Datasets:

Dahoas

/

filtered-SHP

like 2

m2a983

askacademia_train

Human: Took a postdoc after PhD but I want out. How to transition successfully into industry? How do I approach jobs that might view me as over qualified? How do I explain why I want to transition out of academia without explicitly saying that I hate the career path, the long hours, little pay, and endless stress? Anyone successfully leave their postdoc for industry? My background is in genomics (worked with fish so not even humans or viruses or anything useful for medical/pharmacy fields). I just want out I can't do this anymore. Assistant:

gqirc0t

gqiqntu

My postdoc ended in June. I got a temporary "assistant research scientist" position because the pandemic killed my in-progress interviews last spring. My background is neuroscience/computer science and I ended up getting a data analyst position in finance. For the most part, all you really have to say is that you realized that the academic track doesn't fit your life goals and that you want X (where X is something that the new position offers). This doubles as an explanation for why you're interested in the position they have available. My current position has nice set hours, an enjoyable work environment, and no looming make-or-break deadlines decided on in a completely arbitrary fashion. It's a lot less stressful, if perhaps not as stimulating. The pay is, unfortunately, on-par with my post-doc, however. That \*should\* change, but it's also important to consider that you may need to spend a year or two building skills to match what industry wants.

>How do I explain why I want to transition out of academia without explicitly saying that I hate the career path, the long hours, ~~little pay~~, and endless stress? Better work / life balance. Low pay is the postdoc. All roads lead to better pay. Everyone in industry understands that. No need to bring it up. When pay does come up, it will be with a recruiter or HR as they go over potential salary range. Do your homework to know what that will likely be ahead of time and that is the pay you discuss (if needed). >Anyone successfully leave their postdoc for industry? Yep. Though the transition is different depending on if you are looking for a bench vs non-bench role. I've only now caught up to my fellow bench scientist colleagues salaries with comparable experience - took about five years in industry. Any ideas what you want to do in industry? I'm in genomics now. But not at the bench. I left the postdoc for similar reasons. Worked mainly with C. Elegans during that time. So don't feel like it limits you.

m2a983

askacademia_train

Human: Took a postdoc after PhD but I want out. How to transition successfully into industry? How do I approach jobs that might view me as over qualified? How do I explain why I want to transition out of academia without explicitly saying that I hate the career path, the long hours, little pay, and endless stress? Anyone successfully leave their postdoc for industry? My background is in genomics (worked with fish so not even humans or viruses or anything useful for medical/pharmacy fields). I just want out I can't do this anymore. Assistant:

gqiqntu

gqiu7rw

>How do I explain why I want to transition out of academia without explicitly saying that I hate the career path, the long hours, ~~little pay~~, and endless stress? Better work / life balance. Low pay is the postdoc. All roads lead to better pay. Everyone in industry understands that. No need to bring it up. When pay does come up, it will be with a recruiter or HR as they go over potential salary range. Do your homework to know what that will likely be ahead of time and that is the pay you discuss (if needed). >Anyone successfully leave their postdoc for industry? Yep. Though the transition is different depending on if you are looking for a bench vs non-bench role. I've only now caught up to my fellow bench scientist colleagues salaries with comparable experience - took about five years in industry. Any ideas what you want to do in industry? I'm in genomics now. But not at the bench. I left the postdoc for similar reasons. Worked mainly with C. Elegans during that time. So don't feel like it limits you.

You have a Ph.D. + postdoc in a computational discipline? Congrats, you are a rare specimen that finally satisfies those crazy LinkedIn Data Science job requirements... start applying. Don't mention the fish, state that you worked in computational genomics. You are hungry and highly qualified. They will grab you eventually. If it gets tricky do a course in web development. That will prime you up for recruiters.

m2a983

askacademia_train

Human: Took a postdoc after PhD but I want out. How to transition successfully into industry? How do I approach jobs that might view me as over qualified? How do I explain why I want to transition out of academia without explicitly saying that I hate the career path, the long hours, little pay, and endless stress? Anyone successfully leave their postdoc for industry? My background is in genomics (worked with fish so not even humans or viruses or anything useful for medical/pharmacy fields). I just want out I can't do this anymore. Assistant:

gqis111

gqiu7rw

I went from postdoc, to startup, back to postdoc, now applying for professorships. Got a few industry job offers before 2nd postdoc as well. Your skills will translate well in industry, there are lots of people looking for basic bioinformaticians. I did frog genomics for example. You'll need to learn how to sell yourself to each company, generally you'll need to show you have the skills in Python, R, etc, and understand how to do the basic analyses needed. Sometimes that is population genetics (GATK or freebayes with a sample data set can teach you what you need), or just being able to do hardcore stats in R. Whatever your specialty is between those focus on jobs asking for those skills. ​ Don't say you hate academia, but you can say you wanted to apply your skills in a more practical manner, etc. Basically you can say you know you want to leave academia because you don't see a future there, but it has to be phrased as "your company fits what I would like my career to go into". This is part of learning to sell yourself, it didn't come to me easily but after failing a few times I got good at the interviews. That may seem a bit depressing, but I assure you its less failures before seeing success than I've had interviewing for TT positions.

You have a Ph.D. + postdoc in a computational discipline? Congrats, you are a rare specimen that finally satisfies those crazy LinkedIn Data Science job requirements... start applying. Don't mention the fish, state that you worked in computational genomics. You are hungry and highly qualified. They will grab you eventually. If it gets tricky do a course in web development. That will prime you up for recruiters.

m2a983

askacademia_train

Human: Took a postdoc after PhD but I want out. How to transition successfully into industry? How do I approach jobs that might view me as over qualified? How do I explain why I want to transition out of academia without explicitly saying that I hate the career path, the long hours, little pay, and endless stress? Anyone successfully leave their postdoc for industry? My background is in genomics (worked with fish so not even humans or viruses or anything useful for medical/pharmacy fields). I just want out I can't do this anymore. Assistant:

gqix1f6

gqjfgyz

if you did genomics in anything you can apply it to any genomics subject. the tooling is common.

Leaving academia is NORMAL. That’s what most people do. Start looking at job descriptions (just search “PhD” or other relevant words for your skill set in LinkedIn Jobs) to find out what you like.

m2a983

askacademia_train

Human: Took a postdoc after PhD but I want out. How to transition successfully into industry? How do I approach jobs that might view me as over qualified? How do I explain why I want to transition out of academia without explicitly saying that I hate the career path, the long hours, little pay, and endless stress? Anyone successfully leave their postdoc for industry? My background is in genomics (worked with fish so not even humans or viruses or anything useful for medical/pharmacy fields). I just want out I can't do this anymore. Assistant:

gqj2cwt

gqjfgyz

I did this. I went into industry after doing a year of a postdoc. My field is in the social sciences, and I transitioned into UX research in the technology industry. Before you can transition out successfully, you need to figure out what you want to transition *to*. It's not enough to just know you want to leave: what do you want to do? Since you know you want to leave, begin to safely scale back your work as much as you can so you can devote some cycles to investigating other job options for people in your field, with your background. There are some jobs that will directly use your skills in industry, particularly in national labs or government agency research, and some that will engage them more indirectly, like management/strategy consulting or data science. Consider joining a professional organization in your current city (or online) in fields in which you're interested; in my field, the equivalents are groups like UX Professionals Association and SIG-CHI. They sometimes will let you know about jobs before they are posted, and you can meet professionals in whatever field you're interested in and do informational interviews. Your undergrad or graduate university career center may still offer their services to alumni, so I'd check to see if they can do resume review or if they have an alumni job listserv (and if either of them are any good). Or the career services offices at your current institution might welcome postdocs at their events. Many large universities with graduate programs have non-academic career fairs and events for doctoral students.

Leaving academia is NORMAL. That’s what most people do. Start looking at job descriptions (just search “PhD” or other relevant words for your skill set in LinkedIn Jobs) to find out what you like.

sw9dd1

askacademia_train

Human: How do some professors (in the US) earn half a million dollars? So information about compensation is public information. E.g., Purdue Salary Compensation I browsed through various departments (STEM specifically) and found that some professors absolutely make a killing. Is the grant funding included? If not, then how do they get so much money? Assistant:

hxkojv5

hxkn498

Soft money positions can make a lot more. I know some soft money professors at UCLA make 500k+ because they pull in so many grants. Also, industries that pay a lot (e.g., econ, medicine) have some departments that pay their top-tier professors a lot because they want those professors, and those professors could get a lot of money working in industry. Competing offers are always the best way to raise salary.

And the first page of top salaries is all coaches and executives…

sw9dd1

askacademia_train

Human: How do some professors (in the US) earn half a million dollars? So information about compensation is public information. E.g., Purdue Salary Compensation I browsed through various departments (STEM specifically) and found that some professors absolutely make a killing. Is the grant funding included? If not, then how do they get so much money? Assistant:

hxknzwx

hxkojv5

If you are given the designation of Distinguished professor or earn a chair or endowed seat that can come with $ on top of what was before. My boss at a public school in the Midwest was making >300k but was also running an entire research center as well.

Soft money positions can make a lot more. I know some soft money professors at UCLA make 500k+ because they pull in so many grants. Also, industries that pay a lot (e.g., econ, medicine) have some departments that pay their top-tier professors a lot because they want those professors, and those professors could get a lot of money working in industry. Competing offers are always the best way to raise salary.

sw9dd1

askacademia_train

Human: How do some professors (in the US) earn half a million dollars? So information about compensation is public information. E.g., Purdue Salary Compensation I browsed through various departments (STEM specifically) and found that some professors absolutely make a killing. Is the grant funding included? If not, then how do they get so much money? Assistant:

hxkmss5

hxkojv5

Could be lots of ways, they may have consulting or spin off companies that get paid through the university, many universities have some sort of IP profit sharing scheme for stuff developed 'during the course of your employment' that strictly speaking the university could keep 100%

Soft money positions can make a lot more. I know some soft money professors at UCLA make 500k+ because they pull in so many grants. Also, industries that pay a lot (e.g., econ, medicine) have some departments that pay their top-tier professors a lot because they want those professors, and those professors could get a lot of money working in industry. Competing offers are always the best way to raise salary.

sw9dd1

askacademia_train

Human: How do some professors (in the US) earn half a million dollars? So information about compensation is public information. E.g., Purdue Salary Compensation I browsed through various departments (STEM specifically) and found that some professors absolutely make a killing. Is the grant funding included? If not, then how do they get so much money? Assistant:

hxksagl

hxknzwx

1. Admin work. Deans and deanlets make more money. If you're a dean of a big-time program like a B-school, you will get paid a ton. At places like Purdue, many of the deans/deanlets are technically still 'faculty'. 2. Grants. These often get processed through the university, so the additional compensation from a grant often appears on these kinds of salary lists. 3. Endowed chairs/professorships of blabity blah. Usually funded by donors who can set parameters for salary and the kinds of people they want to fill the role. 4. Perceived market value. Universities will offer salary comparable to industry salaries to try and recruit/retain faculty. This is why faculty in business and some STEM fields have ridiculously high salaries compared with faculty in other departments. 5. Institution type. Purdue is an R1 that cares about their national/international ranking. Hence, they will pay to get faculty that they believe will improve their ranking. Although COL is low, West Lafayette Indiana isn't exactly a hoot and a half, so they presumably have to pay people generously to get them there and keep them. What you are seeing with these salaries is, of course, the exception rather than the rule. For every one of these half a million dollar professors, there are a dozen (if not more) adjuncts living near the poverty line.

If you are given the designation of Distinguished professor or earn a chair or endowed seat that can come with $ on top of what was before. My boss at a public school in the Midwest was making >300k but was also running an entire research center as well.

sw9dd1

askacademia_train

Human: How do some professors (in the US) earn half a million dollars? So information about compensation is public information. E.g., Purdue Salary Compensation I browsed through various departments (STEM specifically) and found that some professors absolutely make a killing. Is the grant funding included? If not, then how do they get so much money? Assistant:

hxkmss5

hxksagl

Could be lots of ways, they may have consulting or spin off companies that get paid through the university, many universities have some sort of IP profit sharing scheme for stuff developed 'during the course of your employment' that strictly speaking the university could keep 100%

1. Admin work. Deans and deanlets make more money. If you're a dean of a big-time program like a B-school, you will get paid a ton. At places like Purdue, many of the deans/deanlets are technically still 'faculty'. 2. Grants. These often get processed through the university, so the additional compensation from a grant often appears on these kinds of salary lists. 3. Endowed chairs/professorships of blabity blah. Usually funded by donors who can set parameters for salary and the kinds of people they want to fill the role. 4. Perceived market value. Universities will offer salary comparable to industry salaries to try and recruit/retain faculty. This is why faculty in business and some STEM fields have ridiculously high salaries compared with faculty in other departments. 5. Institution type. Purdue is an R1 that cares about their national/international ranking. Hence, they will pay to get faculty that they believe will improve their ranking. Although COL is low, West Lafayette Indiana isn't exactly a hoot and a half, so they presumably have to pay people generously to get them there and keep them. What you are seeing with these salaries is, of course, the exception rather than the rule. For every one of these half a million dollar professors, there are a dozen (if not more) adjuncts living near the poverty line.

idfmqm

askacademia_train

Human: How to defend graduate teaching assistants After months of advocating to university leadership to include graduate teaching assistants in on decisions about whether we hold our classes face-to-face or online (rejected - we are teaching in person while faculty teach online) and pleading for some guidance from HR about documentation of our employee rights (ignored), I learned yesterday - five days before classes start - that myself and my graduate teaching assistant colleagues will have no long term leave if our lives are interrupted by the pandemic. If we are ill beyond 14 days, our contracts will be terminated. We had no choice but to teach face-to-face. We do not qualify for FMLA. We have no health insurance through the university. And now, if we fall ill in a scenario the university constructed, we will lose our jobs. We are not unionized, and our graduate student association was kept in the dark about all of this and told we would have the same rights as faculty. I have two questions about how I should respond to this situation: Any ideas about how we can productively proceed? All we want at this point is not to get fired if we get sick in the classroom and to be able to use our resources to help the university reopen in a safer way for our entire community. I value my students and I do not want to disrupt their education, but I am tempted to tell them what the university is doing to the GTAs and then ask that they not come to my class in person unless they absolutely need my help in that format, because it is not a safe space for us. Then, I would host my class online, from the classroom. Would that be unfair to my undergraduate students? Assistant:

g28siqg

g28t3k2

Strike/teach online anyway! Tell your students, and ask them to write to the administrators to complain! Tell your faculty advisors that you won't teach unless [xyz] and have THEM complain to administrators! Note that all of these things carry some risk to your position depending on how vindictive the administration wants to be. There is safety in numbers, regardless of official union status (remember the original unions were all unauthorized - union power comes from striking and unity among workers, not authorization). Such is the nature of labor disputes. But if not now, when?

> We had no choice but to teach face-to-face. We do not qualify for FMLA. We have no health insurance through the university. And now, if we fall ill in a scenario the university constructed, we will lose our jobs. Talking to a lawyer about a class-action OSHA suit could be done, several professors at my university are taking that approach. If you have a GA/TA/RA union, talk to them about it and potential collective bargaining.

idfmqm

askacademia_train

Human: How to defend graduate teaching assistants After months of advocating to university leadership to include graduate teaching assistants in on decisions about whether we hold our classes face-to-face or online (rejected - we are teaching in person while faculty teach online) and pleading for some guidance from HR about documentation of our employee rights (ignored), I learned yesterday - five days before classes start - that myself and my graduate teaching assistant colleagues will have no long term leave if our lives are interrupted by the pandemic. If we are ill beyond 14 days, our contracts will be terminated. We had no choice but to teach face-to-face. We do not qualify for FMLA. We have no health insurance through the university. And now, if we fall ill in a scenario the university constructed, we will lose our jobs. We are not unionized, and our graduate student association was kept in the dark about all of this and told we would have the same rights as faculty. I have two questions about how I should respond to this situation: Any ideas about how we can productively proceed? All we want at this point is not to get fired if we get sick in the classroom and to be able to use our resources to help the university reopen in a safer way for our entire community. I value my students and I do not want to disrupt their education, but I am tempted to tell them what the university is doing to the GTAs and then ask that they not come to my class in person unless they absolutely need my help in that format, because it is not a safe space for us. Then, I would host my class online, from the classroom. Would that be unfair to my undergraduate students? Assistant:

g29bc6l

g29bhud

To add on to the advice here. The legal sides of things depends on which state you're in and whether or not you are a public or private university. However, as other have said, there is nothing stopping you from trying to get a group together to discuss working conditions. Practically, this will probably happen on a department level. Is it possible to have a zoom meeting w/ other grad students in your department? And then reach out to friends in other departments? This is daunting/easier said than done, but it is possible. Do you have a grad student association that has any clout? Sympathetic faculty? Getting the other TAs for your class and TAs in your department together is the first step-- best of luck and stay safe.

Unionise and strike.

idfmqm

askacademia_train

Human: How to defend graduate teaching assistants After months of advocating to university leadership to include graduate teaching assistants in on decisions about whether we hold our classes face-to-face or online (rejected - we are teaching in person while faculty teach online) and pleading for some guidance from HR about documentation of our employee rights (ignored), I learned yesterday - five days before classes start - that myself and my graduate teaching assistant colleagues will have no long term leave if our lives are interrupted by the pandemic. If we are ill beyond 14 days, our contracts will be terminated. We had no choice but to teach face-to-face. We do not qualify for FMLA. We have no health insurance through the university. And now, if we fall ill in a scenario the university constructed, we will lose our jobs. We are not unionized, and our graduate student association was kept in the dark about all of this and told we would have the same rights as faculty. I have two questions about how I should respond to this situation: Any ideas about how we can productively proceed? All we want at this point is not to get fired if we get sick in the classroom and to be able to use our resources to help the university reopen in a safer way for our entire community. I value my students and I do not want to disrupt their education, but I am tempted to tell them what the university is doing to the GTAs and then ask that they not come to my class in person unless they absolutely need my help in that format, because it is not a safe space for us. Then, I would host my class online, from the classroom. Would that be unfair to my undergraduate students? Assistant:

g2a3bdo

g29l32l

You need to unionize and go on strike. You need to organize and strike. That's it. That's all that will work. Nothing else will. Admin is *desperate*. They have bills. They have bonds that are in arrears and will default. *The administration absolutely will sacrifice your health if it means their jobs will live*. If they say "you can't organize a union it's not allowed" or "it's illegal because of XYZ state legislation" you say "get fucked" and organize anyway. You have the First Amendment and SCOTUS has been ironfuckingclad that this includes the right to organize.

I’m going to hesitantly second this advice. Chances are the GA population is teaching a majority of courses in some departments/colleges at minimum, and the possible loss of tuition revenue along with angering the undergrads themselves could be effective. It is worth noting, however, that some institutions have reacted very harshly to GA strikes in the past. I’d consult GA union leadership, but I’d also advise considering it from a personal perspective, as well. After all, it’s hard, but you could always transfer to another university.

idfmqm

askacademia_train

Human: How to defend graduate teaching assistants After months of advocating to university leadership to include graduate teaching assistants in on decisions about whether we hold our classes face-to-face or online (rejected - we are teaching in person while faculty teach online) and pleading for some guidance from HR about documentation of our employee rights (ignored), I learned yesterday - five days before classes start - that myself and my graduate teaching assistant colleagues will have no long term leave if our lives are interrupted by the pandemic. If we are ill beyond 14 days, our contracts will be terminated. We had no choice but to teach face-to-face. We do not qualify for FMLA. We have no health insurance through the university. And now, if we fall ill in a scenario the university constructed, we will lose our jobs. We are not unionized, and our graduate student association was kept in the dark about all of this and told we would have the same rights as faculty. I have two questions about how I should respond to this situation: Any ideas about how we can productively proceed? All we want at this point is not to get fired if we get sick in the classroom and to be able to use our resources to help the university reopen in a safer way for our entire community. I value my students and I do not want to disrupt their education, but I am tempted to tell them what the university is doing to the GTAs and then ask that they not come to my class in person unless they absolutely need my help in that format, because it is not a safe space for us. Then, I would host my class online, from the classroom. Would that be unfair to my undergraduate students? Assistant:

g29xwh2

g2a3bdo

Unionize. Call AFT or UAW and get your contract!

You need to unionize and go on strike. You need to organize and strike. That's it. That's all that will work. Nothing else will. Admin is *desperate*. They have bills. They have bonds that are in arrears and will default. *The administration absolutely will sacrifice your health if it means their jobs will live*. If they say "you can't organize a union it's not allowed" or "it's illegal because of XYZ state legislation" you say "get fucked" and organize anyway. You have the First Amendment and SCOTUS has been ironfuckingclad that this includes the right to organize.

idfmqm

askacademia_train

Human: How to defend graduate teaching assistants After months of advocating to university leadership to include graduate teaching assistants in on decisions about whether we hold our classes face-to-face or online (rejected - we are teaching in person while faculty teach online) and pleading for some guidance from HR about documentation of our employee rights (ignored), I learned yesterday - five days before classes start - that myself and my graduate teaching assistant colleagues will have no long term leave if our lives are interrupted by the pandemic. If we are ill beyond 14 days, our contracts will be terminated. We had no choice but to teach face-to-face. We do not qualify for FMLA. We have no health insurance through the university. And now, if we fall ill in a scenario the university constructed, we will lose our jobs. We are not unionized, and our graduate student association was kept in the dark about all of this and told we would have the same rights as faculty. I have two questions about how I should respond to this situation: Any ideas about how we can productively proceed? All we want at this point is not to get fired if we get sick in the classroom and to be able to use our resources to help the university reopen in a safer way for our entire community. I value my students and I do not want to disrupt their education, but I am tempted to tell them what the university is doing to the GTAs and then ask that they not come to my class in person unless they absolutely need my help in that format, because it is not a safe space for us. Then, I would host my class online, from the classroom. Would that be unfair to my undergraduate students? Assistant:

g29x6ri

g2a3bdo

This was years ago protesting something very different, but at a school I was at, the graduate students held all classes outside as a visible protest. The classes were still taught and the GTAs were doing their job (malicious compliance). This was paired with a sit-in style protest at the president's office and op eds in the paper explaining what was going on. For something you can do to personally protect yourself, consider teaching your class as a flip classroom. Record the lectures and use class time for Q&A or working examples or whatever it is you do in class. If you don't take attendance, I bet the majority of students will not show up to the face-to-face part. If someone higher up says something to you, then you explain how you are using a very innovated form of teaching that has literature to back up its effectiveness.

You need to unionize and go on strike. You need to organize and strike. That's it. That's all that will work. Nothing else will. Admin is *desperate*. They have bills. They have bonds that are in arrears and will default. *The administration absolutely will sacrifice your health if it means their jobs will live*. If they say "you can't organize a union it's not allowed" or "it's illegal because of XYZ state legislation" you say "get fucked" and organize anyway. You have the First Amendment and SCOTUS has been ironfuckingclad that this includes the right to organize.

auohn5

askacademia_train

Human: Is there any other industry which requires so much training for so little reward and so little job security? I suppose that many of you will also be in the similar situation to the one I find myself in, starting to see the finish line on my PhD but begrudgingly coming to the conclusion that a career in academia is now so unappealing that I'll need to come up with some other career path. I'm not driven by money so it's not a problem to me if I never earn more than what an average lecturer makes, but all the same it's still pretty low given that it: (a) to get these positions typically requires ~6-10 years of studying, multiple degrees, significant research experience, and a track record of publications; and (b) student numbers, student fees, and university profits all seem to be rising (at least where I am, in the UK. What's even worse is that postdoctoral and junior lecturer positions - if you're able to fight off all the competition to get one - are even more poorly paid and insecure. From the conversations I've had with people in those roles, there seems to be very high workload, and a lot of the key aspects of being an academic (e.g. writing papers, acting as a reviewer) have to be done in spare time. So is there any other industry which requires so much training for so little reward and so little job security? For those who are a little longer in the tooth and know these sorts of things, has it always been like this or did the nature of the industry change more recently? Assistant:

eh9tm8w

eh9o8j4

Ever thought about dance? You start training when you're 4. This continues up to age 19-22 or so. Then you start a series of temporary jobs that pay peanuts. Each of these might last a few months if you're lucky -- or maybe just a week if ticket sales are poor. Then it's back to job interviews (they're called "auditions"). You can get tossed out on someone's whim for just about any reason. Any injury can mean weeks or months without pay. And your career is over by the time you're 30. And -- particularly if you're a woman -- the field is ridiculously oversaturated with top-notch talent. Those 15-18 years of training more than likely end with no jobs at all. Of course there is teaching. You can even combine academia and dance, and become a professor of dance. Now, guess what the lowest-paid academic field is.

I think you may be conflating "research institutions in the UK" with "all of academia". I'm in the US and here, if you follow a path into a more teaching-oriented situation, for example at a teaching-focused public university or a small liberal arts college, the drive for publications and more publications isn't as strong, the pay is decent, and if you can make it to tenure -- which in my experience isn't insanely difficult (I've gotten tenure twice, at two different teaching oriented institutions) -- you have very strong job security. So my experience has been that yeah, those years getting my PhD were really long and I wouldn't want to repeat those, but 21 years later I'm a tenured full professor in a great school with a strong emphasis on teaching but also with plenty of flexibility to do research if I wanted, and pretty much bulletproof job security, and I'm compensated really well. For me the rewards have been really great and it would take a *lot* to get me to take a new position and give all of that up. I don't know a ton about the UK higher ed landscape but I know that teaching-oriented institutions aren't the norm, but some schools seem more oriented toward undergrad education than others.

auohn5

askacademia_train

Human: Is there any other industry which requires so much training for so little reward and so little job security? I suppose that many of you will also be in the similar situation to the one I find myself in, starting to see the finish line on my PhD but begrudgingly coming to the conclusion that a career in academia is now so unappealing that I'll need to come up with some other career path. I'm not driven by money so it's not a problem to me if I never earn more than what an average lecturer makes, but all the same it's still pretty low given that it: (a) to get these positions typically requires ~6-10 years of studying, multiple degrees, significant research experience, and a track record of publications; and (b) student numbers, student fees, and university profits all seem to be rising (at least where I am, in the UK. What's even worse is that postdoctoral and junior lecturer positions - if you're able to fight off all the competition to get one - are even more poorly paid and insecure. From the conversations I've had with people in those roles, there seems to be very high workload, and a lot of the key aspects of being an academic (e.g. writing papers, acting as a reviewer) have to be done in spare time. So is there any other industry which requires so much training for so little reward and so little job security? For those who are a little longer in the tooth and know these sorts of things, has it always been like this or did the nature of the industry change more recently? Assistant:

eh9o8j4

eh9wq3a

I think you may be conflating "research institutions in the UK" with "all of academia". I'm in the US and here, if you follow a path into a more teaching-oriented situation, for example at a teaching-focused public university or a small liberal arts college, the drive for publications and more publications isn't as strong, the pay is decent, and if you can make it to tenure -- which in my experience isn't insanely difficult (I've gotten tenure twice, at two different teaching oriented institutions) -- you have very strong job security. So my experience has been that yeah, those years getting my PhD were really long and I wouldn't want to repeat those, but 21 years later I'm a tenured full professor in a great school with a strong emphasis on teaching but also with plenty of flexibility to do research if I wanted, and pretty much bulletproof job security, and I'm compensated really well. For me the rewards have been really great and it would take a *lot* to get me to take a new position and give all of that up. I don't know a ton about the UK higher ed landscape but I know that teaching-oriented institutions aren't the norm, but some schools seem more oriented toward undergrad education than others.

Athlete or Musician is probably the best answer. You can spend 15 years mastering an instrument but still fail to make any money from it.

sfgnje

askacademia_train

Human: What's a POLITE way to remind a co-author he needs to hurry up with his revisions on our paper before the deadline? I sent him the latest version a while ago and asked him to confirm receipt and send back his revisions when done. Had to ask again a couple days later when he didn't reply. He said he "was busy, but would have a look that afternoon." Almost a week later and haven't heard anything. Deadline for journal submission is quickly approaching. This person is senior to me on the ole' totem pole, so even though I'm extremely frustrated I don't want to piss him off too much (and my wife says I sometimes come off too abrasive when I correspond with others online). Anyone want to volunteer a few lines I should write? Assistant:

huq33us

huprx26

I hate these situations and these kinds of collaborators. They are also frustrating on proposals where you wait and wait for their one paragraph of input and then it's terrible and don't know how to get them knocked off the budget. I don't really know what works, but you can also change media - i.e. call instead of email, knock on their office door, etc. Do you NEED their revisions? You can also give one more email like - I need these by Friday and will assume you are fine with the revised version if not received. Though that's also a bit weird in tone - are they needed, or not? Grrr.

"Hi, Did you have time to look at the paper? Should I assume that there are no further comments and submit by the deadline (<insert date>)?"

sfgnje

askacademia_train

Human: What's a POLITE way to remind a co-author he needs to hurry up with his revisions on our paper before the deadline? I sent him the latest version a while ago and asked him to confirm receipt and send back his revisions when done. Had to ask again a couple days later when he didn't reply. He said he "was busy, but would have a look that afternoon." Almost a week later and haven't heard anything. Deadline for journal submission is quickly approaching. This person is senior to me on the ole' totem pole, so even though I'm extremely frustrated I don't want to piss him off too much (and my wife says I sometimes come off too abrasive when I correspond with others online). Anyone want to volunteer a few lines I should write? Assistant:

hupv470

huq33us

“Hurry the fuck up or we won’t make it to publish”

I hate these situations and these kinds of collaborators. They are also frustrating on proposals where you wait and wait for their one paragraph of input and then it's terrible and don't know how to get them knocked off the budget. I don't really know what works, but you can also change media - i.e. call instead of email, knock on their office door, etc. Do you NEED their revisions? You can also give one more email like - I need these by Friday and will assume you are fine with the revised version if not received. Though that's also a bit weird in tone - are they needed, or not? Grrr.

sfgnje

askacademia_train

Human: What's a POLITE way to remind a co-author he needs to hurry up with his revisions on our paper before the deadline? I sent him the latest version a while ago and asked him to confirm receipt and send back his revisions when done. Had to ask again a couple days later when he didn't reply. He said he "was busy, but would have a look that afternoon." Almost a week later and haven't heard anything. Deadline for journal submission is quickly approaching. This person is senior to me on the ole' totem pole, so even though I'm extremely frustrated I don't want to piss him off too much (and my wife says I sometimes come off too abrasive when I correspond with others online). Anyone want to volunteer a few lines I should write? Assistant:

hupv470

huq46do

“Hurry the fuck up or we won’t make it to publish”

My supervisor is like this. She always ends up emailing the editor and asking for an extension (she literally always gets one) but usually I email to remind her of the deadline and ask when she assumes she’ll have the edits ready so I can plan accordingly. It’s at this point she realizes I don’t have time to implement her edits and asks for an extension. It’s extremely frustrating because it puts so much pressure on me to 1) be completely available for several hours before the deadline and 2) makes me have to crank out all her edits in one go. So I sympathize with you a ton.

sfgnje

askacademia_train

Human: What's a POLITE way to remind a co-author he needs to hurry up with his revisions on our paper before the deadline? I sent him the latest version a while ago and asked him to confirm receipt and send back his revisions when done. Had to ask again a couple days later when he didn't reply. He said he "was busy, but would have a look that afternoon." Almost a week later and haven't heard anything. Deadline for journal submission is quickly approaching. This person is senior to me on the ole' totem pole, so even though I'm extremely frustrated I don't want to piss him off too much (and my wife says I sometimes come off too abrasive when I correspond with others online). Anyone want to volunteer a few lines I should write? Assistant:

huq3d4z

huq46do

More or less Thanks to everyone for all the help and comments We aim to have this in by X date (5 days before you are going to submit it). So if you have any other comments or revisions please note them now . Please be sure to sign the appropriate author release forms and look for them in your inbox and spam folders about that time - let us know if you do not get them Best All the rest of us

My supervisor is like this. She always ends up emailing the editor and asking for an extension (she literally always gets one) but usually I email to remind her of the deadline and ask when she assumes she’ll have the edits ready so I can plan accordingly. It’s at this point she realizes I don’t have time to implement her edits and asks for an extension. It’s extremely frustrating because it puts so much pressure on me to 1) be completely available for several hours before the deadline and 2) makes me have to crank out all her edits in one go. So I sympathize with you a ton.

sfgnje

askacademia_train

Human: What's a POLITE way to remind a co-author he needs to hurry up with his revisions on our paper before the deadline? I sent him the latest version a while ago and asked him to confirm receipt and send back his revisions when done. Had to ask again a couple days later when he didn't reply. He said he "was busy, but would have a look that afternoon." Almost a week later and haven't heard anything. Deadline for journal submission is quickly approaching. This person is senior to me on the ole' totem pole, so even though I'm extremely frustrated I don't want to piss him off too much (and my wife says I sometimes come off too abrasive when I correspond with others online). Anyone want to volunteer a few lines I should write? Assistant:

hupv470

huq58xp

“Hurry the fuck up or we won’t make it to publish”

The old ‘since no one has any comments I’ll submit tomorrow morning’ email. Classic

mu42xn

askacademia_train

Human: They stole the project I had been working on and never gave me credit! Hi everyone, I have been working as a graduate assistant for almost a year now. One of the projects I have worked on was a survey that I developed with the Principal Investigator. This spring semester the PI decided to leave academia so he is in the process of transitioning out. The dean contacts the PI on an email to give permission rights to the other person who is taking over his job. Today, my responsibility was to transfer the project to the said person. Today when I logged in to my account I have no more access to the project. It seems that they just took the project away. Does anyone have an idea how to proceed with this? I am so bummed out because I worked really hard in this project to be taken away like that! Thank you for your responses! Assistant:

gv4vjyx

gv4taik

I wouldn't worry too much. This is easily fixable and I think you will find that people will want to help you with it. I would start out by assuming that it is a misunderstanding and contact the new PI. If that doesn't work, talk to the Graduate Director for your program, Department Chair or Dean, in that order (unless you have already been talking with one of them about this--then talk to that person). The most likely answer is that they removed everyone's access when the project was transferred, which is easily correctable. If it wasn't a mistake, then you need to talk to the same people, and also maybe the Dean of your Graduate School, but the conversation will be a little different. Regardless of any IP issues, yanking your project out from under you will derail your academic progress. That's a serious issue that everyone should be interested in correcting. In my former role as a Graduate Director, we would absolutely find a way to ensure that you didn't just get screwed in the transition.

Hopefully u/bigrottentuna is around. They'd be good for this one, particularly once I saw your comment about the dean.

eb0wwp

askacademia_train

Human: I hear lots of talk about Imposter Syndrome, but have you ever dealt with an actual imposter? I mean impostor in the sense that they say they have credential X, but it turns out that it is astronomically unlikely that they actually do. Concrete example: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/26/mit-admissions-dean-resigns-after-fake/ I'm asking because I think I've run into such a person. I have no intention do anything about it because, I'm not 100% sure, I feel like it is none of my business and I have too many deadlines and unanswered emails to voluntarily get involved in anything. Is this a once in a decade event or does this type of thing happen all the time? Assistant:

fb0xexb

fb0qfk7

I'm currently supervising a third year PhD student, that she's way too underqualified to complete the degree. Which means she must have been pulling the same tricks for awhile now. She is extremely confortable presenting herself and her work, even though she can't answer most direct questions even about the mosy basic stuff. She never once asked for help or guidance, despite being repeatedly told not to make any decisions without consulting the supervisores. She basically memorizes whatever information is thrown at her, and repeats it to the best of her ability. I've personally told her that her work is at the level of a high school student before a projet meeting, and she went on presenting her slides as if nothing ever happened. She's confident beyond reason. It's simultaneously disheartening and impressive. So, yeah. And she's not the first ive seen like this either.

I suspect that it happens more often than we'd be comfortable. There was an incident in the early 2000s in which a significant number of people in the New Orleans city government had fake degrees. There was a scheme with someone at a university in Florida where they could pay several thousand for an official diploma in order to work. The whole lot were arrested as I recall.

eb0wwp

askacademia_train

Human: I hear lots of talk about Imposter Syndrome, but have you ever dealt with an actual imposter? I mean impostor in the sense that they say they have credential X, but it turns out that it is astronomically unlikely that they actually do. Concrete example: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/26/mit-admissions-dean-resigns-after-fake/ I'm asking because I think I've run into such a person. I have no intention do anything about it because, I'm not 100% sure, I feel like it is none of my business and I have too many deadlines and unanswered emails to voluntarily get involved in anything. Is this a once in a decade event or does this type of thing happen all the time? Assistant:

fb14ftq

fb15c3v

Yes, twice. Both at MSc level, and both international students. One had certainly 'gotten' the qualification she claimed, as her institution confirmed the award. There was no way in hell she had ever set foot in a lab to write the dissertation she claimed she'd done as a BSc; we figured she'd probably paid for it or traded influence. She ended up walking an unbalanced floor-standing centrifuge out of a corner until it failed catastrophically - luckily, everyone was at lunch (including her). Last seen taking a taxi from the front building, never seen again. The second was a standard 'fake IELTS', with the added catch of turning in all written work in Chinese - literally, every report, protocol or essay she was given. This was a UK institution. This was not a Chinese-language course. She ended up with a certificate of completion.

I know a fella who has a doctorate from a highly ranked program, and is now a tenured professor at a well regarded SLAC. His wife was also in his graduate program, though she dropped out to raise the kids when they got married and immediately started reproducing. He is totally repping her scholarship. I'm sure he does some of the grunt work, and he stays current enough to be able to speak convincingly about it and the field, but it's clearly her scholarship.

eb0wwp

askacademia_train

Human: I hear lots of talk about Imposter Syndrome, but have you ever dealt with an actual imposter? I mean impostor in the sense that they say they have credential X, but it turns out that it is astronomically unlikely that they actually do. Concrete example: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/26/mit-admissions-dean-resigns-after-fake/ I'm asking because I think I've run into such a person. I have no intention do anything about it because, I'm not 100% sure, I feel like it is none of my business and I have too many deadlines and unanswered emails to voluntarily get involved in anything. Is this a once in a decade event or does this type of thing happen all the time? Assistant:

fb0xmx0

fb15c3v

This is minor, but I caught a faculty candidate misrepresenting themselves as the first author of papers that they were not first author on. The only reason I caught this was because one of their coauthors had such a strange and humorous name that I opened the journal version of one of the papers to confirm it was real.

I know a fella who has a doctorate from a highly ranked program, and is now a tenured professor at a well regarded SLAC. His wife was also in his graduate program, though she dropped out to raise the kids when they got married and immediately started reproducing. He is totally repping her scholarship. I'm sure he does some of the grunt work, and he stays current enough to be able to speak convincingly about it and the field, but it's clearly her scholarship.

eb0wwp

askacademia_train

Human: I hear lots of talk about Imposter Syndrome, but have you ever dealt with an actual imposter? I mean impostor in the sense that they say they have credential X, but it turns out that it is astronomically unlikely that they actually do. Concrete example: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/26/mit-admissions-dean-resigns-after-fake/ I'm asking because I think I've run into such a person. I have no intention do anything about it because, I'm not 100% sure, I feel like it is none of my business and I have too many deadlines and unanswered emails to voluntarily get involved in anything. Is this a once in a decade event or does this type of thing happen all the time? Assistant:

fb154e9

fb15c3v

I've never personally, to my knowledge, encountered someone who completely fabricated multiple degrees, but I have encountered people who vastly oversold their educational background and work history in casual conversation in a way that isn't outright lying, but is very misleading. Think: dropped out of med school after year 1 = "I have a background in medicine" or "During my medical training..." But then imagine that same person also up-sells 5 other pieces of their work/educational history.

I know a fella who has a doctorate from a highly ranked program, and is now a tenured professor at a well regarded SLAC. His wife was also in his graduate program, though she dropped out to raise the kids when they got married and immediately started reproducing. He is totally repping her scholarship. I'm sure he does some of the grunt work, and he stays current enough to be able to speak convincingly about it and the field, but it's clearly her scholarship.

eb0wwp

askacademia_train

Human: I hear lots of talk about Imposter Syndrome, but have you ever dealt with an actual imposter? I mean impostor in the sense that they say they have credential X, but it turns out that it is astronomically unlikely that they actually do. Concrete example: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2007/4/26/mit-admissions-dean-resigns-after-fake/ I'm asking because I think I've run into such a person. I have no intention do anything about it because, I'm not 100% sure, I feel like it is none of my business and I have too many deadlines and unanswered emails to voluntarily get involved in anything. Is this a once in a decade event or does this type of thing happen all the time? Assistant:

fb10win

fb0xmx0

My ex was a bit of an impostor. For our very last fight, I innocently asked him whether tolerance intervals are mathematically similar to confidence intervals and he sneered at me as if it was somehow a stupid question. Feeling needled, I told him that it was OK if he didn't understand tolerance intervals since he had just learned about them - and he broke up with me. He later changed majors from stats to psych because he did not, in fact, understand tolerance intervals. Here's what I've noticed about people who are actual impostors: they tend to elevate themselves over others. They act a little too secure in their expertise, and tend to be condescending or even to make fun of people who don't have their Big Brains, refusing to explain concepts. This is a cover for their own lack of knowledge. These people don't generally make it too far before they wash out, IME. Sure, occasionally one will make it through grad school, but that's usually because they get their reality checked and learn to knuckle down and work. People tend to hear about someone getting caught faking their credentials, and think "Oh, but how many out there didn't get caught?" as if it's a tip-of-the-iceberg situation. IMO, it's not that easy to get away with pretending you know what you're doing at higher levels of academia. I think most or all of them get caught.

This is minor, but I caught a faculty candidate misrepresenting themselves as the first author of papers that they were not first author on. The only reason I caught this was because one of their coauthors had such a strange and humorous name that I opened the journal version of one of the papers to confirm it was real.

zep84n

askacademia_train

Human: Is it normal to get angry at a student for ignoring advice and wasting their own time (teaching undergrads)? I am normally a calmn person but I am finding myself angry at a student for a nonsensical reason. I am teaching a CS course. In this course we provided undergrads with a template in Javascript so that they could do a demo. The assignment uses a sophisticated data structure that is common in geometry processing that we provided students so that they can do their assignment. Using the DS is not complicated but it takes a lot of effort and care to make it work properly which is why we give it to them instead of asking them to code it. One student came during office hours to ask for help, and I am more than happy to help them out. I went over multiple examples on paper on how the algorithm they need to implement works. I suggested multiple different possible implementations to see if one would click. I asked the student to walk me over a few steps of what they should do, to try to gauge what they were confused about. This student is a PhD candidate taking an upper year undergrad course as part of their degree, take this into consideration for what I am about to describe, this is not a first year undergrad but someone who already graduated and is at the PhD level (albeit in a different discipline to mine). After an hour of trying to help the student understand the assignment they said two things in that conversation that struck a cord in me (politely, the student was never rude in any way). 1) Can I get extra marks for making a writeup of what I understand about the assignment? Which absolutely not, the course is about application and being able to code the algorithm, failing to implement the algorithm (which many other students have implemented) is a failure in the assignment, period, why would you be entitled to marks for a writeup when there is no written component to the assignment? 2) They mentioned that they were struggling for time and they thought they might not finish the assignment (not asking for an extension, they just mentioned it as part of the conversation and did not dwell on it, they did not ask for any additional considerations). And they also said that to "understand the algorithm" they would code the entire thing in python (without a 3D visualizer like the one we gave them for js), without the sophisticated data structure they are supposed to use (i.e. he wants to brute force the solution in python without any acceleration queries). I tried to gently advice them to not waste their time and just sit down and understand the assignment proper. I did not say anything in that hour, but even though it's been hours I am so... angry? Like I want to shout at this student and tell them they are being positively stupid. They want to waste hours of their time replicating 10% of the assignment (the result), when the whole point is for us to test them on their use of the data structure. Understanding the data structure IS the assignment, if you get it you can get the solution in 30 minutes. They are a PhD student in a subdiscipline of CS, I feel they should be embarrassed to be scared of properly learning the course material and finding copouts and crutches to get by instead of properly studying. But I have no stakes on this, if they fail the assignment it's on them, not on me. Why am I so upset at this student self sabotaging by not realising they are using python as an unhealthy coping mechanism to not deal with the anxiety of learning new languages and algorithms? Have others felt this way? Is this normal? Do I need to seek counselling? I have never gotten so angry at someone over something so inconsequential to my own status. Assistant:

iz86hmc

iz81gd1

I get the feeling. I am wondering if it has a bit to do with them being a grad student in an undergrad course. I wouldn't do this to anyone but I have my PhD and I am currently undertaking a lower level post graduate degree. I have at times had to stop myself and think objectively about the material, the assessment, and what I do and do not need to do. I didn't try to find workarounds but I certainly stressed myself out doing more than what was required. Grad students are used to being expected to find novel approaches rather than taking the task at face value and it can be difficult to swap back to the mindset needed for simply following set instructions for assignments.

Refer them to library services or whatever learning center you have on campus. Your responsibility only extends so far with respect to “tutoring” a student. It’s cold to say “don’t get personally invested in your students’ success” but you have to do that as an instructor for your own mental well-being. Be supportive when appropriate, but draw lines when needed.

zep84n

askacademia_train

Human: Is it normal to get angry at a student for ignoring advice and wasting their own time (teaching undergrads)? I am normally a calmn person but I am finding myself angry at a student for a nonsensical reason. I am teaching a CS course. In this course we provided undergrads with a template in Javascript so that they could do a demo. The assignment uses a sophisticated data structure that is common in geometry processing that we provided students so that they can do their assignment. Using the DS is not complicated but it takes a lot of effort and care to make it work properly which is why we give it to them instead of asking them to code it. One student came during office hours to ask for help, and I am more than happy to help them out. I went over multiple examples on paper on how the algorithm they need to implement works. I suggested multiple different possible implementations to see if one would click. I asked the student to walk me over a few steps of what they should do, to try to gauge what they were confused about. This student is a PhD candidate taking an upper year undergrad course as part of their degree, take this into consideration for what I am about to describe, this is not a first year undergrad but someone who already graduated and is at the PhD level (albeit in a different discipline to mine). After an hour of trying to help the student understand the assignment they said two things in that conversation that struck a cord in me (politely, the student was never rude in any way). 1) Can I get extra marks for making a writeup of what I understand about the assignment? Which absolutely not, the course is about application and being able to code the algorithm, failing to implement the algorithm (which many other students have implemented) is a failure in the assignment, period, why would you be entitled to marks for a writeup when there is no written component to the assignment? 2) They mentioned that they were struggling for time and they thought they might not finish the assignment (not asking for an extension, they just mentioned it as part of the conversation and did not dwell on it, they did not ask for any additional considerations). And they also said that to "understand the algorithm" they would code the entire thing in python (without a 3D visualizer like the one we gave them for js), without the sophisticated data structure they are supposed to use (i.e. he wants to brute force the solution in python without any acceleration queries). I tried to gently advice them to not waste their time and just sit down and understand the assignment proper. I did not say anything in that hour, but even though it's been hours I am so... angry? Like I want to shout at this student and tell them they are being positively stupid. They want to waste hours of their time replicating 10% of the assignment (the result), when the whole point is for us to test them on their use of the data structure. Understanding the data structure IS the assignment, if you get it you can get the solution in 30 minutes. They are a PhD student in a subdiscipline of CS, I feel they should be embarrassed to be scared of properly learning the course material and finding copouts and crutches to get by instead of properly studying. But I have no stakes on this, if they fail the assignment it's on them, not on me. Why am I so upset at this student self sabotaging by not realising they are using python as an unhealthy coping mechanism to not deal with the anxiety of learning new languages and algorithms? Have others felt this way? Is this normal? Do I need to seek counselling? I have never gotten so angry at someone over something so inconsequential to my own status. Assistant:

iz86hmc

iz84tka

I get the feeling. I am wondering if it has a bit to do with them being a grad student in an undergrad course. I wouldn't do this to anyone but I have my PhD and I am currently undertaking a lower level post graduate degree. I have at times had to stop myself and think objectively about the material, the assessment, and what I do and do not need to do. I didn't try to find workarounds but I certainly stressed myself out doing more than what was required. Grad students are used to being expected to find novel approaches rather than taking the task at face value and it can be difficult to swap back to the mindset needed for simply following set instructions for assignments.

I know exactly how this feels. What helped me is changing how I frame the job in my mind: "I will do everything I can to give you the resources to succeed, but it's up to you to actually use those resources." It felt a bit heartless at first but ultimately I realized that it's simply not possible to have the empathic bandwidth to emotionally invest myself into the success of every individual student.

zep84n

askacademia_train

Human: Is it normal to get angry at a student for ignoring advice and wasting their own time (teaching undergrads)? I am normally a calmn person but I am finding myself angry at a student for a nonsensical reason. I am teaching a CS course. In this course we provided undergrads with a template in Javascript so that they could do a demo. The assignment uses a sophisticated data structure that is common in geometry processing that we provided students so that they can do their assignment. Using the DS is not complicated but it takes a lot of effort and care to make it work properly which is why we give it to them instead of asking them to code it. One student came during office hours to ask for help, and I am more than happy to help them out. I went over multiple examples on paper on how the algorithm they need to implement works. I suggested multiple different possible implementations to see if one would click. I asked the student to walk me over a few steps of what they should do, to try to gauge what they were confused about. This student is a PhD candidate taking an upper year undergrad course as part of their degree, take this into consideration for what I am about to describe, this is not a first year undergrad but someone who already graduated and is at the PhD level (albeit in a different discipline to mine). After an hour of trying to help the student understand the assignment they said two things in that conversation that struck a cord in me (politely, the student was never rude in any way). 1) Can I get extra marks for making a writeup of what I understand about the assignment? Which absolutely not, the course is about application and being able to code the algorithm, failing to implement the algorithm (which many other students have implemented) is a failure in the assignment, period, why would you be entitled to marks for a writeup when there is no written component to the assignment? 2) They mentioned that they were struggling for time and they thought they might not finish the assignment (not asking for an extension, they just mentioned it as part of the conversation and did not dwell on it, they did not ask for any additional considerations). And they also said that to "understand the algorithm" they would code the entire thing in python (without a 3D visualizer like the one we gave them for js), without the sophisticated data structure they are supposed to use (i.e. he wants to brute force the solution in python without any acceleration queries). I tried to gently advice them to not waste their time and just sit down and understand the assignment proper. I did not say anything in that hour, but even though it's been hours I am so... angry? Like I want to shout at this student and tell them they are being positively stupid. They want to waste hours of their time replicating 10% of the assignment (the result), when the whole point is for us to test them on their use of the data structure. Understanding the data structure IS the assignment, if you get it you can get the solution in 30 minutes. They are a PhD student in a subdiscipline of CS, I feel they should be embarrassed to be scared of properly learning the course material and finding copouts and crutches to get by instead of properly studying. But I have no stakes on this, if they fail the assignment it's on them, not on me. Why am I so upset at this student self sabotaging by not realising they are using python as an unhealthy coping mechanism to not deal with the anxiety of learning new languages and algorithms? Have others felt this way? Is this normal? Do I need to seek counselling? I have never gotten so angry at someone over something so inconsequential to my own status. Assistant:

iz89vp0

iz84tka

It sounds to me like the student just doesn't understand the content. A tutor sounds like a good idea.

I know exactly how this feels. What helped me is changing how I frame the job in my mind: "I will do everything I can to give you the resources to succeed, but it's up to you to actually use those resources." It felt a bit heartless at first but ultimately I realized that it's simply not possible to have the empathic bandwidth to emotionally invest myself into the success of every individual student.

zep84n

askacademia_train

Human: Is it normal to get angry at a student for ignoring advice and wasting their own time (teaching undergrads)? I am normally a calmn person but I am finding myself angry at a student for a nonsensical reason. I am teaching a CS course. In this course we provided undergrads with a template in Javascript so that they could do a demo. The assignment uses a sophisticated data structure that is common in geometry processing that we provided students so that they can do their assignment. Using the DS is not complicated but it takes a lot of effort and care to make it work properly which is why we give it to them instead of asking them to code it. One student came during office hours to ask for help, and I am more than happy to help them out. I went over multiple examples on paper on how the algorithm they need to implement works. I suggested multiple different possible implementations to see if one would click. I asked the student to walk me over a few steps of what they should do, to try to gauge what they were confused about. This student is a PhD candidate taking an upper year undergrad course as part of their degree, take this into consideration for what I am about to describe, this is not a first year undergrad but someone who already graduated and is at the PhD level (albeit in a different discipline to mine). After an hour of trying to help the student understand the assignment they said two things in that conversation that struck a cord in me (politely, the student was never rude in any way). 1) Can I get extra marks for making a writeup of what I understand about the assignment? Which absolutely not, the course is about application and being able to code the algorithm, failing to implement the algorithm (which many other students have implemented) is a failure in the assignment, period, why would you be entitled to marks for a writeup when there is no written component to the assignment? 2) They mentioned that they were struggling for time and they thought they might not finish the assignment (not asking for an extension, they just mentioned it as part of the conversation and did not dwell on it, they did not ask for any additional considerations). And they also said that to "understand the algorithm" they would code the entire thing in python (without a 3D visualizer like the one we gave them for js), without the sophisticated data structure they are supposed to use (i.e. he wants to brute force the solution in python without any acceleration queries). I tried to gently advice them to not waste their time and just sit down and understand the assignment proper. I did not say anything in that hour, but even though it's been hours I am so... angry? Like I want to shout at this student and tell them they are being positively stupid. They want to waste hours of their time replicating 10% of the assignment (the result), when the whole point is for us to test them on their use of the data structure. Understanding the data structure IS the assignment, if you get it you can get the solution in 30 minutes. They are a PhD student in a subdiscipline of CS, I feel they should be embarrassed to be scared of properly learning the course material and finding copouts and crutches to get by instead of properly studying. But I have no stakes on this, if they fail the assignment it's on them, not on me. Why am I so upset at this student self sabotaging by not realising they are using python as an unhealthy coping mechanism to not deal with the anxiety of learning new languages and algorithms? Have others felt this way? Is this normal? Do I need to seek counselling? I have never gotten so angry at someone over something so inconsequential to my own status. Assistant:

iz9hgao

iz8i0hu

Your feelings are valid, but I'm not sure about using the term "normal". To me it seems that perhaps the goals of the assignment are not clear to the student and for whatever reason that they didn't share (and don't have to), their way of dealing with the challenge they're facing is to do something in a way they feel they are capable of- note that they have also mentioned they're struggling. You mentioned it that *you think* because they're in the PhD program, they *should* *feel embarrassed* to be scared of learning the new tool- feel like you want to shout at them. Where is this coming from? I encourage you to think about it.

It’s because you care about your job and they ignore your advice. My husband and I are forever discussing how it is possible to care about our jobs, to be invested, and do it properly, without being constantly frustrated and drained. We are not in research (I’m a grad student plus I work in academia, he’s in STEM industry), but it’s the same thing. We know what’s the best thing to do in certain situations, and when that gets ignored, it makes at least me feel pretty pointless. Which is hard to combine with genuinely caring and having ambitions on behalf of both my department and my own professional life.

zep84n

askacademia_train

Human: Is it normal to get angry at a student for ignoring advice and wasting their own time (teaching undergrads)? I am normally a calmn person but I am finding myself angry at a student for a nonsensical reason. I am teaching a CS course. In this course we provided undergrads with a template in Javascript so that they could do a demo. The assignment uses a sophisticated data structure that is common in geometry processing that we provided students so that they can do their assignment. Using the DS is not complicated but it takes a lot of effort and care to make it work properly which is why we give it to them instead of asking them to code it. One student came during office hours to ask for help, and I am more than happy to help them out. I went over multiple examples on paper on how the algorithm they need to implement works. I suggested multiple different possible implementations to see if one would click. I asked the student to walk me over a few steps of what they should do, to try to gauge what they were confused about. This student is a PhD candidate taking an upper year undergrad course as part of their degree, take this into consideration for what I am about to describe, this is not a first year undergrad but someone who already graduated and is at the PhD level (albeit in a different discipline to mine). After an hour of trying to help the student understand the assignment they said two things in that conversation that struck a cord in me (politely, the student was never rude in any way). 1) Can I get extra marks for making a writeup of what I understand about the assignment? Which absolutely not, the course is about application and being able to code the algorithm, failing to implement the algorithm (which many other students have implemented) is a failure in the assignment, period, why would you be entitled to marks for a writeup when there is no written component to the assignment? 2) They mentioned that they were struggling for time and they thought they might not finish the assignment (not asking for an extension, they just mentioned it as part of the conversation and did not dwell on it, they did not ask for any additional considerations). And they also said that to "understand the algorithm" they would code the entire thing in python (without a 3D visualizer like the one we gave them for js), without the sophisticated data structure they are supposed to use (i.e. he wants to brute force the solution in python without any acceleration queries). I tried to gently advice them to not waste their time and just sit down and understand the assignment proper. I did not say anything in that hour, but even though it's been hours I am so... angry? Like I want to shout at this student and tell them they are being positively stupid. They want to waste hours of their time replicating 10% of the assignment (the result), when the whole point is for us to test them on their use of the data structure. Understanding the data structure IS the assignment, if you get it you can get the solution in 30 minutes. They are a PhD student in a subdiscipline of CS, I feel they should be embarrassed to be scared of properly learning the course material and finding copouts and crutches to get by instead of properly studying. But I have no stakes on this, if they fail the assignment it's on them, not on me. Why am I so upset at this student self sabotaging by not realising they are using python as an unhealthy coping mechanism to not deal with the anxiety of learning new languages and algorithms? Have others felt this way? Is this normal? Do I need to seek counselling? I have never gotten so angry at someone over something so inconsequential to my own status. Assistant:

iz8s20w

iz9hgao

It probably is normal. Not for me, because of how hypocritical it would be, but for good teachers it's probably normal.

Your feelings are valid, but I'm not sure about using the term "normal". To me it seems that perhaps the goals of the assignment are not clear to the student and for whatever reason that they didn't share (and don't have to), their way of dealing with the challenge they're facing is to do something in a way they feel they are capable of- note that they have also mentioned they're struggling. You mentioned it that *you think* because they're in the PhD program, they *should* *feel embarrassed* to be scared of learning the new tool- feel like you want to shout at them. Where is this coming from? I encourage you to think about it.

jej58s

askacademia_train

Human: Is it bad to want to quit and just find a normal job? Hi folks, I'm looking for advice on whether or not pursuing science academic career is worth the pressure. I know this varies greatly from person to person but I would love to hear your experience. I am a Canadian third year undergrad in biochemistry and I absolutely love the science (like little-kid-in-a-candy-store love the science) and really enjoy the work surrounding research BUT I am finding the more exposure I have to it the more I hate the culture surrounding science. It affects me less because I am just an undergrad, but I see the effects the pressure has on my mentors and the seniors and I am starting to wonder if it would be better to get out now and pursue an "easier" career. Perhaps something like teaching or nursing with well defined job expectations and outcomes. I currently have an undergrad research position and will have one lined up every semester and summer until I graduate, as well as a Master's supervisor should everything go well (I didn't even approach them for the most part, they approached me and I went with it because it sounded like a good idea), but I don't want to waste their time if I am just going to switch paths. &#x200B; If anyone is willing to share any perspectives on this, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to be a scientist because I LOVE the science, but I am not sure it's worth killing myself over small things every day of my life. Assistant:

g9en0c1

g9es6n5

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please reach out. You can find help at a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline USA: 18002738255 US Crisis textline: 741741 text HOME United Kingdom: 116 123 Trans Lifeline (877-565-8860) Others: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

In the US there ~10 more PhD students starting than permanent positions are rewarded in academia and it properly doesn't look so different in other countries. Hence, dropping out of academia is the rule and not the exception nowadays. So, it's not a failure in anyway, despite what your supervisors may like to tell you. But it doesn't necessarily mean to stop doing science. Many companies have a research & development department and many startups are also interested in people with a scientific expertise. So, you may end up in a place with lots of former Postdocs. But even many non-research positions can benefit from having a scientific education. So, you may to want to see academia as only one of many ways to build your career and it might not be the best for you.

jej58s

askacademia_train

Human: Is it bad to want to quit and just find a normal job? Hi folks, I'm looking for advice on whether or not pursuing science academic career is worth the pressure. I know this varies greatly from person to person but I would love to hear your experience. I am a Canadian third year undergrad in biochemistry and I absolutely love the science (like little-kid-in-a-candy-store love the science) and really enjoy the work surrounding research BUT I am finding the more exposure I have to it the more I hate the culture surrounding science. It affects me less because I am just an undergrad, but I see the effects the pressure has on my mentors and the seniors and I am starting to wonder if it would be better to get out now and pursue an "easier" career. Perhaps something like teaching or nursing with well defined job expectations and outcomes. I currently have an undergrad research position and will have one lined up every semester and summer until I graduate, as well as a Master's supervisor should everything go well (I didn't even approach them for the most part, they approached me and I went with it because it sounded like a good idea), but I don't want to waste their time if I am just going to switch paths. &#x200B; If anyone is willing to share any perspectives on this, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to be a scientist because I LOVE the science, but I am not sure it's worth killing myself over small things every day of my life. Assistant:

g9en0c1

g9etq5b

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please reach out. You can find help at a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline USA: 18002738255 US Crisis textline: 741741 text HOME United Kingdom: 116 123 Trans Lifeline (877-565-8860) Others: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

I ignored the red eyes and burnt out people for way too long, thinking that they were all exceptions to the rule. It's observant for you to see it already as an undergrad. But also keep in mind that you do not have a sense of what the baseline looks like, and you are seeing them during a global pandemic and time of instability. How do you think nurses and teachers are doing right now? The grass isn't always greener. Sometimes it's better to just make the best of what you already have. It's impossible making that judgement call though, and you have almost no way of predicting which is the right choice. Just remember it's not the end of the world either way.

jej58s

askacademia_train

Human: Is it bad to want to quit and just find a normal job? Hi folks, I'm looking for advice on whether or not pursuing science academic career is worth the pressure. I know this varies greatly from person to person but I would love to hear your experience. I am a Canadian third year undergrad in biochemistry and I absolutely love the science (like little-kid-in-a-candy-store love the science) and really enjoy the work surrounding research BUT I am finding the more exposure I have to it the more I hate the culture surrounding science. It affects me less because I am just an undergrad, but I see the effects the pressure has on my mentors and the seniors and I am starting to wonder if it would be better to get out now and pursue an "easier" career. Perhaps something like teaching or nursing with well defined job expectations and outcomes. I currently have an undergrad research position and will have one lined up every semester and summer until I graduate, as well as a Master's supervisor should everything go well (I didn't even approach them for the most part, they approached me and I went with it because it sounded like a good idea), but I don't want to waste their time if I am just going to switch paths. &#x200B; If anyone is willing to share any perspectives on this, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to be a scientist because I LOVE the science, but I am not sure it's worth killing myself over small things every day of my life. Assistant:

g9etp89

g9etq5b

It depends what sort of stress bothers you, but I wouldn't consider either nursing or teaching easier or lower pressure careers. Take your time and think more about what you actually want to do day to day. Keep your research plans for this year, but also talk to some nurses or teachers. Right now might be weird, but post covid there should be lots of volunteer gigs tutoring at schools and at hospitals that should give you a chance to get in the environment and talk to people. You might also want to look into research adjacent roles outside of academia (medical writing, data science).

I ignored the red eyes and burnt out people for way too long, thinking that they were all exceptions to the rule. It's observant for you to see it already as an undergrad. But also keep in mind that you do not have a sense of what the baseline looks like, and you are seeing them during a global pandemic and time of instability. How do you think nurses and teachers are doing right now? The grass isn't always greener. Sometimes it's better to just make the best of what you already have. It's impossible making that judgement call though, and you have almost no way of predicting which is the right choice. Just remember it's not the end of the world either way.

jej58s

askacademia_train

Human: Is it bad to want to quit and just find a normal job? Hi folks, I'm looking for advice on whether or not pursuing science academic career is worth the pressure. I know this varies greatly from person to person but I would love to hear your experience. I am a Canadian third year undergrad in biochemistry and I absolutely love the science (like little-kid-in-a-candy-store love the science) and really enjoy the work surrounding research BUT I am finding the more exposure I have to it the more I hate the culture surrounding science. It affects me less because I am just an undergrad, but I see the effects the pressure has on my mentors and the seniors and I am starting to wonder if it would be better to get out now and pursue an "easier" career. Perhaps something like teaching or nursing with well defined job expectations and outcomes. I currently have an undergrad research position and will have one lined up every semester and summer until I graduate, as well as a Master's supervisor should everything go well (I didn't even approach them for the most part, they approached me and I went with it because it sounded like a good idea), but I don't want to waste their time if I am just going to switch paths. &#x200B; If anyone is willing to share any perspectives on this, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to be a scientist because I LOVE the science, but I am not sure it's worth killing myself over small things every day of my life. Assistant:

g9en0c1

g9ewqnk

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please reach out. You can find help at a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline USA: 18002738255 US Crisis textline: 741741 text HOME United Kingdom: 116 123 Trans Lifeline (877-565-8860) Others: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

I quit my PhD because I wanted a "normal job". The line of work I am is not exactly stress free or relaxing (public accounting at large firm) but I am so much happier for it. Having fairly regular hours, defined expectations, clear career progression and a comfortable salary were all very appealing to me. I still love science but it turned out that being the actual boots on the ground running experiments was not the life for me. I was also very aware that finding an industry job or postdoc job would be tough and would likely involve me moving to somewhere that I didn't necessarily want to live. Additionally, I became very disillusioned with the whole academic culture and couldn't bear to be in that world for longer than necessary. Happy to answer any questions.

jej58s

askacademia_train

Human: Is it bad to want to quit and just find a normal job? Hi folks, I'm looking for advice on whether or not pursuing science academic career is worth the pressure. I know this varies greatly from person to person but I would love to hear your experience. I am a Canadian third year undergrad in biochemistry and I absolutely love the science (like little-kid-in-a-candy-store love the science) and really enjoy the work surrounding research BUT I am finding the more exposure I have to it the more I hate the culture surrounding science. It affects me less because I am just an undergrad, but I see the effects the pressure has on my mentors and the seniors and I am starting to wonder if it would be better to get out now and pursue an "easier" career. Perhaps something like teaching or nursing with well defined job expectations and outcomes. I currently have an undergrad research position and will have one lined up every semester and summer until I graduate, as well as a Master's supervisor should everything go well (I didn't even approach them for the most part, they approached me and I went with it because it sounded like a good idea), but I don't want to waste their time if I am just going to switch paths. &#x200B; If anyone is willing to share any perspectives on this, I would greatly appreciate it. I want to be a scientist because I LOVE the science, but I am not sure it's worth killing myself over small things every day of my life. Assistant:

g9etp89

g9ewqnk

It depends what sort of stress bothers you, but I wouldn't consider either nursing or teaching easier or lower pressure careers. Take your time and think more about what you actually want to do day to day. Keep your research plans for this year, but also talk to some nurses or teachers. Right now might be weird, but post covid there should be lots of volunteer gigs tutoring at schools and at hospitals that should give you a chance to get in the environment and talk to people. You might also want to look into research adjacent roles outside of academia (medical writing, data science).

I quit my PhD because I wanted a "normal job". The line of work I am is not exactly stress free or relaxing (public accounting at large firm) but I am so much happier for it. Having fairly regular hours, defined expectations, clear career progression and a comfortable salary were all very appealing to me. I still love science but it turned out that being the actual boots on the ground running experiments was not the life for me. I was also very aware that finding an industry job or postdoc job would be tough and would likely involve me moving to somewhere that I didn't necessarily want to live. Additionally, I became very disillusioned with the whole academic culture and couldn't bear to be in that world for longer than necessary. Happy to answer any questions.

tkdxd8

askacademia_train

Human: Dating/marriage and Tenure Track Academia I am in my final year of my PhD and also in my late 20s. I am currently single but I find it constantly weighing on me that I feel like I should be dating if I don’t want to be single for the rest of my life but also the demands of academia are significant. I currently am fulfilling a senior role in my lab that is much closer to a postdoc than PhD student with regards to research and management responsibilities, that plus teaching activities, and finishing my dissertation leave me very busy and often overwhelmed. Every time I look at getting into a relationship I can’t honestly say I have the time that most people want. I don’t work a 9-5. I work kind of insane hours. Also, I worry that any time I dedicate to a relationship is time I could be spending writing that next article or doing XYZ thing to advance my career. Does it get better? How do you all find/make the time? Do you feel like it takes away from your career? Field: Engineering Title: PhD student Country:US Assistant:

i1pusr3

i1pu951

At some point you need to define for yourself a work life balance. There is no time card in academia. You could work 50 hours a day and there would always be more to do. More to read, more to write, more ways to pad your CV. And no one is going to stop you except you. Do you want to write that next article, or do you want to have that time for yourself, whether it's for a relationship or anything else

You need to make time because you'll never find it, out there, especially if your mindset is "I could use this time to write the next article or advance my relationship." I don't mean to be rude - I totally get that mindset - but I've seen that mindset blow up some relationships (including ones I've had!) To your question about it taking away from my career? No, because my career isn't the most important thing in my life. I've had to work hard to separate me (as a person) from me (the academic) and decide what my priorities are and how to put time towards them in a balanced way. Took years and a few good therapists, but I have (and continue) to advance my career without feeling like I can't dare afford anything else (relationships, geographic control, etc). It means I let go of certain things, but I know they're not things I really want (even if they seem shiny and wonderful). FWIW, I think your program sounds like it is particularly difficult to function (as a person) in and, while you can't change that, you can think about future opportunities that encourage very different ways of doing research.

tkdxd8

askacademia_train

Human: Dating/marriage and Tenure Track Academia I am in my final year of my PhD and also in my late 20s. I am currently single but I find it constantly weighing on me that I feel like I should be dating if I don’t want to be single for the rest of my life but also the demands of academia are significant. I currently am fulfilling a senior role in my lab that is much closer to a postdoc than PhD student with regards to research and management responsibilities, that plus teaching activities, and finishing my dissertation leave me very busy and often overwhelmed. Every time I look at getting into a relationship I can’t honestly say I have the time that most people want. I don’t work a 9-5. I work kind of insane hours. Also, I worry that any time I dedicate to a relationship is time I could be spending writing that next article or doing XYZ thing to advance my career. Does it get better? How do you all find/make the time? Do you feel like it takes away from your career? Field: Engineering Title: PhD student Country:US Assistant:

i1pu0ts

i1pusr3

Clearly many in academia or other intense jobs are in relationships, and many are not for a variety of reasons, so it is doable. Having time away from writing a paper may feel like you are not investing 100% in your career, but having a partner to support you during the hard times of a career can be helpful, too. And having someone to help celebrate the good times is nice. I work insane hours and whatever relationship problems I have had aren't academia's fault. Some people find they do well with a partner who has no career or a secondary career so that the professor has more time and less domestic responsibilities and can move wherever the professor needs. That is very old school and one might think outdated, but there are tons of professors in these roles, including some younger ones. Another path is to partner with someone who also has insane work hours as they tend to understand your situation and when they spend time with you, you know it is precious. That is my preference. Are marriage rates and divorce rates different for those in academia compared to other intense professions?

At some point you need to define for yourself a work life balance. There is no time card in academia. You could work 50 hours a day and there would always be more to do. More to read, more to write, more ways to pad your CV. And no one is going to stop you except you. Do you want to write that next article, or do you want to have that time for yourself, whether it's for a relationship or anything else

tkdxd8

askacademia_train

Human: Dating/marriage and Tenure Track Academia I am in my final year of my PhD and also in my late 20s. I am currently single but I find it constantly weighing on me that I feel like I should be dating if I don’t want to be single for the rest of my life but also the demands of academia are significant. I currently am fulfilling a senior role in my lab that is much closer to a postdoc than PhD student with regards to research and management responsibilities, that plus teaching activities, and finishing my dissertation leave me very busy and often overwhelmed. Every time I look at getting into a relationship I can’t honestly say I have the time that most people want. I don’t work a 9-5. I work kind of insane hours. Also, I worry that any time I dedicate to a relationship is time I could be spending writing that next article or doing XYZ thing to advance my career. Does it get better? How do you all find/make the time? Do you feel like it takes away from your career? Field: Engineering Title: PhD student Country:US Assistant:

i1pve6i

i1pu951

Ain't nobody writing "he is survived by a loving career and CV" in your obituary.

You need to make time because you'll never find it, out there, especially if your mindset is "I could use this time to write the next article or advance my relationship." I don't mean to be rude - I totally get that mindset - but I've seen that mindset blow up some relationships (including ones I've had!) To your question about it taking away from my career? No, because my career isn't the most important thing in my life. I've had to work hard to separate me (as a person) from me (the academic) and decide what my priorities are and how to put time towards them in a balanced way. Took years and a few good therapists, but I have (and continue) to advance my career without feeling like I can't dare afford anything else (relationships, geographic control, etc). It means I let go of certain things, but I know they're not things I really want (even if they seem shiny and wonderful). FWIW, I think your program sounds like it is particularly difficult to function (as a person) in and, while you can't change that, you can think about future opportunities that encourage very different ways of doing research.

tkdxd8

askacademia_train

Human: Dating/marriage and Tenure Track Academia I am in my final year of my PhD and also in my late 20s. I am currently single but I find it constantly weighing on me that I feel like I should be dating if I don’t want to be single for the rest of my life but also the demands of academia are significant. I currently am fulfilling a senior role in my lab that is much closer to a postdoc than PhD student with regards to research and management responsibilities, that plus teaching activities, and finishing my dissertation leave me very busy and often overwhelmed. Every time I look at getting into a relationship I can’t honestly say I have the time that most people want. I don’t work a 9-5. I work kind of insane hours. Also, I worry that any time I dedicate to a relationship is time I could be spending writing that next article or doing XYZ thing to advance my career. Does it get better? How do you all find/make the time? Do you feel like it takes away from your career? Field: Engineering Title: PhD student Country:US Assistant:

i1pu0ts

i1pve6i

Clearly many in academia or other intense jobs are in relationships, and many are not for a variety of reasons, so it is doable. Having time away from writing a paper may feel like you are not investing 100% in your career, but having a partner to support you during the hard times of a career can be helpful, too. And having someone to help celebrate the good times is nice. I work insane hours and whatever relationship problems I have had aren't academia's fault. Some people find they do well with a partner who has no career or a secondary career so that the professor has more time and less domestic responsibilities and can move wherever the professor needs. That is very old school and one might think outdated, but there are tons of professors in these roles, including some younger ones. Another path is to partner with someone who also has insane work hours as they tend to understand your situation and when they spend time with you, you know it is precious. That is my preference. Are marriage rates and divorce rates different for those in academia compared to other intense professions?

Ain't nobody writing "he is survived by a loving career and CV" in your obituary.

tkdxd8

askacademia_train

Human: Dating/marriage and Tenure Track Academia I am in my final year of my PhD and also in my late 20s. I am currently single but I find it constantly weighing on me that I feel like I should be dating if I don’t want to be single for the rest of my life but also the demands of academia are significant. I currently am fulfilling a senior role in my lab that is much closer to a postdoc than PhD student with regards to research and management responsibilities, that plus teaching activities, and finishing my dissertation leave me very busy and often overwhelmed. Every time I look at getting into a relationship I can’t honestly say I have the time that most people want. I don’t work a 9-5. I work kind of insane hours. Also, I worry that any time I dedicate to a relationship is time I could be spending writing that next article or doing XYZ thing to advance my career. Does it get better? How do you all find/make the time? Do you feel like it takes away from your career? Field: Engineering Title: PhD student Country:US Assistant:

i1pve6i

i1pv9ek

Ain't nobody writing "he is survived by a loving career and CV" in your obituary.

Don't work so much

nmwu4f

askacademia_train

Human: I hate my PhD supervisors. Is it worth even continuing? Their feedback is always too broad for any real application, they're, at best, indifferent about me continuing my studies after severe extenuating circumstances (worsening of my physical and mental health, the passing of my mother after a long battle with cancer, my wife being diagnosed and treated for autoimmune disease, and more) and they go out of their way to passive-aggressively make me feel like I don't work (every conversation with them starts with "as we've already told you" even when they haven't told me, they don't believe in any form or shape of encouragement and have never said a single positive thing about me or my work, they constantly ask if I'm still interested in continuing my PhD even though I've been meeting my deadlines, etc). More than that, they actually recommended that I quit my part time job so I can focus more on my PhD, even though all they ever tell me is that I'm falling behind with no actual advice to fix things. They are purposefully opaque and honestly might as well be magic 8 balls at this point, randomly answering my questions and serious concerns haphazardly. Further, they are charging a premium because I'm an international student, and I am being charged literally the highest possible cost for my PhD (the bench fees are absolutely ridiculous for a non-lab based PhD). I have a professional doctorate degree and a masters degree already, and received them both with honors. I've never had any problems with anything coursework related before this horrible, horrible experience. I'm at the end of my first year, and may or may not pass my first year. But I'm wondering: if I even do pass, should I even continue? Best case scenario is 3 more years of suffering, then a PhD so I can get a teaching job that pays less than my current consulting job but that I'm passionate about. Worst case scenario is I fail the final viva and lose some very serious time and money. Anyway, rant and questions over. Thanks for reading, appreciate any thoughts. Assistant:

gzraiq5

gzr8xvb

I recently left my PhD program with a Ms degree. Had similar situation - international student, problems with a supervisor, etc. It was Best. Decision. Ever. If things don't work for you you should really consider leaving - it is never worth it! Your mental and physical health are the most important things here. Don't torture yourself. Would you stay in a toxic relationship for 3-4 years like that?

Do NOT continue like this. You will tire yourself our mentally and be completely burned out if you keep going like this. First, I am sorry for your loss and that you have to deal with shit like this. Second, you should talk to a department supervisor or director because a lot of this sounds like your supervisors are treating you poorly. In most reasonable academic institutions, you will be able to work under a different set of supervisors given the right context and the right situation. Third, your supervisors are most likely going to be more critical and compliment-heavy because the hard reality of it is that they need to produce the best quality PhD candidates and with such little time, compliments don't get the results they need. Realistically, the harsh criticism may sound harsh now, but when you are more experienced and are standing in their shoes, you might be doing the same thing. If anything, I could highly recommend talking with someone before you do quit. However, it is important to know that if you do keep going like this, you will tire yourself out mentally, and you could burn out academically! Good luck my dude and please remember nothing comes before you and your health.

nmwu4f

askacademia_train

Human: I hate my PhD supervisors. Is it worth even continuing? Their feedback is always too broad for any real application, they're, at best, indifferent about me continuing my studies after severe extenuating circumstances (worsening of my physical and mental health, the passing of my mother after a long battle with cancer, my wife being diagnosed and treated for autoimmune disease, and more) and they go out of their way to passive-aggressively make me feel like I don't work (every conversation with them starts with "as we've already told you" even when they haven't told me, they don't believe in any form or shape of encouragement and have never said a single positive thing about me or my work, they constantly ask if I'm still interested in continuing my PhD even though I've been meeting my deadlines, etc). More than that, they actually recommended that I quit my part time job so I can focus more on my PhD, even though all they ever tell me is that I'm falling behind with no actual advice to fix things. They are purposefully opaque and honestly might as well be magic 8 balls at this point, randomly answering my questions and serious concerns haphazardly. Further, they are charging a premium because I'm an international student, and I am being charged literally the highest possible cost for my PhD (the bench fees are absolutely ridiculous for a non-lab based PhD). I have a professional doctorate degree and a masters degree already, and received them both with honors. I've never had any problems with anything coursework related before this horrible, horrible experience. I'm at the end of my first year, and may or may not pass my first year. But I'm wondering: if I even do pass, should I even continue? Best case scenario is 3 more years of suffering, then a PhD so I can get a teaching job that pays less than my current consulting job but that I'm passionate about. Worst case scenario is I fail the final viva and lose some very serious time and money. Anyway, rant and questions over. Thanks for reading, appreciate any thoughts. Assistant:

gzrg5vf

gzrjizv

PhDs are incredibly selfish endeavors. You cannot solve your problems obtaining the solutions from others. This is your time to solve problems at the frontier of knowledge. They cannot (and arguably should not) give you more than broad direction. If you’re seeking pointed direction, stop. A PhD is about figuring out how to push the bounds of knowledge. Either adopt the mindset that you’ll do what you need to do to obtain your degree regardless of the assistance you’re getting, or quit. (Also, “they”, your advisors, are not charging you anything. It is your institution doing so. You’ve conflated the two, muddying the situation.)

It sounds like you've already made your mind up, but being as big of a decision as it is you (naturally) want to validate your decision. Three years is a long time to spend doing a programme you are not enjoying. Keep in mind, you can always apply again to another PhD programme. Taking the time to find a programme that is right for you is always worth it.

nmwu4f

askacademia_train

Human: I hate my PhD supervisors. Is it worth even continuing? Their feedback is always too broad for any real application, they're, at best, indifferent about me continuing my studies after severe extenuating circumstances (worsening of my physical and mental health, the passing of my mother after a long battle with cancer, my wife being diagnosed and treated for autoimmune disease, and more) and they go out of their way to passive-aggressively make me feel like I don't work (every conversation with them starts with "as we've already told you" even when they haven't told me, they don't believe in any form or shape of encouragement and have never said a single positive thing about me or my work, they constantly ask if I'm still interested in continuing my PhD even though I've been meeting my deadlines, etc). More than that, they actually recommended that I quit my part time job so I can focus more on my PhD, even though all they ever tell me is that I'm falling behind with no actual advice to fix things. They are purposefully opaque and honestly might as well be magic 8 balls at this point, randomly answering my questions and serious concerns haphazardly. Further, they are charging a premium because I'm an international student, and I am being charged literally the highest possible cost for my PhD (the bench fees are absolutely ridiculous for a non-lab based PhD). I have a professional doctorate degree and a masters degree already, and received them both with honors. I've never had any problems with anything coursework related before this horrible, horrible experience. I'm at the end of my first year, and may or may not pass my first year. But I'm wondering: if I even do pass, should I even continue? Best case scenario is 3 more years of suffering, then a PhD so I can get a teaching job that pays less than my current consulting job but that I'm passionate about. Worst case scenario is I fail the final viva and lose some very serious time and money. Anyway, rant and questions over. Thanks for reading, appreciate any thoughts. Assistant:

gzrjizv

gzris01

It sounds like you've already made your mind up, but being as big of a decision as it is you (naturally) want to validate your decision. Three years is a long time to spend doing a programme you are not enjoying. Keep in mind, you can always apply again to another PhD programme. Taking the time to find a programme that is right for you is always worth it.

you should really quit or better yet ask for a change of supervisors if possible. i have been in your position before- did very well in my career till i landed a total bitch as my supervisor and then suddenly it was all these passive-aggressive shit but i got my supervisor changed and my work is flourishing again. some other commenter pointed out that the problem may lie with you and that is totally the type of utter bs that your supervisors will have you believe. you are a human with feelings who has gone through a lot, and I think concrete feedback is the absolute minimum that you can ask of any supervisor. some people will put you down or try to make you feel like you are the one who failed, but they are usually really judgey people whose opinion should not count. i am really sorry about your mom. do what you think is best for you and just get on with your life. i hope your wife gets better soon too.

nmwu4f

askacademia_train

Human: I hate my PhD supervisors. Is it worth even continuing? Their feedback is always too broad for any real application, they're, at best, indifferent about me continuing my studies after severe extenuating circumstances (worsening of my physical and mental health, the passing of my mother after a long battle with cancer, my wife being diagnosed and treated for autoimmune disease, and more) and they go out of their way to passive-aggressively make me feel like I don't work (every conversation with them starts with "as we've already told you" even when they haven't told me, they don't believe in any form or shape of encouragement and have never said a single positive thing about me or my work, they constantly ask if I'm still interested in continuing my PhD even though I've been meeting my deadlines, etc). More than that, they actually recommended that I quit my part time job so I can focus more on my PhD, even though all they ever tell me is that I'm falling behind with no actual advice to fix things. They are purposefully opaque and honestly might as well be magic 8 balls at this point, randomly answering my questions and serious concerns haphazardly. Further, they are charging a premium because I'm an international student, and I am being charged literally the highest possible cost for my PhD (the bench fees are absolutely ridiculous for a non-lab based PhD). I have a professional doctorate degree and a masters degree already, and received them both with honors. I've never had any problems with anything coursework related before this horrible, horrible experience. I'm at the end of my first year, and may or may not pass my first year. But I'm wondering: if I even do pass, should I even continue? Best case scenario is 3 more years of suffering, then a PhD so I can get a teaching job that pays less than my current consulting job but that I'm passionate about. Worst case scenario is I fail the final viva and lose some very serious time and money. Anyway, rant and questions over. Thanks for reading, appreciate any thoughts. Assistant:

gzrjizv

gzr8xvb

It sounds like you've already made your mind up, but being as big of a decision as it is you (naturally) want to validate your decision. Three years is a long time to spend doing a programme you are not enjoying. Keep in mind, you can always apply again to another PhD programme. Taking the time to find a programme that is right for you is always worth it.

Do NOT continue like this. You will tire yourself our mentally and be completely burned out if you keep going like this. First, I am sorry for your loss and that you have to deal with shit like this. Second, you should talk to a department supervisor or director because a lot of this sounds like your supervisors are treating you poorly. In most reasonable academic institutions, you will be able to work under a different set of supervisors given the right context and the right situation. Third, your supervisors are most likely going to be more critical and compliment-heavy because the hard reality of it is that they need to produce the best quality PhD candidates and with such little time, compliments don't get the results they need. Realistically, the harsh criticism may sound harsh now, but when you are more experienced and are standing in their shoes, you might be doing the same thing. If anything, I could highly recommend talking with someone before you do quit. However, it is important to know that if you do keep going like this, you will tire yourself out mentally, and you could burn out academically! Good luck my dude and please remember nothing comes before you and your health.

nmwu4f

askacademia_train

Human: I hate my PhD supervisors. Is it worth even continuing? Their feedback is always too broad for any real application, they're, at best, indifferent about me continuing my studies after severe extenuating circumstances (worsening of my physical and mental health, the passing of my mother after a long battle with cancer, my wife being diagnosed and treated for autoimmune disease, and more) and they go out of their way to passive-aggressively make me feel like I don't work (every conversation with them starts with "as we've already told you" even when they haven't told me, they don't believe in any form or shape of encouragement and have never said a single positive thing about me or my work, they constantly ask if I'm still interested in continuing my PhD even though I've been meeting my deadlines, etc). More than that, they actually recommended that I quit my part time job so I can focus more on my PhD, even though all they ever tell me is that I'm falling behind with no actual advice to fix things. They are purposefully opaque and honestly might as well be magic 8 balls at this point, randomly answering my questions and serious concerns haphazardly. Further, they are charging a premium because I'm an international student, and I am being charged literally the highest possible cost for my PhD (the bench fees are absolutely ridiculous for a non-lab based PhD). I have a professional doctorate degree and a masters degree already, and received them both with honors. I've never had any problems with anything coursework related before this horrible, horrible experience. I'm at the end of my first year, and may or may not pass my first year. But I'm wondering: if I even do pass, should I even continue? Best case scenario is 3 more years of suffering, then a PhD so I can get a teaching job that pays less than my current consulting job but that I'm passionate about. Worst case scenario is I fail the final viva and lose some very serious time and money. Anyway, rant and questions over. Thanks for reading, appreciate any thoughts. Assistant:

gzrjizv

gzrdvja

It sounds like you've already made your mind up, but being as big of a decision as it is you (naturally) want to validate your decision. Three years is a long time to spend doing a programme you are not enjoying. Keep in mind, you can always apply again to another PhD programme. Taking the time to find a programme that is right for you is always worth it.

Based on how you describe, it, it seems impossible to get your current advisors to ameliorate the situation. They aren't invested in you, their feedback is not helpful for you, and their communication style is not working with you. It seems like there is very little to be won here, and a lot to be lost. You have so many other qualifications and job experience that I can't imagine there isn't a job out there that you might like more than consulting.

j3uhzl

askacademia_train

Human: What would you think and do if a student [30/F] confessed to a criminal history? Hi everyone, I am a current postgraduate psychology student, and I am training to become a psychologist. I am looking for the perspectives of academics. I have a complex medical history, and I take multiple medications to manage my health. The university are aware of this. In 2015, the police caught me at the airport in Australia headed for the UK with opioids. I had a prescription, but it wasn't on me. They charged me with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. I went to court with a lawyer, and the charge was withdrawn. When I applied to become a provisional psychologist, my application was significantly delayed because I had to declare my medical history, incase it was considered an 'impairment'. They were not, however, concerned by my criminal history once they understood the circumstances. I am now a registered provisional psychologist. I also applied for a Working With Children Check in October last year. They wrote to me and asked me to explain the charges. They said I had no proof that I had a prescription, so they were going to reject my application, but my lawyer and I decided to hire a forensic psychiatrist. He wrote to them, and said I am no risk to children, and I sometimes take opioids to manage severe pain, but I am not addicted to opioids. We sent the report in July, and have not heard from them since. The university have forgotten about the WWCC, and have organised a placement as a provisional psychologist. I contacted my lawyer, and she said it is illegal for me to commence the placement. WWCC are not answerable to anyone, and are unwilling to provide a timeline. I think I need to tell the university, but I am nervous. I am worried they will think I am addicted to opioids. I am worried they will think I am lying about my criminal history - because, really, how are opioids related to working with children? I am also worried they will think the reason my registration took so long to process was because of my history. Ultimately, I am worried I will lose my place in the course. What are your thoughts? What should I do? Many thanks in advance. Assistant:

g7fn8lb

g7fb9fj

If you decide to tell the university, don’t just email the admin person in charge of this. Start by taking to your course coordinator, supervisor, professors, fellow students. One at a time. Build some support and then have someone high ranking approach the admin people. I think most academics would be overwhelmingly on your side. Also - I know your not, but I wouldn’t actually give a fuck if someone was on opioids if they were doing good work.

Can you use the findings of the forensic psychiatrist to support what you tell the university? I think, if you still feel you need to tell them, that you should be completely transparent and tell the entire story at once and provide all of the documentation.

j3uhzl

askacademia_train

Human: What would you think and do if a student [30/F] confessed to a criminal history? Hi everyone, I am a current postgraduate psychology student, and I am training to become a psychologist. I am looking for the perspectives of academics. I have a complex medical history, and I take multiple medications to manage my health. The university are aware of this. In 2015, the police caught me at the airport in Australia headed for the UK with opioids. I had a prescription, but it wasn't on me. They charged me with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. I went to court with a lawyer, and the charge was withdrawn. When I applied to become a provisional psychologist, my application was significantly delayed because I had to declare my medical history, incase it was considered an 'impairment'. They were not, however, concerned by my criminal history once they understood the circumstances. I am now a registered provisional psychologist. I also applied for a Working With Children Check in October last year. They wrote to me and asked me to explain the charges. They said I had no proof that I had a prescription, so they were going to reject my application, but my lawyer and I decided to hire a forensic psychiatrist. He wrote to them, and said I am no risk to children, and I sometimes take opioids to manage severe pain, but I am not addicted to opioids. We sent the report in July, and have not heard from them since. The university have forgotten about the WWCC, and have organised a placement as a provisional psychologist. I contacted my lawyer, and she said it is illegal for me to commence the placement. WWCC are not answerable to anyone, and are unwilling to provide a timeline. I think I need to tell the university, but I am nervous. I am worried they will think I am addicted to opioids. I am worried they will think I am lying about my criminal history - because, really, how are opioids related to working with children? I am also worried they will think the reason my registration took so long to process was because of my history. Ultimately, I am worried I will lose my place in the course. What are your thoughts? What should I do? Many thanks in advance. Assistant:

g7fi157

g7fn8lb

I have a MS in biology and an MAT in secondary science. Academics are a pretty liberal bunch from my experience. I would just tell your story. In the U.S. it is illegal to discriminate based on medical history. Sounds like you live elsewhere though. Your placement may be delayed since it sounds like there is a valid legal reason (cruddy background check board) to delay it. Maybe there is a work around? Perhaps a private school would be willing to allow your placement given your note from a forensic psychologist? You won't know unless you ask.

If you decide to tell the university, don’t just email the admin person in charge of this. Start by taking to your course coordinator, supervisor, professors, fellow students. One at a time. Build some support and then have someone high ranking approach the admin people. I think most academics would be overwhelmingly on your side. Also - I know your not, but I wouldn’t actually give a fuck if someone was on opioids if they were doing good work.

j3uhzl

askacademia_train

Human: What would you think and do if a student [30/F] confessed to a criminal history? Hi everyone, I am a current postgraduate psychology student, and I am training to become a psychologist. I am looking for the perspectives of academics. I have a complex medical history, and I take multiple medications to manage my health. The university are aware of this. In 2015, the police caught me at the airport in Australia headed for the UK with opioids. I had a prescription, but it wasn't on me. They charged me with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. I went to court with a lawyer, and the charge was withdrawn. When I applied to become a provisional psychologist, my application was significantly delayed because I had to declare my medical history, incase it was considered an 'impairment'. They were not, however, concerned by my criminal history once they understood the circumstances. I am now a registered provisional psychologist. I also applied for a Working With Children Check in October last year. They wrote to me and asked me to explain the charges. They said I had no proof that I had a prescription, so they were going to reject my application, but my lawyer and I decided to hire a forensic psychiatrist. He wrote to them, and said I am no risk to children, and I sometimes take opioids to manage severe pain, but I am not addicted to opioids. We sent the report in July, and have not heard from them since. The university have forgotten about the WWCC, and have organised a placement as a provisional psychologist. I contacted my lawyer, and she said it is illegal for me to commence the placement. WWCC are not answerable to anyone, and are unwilling to provide a timeline. I think I need to tell the university, but I am nervous. I am worried they will think I am addicted to opioids. I am worried they will think I am lying about my criminal history - because, really, how are opioids related to working with children? I am also worried they will think the reason my registration took so long to process was because of my history. Ultimately, I am worried I will lose my place in the course. What are your thoughts? What should I do? Many thanks in advance. Assistant:

g7gie9t

g7fi157

sounds like they’re discriminating against you for your disability.

I have a MS in biology and an MAT in secondary science. Academics are a pretty liberal bunch from my experience. I would just tell your story. In the U.S. it is illegal to discriminate based on medical history. Sounds like you live elsewhere though. Your placement may be delayed since it sounds like there is a valid legal reason (cruddy background check board) to delay it. Maybe there is a work around? Perhaps a private school would be willing to allow your placement given your note from a forensic psychologist? You won't know unless you ask.

acjxlt

askacademia_train

Human: How did you go from clueless undergrad to an expert in your field? I'm an undergrad and while I read a lot of articles when it's time for me to write papers and such, I don't read many articles as a way to learn more about a subject. At least, not successfully - I am not afraid to admit that I often struggle to understand what a research article is trying to say as a lot of them are way beyond my level of comprehension. How did you come to be knowledgable and 'up to date' about your subject of interest? Stumbling through articles until eventually you absorbed info through osmosis, reading review papers, talking to your mentors, etc. Assistant:

ed8jbkn

ed8n2cu

The answer is all of the above. You can't quit reading papers, you can't quit talking to others, you can't quit going to seminars. It's stays uncomfortable and hard, but over time you realize that you're absorbing more and more of it.

I became a clueless grad student, and now I'm a clueless assistant professor. Expert? Well, now I have an even better idea of just how much I don't know....

acjxlt

askacademia_train

Human: How did you go from clueless undergrad to an expert in your field? I'm an undergrad and while I read a lot of articles when it's time for me to write papers and such, I don't read many articles as a way to learn more about a subject. At least, not successfully - I am not afraid to admit that I often struggle to understand what a research article is trying to say as a lot of them are way beyond my level of comprehension. How did you come to be knowledgable and 'up to date' about your subject of interest? Stumbling through articles until eventually you absorbed info through osmosis, reading review papers, talking to your mentors, etc. Assistant:

ed8jmph

ed8n2cu

Start with the basics and work your way up. If you don't build your foundation, you will never really understand what the articles are saying. I would begin by reading text books. They tend to give a pretty good overview of the things you will need to know. Once you have read the text books, then you can read some review articles to get more topic specific background information.

I became a clueless grad student, and now I'm a clueless assistant professor. Expert? Well, now I have an even better idea of just how much I don't know....

acjxlt

askacademia_train

Human: How did you go from clueless undergrad to an expert in your field? I'm an undergrad and while I read a lot of articles when it's time for me to write papers and such, I don't read many articles as a way to learn more about a subject. At least, not successfully - I am not afraid to admit that I often struggle to understand what a research article is trying to say as a lot of them are way beyond my level of comprehension. How did you come to be knowledgable and 'up to date' about your subject of interest? Stumbling through articles until eventually you absorbed info through osmosis, reading review papers, talking to your mentors, etc. Assistant:

ed8l943

ed8n2cu

In addition to what everyone else has said, it helps me to have a tangible goal that I know will help me learn material. For example, if you need to do a presentation for a journal club, summarise the field in the first 4 or 5 slides - other club members will thank you for placing the paper in context (as they have surely not read it!) and you will learn a lot in the process. Also, if you ever have the chance, write a review paper early in yoir career. Ive been in two distinct STEM fields and have had the fortune to write a review in each. Of course, I didn't have the insight or eventual citations as that of a longstanding expert, but instead brought broad scale data curation and discussion to the table (I.e. tons of reading), and god damn if the fear of incorrectly repeating someone elses work doesn't force you to understand, nothing will.

I became a clueless grad student, and now I'm a clueless assistant professor. Expert? Well, now I have an even better idea of just how much I don't know....

acjxlt

askacademia_train

Human: How did you go from clueless undergrad to an expert in your field? I'm an undergrad and while I read a lot of articles when it's time for me to write papers and such, I don't read many articles as a way to learn more about a subject. At least, not successfully - I am not afraid to admit that I often struggle to understand what a research article is trying to say as a lot of them are way beyond my level of comprehension. How did you come to be knowledgable and 'up to date' about your subject of interest? Stumbling through articles until eventually you absorbed info through osmosis, reading review papers, talking to your mentors, etc. Assistant:

ed8r9p4

ed8vloi

Very slowly.

Assistant professor here. I make mistakes every single day. I try to learn from them as much as possible and move on. Finding good mentors is the best way to avoid bad mistakes. I still don't feel like an expert and probably never will. Learning is a lifetime commitment and I enjoy it.

acjxlt

askacademia_train

Human: How did you go from clueless undergrad to an expert in your field? I'm an undergrad and while I read a lot of articles when it's time for me to write papers and such, I don't read many articles as a way to learn more about a subject. At least, not successfully - I am not afraid to admit that I often struggle to understand what a research article is trying to say as a lot of them are way beyond my level of comprehension. How did you come to be knowledgable and 'up to date' about your subject of interest? Stumbling through articles until eventually you absorbed info through osmosis, reading review papers, talking to your mentors, etc. Assistant:

ed92gvh

eda964m

Half of the top comments are along the lines of "I'm still clueless", but this is not really true. In highly technical fields, most of us went from not being able to understand talks and rarely being able to understand papers to eventually being able to understand them. I think the truth is that everyone learns in different ways. For me, it helps to talk about papers and talks with other people, get them to summarize them in a way that I can understand, and ask questions if I have them. Maybe I still didn't understand the talk or paper completely, but maybe the next time I heard a talk on a similar project I understood more of it. In doing this the important topics in the field tend to come out over time. Of course it also helps to get pointed towards the proper literature (if it exists), which doesn't always happen until you start working in a research lab.

Second year PhD student here - I was an undergrad until a year and a half ago so I completely understand how you feel. I am no expert in my field or anything but I can say for sure that I have improved A LOT since graduating college. I feel like a lot of my improvement came from the fact that in grad school, almost everything you learn and talk about is research-driven. For example, in college you mostly learn ‘facts’ and memorize them, but then in grad school classes they teach you ‘these are the facts, and this is how you prove it’. I was able to learn the methods and interpretation of basic biological concepts there. Then I joined my thesis lab where all that we talk about is our field. Everyday. Constantly. So I picked up terminology and stuff here and there over the months, read basic papers about the foundations of our projects, and now for my qualifying exam I know a little more about what sort of papers to look out for. My professor actually asked me to do a small lecture on our topic to our peers in our institution in a couple months and I think I can at-least do that now! I definitely would not have been able to do that when I was an undergrad. I guess the point is, it literally just takes a lot of reading and talking and thinking and at some point some things click.

p83j5y

askacademia_train

Human: to give these presentations because we were so scared of his reaction was unbelievable. 100% everyone left that lab mentally scarred. There was a particular experiment that was quite tricky to get to work. I tried and failed several times and this man kept telling me it was such a simple thing, implying I was just super incompetent not to get it to work, so of course I was also feeling super on the edge about this. But I finally managed to make it to work, on and on, I mastered it. Fast-forward I was in a presentation of a PhD student who had just submitted her thesis, so she had been there for 4 years and she mentioned she NEVER got that method to work. So I started noticing it wasn't as straightforward as he implied. Then a couple of other students in my lab also got stuck with the experiment. What the supervisor made me feel awful about for weeks wasn't that easy and no one else there was getting it to work. He hadn't done bench work for 2 decades, these methods were quite new, and he himself never actually got any of it to work, but he was bullying his students over it. A second-year PhD student was the only one trying to speak out about it. She told her advisor about all the bullying -advisors are other professors in the department randomly allocated to each student so they have a person to go to who's not their supervisors-. The advisor went straight to our supervisor and told him everything she had said, so the supervisor only made her life there even more difficult (she eventually quit)!!! By the way, our supervisor was the head of the department, we just didn't know where to go, who to complain to. Every Friday we had our weekly meetings, I was constantly dreading it, Fridays became my nightmare. One of those Fridays the abuse was quite unbelievable again, so the following week I tried to record our meeting but then he just acted normal! It got to a point in August I just couldn't get myself to walk into the lab again, though I had planned to run some final experiments. I just didn't have the strength anymore to see him, so I never went back. I never spoke to him again, I didn't respond to his e-mails. I worked on my dissertation, applied to my degree without his consent, got my viva, I passed. I got my MPhil. It sounds like a happy ending but it wasn't. I don't think the degree was worth it, I would've been better off in a less prestigious institution that didn't have that toxic environment. It took me months, probably over a year to build back my confidence and recover my mental health, and trust me, confidence is just as important as competence. I completely ruled out a PhD, and I would never ask for his reference anyway which I thought was essential for me to get admitted into one. This has completely put me off academia. The supervisor is still there, bullying people. He was supposed to retire the year after I left, but I found out he had recruited new PhD students, so I guess he wasn't planning on retiring at least in the next 4 years. Sometimes I google him hoping to see an obituary. So far, no luck. Assistant:

h9osnnl

h9nm7zj

My first MSc advisor treated us like human garbage, and would only call one (01) student by his name, instead of perjorative nicknames (the PhD who supervised me was called a cockroach by this advisor), because this single student came from the same uni as this shit advisor did his undergrad Oh, he also tried to slap me in the face after I told him I was quitting because I did not want to work with him (I was funded, so I was ready to return all cash) First time on lab I broke an expensive glassware and cried in desperation because I was scared that he was going to find out. Nobody wanted or cared to help me, just told me to stop being a pussy and get it done. This happened in the span of three (03) months. And this was from a young researcher, hired 2 years before all of this. He was around 33 or 34 if memory serves right At least I had my revenge as I wrote a 6-page document telling every single thing that happened (including e-mails, voice recording and a video), and I went full head-on straight to our dean's office and every single "social movement" I could find (I'm a gay man from a poor area, dark skinned - do you see where this is going? Yes, exactly that). Every single person in our institute, from undergrad to all professors, heard about what happened. Next year he almost did the same with another student (coincidentally, another gay guy with dark skin), and I helped him do the "revenge". He spent 3 years without a single new grad student and not a single professor wants to work with him now.

I don't have a true horror story, just "soft" neglect of advising and mentoring responsibilities, guilt lecturing about the need to work for 80-100 hours a week, and "posthumous" reward in form of Professor's position that this hard work would bring. It brought long-term unemployment, trashed confidence, complete social isolation etc. Gosh I wish I discovered reddit then, stopped killing myself over the research, partied hard and left with fun memories rather than the creepy emptiness of the university library at 9 am on Saturday. On the other note, and maybe it could be a topic for a podcast, I keep wondering why isn't there a website like Ratemyprofessor but for graduate students? So that people who were forced to leave programs because of the abuse, people who graduated despite the abuse, people who witnessed others' advisors abuse their mentees, so all this information be put there like the reviews on ratemyprofessor? Because people choosing an MA/ PhD program are absolutely in the dark about these things. The only option is to contact current students but then they need to put their feedback in writing and understandably won't write anything negative about their advisor or the lab especially if they want to stay in academia. Maybe there are such sites I just have never heard of them?

p83j5y

askacademia_train

Human: super incompetent not to get it to work, so of course I was also feeling super on the edge about this. But I finally managed to make it to work, on and on, I mastered it. Fast-forward I was in a presentation of a PhD student who had just submitted her thesis, so she had been there for 4 years and she mentioned she NEVER got that method to work. So I started noticing it wasn't as straightforward as he implied. Then a couple of other students in my lab also got stuck with the experiment. What the supervisor made me feel awful about for weeks wasn't that easy and no one else there was getting it to work. He hadn't done bench work for 2 decades, these methods were quite new, and he himself never actually got any of it to work, but he was bullying his students over it. A second-year PhD student was the only one trying to speak out about it. She told her advisor about all the bullying -advisors are other professors in the department randomly allocated to each student so they have a person to go to who's not their supervisors-. The advisor went straight to our supervisor and told him everything she had said, so the supervisor only made her life there even more difficult (she eventually quit)!!! By the way, our supervisor was the head of the department, we just didn't know where to go, who to complain to. Every Friday we had our weekly meetings, I was constantly dreading it, Fridays became my nightmare. One of those Fridays the abuse was quite unbelievable again, so the following week I tried to record our meeting but then he just acted normal! It got to a point in August I just couldn't get myself to walk into the lab again, though I had planned to run some final experiments. I just didn't have the strength anymore to see him, so I never went back. I never spoke to him again, I didn't respond to his e-mails. I worked on my dissertation, applied to my degree without his consent, got my viva, I passed. I got my MPhil. It sounds like a happy ending but it wasn't. I don't think the degree was worth it, I would've been better off in a less prestigious institution that didn't have that toxic environment. It took me months, probably over a year to build back my confidence and recover my mental health, and trust me, confidence is just as important as competence. I completely ruled out a PhD, and I would never ask for his reference anyway which I thought was essential for me to get admitted into one. This has completely put me off academia. The supervisor is still there, bullying people. He was supposed to retire the year after I left, but I found out he had recruited new PhD students, so I guess he wasn't planning on retiring at least in the next 4 years. Sometimes I google him hoping to see an obituary. So far, no luck. Assistant:

h9osnnl

h9ofdfw

My first MSc advisor treated us like human garbage, and would only call one (01) student by his name, instead of perjorative nicknames (the PhD who supervised me was called a cockroach by this advisor), because this single student came from the same uni as this shit advisor did his undergrad Oh, he also tried to slap me in the face after I told him I was quitting because I did not want to work with him (I was funded, so I was ready to return all cash) First time on lab I broke an expensive glassware and cried in desperation because I was scared that he was going to find out. Nobody wanted or cared to help me, just told me to stop being a pussy and get it done. This happened in the span of three (03) months. And this was from a young researcher, hired 2 years before all of this. He was around 33 or 34 if memory serves right At least I had my revenge as I wrote a 6-page document telling every single thing that happened (including e-mails, voice recording and a video), and I went full head-on straight to our dean's office and every single "social movement" I could find (I'm a gay man from a poor area, dark skinned - do you see where this is going? Yes, exactly that). Every single person in our institute, from undergrad to all professors, heard about what happened. Next year he almost did the same with another student (coincidentally, another gay guy with dark skin), and I helped him do the "revenge". He spent 3 years without a single new grad student and not a single professor wants to work with him now.

I’m in first year PhD, started during the pandemic, my first supervisor sadly passed away from a freak heart attack earlier this year (that’s actually the real tragedy, I applied because of him). New supervisor changed my topic, gives ruthless feedback but provides no training. Belittles and talks over the other co-supervisors. I have done 20 drafts of chapter 1 and am not allowed to proceed and discuss the research questions (EVEN these) after 11 months. When I asked for training / workshops to improve, supervisor told me this is just part of the journey. Finally met their other supervisees in a group sharing, and noticed the same issue: supervisees that needed extra skills didn’t make any progress, they’re just left to drown without a template so some were worse than a GCSE-level presentation (not regarding language, but really couldn’t present an argument). The ones who are already skilled excelled, which I think means the supervisor feels justified in their one-size-fits-all approach. I’m quite pragmatic, I’m giving it 1 more month and explicitly said lll get training elsewhere - and then suddenly the superviser said the struggle is normal (no RQs after a YEAR?!) and then said they had WRITTEN MY INTRODUCTION FOR ME because mine was so wrong. I have no problem saying I have skills gaps, but this was a total shock to me especially as other supervisors are very complementary of my learning, and I won a presentation on my work at a conference without the supervisors support. When I said the pandemic has been a struggle on the mental health, asked to discuss how we can all work together better, they refused to discuss in this meetings and said they’re task-focused so the work wouldn’t get done if they focused on emotion. Hmm… writing this out makes me realise how unhappy I am. Thanks reddit! Time for a change…!

p83j5y

askacademia_train

Human: to give these presentations because we were so scared of his reaction was unbelievable. 100% everyone left that lab mentally scarred. There was a particular experiment that was quite tricky to get to work. I tried and failed several times and this man kept telling me it was such a simple thing, implying I was just super incompetent not to get it to work, so of course I was also feeling super on the edge about this. But I finally managed to make it to work, on and on, I mastered it. Fast-forward I was in a presentation of a PhD student who had just submitted her thesis, so she had been there for 4 years and she mentioned she NEVER got that method to work. So I started noticing it wasn't as straightforward as he implied. Then a couple of other students in my lab also got stuck with the experiment. What the supervisor made me feel awful about for weeks wasn't that easy and no one else there was getting it to work. He hadn't done bench work for 2 decades, these methods were quite new, and he himself never actually got any of it to work, but he was bullying his students over it. A second-year PhD student was the only one trying to speak out about it. She told her advisor about all the bullying -advisors are other professors in the department randomly allocated to each student so they have a person to go to who's not their supervisors-. The advisor went straight to our supervisor and told him everything she had said, so the supervisor only made her life there even more difficult (she eventually quit)!!! By the way, our supervisor was the head of the department, we just didn't know where to go, who to complain to. Every Friday we had our weekly meetings, I was constantly dreading it, Fridays became my nightmare. One of those Fridays the abuse was quite unbelievable again, so the following week I tried to record our meeting but then he just acted normal! It got to a point in August I just couldn't get myself to walk into the lab again, though I had planned to run some final experiments. I just didn't have the strength anymore to see him, so I never went back. I never spoke to him again, I didn't respond to his e-mails. I worked on my dissertation, applied to my degree without his consent, got my viva, I passed. I got my MPhil. It sounds like a happy ending but it wasn't. I don't think the degree was worth it, I would've been better off in a less prestigious institution that didn't have that toxic environment. It took me months, probably over a year to build back my confidence and recover my mental health, and trust me, confidence is just as important as competence. I completely ruled out a PhD, and I would never ask for his reference anyway which I thought was essential for me to get admitted into one. This has completely put me off academia. The supervisor is still there, bullying people. He was supposed to retire the year after I left, but I found out he had recruited new PhD students, so I guess he wasn't planning on retiring at least in the next 4 years. Sometimes I google him hoping to see an obituary. So far, no luck. Assistant:

h9osnnl

h9oqnfy

My first MSc advisor treated us like human garbage, and would only call one (01) student by his name, instead of perjorative nicknames (the PhD who supervised me was called a cockroach by this advisor), because this single student came from the same uni as this shit advisor did his undergrad Oh, he also tried to slap me in the face after I told him I was quitting because I did not want to work with him (I was funded, so I was ready to return all cash) First time on lab I broke an expensive glassware and cried in desperation because I was scared that he was going to find out. Nobody wanted or cared to help me, just told me to stop being a pussy and get it done. This happened in the span of three (03) months. And this was from a young researcher, hired 2 years before all of this. He was around 33 or 34 if memory serves right At least I had my revenge as I wrote a 6-page document telling every single thing that happened (including e-mails, voice recording and a video), and I went full head-on straight to our dean's office and every single "social movement" I could find (I'm a gay man from a poor area, dark skinned - do you see where this is going? Yes, exactly that). Every single person in our institute, from undergrad to all professors, heard about what happened. Next year he almost did the same with another student (coincidentally, another gay guy with dark skin), and I helped him do the "revenge". He spent 3 years without a single new grad student and not a single professor wants to work with him now.

OP, thank you for such a detailed account. It sounds like you had a strong sense of self-esteem that helped you survive, but just barely. I was really lucky to have an outstandingly decent person as my Ph.D. advisor. My postdoc experience was with an arrogant ivy league clown, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other experiences I have heard about over the years.

p83j5y

askacademia_train

Human: One of those Fridays the abuse was quite unbelievable again, so the following week I tried to record our meeting but then he just acted normal! It got to a point in August I just couldn't get myself to walk into the lab again, though I had planned to run some final experiments. I just didn't have the strength anymore to see him, so I never went back. I never spoke to him again, I didn't respond to his e-mails. I worked on my dissertation, applied to my degree without his consent, got my viva, I passed. I got my MPhil. It sounds like a happy ending but it wasn't. I don't think the degree was worth it, I would've been better off in a less prestigious institution that didn't have that toxic environment. It took me months, probably over a year to build back my confidence and recover my mental health, and trust me, confidence is just as important as competence. I completely ruled out a PhD, and I would never ask for his reference anyway which I thought was essential for me to get admitted into one. This has completely put me off academia. The supervisor is still there, bullying people. He was supposed to retire the year after I left, but I found out he had recruited new PhD students, so I guess he wasn't planning on retiring at least in the next 4 years. Sometimes I google him hoping to see an obituary. So far, no luck. Assistant:

h9ok52h

h9ofdfw

IDK if it rates with the rawest horror stories on here, but my MA program was a real shitshow. Some really good people, lifelong friends, a few dedicated professors. But it was also a smaller, lower tier state school and a terminal masters. Very much designed to crank through teachers looking to get their continuing education pay bump. Some of the students and some of the profs reflected that in certain ways. The first story: We had a student who was a bit.... eccentric. One day in a seminar we were discussing the relative merits of various kinds of sources and evidence. I suggested that some types might have inherent biases or inaccuracies that needed to be examined (and perhaps I was an MA student and didnt put it as delicately). The student tried to engage me in a headed debate. When I failed to become as impassioned as they were, they called me a "fucking flatlander," in class! I dont know what that means, the university was located in a place that was flatter than where I come from, and I think they were a local. So that was confusing. The second: On another occasion in a different class, another student had to give a rather long (30min?) presentation on an assigned subject. The presenter was clearly nervous to start, very uncomfortable with the idea of speaking in front of a class of \~20 + the prof. About halfway through his presentation the prof abruptly excused herself and left for the bathroom. As soon as the door closed the eccentric student turned to the presenter and said "So you think this is good, huh?" and nothing else. No explanation, no suggestions, no encouragement, not even another kick. You could just watch the look on the presenters face change. By the time the prof returned, very quickly too, he was on the verge of breakdown. Couldn't even finish his presentation. Never before or since have I seen so few words, issued without further comment or explanation, so totally shattered another person. The third: At the some university we had a prof who had went to an Ivy and was now teaching at a low-to-mid tier state school. They treated us as if our school was coddling us and we needed a taste of the harsh reality of academia. More to the point they seemed to think it was their job to weed out those unsuitable for a doctoral program. This prof was famous for making the majority of their students cry at least once during a semester, and in one semester while I was there allegedly made the entire class cry. I wasnt in the class so it I cant recount the details accurately, BUT the following semester I had a 1-on-1 seminar with them. During one meeting we stopped halfway and they told me "I really dont think you belong in academia, perhaps you should explore alternate careers moving forward." And then ended the meeting early. To be entirely honest that was the one and only time anyone has really ever said that to me. This person was not my advisor and this was the only actual academic interaction wed ever had. Ive always been a little bitter about it. At the time I was just glad to have escaped a more serious lashing. But in hindsight I really think it was an inappropriate thing to say, and their constant need to tear down their students was very toxic. Still got my degree, now I'm writing my dissertation (or I would be, if I werent posting here....) so jokes on them I guess.

I’m in first year PhD, started during the pandemic, my first supervisor sadly passed away from a freak heart attack earlier this year (that’s actually the real tragedy, I applied because of him). New supervisor changed my topic, gives ruthless feedback but provides no training. Belittles and talks over the other co-supervisors. I have done 20 drafts of chapter 1 and am not allowed to proceed and discuss the research questions (EVEN these) after 11 months. When I asked for training / workshops to improve, supervisor told me this is just part of the journey. Finally met their other supervisees in a group sharing, and noticed the same issue: supervisees that needed extra skills didn’t make any progress, they’re just left to drown without a template so some were worse than a GCSE-level presentation (not regarding language, but really couldn’t present an argument). The ones who are already skilled excelled, which I think means the supervisor feels justified in their one-size-fits-all approach. I’m quite pragmatic, I’m giving it 1 more month and explicitly said lll get training elsewhere - and then suddenly the superviser said the struggle is normal (no RQs after a YEAR?!) and then said they had WRITTEN MY INTRODUCTION FOR ME because mine was so wrong. I have no problem saying I have skills gaps, but this was a total shock to me especially as other supervisors are very complementary of my learning, and I won a presentation on my work at a conference without the supervisors support. When I said the pandemic has been a struggle on the mental health, asked to discuss how we can all work together better, they refused to discuss in this meetings and said they’re task-focused so the work wouldn’t get done if they focused on emotion. Hmm… writing this out makes me realise how unhappy I am. Thanks reddit! Time for a change…!

p83j5y

askacademia_train

Human: . To add some context, everyone was terrified when it was their turn. There was zero encouragement to the people presenting, no smiles, no nods, no claps at the end of the presentations (I had never seen that before). At my friend's lab her supervisor got champagne so everyone cheered the person who presented at the end! Well, not there. When I presented in the journal club the presentation wasn't what he expected, my nerves were high, I was probably rushing through so I was done within 40 minutes instead of the 60 minutes I was supposed to take. He was SHOUTING at me in the end. I can't remember what he said, I was in shock, but I had the feeling he was expecting me to cry and would go on and on verbally abusing me until he got what he wanted. But I didn't cry, I just stared at him super blasé, because it just felt so surreal what this guy was doing. I did feel embarrassed though cos everyone could probably hear everything outside his office. It was soon my turn to present again, this time my own work. I prepared super well, the presentation was good, some of my colleagues told me afterwards I had done a pretty good job. My supervisor then comes and says I didn't seem very "enthusiastic" about my work, and no positive comments, never. And of course how did he expect anyone to sound enthusiastic in such a toxic environment. The anxiety we all felt before having to give these presentations because we were so scared of his reaction was unbelievable. 100% everyone left that lab mentally scarred. There was a particular experiment that was quite tricky to get to work. I tried and failed several times and this man kept telling me it was such a simple thing, implying I was just super incompetent not to get it to work, so of course I was also feeling super on the edge about this. But I finally managed to make it to work, on and on, I mastered it. Fast-forward I was in a presentation of a PhD student who had just submitted her thesis, so she had been there for 4 years and she mentioned she NEVER got that method to work. So I started noticing it wasn't as straightforward as he implied. Then a couple of other students in my lab also got stuck with the experiment. What the supervisor made me feel awful about for weeks wasn't that easy and no one else there was getting it to work. He hadn't done bench work for 2 decades, these methods were quite new, and he himself never actually got any of it to work, but he was bullying his students over it. A second-year PhD student was the only one trying to speak out about it. She told her advisor about all the bullying -advisors are other professors in the department randomly allocated to each student so they have a person to go to who's not their supervisors-. The advisor went straight to our supervisor and told him everything she had said, so the supervisor only made her life there even more difficult (she eventually quit)!!! By the way, our supervisor was the head of the department, we just didn't know where to go, who to complain to. Every Friday we had our weekly meetings, I was constantly dreading it, Fridays became my nightmare. One of those Fridays the abuse was quite unbelievable again, so the following week I tried to record our meeting but then he just acted normal! It got to a point in August I just couldn't get myself to walk into the lab again, though I had planned to run some final experiments. I just didn't have the strength anymore to see him, so I never went back. I never spoke to him again, I didn't respond to his e-mails. I worked on my dissertation, applied to my degree without his consent, got my viva, I passed. I got my MPhil. It sounds like a happy ending but it wasn't. I don't think the degree was worth it, I would've been better off in a less prestigious institution that didn't have that toxic environment. It took me months, probably over a year to build back my confidence and recover my mental health, and trust me, confidence is just as important as competence. I completely ruled out a PhD, and I would never ask for his reference anyway which I thought was essential for me to get admitted into one. This has completely put me off academia. The supervisor is still there, bullying people. He was supposed to retire the year after I left, but I found out he had recruited new PhD students, so I guess he wasn't planning on retiring at least in the next 4 years. Sometimes I google him hoping to see an obituary. So far, no luck. Assistant:

h9ptzri

h9pvjp6

Not me, but after publishing a paper, a colleague once received an angry phone call from a big shot professor, asking why he was not invited to participate as an author, given that it's a topic he's interested in.

My wife failed her first defense because a committee member didn’t like her statistical analysis. His next paper used the same tests.

ogvp64

askacademia_train

Human: Do You think most of the research doesn’t have and won’t have a real world application? I am working on drug discovery field and most of the research drug screening etc. doesn’t have any continuation. After the paper gets published, people doesn’t care about the found compound. Assistant:

h4ldr4h

h4ldyhy

The issue in drug discovery is that the next steps to get a viable drug after the first screenings are expensive and with a high rate of failure (in the sense that even if you found a compound that does what you want, and you tweaked it enough to work on mice, many compounds would that not be succesful for humans). But answering your question, it depends strongly on the field, but most research does not end up having a direct impact. The "real" impact is harder to quantify, because even if a finding (say a compound, to follow your example) ends up not having an application, the knowledge gained to reach that point still accumulates.

I feel this all the time with my research. That being said, it will have more effect than you might think. Anyone who’s worth their salt in research (or in your case anyone who works with this specific drug situation) is going to do a comprehensive literature review at the beginning of a project and will continue to read relevant papers while working on their project. If your paper is easily findable after publication, there’s a very strong chance someone will read it. Even if you don’t get immediate citations, people are still reading your paper and the things they read will influence the general picture of what they work on and how they frame the task in their mind.

ogvp64

askacademia_train

Human: Do You think most of the research doesn’t have and won’t have a real world application? I am working on drug discovery field and most of the research drug screening etc. doesn’t have any continuation. After the paper gets published, people doesn’t care about the found compound. Assistant:

h4ldyhy

h4lbfwk

I feel this all the time with my research. That being said, it will have more effect than you might think. Anyone who’s worth their salt in research (or in your case anyone who works with this specific drug situation) is going to do a comprehensive literature review at the beginning of a project and will continue to read relevant papers while working on their project. If your paper is easily findable after publication, there’s a very strong chance someone will read it. Even if you don’t get immediate citations, people are still reading your paper and the things they read will influence the general picture of what they work on and how they frame the task in their mind.

I feel like pharmaceutical companies would care, honetly I think drug discovery is probably one of the fields that has the most real word applications

ogvp64

askacademia_train

Human: Do You think most of the research doesn’t have and won’t have a real world application? I am working on drug discovery field and most of the research drug screening etc. doesn’t have any continuation. After the paper gets published, people doesn’t care about the found compound. Assistant:

h4lbens

h4ldyhy

Totally. Is there a real question?

I feel this all the time with my research. That being said, it will have more effect than you might think. Anyone who’s worth their salt in research (or in your case anyone who works with this specific drug situation) is going to do a comprehensive literature review at the beginning of a project and will continue to read relevant papers while working on their project. If your paper is easily findable after publication, there’s a very strong chance someone will read it. Even if you don’t get immediate citations, people are still reading your paper and the things they read will influence the general picture of what they work on and how they frame the task in their mind.

ogvp64

askacademia_train

Human: Do You think most of the research doesn’t have and won’t have a real world application? I am working on drug discovery field and most of the research drug screening etc. doesn’t have any continuation. After the paper gets published, people doesn’t care about the found compound. Assistant:

h4lbens

h4ldr4h

Totally. Is there a real question?

The issue in drug discovery is that the next steps to get a viable drug after the first screenings are expensive and with a high rate of failure (in the sense that even if you found a compound that does what you want, and you tweaked it enough to work on mice, many compounds would that not be succesful for humans). But answering your question, it depends strongly on the field, but most research does not end up having a direct impact. The "real" impact is harder to quantify, because even if a finding (say a compound, to follow your example) ends up not having an application, the knowledge gained to reach that point still accumulates.

ogvp64

askacademia_train

Human: Do You think most of the research doesn’t have and won’t have a real world application? I am working on drug discovery field and most of the research drug screening etc. doesn’t have any continuation. After the paper gets published, people doesn’t care about the found compound. Assistant:

h4lbens

h4lbfwk

Totally. Is there a real question?

I feel like pharmaceutical companies would care, honetly I think drug discovery is probably one of the fields that has the most real word applications

nr7t5y

askacademia_train

Human: Positives and benefits of a life in academia? TLDR: Please tell a young aspiring academic about the positives of academia Being a young researcher, about to do a PhD in biology, I thought I’d join this subreddit to get tips about and how to navigate a life in academia. Not going through the posts might have been a mistake however, because most of the content that reaches my feed from here is about how awful academia can be/ when to quit/ how to quit. I’m a bit jarred by all this and was wondering if the people on this subreddit who love and enjoy their lives in academia could write a few words. To those who are struggling, I hope you find a career of your choice very soon ❤️ Assistant:

h0ezh9c

h0f0ddb

I would also love to hear some insights. I am starting my PhD in two weeks and it seems like a lot of the content here and in r/PhD are about why people want to quit.

There are tons of positives. I have loads of flexibility in terms of my schedule and what I work on, I can change projects by writing new grants. I'm not limited by directing my work towards a commercial product. I love my work, my research and my colleagues. The challenges are always the leadership (inept at best, corrupt at worst PIs with zero project management experience) and the politics that inevitably come from overworked managers with no training on how to be one.

nr7t5y

askacademia_train

Human: Positives and benefits of a life in academia? TLDR: Please tell a young aspiring academic about the positives of academia Being a young researcher, about to do a PhD in biology, I thought I’d join this subreddit to get tips about and how to navigate a life in academia. Not going through the posts might have been a mistake however, because most of the content that reaches my feed from here is about how awful academia can be/ when to quit/ how to quit. I’m a bit jarred by all this and was wondering if the people on this subreddit who love and enjoy their lives in academia could write a few words. To those who are struggling, I hope you find a career of your choice very soon ❤️ Assistant:

h0f0375

h0ezh9c

I wouldn't say love but I'm definitely happy with my life in academia at the moment. There are plenty of fun challenges like coming up with creative ways to explore your data. There's literally always more to learn that applies to your work in interesting ways. It is a very conducive environment for personal growth, you'll probably at least have to come to terms with feeling stupid and ignorant in academia and channeling that into learning rather than shame and resentment. You can't know everything and that will keep being true for you forever. Sometimes you're literally one of the first few people to know something new. And you probably won't notice it for days or weeks after the initial "that's weird, what does that mean?"

I would also love to hear some insights. I am starting my PhD in two weeks and it seems like a lot of the content here and in r/PhD are about why people want to quit.

nr7t5y

askacademia_train

Human: Positives and benefits of a life in academia? TLDR: Please tell a young aspiring academic about the positives of academia Being a young researcher, about to do a PhD in biology, I thought I’d join this subreddit to get tips about and how to navigate a life in academia. Not going through the posts might have been a mistake however, because most of the content that reaches my feed from here is about how awful academia can be/ when to quit/ how to quit. I’m a bit jarred by all this and was wondering if the people on this subreddit who love and enjoy their lives in academia could write a few words. To those who are struggling, I hope you find a career of your choice very soon ❤️ Assistant:

h0fbnrn

h0ezh9c

I’d say this sub is heavily R1 biased, so I’ll comment about SLAC/PUI. I don’t have the stress of applying for huge grants. I have a small start up (tiny to most) that lets me spend money ensuring my undergrads do their projects for me. If I want grants? Sure, I can apply. But my success is not directly tied to others’ successes - the one fear I had throughout my grad career - not being able to support other PhDs. Teaching is a blast. Kids are dumb as rocks, and they’ll complain about a lot, but they’re also adults and for the most part are reasonable. Plus, I’ve found that the ones who are good are the ones who approach you, leading to quick self selection, where I have five brilliant students working with me on stuff. Are they slower than I’d be on my own? Fuck yes. I can run a study in a week, takes them all semester. But, my job isn’t dependent on me publishing - it will be determined how well these five motivated students do. This summer, I’m writing a (wide range given) 24,000-52,000 word (about 100 pages) brief book. To just sit and write all day - the scary part is thinking of the profs who push out 300 page books a year (my advisor). I don’t have that big of an ego. But still, to write all day has been immensely pleasurable. My research continues slowly, and I keep so many different projects in the air at one time that I can task switch out if I’m bored. I answer to mostly me. I did a non ac post doc, and having a true boss was unideal. My work was great; but I didn’t like having someone checking on me on how it was going, or getting approval. I have an amazing and supportive spouse who is changing her career based on our move. The pandemic changed the change plans, but also bought her a year of work-from-home life that made her realize she wanted a career change. She also has equal power to pull the plug at any moment, which helps keep me motivated in my own research, since I’m not focused on my tenure packet (They’ve told us if we want it we’ll get it and research doesn’t matter) but for the job market, which is both insane but gives me something to fight for. Basically, I pursue projects I like, with smart students and students who want a chance, with no true worries on grants, and have a spouse who is my rock.

I would also love to hear some insights. I am starting my PhD in two weeks and it seems like a lot of the content here and in r/PhD are about why people want to quit.

nr7t5y

askacademia_train

Human: Positives and benefits of a life in academia? TLDR: Please tell a young aspiring academic about the positives of academia Being a young researcher, about to do a PhD in biology, I thought I’d join this subreddit to get tips about and how to navigate a life in academia. Not going through the posts might have been a mistake however, because most of the content that reaches my feed from here is about how awful academia can be/ when to quit/ how to quit. I’m a bit jarred by all this and was wondering if the people on this subreddit who love and enjoy their lives in academia could write a few words. To those who are struggling, I hope you find a career of your choice very soon ❤️ Assistant:

h0f5s35

h0fbnrn

This is also a bit of an amplification bias. You don't vent when your work has you completely absorbed, you do that when things aren't working fine. Academia is a cutthroat environment in many cases. Insecure funding, long hours, stress (a very high amount of academics have experienced depression at least once in their career)... BUT!!! These are things we complain about. I can go on rants for days, as everyone else around here. Administrative staff take the biggest chunk of complaints usually, you'll sure find that out. The other side of the coin is ABSOLUTE FREEDOM. There are some obligations and stressful periods, but you can steer your research wherever you want. I am a data nerd (originally a plant ecologist), and I get to play with things I find interesting. It still requires getting money from grants and other sources, but if I have a good hypothesis, I will probably find money to go for it. Also, I can decide to skip work one day because weather is good (or my dog is sick, which has happened often) and just make it up any other moment. Not worrying about a fixed schedule is a blessing in itself. Also, if you have an engaged group, all the interesting discussions you can have about everything and anything!

I’d say this sub is heavily R1 biased, so I’ll comment about SLAC/PUI. I don’t have the stress of applying for huge grants. I have a small start up (tiny to most) that lets me spend money ensuring my undergrads do their projects for me. If I want grants? Sure, I can apply. But my success is not directly tied to others’ successes - the one fear I had throughout my grad career - not being able to support other PhDs. Teaching is a blast. Kids are dumb as rocks, and they’ll complain about a lot, but they’re also adults and for the most part are reasonable. Plus, I’ve found that the ones who are good are the ones who approach you, leading to quick self selection, where I have five brilliant students working with me on stuff. Are they slower than I’d be on my own? Fuck yes. I can run a study in a week, takes them all semester. But, my job isn’t dependent on me publishing - it will be determined how well these five motivated students do. This summer, I’m writing a (wide range given) 24,000-52,000 word (about 100 pages) brief book. To just sit and write all day - the scary part is thinking of the profs who push out 300 page books a year (my advisor). I don’t have that big of an ego. But still, to write all day has been immensely pleasurable. My research continues slowly, and I keep so many different projects in the air at one time that I can task switch out if I’m bored. I answer to mostly me. I did a non ac post doc, and having a true boss was unideal. My work was great; but I didn’t like having someone checking on me on how it was going, or getting approval. I have an amazing and supportive spouse who is changing her career based on our move. The pandemic changed the change plans, but also bought her a year of work-from-home life that made her realize she wanted a career change. She also has equal power to pull the plug at any moment, which helps keep me motivated in my own research, since I’m not focused on my tenure packet (They’ve told us if we want it we’ll get it and research doesn’t matter) but for the job market, which is both insane but gives me something to fight for. Basically, I pursue projects I like, with smart students and students who want a chance, with no true worries on grants, and have a spouse who is my rock.

nr7t5y

askacademia_train

Human: Positives and benefits of a life in academia? TLDR: Please tell a young aspiring academic about the positives of academia Being a young researcher, about to do a PhD in biology, I thought I’d join this subreddit to get tips about and how to navigate a life in academia. Not going through the posts might have been a mistake however, because most of the content that reaches my feed from here is about how awful academia can be/ when to quit/ how to quit. I’m a bit jarred by all this and was wondering if the people on this subreddit who love and enjoy their lives in academia could write a few words. To those who are struggling, I hope you find a career of your choice very soon ❤️ Assistant:

h0f8sth

h0fbnrn

As a professor, you'll have the most flexible 80 hour work week out of any career I know.

I’d say this sub is heavily R1 biased, so I’ll comment about SLAC/PUI. I don’t have the stress of applying for huge grants. I have a small start up (tiny to most) that lets me spend money ensuring my undergrads do their projects for me. If I want grants? Sure, I can apply. But my success is not directly tied to others’ successes - the one fear I had throughout my grad career - not being able to support other PhDs. Teaching is a blast. Kids are dumb as rocks, and they’ll complain about a lot, but they’re also adults and for the most part are reasonable. Plus, I’ve found that the ones who are good are the ones who approach you, leading to quick self selection, where I have five brilliant students working with me on stuff. Are they slower than I’d be on my own? Fuck yes. I can run a study in a week, takes them all semester. But, my job isn’t dependent on me publishing - it will be determined how well these five motivated students do. This summer, I’m writing a (wide range given) 24,000-52,000 word (about 100 pages) brief book. To just sit and write all day - the scary part is thinking of the profs who push out 300 page books a year (my advisor). I don’t have that big of an ego. But still, to write all day has been immensely pleasurable. My research continues slowly, and I keep so many different projects in the air at one time that I can task switch out if I’m bored. I answer to mostly me. I did a non ac post doc, and having a true boss was unideal. My work was great; but I didn’t like having someone checking on me on how it was going, or getting approval. I have an amazing and supportive spouse who is changing her career based on our move. The pandemic changed the change plans, but also bought her a year of work-from-home life that made her realize she wanted a career change. She also has equal power to pull the plug at any moment, which helps keep me motivated in my own research, since I’m not focused on my tenure packet (They’ve told us if we want it we’ll get it and research doesn’t matter) but for the job market, which is both insane but gives me something to fight for. Basically, I pursue projects I like, with smart students and students who want a chance, with no true worries on grants, and have a spouse who is my rock.

lyzdfo

askacademia_train

Human: Is it insane to withdraw my first authorship on a submitted (not yet accepted) manuscript because I want to dissociate myself from my toxic ex-PI? I have a personal bond with the last chapter of my PhD thesis—I pulled it out of my ass during a make-it-or-break-it time of my degree, and I view it as the project where I gained the most amount of independence in science. I did not leave on good terms with my PI. She was toxic. In the end, I had to choose between finishing my project and leaving the lab with my sanity intact. It was difficult but ultimately I chose the latter, even though I wanted really badly to finish developing the last bits of my story. Fast forward two years later: my ex-PI has reached out with a manuscript. She has added a few new authors, to which I have no objection. What I do object to is that one of the new authors has been made a co-first author (I am first co-first author), when the manuscript still appears to look very similar to the chapter that’s already in my (publicly available, “published”) thesis. How similar? In my thesis I had at least 4 full-page figures, and these were all reused, with maybe a few quants redone and a couple of single-quant supplementary figures added. I asked why I wasn’t informed of the addition of the co-first author and was dismissed with a non-answer. Fine, it’s your lab, do what you want. It’s not even that I’m objecting to this addition necessarily. It’s that I had no say nor was I ever informed of this, not even in the body of the email in which the manuscript was sent. I have even reached out to the other co-first author and even they said that they were under the impression that they would have second authorship until days before the manuscript was sent to me. This is an example of the toxicity that I am thankful to have escaped. My ex-PI rushed me to give my consent for submission, which happened this week. I now wonder if it’s completely stupid for me to withdraw my name from the paper? My reasoning: 1) The two years since cutting my PI out of my life have been liberating, and my mental health has never been better. She gets back in touch this week and has already wreaked this much havoc. Withdrawing my name means I cut off my last tie with her forever, sparing me of having to be in touch with her during the revision/resubmission period. 2) I have successfully transitioned myself out of academia. I do not necessarily need this publication on my CV. 3) As I mentioned, I do have a personal connection with the story. If I withdraw, then my name is associated only with the version of the story I really care about, which is the version in my thesis (of which, of course, I am rightfully sole first author). 4) Everyone else gets a bump in authorship so it’s not like their work goes unnoticed—maybe even the opposite? Am I missing something? Is this a stupid thing to do? Is it even possible to do at this point? Are there any glaringly obvious negatives (outside of me missing out on this publication)? Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this post—appreciate it! Assistant:

gpxvo51

gpy4u11

I would accept it on the condition that the new co-first-author handles the revisions and resubmissions. Essentially, "*fine with me as long as I never hear back from you*". If you withdraw consent, it's going to become messy, and it looks like you don't want to handle the mess.

I’ll be the bad guy and say that I don’t necessarily think a co-first author is wrong in this situation. You note that you didn’t finish the project and didn’t write up the paper, format it for a journal, etc. I’ve seen plenty of posts here by people in the reverse situation: come if former postdoc left, there’s the bones of a project but stats need to be redone, a few more experiments to do, needs to be written and formatted, more figures to make. If it wasn’t publishable as you left it and you weren’t collaborating with the ex-PI to get it there, a co-first author is appropriate. You’re the first first author, acknowledging that you did much of the work. If you feel strongly about being the sole first author you can argue that but then you’ll need to take responsibility for all the revisions and directing any follow up experiments requested, which it sounds like you don’t want. So try to think of this as win-win

lyzdfo

askacademia_train

Human: Is it insane to withdraw my first authorship on a submitted (not yet accepted) manuscript because I want to dissociate myself from my toxic ex-PI? I have a personal bond with the last chapter of my PhD thesis—I pulled it out of my ass during a make-it-or-break-it time of my degree, and I view it as the project where I gained the most amount of independence in science. I did not leave on good terms with my PI. She was toxic. In the end, I had to choose between finishing my project and leaving the lab with my sanity intact. It was difficult but ultimately I chose the latter, even though I wanted really badly to finish developing the last bits of my story. Fast forward two years later: my ex-PI has reached out with a manuscript. She has added a few new authors, to which I have no objection. What I do object to is that one of the new authors has been made a co-first author (I am first co-first author), when the manuscript still appears to look very similar to the chapter that’s already in my (publicly available, “published”) thesis. How similar? In my thesis I had at least 4 full-page figures, and these were all reused, with maybe a few quants redone and a couple of single-quant supplementary figures added. I asked why I wasn’t informed of the addition of the co-first author and was dismissed with a non-answer. Fine, it’s your lab, do what you want. It’s not even that I’m objecting to this addition necessarily. It’s that I had no say nor was I ever informed of this, not even in the body of the email in which the manuscript was sent. I have even reached out to the other co-first author and even they said that they were under the impression that they would have second authorship until days before the manuscript was sent to me. This is an example of the toxicity that I am thankful to have escaped. My ex-PI rushed me to give my consent for submission, which happened this week. I now wonder if it’s completely stupid for me to withdraw my name from the paper? My reasoning: 1) The two years since cutting my PI out of my life have been liberating, and my mental health has never been better. She gets back in touch this week and has already wreaked this much havoc. Withdrawing my name means I cut off my last tie with her forever, sparing me of having to be in touch with her during the revision/resubmission period. 2) I have successfully transitioned myself out of academia. I do not necessarily need this publication on my CV. 3) As I mentioned, I do have a personal connection with the story. If I withdraw, then my name is associated only with the version of the story I really care about, which is the version in my thesis (of which, of course, I am rightfully sole first author). 4) Everyone else gets a bump in authorship so it’s not like their work goes unnoticed—maybe even the opposite? Am I missing something? Is this a stupid thing to do? Is it even possible to do at this point? Are there any glaringly obvious negatives (outside of me missing out on this publication)? Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this post—appreciate it! Assistant:

gpy4u11

gpxvyi2

I’ll be the bad guy and say that I don’t necessarily think a co-first author is wrong in this situation. You note that you didn’t finish the project and didn’t write up the paper, format it for a journal, etc. I’ve seen plenty of posts here by people in the reverse situation: come if former postdoc left, there’s the bones of a project but stats need to be redone, a few more experiments to do, needs to be written and formatted, more figures to make. If it wasn’t publishable as you left it and you weren’t collaborating with the ex-PI to get it there, a co-first author is appropriate. You’re the first first author, acknowledging that you did much of the work. If you feel strongly about being the sole first author you can argue that but then you’ll need to take responsibility for all the revisions and directing any follow up experiments requested, which it sounds like you don’t want. So try to think of this as win-win

You realise how much work is potentially needed to revise a paper to get through review? Are you signing yourself up to do that work?

lbd44x

askacademia_train

Human: [Wrong Answers Only] What personal website to link to your department profile? My department gives us the option to add a personal website to our profile pages. Someone used to put a link to her online store there, and I thought it was both hilarious and awesome! I mean, the university has been exploiting our cheap labor, we might as well take advantage of their free advertising platform while we can! ;) Obviously I'm just indulging in some crazy fantasies here, but what else could we link to our department profiles? Instagram? A YouTube channel? A GoFundMe page for a "feed a poor grad student" fundraiser? Only Fans?... I can't stop laughing at the idea of this last one hahaha Assistant:

gltfbpy

gltcc0k

A fake web shop with listings for the plants, art, office furniture, etc from your department building/offices

MySpace. No contest

lbd44x

askacademia_train

Human: [Wrong Answers Only] What personal website to link to your department profile? My department gives us the option to add a personal website to our profile pages. Someone used to put a link to her online store there, and I thought it was both hilarious and awesome! I mean, the university has been exploiting our cheap labor, we might as well take advantage of their free advertising platform while we can! ;) Obviously I'm just indulging in some crazy fantasies here, but what else could we link to our department profiles? Instagram? A YouTube channel? A GoFundMe page for a "feed a poor grad student" fundraiser? Only Fans?... I can't stop laughing at the idea of this last one hahaha Assistant:

gltfbpy

glte1db

A fake web shop with listings for the plants, art, office furniture, etc from your department building/offices

Probably a ytmnd.

lbd44x

askacademia_train

Human: [Wrong Answers Only] What personal website to link to your department profile? My department gives us the option to add a personal website to our profile pages. Someone used to put a link to her online store there, and I thought it was both hilarious and awesome! I mean, the university has been exploiting our cheap labor, we might as well take advantage of their free advertising platform while we can! ;) Obviously I'm just indulging in some crazy fantasies here, but what else could we link to our department profiles? Instagram? A YouTube channel? A GoFundMe page for a "feed a poor grad student" fundraiser? Only Fans?... I can't stop laughing at the idea of this last one hahaha Assistant:

gltj5nj

gltcc0k

Set up a spoof website that looks just like the directory website for your page, except it's poor_phd_student's Evil Twin as the name, and everything else is the same except you've drawn a moustache on your professional photo.

MySpace. No contest

lbd44x

askacademia_train

Human: [Wrong Answers Only] What personal website to link to your department profile? My department gives us the option to add a personal website to our profile pages. Someone used to put a link to her online store there, and I thought it was both hilarious and awesome! I mean, the university has been exploiting our cheap labor, we might as well take advantage of their free advertising platform while we can! ;) Obviously I'm just indulging in some crazy fantasies here, but what else could we link to our department profiles? Instagram? A YouTube channel? A GoFundMe page for a "feed a poor grad student" fundraiser? Only Fans?... I can't stop laughing at the idea of this last one hahaha Assistant:

gltj5nj

glte1db

Set up a spoof website that looks just like the directory website for your page, except it's poor_phd_student's Evil Twin as the name, and everything else is the same except you've drawn a moustache on your professional photo.

Probably a ytmnd.

lbd44x

askacademia_train

Human: [Wrong Answers Only] What personal website to link to your department profile? My department gives us the option to add a personal website to our profile pages. Someone used to put a link to her online store there, and I thought it was both hilarious and awesome! I mean, the university has been exploiting our cheap labor, we might as well take advantage of their free advertising platform while we can! ;) Obviously I'm just indulging in some crazy fantasies here, but what else could we link to our department profiles? Instagram? A YouTube channel? A GoFundMe page for a "feed a poor grad student" fundraiser? Only Fans?... I can't stop laughing at the idea of this last one hahaha Assistant:

gltismv

gltj5nj

Yourmom.biz

Set up a spoof website that looks just like the directory website for your page, except it's poor_phd_student's Evil Twin as the name, and everything else is the same except you've drawn a moustache on your professional photo.

jcl1g1

askacademia_train

Human: My (undergrad) professor assigns 200 pages of readings a week and hasn't answered my last three emails :( I'm in a senior research seminar for my humanities major. The professor is someone I completely adore. I have, in fact, a bit of a crush on him. But he assigns so much in terms of readings - up to 250 pages a week but usually closer to 150. Do you guys think this is reasonable? Half of it is usually primary source material, half academic discourse, and then sometimes media pieces. So it's not like it's easy reading either. And then, and I'm not upset about it but it just makes me feel a bit embarrassed/rejected, he hasn't answered my last three emails! The first email was about something we were discussing in a meeting I had had with him. I thanked him for the meeting, sent him a picture which I had asked him a question about during the meeting, and commented about my interest in a memoir written by an academic he knows really well. No answer. That's fine, I guess, the email didn't have any action items. The second email was about my research proposal. I mentioned an author we had both been talking about, linked to a really interesting interview with him, and then asked the professor if he might be available to meet sometime in the next few days to help me refine some things for my research proposal, which would be due the following week. No answer. Ouch! I was really embarrassed. After this, when I went to class, I was a bit quiet. He noticed, and he was like, you're quiet today. have you done the readings? I was like yeah, of course I have. He said, so what's going on? I didn't say much. But I was actually a bit hurt that he hadn't been answering any of my emails, and I was also really tired... Anyways, I sent the third email a few days ago. In the email, I explained that I've always done the readings, all of them, take them really seriously, annotate extensively (my annotations document is about 70 pages now!), and then I mentioned that I find upwards of 200 pages of readings to be challenging (something all the classmates and I had agreed on - they were just too afraid to broach it with him), but that I still appreciated the readings and learned so much from them, and would even miss them after this class is over. I also asked if he assigns about this much in his grad classes. A few weeks ago, he'd said that I could take a grad class with him, so that's why I asked about that. No answer! I don't know what to do. Why isn't he answering any of my emails?? Assistant:

g92q7lh

g936ofq

Yes that's reasonable.

I agree with everyone else that this doesn't sound like too much work. I also hope you take the advice here and realize that sending emails just to chat isn't really an appropriate thing to do, especially if you have a crush. It sounds like you're trying to move this into a personal relationship, and your professor is trying to keep things professional. Three long emails, particularly if they're primarily sharing your thoughts and not asking course-related questions, is A LOT. Take a step back and reset this as a professional relationship. Also, I have to mention that your writing and this story (undergrad English major w crush on make teacher) sounds extremely similar to a poster that used to write under the names minervajones and disorderedfiction. If that is you, please all take all the comments here as a reminder to step back -- as you've been advised each time you've mentioned this professor -- and to bring up your emails and your feelings in your next therapy appointment. I'm only mentioning this because you're placing a lot of responsibility for your emotional well-being on this professor. If those other posters are not you, I'd still encourage you to take a step back, but it's not at such an urgent level, yet!

jcl1g1

askacademia_train

Human: My (undergrad) professor assigns 200 pages of readings a week and hasn't answered my last three emails :( I'm in a senior research seminar for my humanities major. The professor is someone I completely adore. I have, in fact, a bit of a crush on him. But he assigns so much in terms of readings - up to 250 pages a week but usually closer to 150. Do you guys think this is reasonable? Half of it is usually primary source material, half academic discourse, and then sometimes media pieces. So it's not like it's easy reading either. And then, and I'm not upset about it but it just makes me feel a bit embarrassed/rejected, he hasn't answered my last three emails! The first email was about something we were discussing in a meeting I had had with him. I thanked him for the meeting, sent him a picture which I had asked him a question about during the meeting, and commented about my interest in a memoir written by an academic he knows really well. No answer. That's fine, I guess, the email didn't have any action items. The second email was about my research proposal. I mentioned an author we had both been talking about, linked to a really interesting interview with him, and then asked the professor if he might be available to meet sometime in the next few days to help me refine some things for my research proposal, which would be due the following week. No answer. Ouch! I was really embarrassed. After this, when I went to class, I was a bit quiet. He noticed, and he was like, you're quiet today. have you done the readings? I was like yeah, of course I have. He said, so what's going on? I didn't say much. But I was actually a bit hurt that he hadn't been answering any of my emails, and I was also really tired... Anyways, I sent the third email a few days ago. In the email, I explained that I've always done the readings, all of them, take them really seriously, annotate extensively (my annotations document is about 70 pages now!), and then I mentioned that I find upwards of 200 pages of readings to be challenging (something all the classmates and I had agreed on - they were just too afraid to broach it with him), but that I still appreciated the readings and learned so much from them, and would even miss them after this class is over. I also asked if he assigns about this much in his grad classes. A few weeks ago, he'd said that I could take a grad class with him, so that's why I asked about that. No answer! I don't know what to do. Why isn't he answering any of my emails?? Assistant:

g934zj2

g936ofq

So on the reading front, that sounds about standard especially for a senior research class. As for the emails as the others have said, short, to the point, and relevant is the key. But also there are plenty of times I just flat out forget about emails, I scan it mentally file that I need to respond to it and then don't, but most of these questions are the sorts of things that you should be using office hours for.

I agree with everyone else that this doesn't sound like too much work. I also hope you take the advice here and realize that sending emails just to chat isn't really an appropriate thing to do, especially if you have a crush. It sounds like you're trying to move this into a personal relationship, and your professor is trying to keep things professional. Three long emails, particularly if they're primarily sharing your thoughts and not asking course-related questions, is A LOT. Take a step back and reset this as a professional relationship. Also, I have to mention that your writing and this story (undergrad English major w crush on make teacher) sounds extremely similar to a poster that used to write under the names minervajones and disorderedfiction. If that is you, please all take all the comments here as a reminder to step back -- as you've been advised each time you've mentioned this professor -- and to bring up your emails and your feelings in your next therapy appointment. I'm only mentioning this because you're placing a lot of responsibility for your emotional well-being on this professor. If those other posters are not you, I'd still encourage you to take a step back, but it's not at such an urgent level, yet!

jcl1g1

askacademia_train

Human: My (undergrad) professor assigns 200 pages of readings a week and hasn't answered my last three emails :( I'm in a senior research seminar for my humanities major. The professor is someone I completely adore. I have, in fact, a bit of a crush on him. But he assigns so much in terms of readings - up to 250 pages a week but usually closer to 150. Do you guys think this is reasonable? Half of it is usually primary source material, half academic discourse, and then sometimes media pieces. So it's not like it's easy reading either. And then, and I'm not upset about it but it just makes me feel a bit embarrassed/rejected, he hasn't answered my last three emails! The first email was about something we were discussing in a meeting I had had with him. I thanked him for the meeting, sent him a picture which I had asked him a question about during the meeting, and commented about my interest in a memoir written by an academic he knows really well. No answer. That's fine, I guess, the email didn't have any action items. The second email was about my research proposal. I mentioned an author we had both been talking about, linked to a really interesting interview with him, and then asked the professor if he might be available to meet sometime in the next few days to help me refine some things for my research proposal, which would be due the following week. No answer. Ouch! I was really embarrassed. After this, when I went to class, I was a bit quiet. He noticed, and he was like, you're quiet today. have you done the readings? I was like yeah, of course I have. He said, so what's going on? I didn't say much. But I was actually a bit hurt that he hadn't been answering any of my emails, and I was also really tired... Anyways, I sent the third email a few days ago. In the email, I explained that I've always done the readings, all of them, take them really seriously, annotate extensively (my annotations document is about 70 pages now!), and then I mentioned that I find upwards of 200 pages of readings to be challenging (something all the classmates and I had agreed on - they were just too afraid to broach it with him), but that I still appreciated the readings and learned so much from them, and would even miss them after this class is over. I also asked if he assigns about this much in his grad classes. A few weeks ago, he'd said that I could take a grad class with him, so that's why I asked about that. No answer! I don't know what to do. Why isn't he answering any of my emails?? Assistant:

g92z199

g936ofq

I can't directly speak about the reading. But I can for the emails. It is completely possible that your professor either missed those emails (but they did get to his inbox) or ment to respond but forgot or didn't get them. You are right that your emails didn't always have action items. Additionally, I've had profs not respond until the second or third email (reminders of the original email and content, not entirely new content like yours). Since you do have a class, I would approach your prof to discuss either setting up a meeting or to answer quick questions about an assignment or reading. If a longer discussion develops from those questions, great! For example, the additional info you sent in the third email would be a good opener. Just asking that they did receive would be appropriate. Even checking they received the second email and asking again to schedule a office meeting to go over it more (if necessary) also works. The content of the third email is a bit more problematic. Complaining about the amount of reading is going to bring up questions about you succeeding in a grad level course. To overcome this, I'd ask for reading strategies to help you handle the increased reading load for this class or future classes. Not responding to emails isn't personal. People miss emails or think they responded but didn't (had that happen). Learning to handle it is important.

I agree with everyone else that this doesn't sound like too much work. I also hope you take the advice here and realize that sending emails just to chat isn't really an appropriate thing to do, especially if you have a crush. It sounds like you're trying to move this into a personal relationship, and your professor is trying to keep things professional. Three long emails, particularly if they're primarily sharing your thoughts and not asking course-related questions, is A LOT. Take a step back and reset this as a professional relationship. Also, I have to mention that your writing and this story (undergrad English major w crush on make teacher) sounds extremely similar to a poster that used to write under the names minervajones and disorderedfiction. If that is you, please all take all the comments here as a reminder to step back -- as you've been advised each time you've mentioned this professor -- and to bring up your emails and your feelings in your next therapy appointment. I'm only mentioning this because you're placing a lot of responsibility for your emotional well-being on this professor. If those other posters are not you, I'd still encourage you to take a step back, but it's not at such an urgent level, yet!

jcl1g1

askacademia_train

Human: My (undergrad) professor assigns 200 pages of readings a week and hasn't answered my last three emails :( I'm in a senior research seminar for my humanities major. The professor is someone I completely adore. I have, in fact, a bit of a crush on him. But he assigns so much in terms of readings - up to 250 pages a week but usually closer to 150. Do you guys think this is reasonable? Half of it is usually primary source material, half academic discourse, and then sometimes media pieces. So it's not like it's easy reading either. And then, and I'm not upset about it but it just makes me feel a bit embarrassed/rejected, he hasn't answered my last three emails! The first email was about something we were discussing in a meeting I had had with him. I thanked him for the meeting, sent him a picture which I had asked him a question about during the meeting, and commented about my interest in a memoir written by an academic he knows really well. No answer. That's fine, I guess, the email didn't have any action items. The second email was about my research proposal. I mentioned an author we had both been talking about, linked to a really interesting interview with him, and then asked the professor if he might be available to meet sometime in the next few days to help me refine some things for my research proposal, which would be due the following week. No answer. Ouch! I was really embarrassed. After this, when I went to class, I was a bit quiet. He noticed, and he was like, you're quiet today. have you done the readings? I was like yeah, of course I have. He said, so what's going on? I didn't say much. But I was actually a bit hurt that he hadn't been answering any of my emails, and I was also really tired... Anyways, I sent the third email a few days ago. In the email, I explained that I've always done the readings, all of them, take them really seriously, annotate extensively (my annotations document is about 70 pages now!), and then I mentioned that I find upwards of 200 pages of readings to be challenging (something all the classmates and I had agreed on - they were just too afraid to broach it with him), but that I still appreciated the readings and learned so much from them, and would even miss them after this class is over. I also asked if he assigns about this much in his grad classes. A few weeks ago, he'd said that I could take a grad class with him, so that's why I asked about that. No answer! I don't know what to do. Why isn't he answering any of my emails?? Assistant:

g936ofq

g92ybvx

I agree with everyone else that this doesn't sound like too much work. I also hope you take the advice here and realize that sending emails just to chat isn't really an appropriate thing to do, especially if you have a crush. It sounds like you're trying to move this into a personal relationship, and your professor is trying to keep things professional. Three long emails, particularly if they're primarily sharing your thoughts and not asking course-related questions, is A LOT. Take a step back and reset this as a professional relationship. Also, I have to mention that your writing and this story (undergrad English major w crush on make teacher) sounds extremely similar to a poster that used to write under the names minervajones and disorderedfiction. If that is you, please all take all the comments here as a reminder to step back -- as you've been advised each time you've mentioned this professor -- and to bring up your emails and your feelings in your next therapy appointment. I'm only mentioning this because you're placing a lot of responsibility for your emotional well-being on this professor. If those other posters are not you, I'd still encourage you to take a step back, but it's not at such an urgent level, yet!

I’m going to somewhat disagree with some comments here. Yes, professors are busy, but personally, I make a point to reply to every student email. Sometimes it takes me a couple of days, but it gets done. That said, I’ve mostly taught at teaching-focused institutions. It sounds like you’re at a school that focuses more on research than teaching, and that tends to put more of the burden on the students for getting by without help. And that’s because less of tenure and promotion is based on teaching at such institutions. At this point, I wouldn’t count on getting any communication that isn’t face to face. Ask critical questions after class or during office hours, but don’t expect a back and forth via email, especially if this professor has graduate students he’s working with.

jcl1g1

askacademia_train

Human: My (undergrad) professor assigns 200 pages of readings a week and hasn't answered my last three emails :( I'm in a senior research seminar for my humanities major. The professor is someone I completely adore. I have, in fact, a bit of a crush on him. But he assigns so much in terms of readings - up to 250 pages a week but usually closer to 150. Do you guys think this is reasonable? Half of it is usually primary source material, half academic discourse, and then sometimes media pieces. So it's not like it's easy reading either. And then, and I'm not upset about it but it just makes me feel a bit embarrassed/rejected, he hasn't answered my last three emails! The first email was about something we were discussing in a meeting I had had with him. I thanked him for the meeting, sent him a picture which I had asked him a question about during the meeting, and commented about my interest in a memoir written by an academic he knows really well. No answer. That's fine, I guess, the email didn't have any action items. The second email was about my research proposal. I mentioned an author we had both been talking about, linked to a really interesting interview with him, and then asked the professor if he might be available to meet sometime in the next few days to help me refine some things for my research proposal, which would be due the following week. No answer. Ouch! I was really embarrassed. After this, when I went to class, I was a bit quiet. He noticed, and he was like, you're quiet today. have you done the readings? I was like yeah, of course I have. He said, so what's going on? I didn't say much. But I was actually a bit hurt that he hadn't been answering any of my emails, and I was also really tired... Anyways, I sent the third email a few days ago. In the email, I explained that I've always done the readings, all of them, take them really seriously, annotate extensively (my annotations document is about 70 pages now!), and then I mentioned that I find upwards of 200 pages of readings to be challenging (something all the classmates and I had agreed on - they were just too afraid to broach it with him), but that I still appreciated the readings and learned so much from them, and would even miss them after this class is over. I also asked if he assigns about this much in his grad classes. A few weeks ago, he'd said that I could take a grad class with him, so that's why I asked about that. No answer! I don't know what to do. Why isn't he answering any of my emails?? Assistant:

g936ofq

g92y38s

I agree with everyone else that this doesn't sound like too much work. I also hope you take the advice here and realize that sending emails just to chat isn't really an appropriate thing to do, especially if you have a crush. It sounds like you're trying to move this into a personal relationship, and your professor is trying to keep things professional. Three long emails, particularly if they're primarily sharing your thoughts and not asking course-related questions, is A LOT. Take a step back and reset this as a professional relationship. Also, I have to mention that your writing and this story (undergrad English major w crush on make teacher) sounds extremely similar to a poster that used to write under the names minervajones and disorderedfiction. If that is you, please all take all the comments here as a reminder to step back -- as you've been advised each time you've mentioned this professor -- and to bring up your emails and your feelings in your next therapy appointment. I'm only mentioning this because you're placing a lot of responsibility for your emotional well-being on this professor. If those other posters are not you, I'd still encourage you to take a step back, but it's not at such an urgent level, yet!

Not a humanities major, but in terms of courseload, for each course in my major I expected to do roughly 10 hours a week of work outside of class for a B and roughly 20 hours a week for an A. How does that compare with the amount of work you're doing for the class?

996x1t

askacademia_train

Human: It’s criminal what they pay adjuncts I was asked to adjunct teach a course for a university I am staff at. This course would force me to rearrange my entire schedule. They offered me $1600, plus the department head was very condescending. My other adjunct work pays $3500 at another university. Is this normal!? Thankfully I have a clinical license that allows me to have other employment opportunities and the adjunct teaching I’ve done supplements my income and gives me experience on my CV for when I complete my PhD. But it is absolutely criminal what they pay! It comes to roughly 16$/hour that you’re in class, not including the grading and office hours. Assistant:

e4lerzy

e4lg9np

That kind of pay is just straight up unethical. It’s not even minimum wage when you work in time spent outside of the classroom. Turn it down.

Unionize the adjuncts! The union at my school, while I’ve heard some rumors it’s not the strongest union you’d like to see, just got a raise to $7,000 per course! Finally they’re getting what they deserve.

996x1t

askacademia_train

Human: It’s criminal what they pay adjuncts I was asked to adjunct teach a course for a university I am staff at. This course would force me to rearrange my entire schedule. They offered me $1600, plus the department head was very condescending. My other adjunct work pays $3500 at another university. Is this normal!? Thankfully I have a clinical license that allows me to have other employment opportunities and the adjunct teaching I’ve done supplements my income and gives me experience on my CV for when I complete my PhD. But it is absolutely criminal what they pay! It comes to roughly 16$/hour that you’re in class, not including the grading and office hours. Assistant:

e4lg9np

e4lfj6w

Unionize the adjuncts! The union at my school, while I’ve heard some rumors it’s not the strongest union you’d like to see, just got a raise to $7,000 per course! Finally they’re getting what they deserve.

The only adjunct work I've done paid that PER CREDIT HOUR if you taught less than half time. If you taught more than half time it went up even more. That sounds like a ridiculous amount even for adjunct.

996x1t

askacademia_train

Human: It’s criminal what they pay adjuncts I was asked to adjunct teach a course for a university I am staff at. This course would force me to rearrange my entire schedule. They offered me $1600, plus the department head was very condescending. My other adjunct work pays $3500 at another university. Is this normal!? Thankfully I have a clinical license that allows me to have other employment opportunities and the adjunct teaching I’ve done supplements my income and gives me experience on my CV for when I complete my PhD. But it is absolutely criminal what they pay! It comes to roughly 16$/hour that you’re in class, not including the grading and office hours. Assistant:

e4lerzy

e4let8a

That kind of pay is just straight up unethical. It’s not even minimum wage when you work in time spent outside of the classroom. Turn it down.

Yes, it's ridiculous and in many cases it's abused. It should be used as a kind of, "well Dr. S got real sick so we need someone to cover his Calc 3 course this semester," or "our tenure track candidate fell through and we need someone to help lower our teaching load" but is instead used as "Let's see how little we can pay". I don't think all schools abuse it like this though.

996x1t

askacademia_train

Human: It’s criminal what they pay adjuncts I was asked to adjunct teach a course for a university I am staff at. This course would force me to rearrange my entire schedule. They offered me $1600, plus the department head was very condescending. My other adjunct work pays $3500 at another university. Is this normal!? Thankfully I have a clinical license that allows me to have other employment opportunities and the adjunct teaching I’ve done supplements my income and gives me experience on my CV for when I complete my PhD. But it is absolutely criminal what they pay! It comes to roughly 16$/hour that you’re in class, not including the grading and office hours. Assistant:

e4lgr5b

e4lkgdq

Ask for more! They make a low offer because they think you'll accept it.

That's criminally low! I make approx $8k per course, because adjuncts and grad students at my university are unionized.

996x1t

askacademia_train

Human: It’s criminal what they pay adjuncts I was asked to adjunct teach a course for a university I am staff at. This course would force me to rearrange my entire schedule. They offered me $1600, plus the department head was very condescending. My other adjunct work pays $3500 at another university. Is this normal!? Thankfully I have a clinical license that allows me to have other employment opportunities and the adjunct teaching I’ve done supplements my income and gives me experience on my CV for when I complete my PhD. But it is absolutely criminal what they pay! It comes to roughly 16$/hour that you’re in class, not including the grading and office hours. Assistant:

e4lkgdq

e4lhvqy

That's criminally low! I make approx $8k per course, because adjuncts and grad students at my university are unionized.

I’m not a professor, but that seems incredibly low! I am paid $1500 per term to TA a 3-credit course.

zqc7af

askacademia_train

Human: Is it appropriate for me to contact professors from 3+ years ago for letters of recommendation? I applied to grad schools right out of undergrad but didn’t get in anywhere. Waited a year and I’m trying again to different places, and I’m going to need to ask the same professors again. Not asking for anything to do with admissions, just etiquette. Is it appropriate for me to contact these professors? Assistant:

j0xibr9

j0xfh0b

Totally. Last year I wrote a letter for a student I had in 1996. That was my record.

Yep. Totally acceptable. I’ve written many a letter for a former student. Just maybe remind them of some classes you took of theirs, maybe a presentation you gave or paper you wrote, to help refresh their memory.

zqc7af

askacademia_train

Human: Is it appropriate for me to contact professors from 3+ years ago for letters of recommendation? I applied to grad schools right out of undergrad but didn’t get in anywhere. Waited a year and I’m trying again to different places, and I’m going to need to ask the same professors again. Not asking for anything to do with admissions, just etiquette. Is it appropriate for me to contact these professors? Assistant:

j0xozre

j0xfh0b

Yes, totally acceptable. I've done it, and former profs have also done it for me. One thing that would be very helpful if they say yes would be to share the pertinent information with them, like your CV, or resume, what classes you took with them and your grade, a sample assignment, and anything else that can be of help.

Yep. Totally acceptable. I’ve written many a letter for a former student. Just maybe remind them of some classes you took of theirs, maybe a presentation you gave or paper you wrote, to help refresh their memory.

zqc7af

askacademia_train

Human: Is it appropriate for me to contact professors from 3+ years ago for letters of recommendation? I applied to grad schools right out of undergrad but didn’t get in anywhere. Waited a year and I’m trying again to different places, and I’m going to need to ask the same professors again. Not asking for anything to do with admissions, just etiquette. Is it appropriate for me to contact these professors? Assistant:

j0yokny

j0ye6ew

You might as well. They may not answer email till the new year. Most profs know that deadlines are around this time. The more info you can give them about yourself (personals statement, sop, transcripts, classes, resume) the easier it is to write the letter. Also, a list of deadlines and programs. The programs are going to ask the recommender the following questions or something similar: how do you know the student? How long? How would you rank them against other students? How highly you recommend the student. These are the fill-in questions. Then in the letter of Rec they’ll ask that you talk about their strengths and weaknesses, why you think they’ll succeed in the program, etc. So the more information the better. I wrote a letter of Rec for a student. I was once their TA. They gave me past assignments, and all application materials. No problem. They got into the program.

I'm in the same boat, but I'm also a little concerned it's too close to Christmas to just ask now. Should I worry about the timing, as in, might it be perceived a little rude?

zqc7af

askacademia_train

Human: Is it appropriate for me to contact professors from 3+ years ago for letters of recommendation? I applied to grad schools right out of undergrad but didn’t get in anywhere. Waited a year and I’m trying again to different places, and I’m going to need to ask the same professors again. Not asking for anything to do with admissions, just etiquette. Is it appropriate for me to contact these professors? Assistant:

j0ye6ew

j0z3yts

I'm in the same boat, but I'm also a little concerned it's too close to Christmas to just ask now. Should I worry about the timing, as in, might it be perceived a little rude?

You will remember them better than vice versa, so provide lots of details they can include! When you ask them to write a letter, remind them of a few details. e.g. I got an A in your class in Fall 201X, and we talked about XYZ.

zqc7af

askacademia_train

Human: Is it appropriate for me to contact professors from 3+ years ago for letters of recommendation? I applied to grad schools right out of undergrad but didn’t get in anywhere. Waited a year and I’m trying again to different places, and I’m going to need to ask the same professors again. Not asking for anything to do with admissions, just etiquette. Is it appropriate for me to contact these professors? Assistant:

j0yyy5q

j0z3yts

Yes, that is okay. As long as you don't harass them, it is fine.

You will remember them better than vice versa, so provide lots of details they can include! When you ask them to write a letter, remind them of a few details. e.g. I got an A in your class in Fall 201X, and we talked about XYZ.

j5gv94

askacademia_train

Human: The Good, the Bad, and the Bye Bye: A Professor Shares Why He Left His Tenured Academic Job I found this article interesting and wanted to share it with the community, since it could be relevant to many people here: https://reyammer.io/blog/2020/10/03/the-good-the-bad-and-the-bye-bye-why-i-left-my-tenured-academic-job/ Assistant:

g7s8eg0

g7snw2m

This is some of the better quit-lit that I’ve read. Acknowledges the good stuff, isn’t too bitter

Everyone, please take under **serious** consideration when you read this, his discipline. He is in a very sought after field of computer science/cybersecurity. He can get multiple jobs offers almost anywhere in the world. So his ability to say "goodbye" to academia is somewhat also colored by having multiple, very safe alternatives. So his situation does not really apply to all academics in all disciplines.

j5gv94

askacademia_train

Human: The Good, the Bad, and the Bye Bye: A Professor Shares Why He Left His Tenured Academic Job I found this article interesting and wanted to share it with the community, since it could be relevant to many people here: https://reyammer.io/blog/2020/10/03/the-good-the-bad-and-the-bye-bye-why-i-left-my-tenured-academic-job/ Assistant:

g7s0oda

g7snw2m

Definitely an fascinating and relatable perspective. I think a lot of what he says has merit, but also depends on field/university. It was well written and interesting to read! Thanks for sharing!

Everyone, please take under **serious** consideration when you read this, his discipline. He is in a very sought after field of computer science/cybersecurity. He can get multiple jobs offers almost anywhere in the world. So his ability to say "goodbye" to academia is somewhat also colored by having multiple, very safe alternatives. So his situation does not really apply to all academics in all disciplines.

j5gv94

askacademia_train

Human: The Good, the Bad, and the Bye Bye: A Professor Shares Why He Left His Tenured Academic Job I found this article interesting and wanted to share it with the community, since it could be relevant to many people here: https://reyammer.io/blog/2020/10/03/the-good-the-bad-and-the-bye-bye-why-i-left-my-tenured-academic-job/ Assistant:

g7s7vnm

g7s0oda

Kind of interesting, but a weird start to tell the reader "it really is a \*job\*!" Who didn't think it's a job?

Definitely an fascinating and relatable perspective. I think a lot of what he says has merit, but also depends on field/university. It was well written and interesting to read! Thanks for sharing!

j5gv94

askacademia_train

Human: The Good, the Bad, and the Bye Bye: A Professor Shares Why He Left His Tenured Academic Job I found this article interesting and wanted to share it with the community, since it could be relevant to many people here: https://reyammer.io/blog/2020/10/03/the-good-the-bad-and-the-bye-bye-why-i-left-my-tenured-academic-job/ Assistant:

g7s8qlm

g7s0oda

It felt a little bitter. Especially when he was like why can't blog posts be as good as peer review. It just felt very meta bc he posted this on his blog. But tldr: he hates writing papers and the publication process which is ironic bc it's probably the longest blog post I've ever read.

Definitely an fascinating and relatable perspective. I think a lot of what he says has merit, but also depends on field/university. It was well written and interesting to read! Thanks for sharing!

j5gv94

askacademia_train

Human: The Good, the Bad, and the Bye Bye: A Professor Shares Why He Left His Tenured Academic Job I found this article interesting and wanted to share it with the community, since it could be relevant to many people here: https://reyammer.io/blog/2020/10/03/the-good-the-bad-and-the-bye-bye-why-i-left-my-tenured-academic-job/ Assistant:

g7s0oda

g7s8eg0

Definitely an fascinating and relatable perspective. I think a lot of what he says has merit, but also depends on field/university. It was well written and interesting to read! Thanks for sharing!

This is some of the better quit-lit that I’ve read. Acknowledges the good stuff, isn’t too bitter

cku2el

askacademia_train

Human: I became intimate with my advisor last night Not much more to add. The tension has been building between us as I work on my dissertation and last night things happened. I go back and forth. On one hand, it was absolutely thrilling. On the other, I’m afraid I’ve just torpedoed my academic career. Does anyone have advice on how to navigate this moving forward? Assistant:

evqsgd5

evqo8j1

This is bad judgement on the part of your advisor

Where I work and, I believe, at most universities, this represents a serious violation by your advisor (and not by you) due to the power imbalance between the two of you. If you ever feel the slightest bit pressured or uncomfortable about this in any way, report it to your Dean and your campus Title IX office.

cku2el

askacademia_train

Human: I became intimate with my advisor last night Not much more to add. The tension has been building between us as I work on my dissertation and last night things happened. I go back and forth. On one hand, it was absolutely thrilling. On the other, I’m afraid I’ve just torpedoed my academic career. Does anyone have advice on how to navigate this moving forward? Assistant:

evr0x5w

evqzljt

> The tension has been building between us as I work on my dissertation and last night things happened. This is a great opening line for an erotica.

At the very, very, very least I would create an anonymous email account and send a message to your ombuds asking for information about policies and procedures at your institution.