remote Ph.D. is a bad idea; the Ph.D. experience is isolating enough as-is, and pushing it remotely will exacerbate those problems. plus, innovation often happens in serendipitous in-person encounters in the hallway, lounge, and lab with students, professors, and research staff incidentally bumping into one another. see:
http://www.amazon.com/Where-Good-Ideas-Come-From/dp/15944853...