It's nice to have a good debate on air-l concerning matters which are really important to the future health of research into the Internet and related technologies. As I said at the 10th anniversary of AoIR in Milwaukee: the thing that makes me most proud is to see some many outstanding doctoral students at the conference, and people who have completed their doctorates and are returning. Two additional thoughts: First, the discussion so far has been very north American in its focus (it's ok - the majority of members are probably from that part of the world). Let's remember conditions are different in different countries - PhDs in Australia and the UK don't follow the same rules or patterns of activity, nor are European doctorates the same. Still, the advice from various people is good - think about funding; think about the social / informal learning quality of the place you go; think about the degree to which your intended supervisors value your perspectives and give you methodological and topical freedom rather than fitting you into their preferred approach. Second, let's turn this around: many of us on the list are, or will, supervise (trans. = advise) doctoral students. Collectively, Internet-oriented researchers, regardless of their discipline, should be very careful about the power relations of supervisor and student and consciously affirm the respect and care for students which is necessary for successful completion. Imagine the future - don't recreate the past. Professor Matthew Allen Head, Department of Internet Studies School of Media, Culture and Creative Arts Curtin University of Technology CRICOS provider code: 00301J (WA); 02637B (NSW) +61892663511 http://netstudies.curtin.edu.au and http://netcrit.net 2008 ALTC Teaching Fellow Life Member, Association of Internet Researchers