus-my-ph-d-journey-doctor-in-computer-science-83f2cac07aa6.
• Andi Sama et al., 2025, "Back to Campus — Navigating the Qualification Exam: A Doctoral Student's Journey," https://andisama.medium.com/back-to-campus-navigating-the-qualification-exam-a-doctoral-students-journey-ce496f0ab079.