A PhD is a primary requirement for a fruitful academic career. Between the two options, a PhD from a good foreign university is always a better option, though institutes such as the IIMs and IITs do offer you a reasonably good programme. The course at IIM, especially, is rigourous.

Yes. Most of the good foreign universities do offer you a scholarship or teaching assistantship. A scholarship is more prestigious and does not involve any reciprocal responsibilities. But a teaching assistantship would involve teaching undergraduate students, and tutoring for at least 20 hours a week. But most top tier universities offer you a good financial package.

There is no specialisation at the PhD level. You identify a problem with a broad disciplinary domain. But invariably PhD problems cut across multiple sub domains. You could look at the financial implications of new technology product development, for example.

Watch out for our October 2010 issue, which deals with foreign education in detail.