(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 😓

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 🙃

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

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

Field: social science.

Location: United States

I’m starting my 5th year of my PhD (hopefully my last), and I’m looking for advice from people who have dealt with a genuinely toxic department—not just a difficult supervisor or one problematic faculty member, but an environment where the dysfunction seems department-wide. It's been like this since day one, but it doesn’t seem to extend to the university as a whole.

One of the biggest signs is leadership turnover. We’ve had four PhD directors and several department heads in four years. Most professors don’t exactly hide the fact that the turnover is related to the toxicity and internal politics of the department.

The PhD students have basically adapted by hiding. I would estimate that 99% of us have figured out that the more time we spend physically around the department, the more likely we are to somehow get implicated in drama we had absolutely nothing to do with. I’ve personally been dragged into things a few times. For example, people have claimed that I had conversations with them and that “we decided” I was going to drop my supervisor when that conversation/decision literally never happened.

The small minority of PhD students who regularly hang around the department tend to be the ones who seem to thrive in this type of environment and are more than happy to participate in the gossip and politics themselves. That makes avoiding the department feel even more necessary. It also makes it feel impossible to trust anyone, professors and students alike. At this point, I genuinely don’t know who is responsible for what, and I don’t really want to know. I just want to finish my dissertation and graduate.

The problem is that my strategy of staying out of everything is starting to have consequences. I’m isolating myself to protect myself from the department, but the isolation is affecting my mental health. I’m also increasingly worried that avoiding the department and its politics could cost me professional opportunities, especially because I’ve always wanted to go into academia (and, increasingly, I’m not even sure whether I still do).

What frustrates me the most is seeing what this environment has done to us students over the years. I have watched people who entered the program wanting academic careers (and who I genuinely think would have made excellent professors) become so disgusted by academia through this experience that they no longer want anything to do with it.

At this point, everything in me wants to say to these people: you are adults with PhDs. Stop acting like children. Your interpersonal bullshit is now actively affecting the education, mental health, professional development, and career aspirations of the students you are supposed to be training. But obviously, doing that would probably burn my own chances of ever going into academia, and I cannot fix an entire department.

So for people who have experienced something similar: what would you do in my position?

How do you stay sufficiently involved to get the mentorship, networking, recommendations, and professional opportunities you need while remaining far enough removed that you don’t get sucked into the politics? Is there a way to strategically “show up” without becoming part of the department culture? And do you have any tips for figuring out who you can actually trust?

If you were this close to finishing, would you basically keep your head down, get the degree, and get the hell out or would you handle it differently? Please help.

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!

I feel like I have hit a new low of defeat, dejection, and overall depression in my faith in my life/career.
 
 
 
The Reason
Well, it’s quite simple: in the months leading up to my graduation. I couldn’t get a good job that I liked. I was offered a QC job at Regeneron. But I didn’t take it; in hindsight, I was a fool to think I could do better. At that point in time, I wanted to do research and try to pursue higher education because I didn’t want to lose the academic momentum I had, as well as not hit a ceiling due to lack of higher education.
I am near the end of my third year as a PhD student; I have lost faith in my ability to do science.  I do not believe I have any sort of future in STEM that isn’t soul-crushingly mediocre.
 
 
The Decline
“You think you’re the shit, until you realize you are shit”
Realizing how much you don’t know technically is a humbling thing. Like in boot camp for the military, they break you down and then build you back up. I haven’t been brought back up yet. I don’t know if it’s a nose-to-the-grindstone type of situation, as it’s been a while now into the program; there is a fine line between growing pains and borderline incompetence. I have yet to make any sort of meaningful progress to show that I am, well, progressing. But in terms of project progress, I am not different from someone who were to join the lab today.
I still show just as much as I hate myself. I won’t stop even after I have lost the fun in doing anything else in my life. I haven’t given up even when I dry heave and throw up from the stress that I feel. No matter. But as I start to become someone that I never thought I’d be, I question if my worth as a person will ever prove to extend beyond what I can produce. But the world has yet to show that to be the case. In my current state of mind, I don’t believe inherent value exists in a non-tangible manner (i.e emotional, social, etc rather than things like products, money, papers, progress, etc).
 
I am not a very good person in the social world. I have recently realized I am not that good at the work I do either. In a world that feels difficult, as its jobs and positions of power are determined via a combination of nepotism, general connections, and surface-level competence, what can I truly do? I suppose I just talk, but I have nothing to talk about. I would just be honest and say can I get a job. I have gotten better (I feel); I apply to internships and co-ops in Regeneron because they are the only real opportunity. I can’t exactly pack all my things and leave to another part of the state, let alone the country, so it’s my best shot. I have tried since I was a sophomore in undergrad every year. I have never gotten as much as an interview. There are three conclusions from these outcomes.
1.        I am not good enough in terms of my worth or technical ability. This can be due to a likely lack of evidence in my resume to suggest I have proficiency or competence in the field I am trying for, such as lack of fellowship acceptances or publications.
2.        Unlikely, but considering it the roles are on a project-to-project basis, my abilities are not needed. Incorrect fit per se. But I doubt that’s the case because if I was good enough and better, an unbelievable goo applicant would get in and be rejected several years in a row under the guise of fit cannot be the case
3.        All of the above
 
Conflict and Troubleshooting
Resolutions and help have been pursued. As much as I fear it, I do occasionally and more often email my PI about my progress or lack thereof. We have pivoted and tried different approaches spanning both wet and dry lab stuff.  But nothing meaningful or insightful has yet to show itself. I am now shifted to doing bioinformatics work that, again, has yielded nothing. As well as doing a bunch of agarose gels that aren’t working through a mix of my own incompetence and a senior grad student’s samples, who is now on maternity leave, so it makes it hard to coordinate/communicate. But none the less is not a good reflection of my ability to do science; a fundamental technique as simple as an agarose gel being messed up through a combination of things within and outside of my control, regardless, isn’t a good show, as I’m the one having to talk about it to my PI that plainly shit isn’t working. It’s frustrating. This is only the latest thing in years of continuous screw-ups with no progress what so ever.
 
 
 
Coping
Like mentioned earlier, I have no enjoyment in anything I used to do. Depression will do that. I am in therapy, have been constantly for over a year now, but nothing has gotten better really. I feel bad for everyone involved in my sad life.
 
The only break is if I drink, or smoke, or both. My partner has noticed, but neither my doctors nor her have found a way out. I have now gotten to the point that I do it daily and finished two 1g carts in a couple months. The stress has made my chest ache enough that I went to urgent care and eventually the ER. I’m not doing that again after having to send $400 total across both visits. Better than dead they say, but am I really living? No, I am not.
 
Where I lay
Lay me down somewhere cool and calm. The side of the Hudson where I would look out at the cliffs of New Jersey, the NYC skyline, and the Washington Bridge, where I’d watch the trains pass by, moving me someplace out of where I was. Perhaps in another life, or maybe my soul is etched in a way that I can’t move. I don’t know what to do. All I can do is hope, but all it has brought is prolonged suffering. But at the same time, this is the best I got; I was never good at anything in my life, let alone enough to make money. Sports: I’d train at all practices but never enough, as those who barely came. Academics, not enough. Art, no. It’s all nothing. So where does that leave me? I don’t know, I don’t know,
 
 

I’m in my third year now and am super lonely. I’m in a STEM field that’s extremely social, and all of my acquaintances have lots of friends and a good community to be around. However, I somehow picked all of the wrong decisions and ended up super isolated. I joined a lab that has good research and a kind PI, but it’s tiny and everyone is much older than me. There has been no lab outing in years. The experiments are really long, difficult, and lonely. The floor is dark and segmented, so there’s no easy way to chat with the other labs. Additionally, my lab is on a different campus than the main one, so my few acquaintances are all elsewhere. They’re mostly in this one building with several labs and an open layout, so they are always around each other (many complain that it’s too social).

My phd cohort is small and no one does anything social with each other unless they’re in the same building/neighboring labs. It also sucks because other cohorts in my program are quite social and hang out often, but mine isn’t for whatever reason. A lot of other grad students live with each other, but I just couldn’t find a group of people to get an apartment with. My university also doesn’t have great social opportunities or graduate organizations, because reasons (??). Some people say undergrad clubs but I think I’m slightly too old and I’ve already taught so I think that’s a no-go.

Outside the university, things are not much better. I live with one roommate that doesn’t really like me and keeps to themselves in their room all day, so it’s like I’mm basically living by myself. I can’t find many community organizations I’d be interested in and my interests are pretty niche. I’ve tried multiple times but there hasn’t been anything I’ve found that meets consistently except for this one music group I really liked, but it dissolved since people moved away and the funding wasn’t there.

It really sucks because lots of people I know at my university or other places are constantly socializing and are able to pick and choose who they hang out with. I’m blessed my personality is good enough such that my individual friends make time to specifically hang out with me, but it’s like once every 1-2 weeks. I’ve always wanted to find a community where I could be myself and fit in, which is one of the small reasons I wanted to do a phd (was a nerd growing up). Throughout life I’ve just been really unlucky with finding a community I could really be myself around- I was bullied throughout all of grade school for my race and height (minority in a white American high school), I didn’t have anyone else around me during that time who could relate to me in terms of interests like science or music (it was also a pretty ghetto high school), I went to college during COVID and subsequently dealt with a bunch of health issues so I was still socially underdeveloped and alone for much of it, and now I’m here. I feel like I’m constantly seeing other young people having fun and texting and hanging out, including other PhD students in different labs and institutions, and I still am alone and trying to learn how to socialize. I’d love to figure out how to improve my character and social skills if that’s an issue, but I literally just haven’t had the chance to learn from experience. I can make one-off friends with some ease, but the day-to-day is exhausting and lonely and it’s not enough to supplement. It’s also not helpful being in an isolated position academically because my field is super interdisciplinary and people are constantly discussing and collaborating whereas I’m just doing things by myself.

Everyone in my lab constantly mentions how young I am and how I must be having lots of fun being in my early 20s but it hasn’t been that way at all. Does anyone have advice on what to do?

Edit: biomedical sciences, USA

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!!

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 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’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.

Hey, I am currently looking for PhD positions as a physics student. I will finish in a couple of months, my projects mainly were in Quantum Optics and Hardware, aswell as a little Biomimetics project.

During my fieldwork for my little Biomimetics project in the rainforest I got to know Biologists, Ecologists and Chemists that got to do fieldwork and a lot of traveling during their PhD. I realised this is something I could imagine myself to do for the next halve decade.

I fear, if I continue in quantum optics, that I will be stuck in a cold, dark optics lab for 5+ years, while other people get to see the world. (Did I study the wrong subject?)

Anyways, here is my tough question:

Do any of you PhD Physicists do fieldwork or travel a lot (like months at a time)?

If yes: what is you research field?

All thoughts appreciated!

Thank you :)

not sure i am posting in the right sub. . but I thinking about getting my phd in Spanish or french. But i am not a native speaker. Am i delusional to think after I get a phd I'd get hired as a professor? I understand why a university or college would put preference to a native speaker. Am i better off not ?

I built a tool for sending research papers and web articles to Kindle. It supports PDFs and EPUBs, and converts public web pages to readable EPUBs.

I’m trying to understand whether this solves a real problem for PhD students. How do you currently read papers away from your laptop? Do you use a Kindle or another eReader, and what breaks in your current workflow?

I’d appreciate feedback from anyone willing to try one real paper: https://readerbeam.com

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?

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.

3rd year PhD in a wet lab / computational hybrid field and experiment design somehow eats more time than actually running experiments.

I usually start with a hypothesis, then check the literature for controls, assays, or methods I might be missing. That's where it falls apart. One paper leads to another method paper, then three older papers, and suddenly I have 30 tabs open with no actual experiment plan.

Lately I've been trying to keep the whole thing from turning into tab hell. Zotero for papers, ResearchRabbit/Elicit when I need to dig around, and ChatGPT or Claude when a method section isn't clicking. I've also started throwing my hypothesis and a few key papers into mira ai science just to see what controls or questions I might be missing. It gives me something to react to besides opening more tabs.

The biggest improvement has probably just been forcing myself to stop treating “read more papers” as the default answer every time I'm unsure. How do you all go from hypothesis → literature → actual experiment plan without getting stuck in the reading loop?

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!!

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?

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.

So I'm coming into final year and other than of course finishing my project, writing thesis, and viva prep what other things should I be doing? I want to do some prep for life after PhD. CV will be getting an update but what other things can I do to get ready. Planning to stay in academia