One Laptop Per PhD Student

robyn.owens — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:56:00 GMT

I was at a national meeting this week where we discussed, among other things, aspirations for high quality facilities for PhD students. I made the suggestion that we (the University) should supply a new laptop on enrolment for all PhD students. This suggestion was met with gasps of horror from colleagues at other universities, somewhat to my surprise. It was clearly something that seemed way out of the realms of dreaming, and then shortly afterwards the arguments about why it would be a bad thing started.

Using laptops is bad for your health
Laptops get stolen
Laptops require back-up
Laptops would require set-up with necessary software
Licencing for software would be complicated/costly
What happens if the student takes longer than 4 years? - should the laptop be replaced?
Who owns the laptop at the end of candidature?

I know, however, that a number of Schools at UWA do supply their PhD students with a new computer (desktop or laptop, whichever is more appropriate or desired) upon commencement. This seems to me perfectly reasonable - I can't imagine how one could be expected to do a PhD without a computer, and if the research requires travel and/or fieldwork, then a laptop is necessary.

Is the One Laptop Per PhD Student an even wilder dream than the One Laptop Per Child?

Robyn's Blog : Facilities

One Laptop Per PhD Student