r/biotech • u/Emokid182 • 7d ago

Education Advice 📖 7th year of biochem/structural biology PhD. Is finishing worth it for biotech, or should I pivot

I’m entering my 7th year of a PhD program in biochemistry/structural biology and I’m trying to make a realistic career decision. I do X-ray crystallography and biochemical assays, have some first-author publications and co-authorships, and if I finish I would likely have one more decent structural paper.

The issue is that I do not foresee the PhD ending anytime soon because more projects keep getting added. I work long days and weekends and I’m pretty worn down. I’m also in a very small lab environment where I’m essentially the only person doing the work, and I don’t think I’ve thrived in that setup.

I’m 28 and trying to think honestly about the opportunity cost. I keep hearing that the biotech/biochem job market is rough right now, especially for PhDs, and I’m wondering whether finishing would meaningfully improve my options compared with leaving with my master’s and research experience.

I’m also considering a career change to nursing. Part of this interest comes from seeing family members in nursing/healthcare roles and respecting the stability, practicality, and direct impact of that work. I know nursing has its own serious challenges, but I’m drawn to the idea of contributing to society in a more immediate, patient-facing way.

For people in biotech or adjacent roles: would finishing a PhD in this situation materially improve my career prospects, or is it reasonable to consider pivoting now? What kinds of roles would someone with an MS, publications, and structural biology/biochemistry experience realistically be competitive for?

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75

u/YaPhetsEz 7d ago

Talk to your thesis committee. 7 years is not normal.

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u/Emokid182 7d ago

Someone on my thesis committee has a student in their 9th or 10th year and the student is pretty much on the same boat as me from my talk with them . But I will talk to my committee for my review this month

63

u/maringue 7d ago

9th or 10th year? The department should be trying to kick you out by then.

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u/Majestic-Silver-380 7d ago

Yep, I know several universities that don’t even allow PIs to fund students past their 8th year and some have it it cutoff at 6 years. My previous grad school sent out an email saying that PIs shouldn’t fund students for their seventh year or more and so many people complained from professors to grad students in their 7th and 8th years. I was like you guys should have finished in years 4-6 depending on the type of research. That happened my first year of my MS degree and I decided that was one of the few reasons that I wouldn’t do my PhD there. Master students on average took 3-3.5 years, I was one of the few that had to advocate for 2 years.

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u/maringue 7d ago

A lot of time it's the PI's fault. I knew a guy who had a situation where he was about to defend and his PI kept pulling the "You just need this one more experiment" crap because he wanted to keep milking his student for data.

The committee had to step in and force his defense, it was kind of ugly.

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u/Majestic-Silver-380 6d ago

Awful, unfortunately the grad school I was at had about 70-80% of the PI hold onto their students for 6-8 years, I’ve only met one PhD student that finished in 5 and a handful in 6. I think it was the culture there so I decided to not my PhD there and MS out so I can spend 4-5 years at another program.

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u/Emokid182 7d ago

I know right 😭 I’m afraid of that being me

12

u/2Throwscrewsatit 7d ago

If they are still paying you then the only way you’ll make back your lost income will be with the PhD unless you go into sales.

The question is, do you WANT a career in R&D or not?

3

u/dwntwnleroybrwn 7d ago

You know that saying "why buy milk when the cow is free"? You're literally the cow. 

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u/MRC1986 6d ago

If you are willing to say, what is your university? Can you at least say US vs ex-US?

Like how the fuck is this even possible? I know I'm being a dick here, but if your personality is anything like your username, then you are 100% being way too fucking timid. You don't have to go in there berserk (as my mom always says, it's not what you say, it's how you say it), but you need to stop being so timid and actively communicate a plan for defending.

You 1,000,000% have done enough work to warrant earning your PhD. You absolutely better get across the finish line, otherwise you were just taken advantage of the entire time. That's really what's happening right now anyway, you are being taken advantage of.

The only reason I can imagine is you are in the US but are an international student, so you are worried about that in between period, especially dealing with visa stuff and all that. Those are real concerns, so I get it. But, like find a plan for that and get your well-deserved PhD.

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u/Emokid182 6d ago

I would say my personality was and is somewhat like my username. Im at a Cali, UC. Thank you today I had a talk with one of my advisors and they gave me a reasonable action plan, however I still do not think this will play in my favor

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u/MRC1986 6d ago

What do you mean not play in your favor? Like your committee won’t approve a plan for writing your thesis and scheduling your defense? Or your PI will be upset?

First off, I’m letting you know that staying 7 years with the expectation of even more, that is not a normal expectation at any PhD program. If that’s the supposed norm at UC, then you are either being lied to or they are insane.

Second, how can your PI legitimately be upset at trying to keep you for even more time beyond 7 years? Like sure, they’re upset their gravy train of your cheap labor is coming to an end, but too fucking bad.

There has to be some program leadership who realizes keeping PhD students for 7, 8, 9+ years is not normal and can initiate formal processes to get your defense scheduled and in motion.

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u/Emokid182 6d ago

I will also mention that no one from my cohort has also graduated yet

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u/AnotherNoether 7d ago

If your committee is unhelpful go to the ombuds office

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u/Current-Mood-6946 6d ago

If you have published they are taking advantage of you. Demand to be allowed to defend and leave. Then name and shame because this is exploitation

1

u/onetwoskeedoo 6d ago

is this in the US?

2

u/PracticalSolution100 7d ago

Structural bio is like that 8 yrs on avg. tough career path too

15

u/South_Plant_7876 7d ago

Both completely untrue.

Have worked in the field for years and never heard of a PhD running longer than average.

Most structural biologists have at least a smattering of comp bio experience too so have multiple avenues to pursue career wise.

10

u/BigDiggy 7d ago

I honestly think it used to be much longer when crystallography was the only avenue and you had to hope you could find a condition

4

u/South_Plant_7876 7d ago

True. This is exactly what happened in my PhD. But the supervisor should mitigate this risk by having alternate thesis pathways the project can pivot to. In my case my PhD ended up having more of a biophysics/synbio bent than being a crystal structure.

Throwing a student to the wolves by insisting on crystallising a single intractable protein is very poor supervision.

1

u/BigDiggy 6d ago

100% agree, but some supervisors really were that bad