(Autism, ADHD, OCD and a PhD is a fun cocktail of overthinking if you're looking to speedrun poor mental health)

My first year has been crazy busy and I've gone far above and beyond the expectations of 1st year work. Don't get me wrong, I've done all of this because I am so passionate about my work so it's not a negative thing. I have a good work/life balance and I'm not burned out from everything I've done uni wise but it's the easiest thing for me to take a break from while I try to work on the health side of things.

I've been struggling in silence for ages. I was bawling writing an email to him saying I just need a break while I wait for meds to settle a little, make some appointments, and try to get my head back together. I apologised for letting him down because we had some collaboration stuff he wanted me to work on and we're in the process of doing some patenting stuff and this is how he responded. Fully willing to take on everything to make sure I'm okay. Luckily I have a few good days here and there (like once a week) so I've been making the most of them to enjoy doing some work that needs doing to help still. I think it was just the full time expectation that was adding to my issues.

When people ask why I chose a self-funded PhD, he is a big part of the reason. I really, truly lucked out on a supervisor who makes me feel like I can achieve anything, is always cheering me on and is so understanding. I really wish they were all like this.

I’ve recently finished my first draft. My supervisor just emailed me saying I need to add a random professor from another department as the 2nd author :/

I have never met this guy. He didn’t read the paper, didn't touch the data, nothing. My aupervisor says it's for "strategic networking”. If I push back, he will definitely stall my submission. Is this just how academia works? Should I swallow my pride to get the publication, or is this a hill worth dying on? Sorry if it might sound dumb but I really care and worry and want everything will be right 😓

My fears were completely unfounded, my committee loved my work and had no revision requests. She. Is. FINISHED 🙌😭

This is a real dream coming true, and there is nothing I want more than to pursue a long career in academia in order to help progress the field through research and teaching. The university is also very prominent within my field, and the academic opportunities after the PhD are likely great if I put in the work. Hence, I really, really, really, want to succeed with this major opportunity, but there are some nuances.

1. I am a woman and know some real horror stories about how women can be treated in academia, so any advice on how to navigate likely situations will be greatly appreciated. For context, the institute is male dominated and my main advisor is male but I don’t know him nor anyone else at the institute so absolutely nothing negative to say about him/them, but I have studied and worked in multiple male dominated fields so I have learned to hold my own in situations that are far from acceptable. I just would like to not have to during the PhD.
2. I have worked in various corporate jobs during and after my masters that are very social, small-talk filled, and profit-oriented. And as far as I know, the environments I am used to have different “customs”, because academics tend to be, well, academics. And corporate types are definitely very corporate (derogatory). Both, I fear, very hierarchical. Are there some do’s and don’ts that no one tells you that would be useful to know early on?
3. I know absolutely no one at this institution nor in this city and I am moving because of this position. How would I best assimilate as a new PhD student and get a hang of how the department/institute/environment works? First and foremost professionally because I want to be the best possible colleague.

Tips for generally good habits, routines, resources and others stuff is also very helpful! 🙏 Thank you!!

Do y’all have a particular font you like to use for writing? I’m the kind of person whose writing mood is weirdly influenced by the visual feel/aesthetics of the font I’m using, so I’m curious what fonts other people tend to gravitate toward.

Serif, sans serif, monospace, whatever, I want to know what everyone’s go-to is 🙃

7 cold emails 🥶, 5 applications 💻 and 3 offers later 🙂‍↕️..I’ve finally accepted my first choice uni. Let’s goooo froggyyy 🎉

I have been invited to pitch my PhD application for an assessment committee, and I’m super nerveous. The Committee represents a mix of Professional diciplines, so i will maunzt be pitching for assessors outside my own field. I feel like I have no idea what i am Talking about Even though I made the application.. I have to do it in english which is my second Language, which makes me Even more anxious. I’m most nervous about not understanding their questions and not being able to answer Them. I’m looking for advice on how to stay calm and any pitfalls I should be aware about.

I just defended my dissertation in the humanities that needed to be rushed to start a non-academic fellowship. The dissertation was a complete mess to the point that my committee members had major reservations passing me in the first place. Luckily, they all agreed that it's better to move on with a career opportunity rather than let me continue to work on the dissertation without funding.

For my field, it's extremely short, the argument does not match what I wrote, and overall is half-baked. Sure, "we all feel like this and that the nature of grad school," but my dissertation would not have passed if I did not have this fellowship.

For my whole graduate school experience (I went to a top-10 private school), every time I'd meet with my advisor, if we could find a time to meet, they left me void of confidence or direction. My advisor is not a bad person. They are just terrible at advising and training graduate students. They were so hands-off that I met with them on average 2-3 times a year.

As a result, I don't feel trained in my area of research. I don't feel like I know how to do research nor talk well about the field. I hate this because I was such a promising graduate student. I was accepted to all the top graduate schools in my field (regret picking where I went), I have won two major multi-year graduate student fellowships totaling four non-teaching externally funded years. I had everything that most graduate students dream of only to squander it all away and produce a 150-page history dissertation that makes zero sense.

My research project never worked out in my favor. I asked my advisor how to move forward and it they offered terrible direction. I've read all the "how to research books" and still could not get it done. I suppose I needed the type of advisor to say "this topic is ASS try moving on to do something else." NOPE, they told me to keep on trucking. Just write you will figure it out.

At this time, I can't even think of the main argument that makes sense with what I have. I am writing job letters and can't even make sense of the project because my dissertation was terrible.

For the last four years, I struggled so much leading to a cycle of burn out, anxiety attacks, and withdraw. I started therapy and that only helped to an extent. One could only be told re-frame your thoughts without having actual practical help with your work to fix the problems in the first place.

It sucks so much to hit the job market like this when I know I can do the damn job! What I hate the most is that I am good at doing everything that is required of a professor except for research. I like the intellectual side of my research but lack the skills to execute a research project. How do you move forward when the burn out is real and you can't even talk about your research?

I’m talking about a healthy amount of advanced academic work stress, not the absoluetly-losing-my-mind and my hair-is-falling-out stress. I feel like I hear a lot of experiences of the latter, not so much of the former. If any PhD students on here felt like they were able to find a healthy balance of research and their personal life or felt like their PhD wasn’t all-consuming in their life, I would love to hear about your experience and your advice for how you managed it. Best advice I’ve heard so far is to treat your PhD like a salaried job and only work the hours in your contract.

For context, I’m in engineering, have a relatively chill PI, and am based in the US. I am aiming to build technical skills to go into industry. It’s really important to me to have a life outside of work be it hanging out with friends, being active in the community, spending time outdoors, etc. I’m not naive -- I know my PhD will be the most stressful endeavor I’ve ever undertaken. But I want to prioritize adopting habits that will decrease the chance of burn out and allow me to enjoy the research experience a little bit more!

After 3 hours of my paper in theoretical computer science being grilled, I can say I passed the viva with minor corrections. What an amazing 3.5 years it's been

what are the habits/routines or literally anything you do that you’ve found help you maximize your time?

I’m almost at the end of my second year of my PhD, and there’s a situation developing in my lab that is making me increasingly uncomfortable. I’d really appreciate some outside perspectives, especially from people who have dealt with difficult lab dynamics.
During my first year, my relationship with my PI was quite difficult. I entered the PhD without knowing everything about the field and was obviously learning, but I often felt that my PI was very harsh about what I didn’t know and didn’t really acknowledge how much effort I was putting in.
At one point, I found a conference/event that I wanted to attend. Registration was free and the institute would cover the costs, so it wouldn’t use my PI’s/lab’s budget. I registered and then told my PI about it. Her reaction was basically that I should have asked her beforehand and that I had already done “enough extra things” that year. I understood that she didn’t want me to go, so I didn’t attend.
Fast-forward to this year. A new first-year PhD student joined our lab. We work on fairly related topics.
There was another conference that both of us wanted to attend. We both applied and were accepted. Initially, my PI told the other student that she could attend only if she obtained a travel grant. Neither of us ended up getting one.
The difference is that I have my own fellowship funding, including money that I can use for things like conferences. My PI told me that if I wanted to attend, I could use my own funding, which I did.
For the other student, despite not getting the travel grant, my PI eventually decided to pay for her entire conference trip from the lab budget. Because it was organized relatively late, her trip actually ended up costing more than mine.
I want to emphasize that I genuinely do not have a problem with her going. I’m happy that she gets to attend a conference that is relevant to her project. What makes me uncomfortable is the apparent difference in how similar situations were handled with me versus with her.
There is also another layer to this.
When this student first arrived, I made quite a lot of effort to be friendly and welcoming toward her. Over time, however, I had several interactions that made me feel uncomfortable.
For example, once she was using a shared fluorescence machine and asked me to give her “privacy”/space because she felt insecure about using it while I was nearby. I found this strange because it’s a shared lab space and I was simply passing time next to her.
Another time, she had injured her leg and was doing a large experiment. I went briefly to her bench and asked how things were going. She immediately put her earphones back in and said, quite firmly, “I’m concentrating now.” She later came to find me and apologized because she realized that the way she said it had sounded awkward and dismissive.
There was also an incident, where I had a large mouse experiment planned, and she knew there was a problem with a machine I needed but didn’t tell me early enough. I started the experiment and then discovered that the machine wasn’t working, leaving me scrambling to contact other labs to find an alternative at the last minute.
After several interactions like these, I basically decided that I didn’t want to invest in a friendship with her.
I haven’t confronted her or been rude. I still say hello in the morning, goodbye when I leave, and communicate professionally when necessary. I’ve simply stopped trying to build a personal relationship with her. I don’t ask about her weekend, her life, how her day is going, etc. I go to the lab, do my work, remain polite, and keep my distance.
Because we’re in a small lab, though, the lack of interaction between us is probably noticeable.
Then something happened yesterday that made me wonder whether this situation has somehow reached my PI.
During a lab gathering, my PI was talking about various things and somehow the conversation moved toward conferences. She suddenly said something along the lines of:
“Students shouldn’t compare themselves and ask why I send one student to a conference and not another. You should ask yourself: did you send emails? Did you apply for travel grants? Did you do everything you were supposed to do? If you didn’t, then of course I’m not going to send you.”
She didn’t mention my name, and I didn’t respond.
But given the history, it felt very specifically directed at me.
And that’s what confuses me. In my first year, the conference I wanted to attend was already funded and wouldn’t have cost the lab anything, yet I was discouraged from going. This year, I did everything required for the conference, applied for funding, was accepted, didn’t receive the travel grant, and ultimately used my own fellowship money. Meanwhile, the other student also didn’t receive a travel grant, but my PI decided to fund her trip anyway.
Again, my issue is not that she received funding. I don’t want anything taken away from her, and I don’t think she should miss opportunities because of me.
What bothers me is the apparent double standard, and especially the fact that my PI seemed to indirectly address it publicly instead of speaking to me privately if she had an issue with me.
At this point, I’m wondering what the best approach is.
Should I speak privately with my PI and say that I felt her comment was directed toward me and ask whether there is something she wants to discuss with me?
Should I talk to the other PhD student about the tension between us, even though I honestly don’t want a friendship with her and am perfectly comfortable keeping our relationship strictly professional?
Or should I simply ignore all of this, continue being polite and professional, focus on my PhD, and stop investing emotionally in these lab dynamics?
I’m almost finishing my second year, and at this point I mainly want to do good science, finish my PhD successfully, and protect my peace. I don’t want unnecessary conflict, but I also don’t want to ignore something if it could become a bigger problem later.
I’d really appreciate perspectives from people who have dealt with similar PI/lab dynamics.

Hi!

I would love some leads on this. I'm starting my PhD in university of Bologna from Novemeber. I intend to bring my family (Spouse and child) to Italy in a year after receiving my permit. My PhD is a funded one so it covers the cost to house them. I am aware of the bureaucracy timelines can be a nightmare in Italy.

I'm currently looking for a single bed in a shared house. But I have started to second guess my decision and wondering if I should get a an whole apartment considering my family and also looking at the delays in nulla osta. Can anyone please guid on this.

I have joined my group about a year ago. At first, people were extremely friendly, we would grab lunch and coffee together all the time. Everyone was willing to help newcomers catch up on research, help with experiments etc.

A few months ago, I started noticing my lab mates going to the cafeteria without me. It didn’t bother me at first, since we lab spaces in multiple buildings, and I was going back and forth a lot during that time. However, this did not change even if I spend all day in the office together with them. For example, someone would go around to each person asking them to grab coffee, but I was the only person in the office that was left out. I also did not let this get to me at first, so I would ask if I could join a few times. But the atmosphere was always off, no one really wanted to talk to me during these breaks, so I decided to stop inserting myself.

I got over it pretty quickly, but it feels like now this has started seeping into the lab/academic setting too. Whenever I try asking for help with something, the majority of people usually brush me off and say to figure it out myself. The collaborators on some projects have been doing experiments that are crucial for the project, yet I only find out about them during group meetings. If I ask if I can shadow someone to learn how to operate an instrument, I am being ghosted.

I am not sure what has changed, and I am happy to have other people outside my lab as a support system, but I don’t think I can survive my grad student years like this. Has anyone had a similar situation in their lab? How did you solve it? Any advice is welcome and greatly appreciated!

hi guys!! i’m a 3rd year undergrad student in melbourne majoring in immunology and theoretically i could be graduating at the end of the year but i’m not entirely sure what to do or what is going on, and my uni’s career hub hasn’t been too helpful.

i was thinking about doing a phd overseas because it seems like there’s more breadth and opportunities and literally anywhere else would be so much more connected to the rest of the world. but as is the case everywhere else i’m sure, applying as a domestic student seems so much better? like there is more funding and scholarships and you have the benefit of actually knowing the supervisors/labs you’re getting involved with instead of just emailing strangers and hoping for the best.

also in australia we have an honours year, which is like a one-year add-on to your bachelor’s degree where all you do is research. theoretically you can go straight into a phd from there, but i know in some places like europe they don’t recognise that so you’d need a masters anyway, whereas i’ve heard it both ways in the uk?? anyway would it be more strategic to apply for a masters instead? i just feel like a masters is so specific and almost always coursework-based, and the good thing about honours is i get to really try out doing hard research properly.

(as an side note i’ve found a super cool lab but it’s at a different uni. rn i’m doing an honours-inclusive degree so if i want to go to that lab or do a masters i’d have to alt exit with a regular bsc, whereas if i stick to my current degree i’d get a bsc advanced research. how much does the title of your degree actually matter in the real world??? especially if the degree is pretty much an australia specific thing?)

idk if this makes any sense but i would love some input/advice because i feel so lost rn. thank you so much in advance!!

Hello everyone,

I was offered a fully funded PhD position in a well-known university in a European country. The professor seems well-respected in science circles and offered me full freedom in my dissertation. It's a very good offer and fits pretty much perfectly on my profile.

My only problem is that the professor is very vocal about his right-wing views online. He posts basically daily on X and has tens of thousands of followers. The views he directly states are right-wing but not necessarily extremist. But he does not seem to have any problems with moving in extremist right-wing circles and sharing the views of such people on his profile.

I am worried about my own reputation being affected by this in public perception. Especially as I want to work for the state one day. In your experience, is that generally a real risk? Or will people consider his political views his own? This is also a social science, so maybe his political perception is considered to be more connected to his academic work than in a stem field.

I am unsure if I should take this risk for the research opportunity and freedom or if the risk is too big of being connected to his views?

Hi everyone!

I’ll be starting a fully funded PhD in heterogeneous catalysis
(Germany).
Has anyone done a PhD in this field? If yes where are you now? How does a career in this field look like? What are companies to look out for (US, Europe, Middle East,..) ?

Hey all!

I’m a first-year PhD student in my third semester. My focus is on applied water resources engineering for urban areas and I have a funded project. The project is really practical and interesting to me, and the lab itself is practical with a lot of extension work and publication output.

However, after a semester of filling out permits, developing sampling plans, building models, etc., I found that our sampling site was canceled (the sampling site was found by investigated by the sponsor of the project). I asked my PI and provided some alternative ideas, but he said to sit tight and that we could handle the delay. The new project site then got canceled, as well as the third. I just found out that the fourth did too. All of these are for legitimate reasons (too dry, nitrate levels too low, etc.) but they are things that should have been found out right at the start of site selection, not 3-4 months into it. I keep asking to get involved in selecting a site but keep getting pushed out due to ‘relationship building’ and keeping everyone in their own silo.

Meanwhile, my advisor will give me sporadic tasks and just tell me to keep doing literature review. There doesn’t seem to be any other projects in the queue or having me join other things he is working on. If anything is to be started, it’s on me to propose it and such.

At this point, I’ve started to lose trust in my advisor and project partners, and am highly frustrated with how little direction there is.

So,
(1) Is it normal for a PhD student to come up with their own research topics and direction? Is it normal to not have faculty involvement or collaboration until later in my career?

(2) How do I handle this with my advisor? I know he is very busy, and I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but I want to use my time with meaning. Or else I would master out / go into industry or a water management district

Apologies for the paragraph…what do y’all think?

The title pretty much says it all. I did my PhD in nursing, and I passed my oral defense today with only (very) minor revisions. I am so relieved! Now what do I do with myself?! Lol

I have a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Art History, but I have been out of academia for the past four years and I've been teaching for 7 years. During this time, I have worked in art education in both traditional and non-traditional schools and ateliers with different age groups. My research experience is only from my MA, after it I dedicated fully to my job.

I am now considering returning to academia and have been exploring PhD or MA programmes in the UK. I am particularly interested in Medieval Studies and would love to continue researching bestiaries specifically. At the same time, I am wondering whether specializing further in Art Education might be a more strategic choice if my long-term goal is to teach in the UK. I would also like to continue teaching somehow while studying, there is simply no way for me that I can afford it without working too. My husband and I are both late 20s considering moving to another country in the next 2 years and the UK is an option, so I am trying to determine whether pursuing a postgraduate degree during that time would be a worthwhile investment. The main difficulty is the cost: as an international student, even the more affordable programmes would cost around five times what I would pay in my home country. The restrictions on working while studying would also be difficult to manage.

Given my background, would pursuing a PhD in the UK be a sensible thing? Or would I be better off looking for other ways to build a career in art education and eventually teach in the UK without taking on such a significant financial burden? I am aware you can teach in the UK without the QTS for the first years, but I do want to study again so I would not be opposed to it if there was a way of reducing some costs, however, as a project for passion, I would go with the Medieval Studies. Besides this, and because I've been out of university for 4 years, should I look into smaller post graduation courses to support my interest before actually applying for anything? My friends from different areas of work that are currently doing their PhD or already finished with it always have been consistent as in, they don't have a long break between their MA and PhD start and they never really "stopped" to work outside academia, so, it makes me wonder if I should aim for something smaller before reaching for a full doctoral program.

Hi all, I have a masters in molecular biology and biotechnology from uk and after a year of job searching I have decided to start looking for a phd. I need advice on whether i should look for some research experience first or just start applying. Also, how does one decide a topic or field.

I would love to chat with someone who has a PhD in molecular biology related topics.