instruction
stringlengths 22
34.6k
| input
stringclasses 1
value | output
stringlengths 70
4.33k
|
|---|---|---|
What is your red flag while searching for lab to do your PhD? I'm currently searching for PhD positions and found that some Lab got over 17 lab members I am doubtful whether PI will be able to focus on my project if they have over 12 PhD students I am trying to narrow down my choice based on criteria such as project topic, regular publication in journal with impact factor above 7 minimum, small group, new Assistant Prof with good record of publication in their PhD and post doc time What are your red flag or criteria while searching for Lab ? | I'm currently searching for PhD positions and found that some labs have over 17 lab members. I mean, it depends on where you're looking. In some countries, it's normal to have a "research group" which contains multiple faculty members. The chair (full professor) officially oversees the whole group, and several junior faculty members have semi-independent subgroups beneath that. It can work out really well—you get the regular attention and input from the junior faculty, but you're free to tap into the experience and resources of the larger group. I'd suggest adding to your list "where the alumni of the group have ended up"—if they're all in academia and you don't want to be (or vice versa) it might not be a great fit. |
|
I'm interested in the social sciences (political science, sociology, social psychology, etc.) but get the impression that all the social science fields are very competitive without great career prospects for many PhD graduates. Is this true, or are certain fields/specialties exceptions? I have an undergraduate degree in Anthropology and a MA in International Political Affairs with several research methods courses. I'm potentially interested in applying for further study but I'm now in my mid-30s and don't want to stop earning money for further studies that I'd regret in the end. For awhile I was thinking I was most interested in studying dialogue around gender and politics online, the way different online communities form and how that influences politics, but the more research I do it seems there are already lots of people studying these issues and I'm not sure how much demand there is for more of this work, realistically. I'm wondering what the job prospects are like for all of the fields I named above, along with other social sciences (since in my experience I've been interested in fields across the social science category)? | Currently, I'm studying sociology and a very similar topic. Don't pursue it unless you get into a top 5 (not even top 10 anymore really) department. Don't bet on getting a job, and if you're not doing quantitative work, it's even worse. |
|
Is it worth it for me at my age to earn a doctorate in psychology? I am 29 and just about to finish completing an AA degree in psychology. I've been reading a lot about how psychology is a useless degree, but it is my favorite subject. I would love to pursue a doctorate in psychology, but by the time I'm done with that, I'll be near 40. Would career opportunities be "worth it" around 40? I would appreciate a transparent response, I have no issue changing my degree to business because that is my second-degree choice. I don't want to spend all that money on a doctorate in psychology if it's too late for that. I mean obviously, it's never "too late ", but I still want to make a living at the youngest age I possibly can. If I could go back in time to when I was 18, I would've chosen this path no problem, but at 29, time is more limited than it was then. Thank you in advance. | Don't pay for a PhD; only go to a funded program.
If you do get a funded offer:
- What will this PhD do for your professional career opportunities? Meaning, what doors will it open and what doors will it close?
- What does your financial/personal situation look like? Is it one that will accommodate 6-10 years of study?
Don't do a PhD because you love it. At the end of the day, it's a job. Nothing more, nothing less.
Context: I started my PhD at 29 (in the USA). I'm in the humanities and in a 6-year program. |
|
What do they never tell when you join as an Assistant Professor (first job)? I’m joining a university as an Assistant professor in the fall. I’m 27 and very new to this entire process, but I do want to grow and continue to flourish in the field. I’m wondering if there is anything they avoid telling you in your first job. | A very practical thing: Ask as soon as possible (payroll or HR) what form you need to fill out to receive your pay spread over 12 months instead of 9. Otherwise, you will not get paychecks during the summer and will have to budget that yourself. It's a very simple form, but at many places they don't tell you this until quite late, and then it can cause problems getting the stuff entered into the payroll system (it shouldn't be this difficult, yet every place I've worked, no one has mentioned this to me!).
Other practical things: are there any requirements for entering midterm grades? Or policies related to having/not having a final and assigning an essay or other project instead? Are there norms about a "dead week" where students expect not to have class sessions? What are the norms about Thanksgiving and scheduling class (or a movie/optional session) that week?
Trust your gut, and ask multiple people for advice. Your first few years, try to just observe in faculty meetings rather than coming out strong and taking a "side." You won't yet know the politics of the department, and a good response to get used to saying is "Oh, really?" or "I didn't know that." It'll get people to give you background and context to issues/events/whatever that you might not otherwise get.
The hardest part is transitioning from graduate student to faculty member. You don't need approval for all of your actions now, and you make the final calls in the classroom (for the most part). Try to be confident in yourself and your judgment, but keep your ears open so that you can learn the informal norms of your new institution. |
|
I have a bachelor’s in music education but I’m interested in clinical psychology. Will PhD programs even take me seriously? My undergrad did involve some psychology classes, and I have taught in public schools for three years, but I will obviously be behind someone with a BS in psych. I have a respectable GRE score and research topics that interest me. I’m curious as to whether or not the effort and expense of applying for graduate psych programs would be worth my time. I don’t know much about the culture of such things. Thanks in advance! | You won't get into a PhD clinical program. They have higher rejection rates than medical school due to demand. You'll need two years of lab manager work or a master's in social work or psychology. Research experience is essential. |
|
What does "good enough" (in terms of writing a manuscript, paper, proposal, etc.) mean to you? Hi everyone, I am a four year PhD student in the USA in geosciences. I'm at the point where I've written a handful of lot of abstracts, white papers, proposals, and contributed as co-author to some peer-reviewed papers, but always a minor role in writing, more-so data analysis or just a small piece of writing. I'm at the point where I am preparing my own manuscripts as first or second author to be submitted for the peer-review process. This feels like a whole new realm of "serious" where I am now in the driver's seat and laboring over my work. My advisor advocated for me to just get manuscripts to the point of "good enough", meaning you didn't plagiarize, it's factually correct, editorially sound. Now that I'm submitting work for peer-review, I feel even more pressure to not make novice mistakes, but I'm getting to the point where I think I'm laboring too much. How do you define "good enough?" | Lame answer, but you'll get a feel for "good enough" the more you publish. It takes developing an understanding of what pisses off peer reviewers in your field. "Good enough" then becomes "good enough not to piss off peer reviewers." |
|
My PhD Supervisor is being accused of sexual harassment. Should I change the supervisor? Hi there. Have a really stupid situation and just don't know what to do. In short, my PhD supervisor is being investigated at university for possible sexual harassment or disrespectful behavior in general. If he's going to be fired from university, what should I do? Should I change the supervisor (I am on my first year of this PhD program)? Or if the university will let him stay, should I continue working on my thesis under his supervision? I just feel so stuck... I know it's not my fault, not my problem that my supervisor got involved into some sort of shitty scandal... But I feel so ashamed now that he happens to be my supervisor... I mean, if he continues to be my supervisor, what impact it will have on my, as a doctoral student's (I am a female), reputation? On the other hand, if he stays, maybe I should just calm down, work on my thesis and don't start any supervisor changing shit... I am also having some sort of ethical dilemma: he didn't do anything bad for me particularly so why would I want to change him or say anything bad about him? However, it's not the first time as he's being reported by students (and colleagues from another workplace) for behaving inappropriately... I didn't know that till this scandal situation... Any suggestions?.. | You should make an appointment with your department chairman to tell her or him of your concerns and that you are strongly considering, but haven't made a final decision, to switch labs. This is not only about concerns for your own safety but also for the reputation that will now follow your work since it is attached to him. It is possible that the chairman will suggest you start looking at other possible research projects with other faculty ASAP (perhaps knowing something that she or he can't disclose yet), which will sort of give you a recommendation to do so should your supervisor ask.
It is highly likely that during the investigation, they will formally question all of the people and students associated with his work anyway, so I can't imagine they would not interview you unless he confesses and resigns prior to that. However, if there have been other accusations before this one, in this #MeToo climate, I think it is above a 90% chance that he is going to lose his job (they will likely give him an option to resign, which most people take to keep things as quiet as possible). This is not uncommon, BTW, but will likely be more common in the future as accusers are going to join forces now when they were afraid or didn't know each other in the past.
If I were you, I'd leave. |
|
How to jump from academia to pharma? Hello, I have I PhD in Virology and have a decent (not bad, not great) publication history. I’m currently a professor at a Brazilian university but due to several factors (political, funding, violence, etc) I’m looking for a position abroad. I’ve been sending my CV non-regularly to several biotech/pharma companies for almost two years and I only was invited for an interview once (outside US). Some positions are exactly in my field of expertise and still I was not considered. That said, people who managed to move from academia to pharma, how you managed that? Is that hard? Which skills recruiters are looking for? The fact that I’m not an US citizen plays a lot against me? Thank you! | The fact that I’m not a US citizen plays a lot against me. Bingo. Hiring from outside the US is a ginormous PITA and just not worth the time and risk if you can have someone with the right paperwork instead. Sorry, but you’ll realistically have to get a green card or citizenship first. Edit: LinkedIn can filter out folks without work authorization, and I always use that filter. Just not worth it. |
|
Advice me. an old academic trying to find courage to move on in life with a PhD. So taking the plunge here is my intro, Hello, I am PoytDerp. 34m from India. Currently I work as a faculty with a community college. I am also undergoing divorce which might be a reason for seeking this change… My academic profile is B.Pharmacy (4yr course) M.tech (Biotech) majoring in bioprocess and metabolic engg. I was roped in post masters as JRF in a university lab for scale up of DNA component vaccine which was developed as a result of my master's project( I wasn't from conceptualization team but was part of team which troubleshot production issues in lab scale production). Once our vaccine was patented, we sold it to a major pharmaceutical firm and since I wasn't keen for my doctorate, I opted out of my fellowship and transitioned to a research officer/ engineer role for scale-up of production of aforementioned vaccine with my lab group/ pharma industry group. Since I was a part of various patents arising out of this project, I was partly employed with pharma company which pitched up a good part of my salary. Thus, I have a few patents and research publications too. A few years later, I took up a job as Assistant Professor in a community college in Biotechnology department. Here I was instrumental in setup of a research lab, research publication/e-journal (co-editor for science/engg. Section and in-charge of copyediting/indexing operations) and setup of a greenfield entrepreneur/research incubator under aegis of various government ministries and universities governing bodies serving as chief coordinator/ head. Apart from all this, I am fairly set in industry as I am a licensed Pharmacist with state and approved/licensed Production Chemist with approvals in Tablets/Capsules/Liquid Preps/Creams/Dry Syrups and currently under approval for injectables. (i.e. about to be full stack). My licenses are routinely used by various contract manufacturing firms for production runs of API, pharmaceutical and Cosmetic preps for international conglomerates for domestic and international orders. So, all in all life was great. Then I married and a few days later we separated. My wife had moved abroad and filed for divorce. Now divorce is being fought abroad. This has influenced my mental health in negative sense and I often hate my life. I am thinking about pursuing a PhD now, and I am worried that I will be outright rejected due to many reasons. a) Upon examination of my profile, would be guide/advisor might reject me citing my escapist attitude in my current emotional space. I accept that I am trying to leave my current peers/ colleagues as I presume that they pity me. I have never felt sorry in someone others eye for me as I am feeling now. I don't need sympathy. I am broken but I am okay. Also I wish to move on from this situation as divorce is mildly mutual where she is suing me for cost which my lawyer suggest will be a % of my salary until she remarry. b) I devoted about 5+ years with a project where I was enrolled as JRF which is road for PhD and still opted out of getting registered for a PhD. I feel they will question my commitment to new research project/ offer ? c) I am old. I will be older than many post-docs ? d) My divorced status. In my culture, divorce is a cultural taboo. So, I feel I might not make a case even if found eligible. So, learned fellows and seniors of this forum, kindly help me. | Yeesh - you have all these qualifications, but you're terrible at telling your life's story. You make it sound like you were just aimlessly bouncing from one position to another; you can easily construct a better narrative. Your story is so easy to tell. Also, why would your divorce even come up in a job interview?
For example: "During my masters, I was instrumental in developing techniques that enabled the production of a completely new DNA vaccine. Through our team's diligence and success, we procured a patent and immediately garnered the interest of a large pharmaceutical company, which purchased the vaccine. Impressed with my contribution, this pharmaceutical company gave me the opportunity to continue my R&D work on this vaccine, which I enthusiastically did, gaining more patents and publications in the process. Over time, I transitioned back into academia as an assistant professor where I used my industry experience and credentials to teach the next generation of scientists and helped build up research labs and an entrepreneurial incubator on campus. Looking forward into my career, I'd like to continue an independent research program of my own, which is why I'm now applying for a PhD program." |
|
Academics of reddit, what are the dirty secrets of your disciplines ? I 'll start: Computational Biologist here. Everyone talks how -omics technologies is the biggest thing to happen in science. You know what, this data is so damn noisy especially in e.g. whole blood of patients, that are not applicable everywhere, like people like to claim. The studies published is probably a very small subset of what people have tried before reaching positive results. | While part-time faculty are working for low wages without benefits, academic librarians are purchasing multiple e-journal subscriptions for journals they already own (tens of thousands of dollars each) because the different packages are too complicated to analyze. |
|
What is the "overtime" culture like in your discipline and at your institution? I am doing a postgraduate qualification at an art & design institution and I have noticed that the culture among both student and staff kind of requires people to be switched on to work/practice mode constantly. It includes staff sending emails at very early times in the morning, at weekends, and also replying to work emails at 11pm, on days where the person replying actually is not officially "working". Tutors and students communicate via WhatsApp late in the evening, and we had a project meeting between students on a Sunday. The time I get the most instagram update notifications from fellow students "professional accounts" (yes, it is a thing) is Saturday 10pm. I don't remember this happening during my undergrad course, or in any previous job. People did work late, myself included, but it was a matter of individual scheduling, and I never received a university email at an odd hour on the weekend. It bothers me, because it cannot be healthy, and I like to switch off during the weekend to recharge, or maybe work on my projects without having to reply to messages. I am not going to race to check my university WhatsApp and emails first thing in the morning on a Sunday. That is messed up, and I have never had to do it, apart from when I had a low paid catering job where I needed to check for last minute updates to schedules... and even that was less stressful because people actually just used it to say nice things to each other, rather than talk about work constantly. Is this common in other branches in academia? | I’m in STEM in the US. Contrary to what others have said, this is not how it is in my program. When I’m a TA, I explicitly tell my students that I don’t respond outside of normal work hours. I have never been admonished by my advisors for not responding on a weekend; I’ll get to it on Monday.
However, when I was taking classes my first few years, work was a lot more consuming. Group projects would happen on weekends because that’s when everyone had overlapping time in our schedules. Students would message the class Slack channel at all hours because that’s when they were doing homework.
But also keep in mind that you’re comparing your (single person) schedule against the collective of everyone else’s schedules. Of course, it’s going to seem like people are working at all hours because they are. Some of them might be working 6 a.m.–4 p.m. while others work 4 p.m.–11 p.m. That doesn’t mean you have to be “on” and working to cover all the time that others are working.
You require time off. Your brain needs rest. Your degree cannot be your entire world. |
|
Unusual PhD Examination Results After 3 years of hard work, I received my final 3 PhD examiners reports and it is a little perplexing to say the least. 2 examiners suggested minor revisions and spoke extremely highly of the work (humanities). One said it was the best PhD he had examined in 25 years. The other said he would personally endorse its publication. However, the third tore it to shreds, arguing that it did not even rise to the level on a PhD, despite me publishing a lot of it in established journals throughout my candidature. Has anyone else experienced this type of discrepancy? | Don't worry. The university will probably be able to proceed on the basis of your positive reports, or else seek an additional examiner. It should be spelled out in the PhD policy somewhere. Unfortunately, not all examiners deliver a professional, objective evaluation; there's a lot of contingency in the whole process, even for the best work. Try not to let it get to you. Hopefully, your supervisors can provide some context, too. |
|
I misunderstood my PI's instructions for finding data. I presented it, now I understand, and realize I wasted two months of my time doing it wrong. How can I tell him? I'm afraid he'll think I am useless. I feel really dumb. I had already planned to leave my program because I am not cut out for this, but I really wanted to do this project right so I could leave something behind to let somebody else elaborate on it. I have figured out what I did wrong, but it basically completely erases all the work I had done up to now. My PI was very excited, and complimented me on the data I found and now I feel like a fool that he'll think I tricked. I just want to find a way to tell him, let him know I am leaving, and hopefully never hear about this again. How do I best approach him? I'm seriously on the verge of a meltdown and want to shut down. | I would encourage you not to leave due to embarrassment (if that's your reason). Even though what happened is embarrassing, now that you know what went wrong, you are likely in a better position to redo the data collection correctly than a new hire would be. So, telling him you made a mistake and then quitting seems better than ghosting, but not as good as offering to fix your mistakes if he's interested. |
|
Joint PHD/JD and PHD/MD students--What are your motivations and career prospects? I am currently considering the path of a dual degree in one of the two mention above. I have done some basic research into joint Neuroscience/ MD/ JD programs and am curious to see what others who are and have gone through the process think of it, their motivations, and their career prospects. | MD here. Strongly suggest against a PhD/MD. While all your classmates are making money, you're stuck finishing your degree for 8 years, then you have another 4-5 years ahead of you for residency and fellowship if you want an academic position. You can always finish your MD, work as a doctor, and start your PhD if so inclined. |
|
How are universities planning to adjust grad student stipends if Trump's tax cut passes? My understanding is that under the tax cut, PhD students will be taxed for tuition as well. This would make grad school mostly unaffordable. Do any universities have plans for how they'd adjust, or is it too early? | I just got an email from my graduate department, and they basically told us that they weren't going to change anything, so we should all call our representatives to do our part to prevent the tax changes from passing. |
|
How do you build a happy work and life in grad school and academia? Hi everyone! I am wrapping up my undergrad and super excited for graduate schools. I ha e offers from two competitive PhD programs in my field and I’m trying to imagine how I want to build my work-life for the next five years. For context: I’m 21, work 2 part time jobs and work in a research lab ~7-10 hours/week. I am double majoring with a minor. For me, I’ve had a lot of trouble making time for dating and ha going out with friends on weekdays. I love my research and I want to go directly into a PhD program to continue it. My two offers both require about 50-60 hours of work a week. I love my field and am willing to put in that amount of work every week, but I’m concerned about what habits I might build. I realize that I already have some unhealthy habits that probably will be even worse in grad school. For example, I tend to cut my friends off from my life and quit my workout routine when I’m overwhelmed with work. However, I want to date and have a family one day, and I don’t want to spend 5 years in grad school continuing unhealthy habits and ignoring my non-work life only to postpone the same goals trying to get tenure. What would you recommend to build a happy balance between work and life? What about dating in grad school? What sort of boundaries should I set with my advisors? | Step 1: Pick an advisor who won't work you to the bone.
Step 2: Schedule social time. You seem like you might feel like you don't deserve it if it isn't planned.
Step 3: Spend your first semester making friends more than doing research so you have a social life for the rest of the time. |
|
Collaborators that is not your PI, should I inform my PI? I am a first year PhD. Student going into second year in strategy and management at a top school. I had this cool idea I want to potentially pursue for my thesis when I asked my PI, he just assigned me work that he has funding for. Last week I shared my idea with another professor from a different school and he is very interested. This professor would like to work on it together, should I inform my PI and try to include him in the project? What is the proper etiquette here. | Absolutely let your PI know. This may not mean your PI needs to be involved, or even sign off on the project, but learning how and when to develop collaborations is part of the doctoral training process. |
|
Should I tell my PI that I'm allergic to mice? Hi! I'm a Ph.D. student who uses mice models. Recently I found that I had an adaptive allergy towards mice. Should I tell this to my PI? I'm worried in that case she might want to kick me out of the lab since I will probably not able to do in-vivo experiments anymore. Has anyone run into this situation before? Any suggestion will help. Thanks! | Adaptive mouse allergies are relatively common in biosciences, and there are a range of strategies for mitigating their effects. Get in touch with your university's disabilities/accommodations office first, because it's your protection in the event that your PI responds negatively. There are also a range of ways to work with your PI to mitigate this, including wearing a respirator when working with live mice or focusing on benchwork and relegating live animal work to a technician. |
|
Experience teaching challenging students as a TA Hi all, I'm a STEM PhD candidate looking for thoughts/opinions/personal experience related to teaching college students with learning/behavioral issues. I am trying to be sensitive with the language I use here. Apologies if I mess up. What I'm dealing with: I'm at a large state research university, and I teach labs for an intro-level lab science course that people take primarily to satisfy their lab science requirements. Knowing why my students are there, I make every effort to keep the material simple while making sure that folks learn what they need to pass the class and *maybe* leave with an appreciation for the field. Anyway, I have one student who seems to struggle in essentially every aspect of the course. He cannot formulate basic questions during lab or discuss material with his group members. When help is offered, he simply states that he understands none of the material. He forgot to attend the lab midterm (he admitted to forgetting), so I gave him a zero. Forgetting to attend class was not outlined in his disability accommodations letter, so why should I have let him make up the lab? Well, he involved his mother who then proceeded to send me several angry emails, one of which threatened to file a disability and race(!) discrimination complaint at the university level. His accommodation letter was revised, he took the forgotten lab midterm, and failed miserably. To date, no one has followed through with filing a complaint, but he has essentially told me that he thinks I am failing him because I don't know how to teach autistic students (he volunteered his diagnosis, I did not ask about it). I wanted to say "Of course I don't know how to teach autistic students. I study STEM, not special education". I have gone so far out of my way to try to help this student, and unless he gets the As and Bs he told me he deserves, he seems to think I am a bad TA despite essentially holding his had through the material one-on-one, outside of lab hours, for multiple weeks. TLDR: I guess I'm hoping to hear about similar experiences that you all have had working with demanding students, and how you determined the extent to which you were responsible for figuring out how to facilitate difficult students' learning. I feel in over my head, despite support from the professor of record who teaches the lecture section of the course. Thanks! | It is also a FERPA violation for you to discuss the student with his mother. It protects students, usually, but in this case, it lets you off the hook. Do not engage. Send them up the chain and simply tell her that student privacy laws prohibit you from discussing the matter. As for his accommodations, do what it says you have to do. Do not feel guilty about the failures. Refer him for tutoring wherever it's offered, whether it be a general tutoring center or the Office of Disabled Students—especially if he believes that you aren't helping ("I'm going to refer you to a different person/group/office that might be able to serve you better"). After that, it's not your responsibility. |
|
Can reviewers refer to their own unpublished data as a reason to reject a paper? I recently submitted a paper which is currently under review. Everything written in the paper is solid with regard to published literature, but I just heard about some unpublished data from a colleague at a conference (not even presented, just in discussion) which adds a major complication to my story. The colleague works in a closely related field, and we suggested them to the editor as a potential reviewer. If indeed they are a reviewer, can then refer to these unpublished findings as a reason to reject my paper? | No, they shouldn't. But yes, they can. One of the reasons a book of mine was rejected was because I didn't engage with scholarship on the subject that was not yet published. The reviewer literally wrote, "What about so-and-so's project? Narwhal doesn't anywhere engage with it." Until now, so-and-so hasn't published their research, and my book is out with a different publisher. |
|
Burnt out - want to quit research project (somewhat venting - mainly asking advice on how to talk to PI about burnout) \[Recent Graduate BS - 2020 - USA\] I've been with this lab for 2 yrs as an undergrad and started a research project with them for my senior dissertation. They wanted to turn the project into something publishable and I agreed thinking I could do it. We had bumps along the way with figuring out how to do our project and it somewhat changed so now it's just taking longer to complete. I've since graduated in 2020 and am still working on this with them (2yrs on this project) but after I graduated, I really just wanted to move on and have the project passed on to another undergrad to finish, though I know I've made a commitment to create this paper with them. I honestly don't care about having my name first on the publication at this point - which was something that enticed me at first being an undergrad. I'll be starting graduate school in fall and really want to cut ties with this project. I just feel like it's being dragged out and I want to focus on a project that's more my own. I'm not sure how to approach my PI about this - like it'll probably look bad since I'm going to do more research in grad school right? And if I drop out of this project it won't look good on my resume or something, or say something about me as a researcher? I'm not sure if it's a bad thing that I don't care about it would I look if I stop this project, I just want to be done with it. | In research, there is always going to be an ongoing project. You might be working on five at a time, in various stages of publication. This is just the nature of the job. Just move on and make sure to discuss authorship and how to stay in the loop regarding publication before you leave, preferably in writing. PIs understand the nature of research and the revolving door for students. |
|
What do you guys think about tattoos in academia? I’m a current life science graduate student and anyone who works in a lab knows that the dress codes are typically very casual. I’m a big fan of tattoos and I currently have two that are always covered by my street clothes, I’m not sure anyone other than close my friends in my program I even know that I have any ink. Recently I’ve had a desire to get a medium sized piece on my forearm but I do worry a little about what my superiors and colleagues will think of it. Given the placement and that I wear a t-shirt more days than not in the lab, the tattoo I want will be quite visible to everyone. Do you guys think a tattoo like this would hurt my career in academia and/or industry after I graduate? What are your thoughts about tattoos in academia generally? Any feedback is appreciated. | As long as you can cover it for super professional events, you'll be fine. I know people who have crazy hair colors and designs, and no one cared. So I would think an arm sleeve would be fine. Plus, you can cover it with a long-sleeve shirt if necessary. |
|
Is it far that my PI expects the some students to work over the weekend/holidays when the some students basically get the same days off? About half of the research group are composed of religious shabbat-observing Jews. PI pesters the non-religious students and the foreign students to work over the weekends and is also somehow ok with the religious students to remain quiet over the same time period. Is this acceptable behavior? | I don't think any graduate students should be required to work over the weekends. If it's a matter of lab experiments needing to be done on weekend days because of timing, then you should be able to take other days off during the week. Everyone deserves time off. I worked very few weekends during my PhD, and it definitely didn't cause me to take longer than my peers. |
|
Should I put my grad student union involvement on my CV? Basically the title. It's not huge or anything, just serving as a union rep for my department. Is this inappropriate to include in my CV, eg, under "Service" or "Community"? | Do you want to work in an environment where such a thing is a red flag? Then don’t even think of it. I always include it in the section on interpersonal skills, and I’ll be happy if someone rejects my application for including it. We spend more time in our workplace than with our families; it should be a healthy environment where we feel safe to express our thoughts. This is even more important when we talk about academic jobs. |
|
Tips for new PI on recruiting grad students? Hi r/AskAcademia, thank you for your great suggestions a few months ago when I got on the job market. Fast forward to today, I have already accepted a TT position and suddenly find myself on the other side of the table -- recruiting students, planning for independent grant applications, etc., which are all very new to me. So, I come back here with a few questions on grad student recruitment: 1) How do you attract grad students to work with you as a new PI? This year is particularly tricky for me because I am not listed on the department's website and do not yet have a functioning lab. I see a few good applicants whose research interests overlap with mine, but they applied to work with other professors in the department. My future colleagues are okay with them working with me. In this case, do you have any suggestions on how I should reach out to the applicants and present myself as a potential alternative advisor? 2) I understand that students are still learning (so am I!) and may face challenges in their lives, and it is my job to support them and help them grow. However, I have also heard some bad stories from my colleagues about their students/trainees. (By "bad stories," I am not talking about regular difficulties but the more extreme cases, like academic dishonesty, toxic personality, and extreme procrastination/stubbornness that significantly delays project progress, which can be detrimental to a new lab.) So, in your experience, at the stage of reviewing applications/interviewing applicants, what are the ways to identify red flags/potentials of the student? Thank you! | When you do get a student, I really recommend sitting down with them and agreeing on a contract/charter on behaviors and commitments on both sides. Cover stuff like expected work hours (obviously nothing crazy, but core hours of 10-4 are good, to avoid the guy who always wants to work unseen in the middle of the night), how often you'll meet, record keeping, training, open discussions on authorship, and respectful mutual challenge, etc. It can seem corny, but being very explicit about your expectations and encouraging them to be open and transparent in return gets you off to a great start. It also gives you something to point to if things aren't going quite right. |
|
Grad students & post-doc scientists - what are your biggest regrets from undergrad? i.e., what are things you wish you had done that would've made your grad school life (and admission) a lot easier? | I wish I had worked harder to learn as much as possible, even in courses that didn't interest me. Instead, I did the minimum amount of work required to get the grade I needed. I believed then that I knew what would be useful for me later in life, but it turns out I didn't. For instance, as a linguistics major, I didn't take calculus and linear algebra very seriously, which hurt me when I later ended up doing a PhD in computer science. |
|
Returning to work after 18 years My sister gaveup a postdoc at an international genetics lab to raise kids who are now grown. She has a PhD in neurobiology. What avenues would you suggest being open for her. Thank you. | It's been quite a break. There are some grants in Europe to bring people back who left for family reasons, but that usually means for under five years' break. She could try project management or science communication as the first step—get back to the field but without the pressure of research. |
|
Why are professors websites/lab websites so... ugly? 99% of the ones I've seen look like they're vestiges of 90s web design. Is it just because most researchers are older and don't know what they're doing/don't care? It's not an issue or anything, it's just a trend I notice that I find kind of funny. | No, I see why professors have ugly websites. If you've ever worked with one, they are busy as hell and have better things to do. What I genuinely cannot figure out, though, is why so many university websites are an absolute nightmare to use. And no, I'm not speaking about looking nice or modern; I'm saying they are atrocious to navigate, and their search functionality is complete crap. It's so bad that you'll do better, for example, to type "[university name] PhD program [subject/field]" into Google to find the respective program page than to actually go to the university's website and try to navigate or search from there. That's legitimately horrible web design. |
|
How common/effective is it to play different PhD offers off of one another? I'm an MA student currently in the process of applying to PhD programs (philosophy, Canada). One of the PhD students in my program told me that he applied to several different programs--around seven or eight of them--got acceptance offers from most of them, and then proceeded to play the rival funding offers off of one another in order to get more money from the school he eventually chose to go with. Is this something which is commonly done, and if so, how does one go about it? If, for example, I were to be accepted to the University of Toronto, McGill, and Queen's, and wanted to go to the University of Toronto, would I literally just e-mail them notifying them of my rival offers and ask them if they're willing to offer more money to entice me to accept theirs? | The diversity of answers here is very interesting. Perhaps location and field have something to do with it, so I will disclose that I’m in the US in the social sciences at a large, middle-tier R1 state school. That said, I am Director of graduate studies and in charge of the offers that go out to incoming graduate students. Not only would this not work in my program (the offers are set beforehand and not really something I can change because there’s only a little bit of money to go around), I would not think highly of an incoming graduate student who tried to pull something like this. It would be a bad look. No one has tried to do this in my program in the ten years I’ve been a part of it. |
|
How can a PhD student publish more than 1 paper per year? ( first author + coauthor) What’s it like to publish multiple papers per year? Could you also tell me how you allocate time on multiple projects either as the first author or a collaborator? | Always have a conceptual paper (e.g., perspective, historiographical, systematic review) going in case your data doesn’t turn out or takes longer than expected. In general, they’re quicker to publish than experimental studies but are still valuable to your CV. |
|
Academics of Reddit, what’s your peer review horror story? I’m in the middle of a crazy review process at one of the top journals in my field. It’s clear one of the reviewers hasn’t read the paper over the course of two reviews. Most recently s/he commented, “It would be nice if they could provide a general theorem rather than only specific examples.” Our paper has a section titled “A General Theorem” and another titled “Specific Examples”. Feels great to know this person’s whims could have a big impact on my career! | The paper got rejected even though 3 out of 4 reviewers recommended publication without additional experiments or major changes. The rejection was because 1 reviewer said, and I quote, "These data from human clinical samples are irrelevant considering small animal models have been used for similar experiments." The whole point of the paper was that the animal model results did not correspond to human data. 🤦♂️ |
|
Academics who moved from the US to Canadian system: what was your experience like? I’m tenured at an R1 school in the US (STEM). I’m generally happy, but I have a job opportunity at a good Canadian university (not the absolute top tier in my field, but solid) that I’m strongly considering. I would like to hear experiences about the transition between systems, pluses and minuses. I hear a mix of things from my colleagues. Some say that it’s not really much different, others tell me that moving out of the US system would be intellectually isolating, a catastrophe, etc, etc. Looking for some objectivity. I’m primarily interested in hearing from faculty, but would appreciate all perspectives. | I’m tenure-track in the US, but I’m from Canada. I’m desperately trying to get back to Canada. To me, the hit in quality of life (healthcare, gun violence, extreme political divide, militarism, cost of living) are just not worth it. I never felt at an intellectual disadvantage in Canada, but there are simply fewer jobs. To be clear, in my two years here I have been directly impacted by every one of these; I’m not just being preachy. I am the first one to recognize that Canada has its own problems (as does any country), and I’m not a nationalist by any means, but the US is sure pushing me back home. |
|
Working during maternity leave in academia: What's normal? I'm a post doc who just started maternity leave. I haven't given birth yet, but we're entitled to a period of leave pre-birth at my university (USA, R1). So far, my PI has treated this period almost identically to working from home. For example, when I didn't reply quickly to an email to schedule a meeting, she texted me asking me to give my availability and made it pretty clear that she expected me to attend (virtually, due to the pandemic). I love my career and don't want to appear to be lazy, a bad team player, etc. I also don't want to "miss out" on major opportunities by being too rigid with my boundaries. However, I notice I'm feeling resentful that what feels like a pretty short and precious period of leave is actually just WFH (but still burns my PTO, etc.). Normally, I would attribute this to just my PI, but it seems to be universal (my other project sponsor, my grad student mentor, etc. have all been trying to encourage me to use my leave time to get projects done with them). When do I get to be a parent first and an academic second, if not during my designated leave? How can I say no without burning bridges or missing out on future opportunities? Or is this just how it goes in this field? | A conversation about boundaries is definitely in order. If you’re on leave, you’re on leave. You’re not answerable to the university, department, or your PI. Period. Your PI wants your availability? You don’t have any; you’re on leave.
A polite but firm email saying that while you appreciate being kept in the loop (i.e., copied on important emails, especially if meeting notes are shared electronically), you’re on leave and won’t be answering emails, etc., is advisable. I assume there was a plan put in place for who would take over your responsibilities while you were gone—remind everyone involved who they should be asking instead of you.
That being said, if you WANT to attend, say, a major planning-out-the-semester meeting, or perhaps an informal department chat, virtual coffee-hour type thing, feel free—but be VERY clear that you’re there out of the generosity of your heart, wanting to be a team player, keeping in touch with your beloved colleagues, etc., and NOT because you have to be. |
|
Working with industry partner means no pay-to-play :-) Just a positive difference with academia: I am doing a project with a startup. There is a conference that I would (had I been a pure academic) have sent the work to. But the startup people simply said if the organisation does not offer support, they don't want to submit. When you look at it from a distance it makes all sense. As academics, we constantly work for free for some elusive TT job whereas we should get paid for these outputs. Anyway, less work preparing a submission so all is good. | I feel like I’m missing some context here that might be field-specific, so I’m curious. In my area (social science), we pay to attend conferences, and we submit and get peer-reviewed and hope to present things at those conferences. But I guess I don’t really consider that “pay to play” so much as conferences cost money to run. I guess what you’re describing is something that I would think of as predatory, where you pay to present. I’m sure that exists somewhere in my field, but it’s not the kind of thing anyone would feel pressured to do. |
|
Working with a big name or at a very prestigious university - post-PhD reflections? UK PhD, Clinical Neuroscience I know I keep coming back to this (in other posts), but I'd love to hear thoughts from both students and academics/researchers who are in the process of obtaining a PhD or have already obtained one. What do you think matters more, having done a PhD at a very good university (I mean Cambridge/Oxford league) or having worked with one of the biggest names in your field at a less prestigious university (still top 1% of the world, but not top 5-10 globally). I recently joined a program at a top 1% university where my third supervisor (so, the one least invested) is perhaps the second if not the first most famous person in my field in terms of research output, reputation, etc. This is also the field I see myself staying in, at least for now. My primary and secondary supervisors (it's a DTP, hence the multiple supervisors) are not as big in terms of reputation, but very supportive and knowledgeable, and still recognized and very well appreciated for their work. This PhD was my second best option - I could not join a top 5 of the world university after receiving a conditional offer due to insufficient funding. I notice the thought/realization still haunts me, even though I'm generally very happy with these first few months of my PhD and there haven't been any red flags thus far. My third supervisor, the big name, is not going to be very invested in me - she is incredibly busy. But her name will likely be on my papers, which I see as an advantage. Any thoughts? What do you think matters more or how have either a university's prestige or your link to a very big name in your field impacted your career, motivation, prospects, happiness, etc.? Thanks in advance! :) | Within academic circles, I'd always prioritize the reputation of the supervisor over the reputation of the university. Your supervisor will be the one writing recommendation letters, not the university. When we hire, we barely look at the university and are more interested in who the supervisor was. Most importantly, is the quality of the applicant's research. Sounds like you have a great situation. In industry, the prestigious university may be more advantageous, simply because it is impossible for a recruiter to know the big names in the many academic fields. But I don't have experience with this. |
|
Should i inform the editor about my previous peer-review? My manuscript came back from peer-review with mixed opinions and the editor decided to reject. After addressing the comments and a major rewrite, I am planning to submit to a another journal. I am wondering if I should let know the editor about previous reviews and provide them upon request? Do you think the editor would appreciate the transparency or perhaps this would facilitate the review process? | Editor jumping in here—unless we specifically ask (e.g., if it's a transfer between related journals), we don't want to see someone else's peer review. It's not necessary and has privacy implications. |
|
Has anyone just picked up and left research/academia? Just getting out of research altogether, not just academia. Has anyone changed career paths while on a tenure track? | I packed up shop and left at the end of last year. Planned it out, found a position before handing in my notice, and never looked back. No more marking, no more late nights preparing for class, no more journal editing or reviews, no more grant writing. I have weekends and evenings back and can really enjoy time with my family. I threw away 12 years of hard work and a tenured position—one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. |
|
Any advice on what to do when you are scooped by a prominent historical writer in your field? I've been working on a humanities research/writing project for a year and was planning to eventually bring it to publication. It's become clear later in the research process that a prominent 20th century writer in my field already published on very similar topics and made very similar claims and discussions. My first impression was I could still publish, but would need to add a lot of "Person X has also discussed this in Y", focus more on how my account differs from Person Y's, and add many citations. With that being said, I'm concerned that at this point it won't be clear I'm bringing anything new to the table. It will look like I read Person Y's account first and chose some quibbles to disagree on, rather than having constructed independently a theory which overlaps with his. Worse still, it might seem like I'm not attributing all of my thought processes to him when I should be, since people who don't know me may assume I didn't produce any of it originally. Does anyone have advice on what to do in this situation? | To me, being scooped is when someone working at the same time as you publishes the same or closely similar findings just before you did. The title makes it sound like a senior scholar is stealing your ideas, when that's obviously not what you mean from your description. Since you're understandably not giving any specific details about the idea/content, etc., it's not possible to give you specific advice about the situation. I'd recommend discussing this with your advisor or any collaborators that you have. |
|
My friend was falsely accused of Academic Integrity Violation My friend received an email from the dean of students this morning regarding an accusation of academic integrity violation in one of her classes. She is a graduate student in her first semester. She has a meeting with the dean this week and is not sure how to prepare. Since she has no idea what the violation could be, I advised her to reach out to her professor to ask about such. Does anyone have advise for the upcoming meeting with the dean? | 1. I think it's perfectly reasonable to respond to the Dean and ask for additional information. For example: "Thank you for reaching out. I recognize that this is a serious concern. I can assure you that I did not intentionally violate academic integrity on any assignments, and so I am feeling surprised to receive this message. I would find it helpful to learn more about your concern. Would you be able to let me know what passage specifically you are concerned about?"
2. Your friend may be convinced that she did not violate academic integrity, but it's worth being open to the possibility that she did. Not all plagiarism is turning in an essay purchased on the internet or copy-pasting long quotes into papers without attribution. It can involve things like mosaic plagiarism: using ideas and sentence structure from a source without proper attribution, even if nothing amounts to a direct quote. I can't promise what a dean will do, but I do hope that if there is a genuinely accidental academic integrity concern, they will treat it as a learning opportunity. (Mistakes can still have consequences, of course, but ideally, the emphasis is on learning how to avoid making the same mistake again.) |
|
Assist. Prof job "requires a PhD"? Can I apply if ABD? Hi all, My question is basically the title - an assistant professor job posting came up that's right in my field, and I'd be really eager to apply, but the ad says that one of its qualifications is that you hold a PhD in the discipline. I'm currently ABD, and--while very much in a position to finish the diss and defend if I landed a position--I do wonder if I actually meet the qualification here. I've been applying for other positions through the fall, and most of them stipulate something along the lines of "PhD must be in hand by the time the position starts" or so on, so this one slightly confused me. If its helpful, I'm in the humanities - I'm also doing a US based PhD, and this is for a job in the UK, so its possible something's just not translating. Thanks! | Why don't you ask the search chair? They may or may not consider ABD candidates, and nobody on Reddit can tell you. I'm in a STEM field, but if we put out an ad that said "PhD required," then we would mean it. But I know that in the humanities it is more common to hire ABDs. I have also heard that ABDs struggle a bit when they get these jobs because they are trying to finish their dissertations while also doing all the normal duties of an assistant professor. |
|
My PI is ghosting me? (Need advice) Apologies for the wall of text. I'm a 3rd year US STEM postdoc, wrapping up/trying to publish my work. I have always, always wanted a career in academia. Last year my PI said she can't support me through the 2022 job application cycle. Fine, I can get a job in industry for a bit and apply later on. At the very least, I'd like to wrap up the work I've done into a first-author publication (my first in this lab). I've been working on it for the past year, which my PI has agreed should be done. However, every time I've tried to bring up my work and progress, she responds with statements like "I don't look at data, I don't look at figures, I'm not that kind of PI" or "I only look at completed manuscripts". Fine, I'll do my data analysis and write up a draft to send to you. Besides, you see my data in group meetings anyway, and there haven't been any issues thus far. I sent her my manuscript in December, and she sends it back to me a month later with all sorts of (IMHO trivial) complaints about the data analysis and presentation. I've tried my best to patiently respond to every point she's laid out. But the underlying question remains - if these were such big problems, why didn't you raise them 5 months ago when I first presented my data and the analysis? We had a few rounds of email exchanges/revisions, but she still hasn't given me a concrete vision of what she wants to see in the publication. Every revision I send, it seems there's something new that she nitpicks on. (e.g. 'Move Figure 5 to the supplement', no other context given) I've been emailing her once a week for the past month or so trying to set up a meeting to lay out what needs to be done to submit this manuscript. She said she wouldn't meet with me until I addressed all of her latest round of comments. I addressed her comments in the last email I sent her, and since then, she's been totally silent. She also never comes into work because of COVID. I've tried to be as patient and accommodating as possible, but I'm nearing my wit's end. I'm thinking of just quitting at this point. This is really tough for me, because I really wanted a faculty position post-postdoc, and I've heard it's impossible to get one without a first-author publication. Even if I were somehow to get the publication out of this, what kind of a recommendation letter would I get from her? Has anyone else had experience with an absent PI? Is there a way to salvage this situation I haven't thought of yet? Or is applying to academia from a position in industry the best option here? As a side note, has anyone successfully gone from industry in STEM back to academia? | My PhD supervisor ghosted me for 7 months. I "gently" mentioned to the head of the department that I was worried about my supervisor, as I knew his daughter had been ill and I hadn't heard back from him in 7 months. Of course, I knew it had nothing to do with his daughter. He emailed me the day after I talked to the head of the department. |
|
Can someone explain how some people publish so many papers - both as a prof and especially before becoming a prof? I'm at a highly ranked R1 and my department just hired a new TT assistant professor. In the two preceding years as a postdoc at a prestigious school, he had published an average of **11 journal papers per year**, all in good journals in their field and with about half as first author, **before becoming a prof**. I just can't even imagine having that rate of output unless one is the head of a large center or group and they get their name on every paper that comes out of it - which this person clearly was not. I average \~4 per year in good field journals as non-TT associate prof and I'm happy as a clam if I get more than that in a given year. Does this person just work themselves to death all the time? Have some neat mechanism or approach to coming up with publishable ideas? Have access to crazy resources? Have a strong base of connections? Just has a good sense for research? Maybe all of the above? Anyway, for those who publish a bazillion papers per year or see people who do, what gives rise to that level of output? | There was a woman who had 30+ publications when she was on the job market. I think it was the perfect storm. She was very smart, obviously, but she co-authored, knew how to work her data and datasets, and she was very organized. She did work in criminology, health, and sociology, so she was able to aim for multiple outlets and had good backups for rejections. |
|
What percentage of your time do you spend on writing papers, review responses, grants, etc? I am a PhD student and about to graduate in a few months. i am writting a paper currently and responding to reviews on another one. i noticed that more than 70% of my time is being spent on writing, editing, making figures etc. i don't hate the process, but its not the most exciting part. i would rather love to spend my time on experiments, coding, reading papers etc. it is also stressful when after spending all that time, the paper gets rejected. I realized that if i were to continue the academia route for my career, i would have to spend more and more time working on publications. i am not sure if i like this allocation of time to the writing process when thinking about a job in academia. so i want to get a general sense about how much percentage of time do you spend on writing, editing, reviewing manuscripts and proposals? do you enjoy it? and what are your thoughts? | I'm a professor at an R1 institution. I spend at least 85% of my time doing some kind of writing or editing. My experience has been that the amount of time I spend doing other things (e.g., running studies/being in the lab, writing and running code, teaching) has steadily declined as the demand for writing has steadily increased. I honestly didn't love writing at first, but it was okay. However, the more I wrote, the better I got, and the easier it became. It also becomes easier to edit and review over time because you become more familiar with the process. However, if you hate writing, academia is not going to be the right path for you. |
|
Have you published paper(s) that you are ashamed of? I am ashamed of the first paper I ever wrote for publication as a graduate student. By the time I realized my analysis was flawed, the paper had received a revise and resubmit. The results did not replicate using a better analysis, so I pleaded with my supervisors on several occasions to forego publishing the paper. They convinced me to pursue publication without changing the methods because the reviewers did not notice the flaw. Also, without realizing, I engaged in HARKing (hypothesizing after the results are known). I was analyzing an archival data in an exploratory fashion and added hypotheses after obtaining the results and did not think this was bad practice. The paper got published. Now I know better, and I am ashamed. I contributed to the publication crisis and to science in a counterproductive way. I hope nobody ever reads or uses my paper for their research. Can anyone relate? | Some of my early work has been misinterpreted by 'dark enlightenment' and other far-right groups to promote their various hateful ideas. So I am very ashamed of having published papers that could be misused in this way. |
|
Do I have to use my full last name in scientific publications ? If no, what are the pros and cons? I'm hispanic meaning my legal last name is customarily my father's followed by my mother's. I have been living in another country without this custom for over a decade, and I use my first last name only as much as I can (emails or social media for example, be it Facebook or LinkedIn). The only place I use my 2nd last name is where I'm legally required to (official documents like contracts or signatures). Few are those who know my second last name because I don't present myself with it anywhere. I will soon finish my thesis and next year I will participate in 2 projects where I will potentially co-author 2 or more publications. Is there a way I can make it so I'm only cited by my first last name, both in my thesis and these papers ? Could this cause any issues ? | Spaniard here. When I started publishing, I used both surnames, and most publishers (and search engines and libraries and other authors citing me and...) messed it up frequently, turning my first surname into my middle name. To avoid this, I see two options: either use a hyphen between both surnames (which I see quite frequently in my discipline) or use only your first surname and prepare to explain yourself to your mother's side of the family. ;-) I am now using only my first surname without any phonetic accents, and this has made life a lot easier. :) |
|
What is it like to leave academia? I get the sense that most of this sub is geared toward university PhD professors/post-docs/grad students so I am in a little bit of a different position but I think a lot of the same values, positives, and negatives of academia apply so I am looking for any thoughts from similarly academically-minded people. I am currently finishing my medical residency (rough equivalent of post-doc). Like many of you, I have been in academia my whole life and been rewarded so far with opportunities, praise, respect, grants, etc. But I am at a career crossroads now that I have to get my first "real" job. The two jobs are probably more similar than they are different in the grand scheme of things given that my main role will be seeing patients either way. The main differences are the environment, autonomy, and pay. The two jobs: \--Academic job: 20-30% research time, 70% seeing patients, teaching, and administrative duties. Somewhat more flexible lifestyle due to culture and slower pace (45-50 hours/week). Pay starts at 300k/year and may rise slowly over the next 10-15 years. I am lukewarm about my research but could continue it. The main benefit is getting to stay in an intellectually engaging environment at a top institution for my field, and one where I am comfortable having been in the academic environment for almost 20 years. \--Private job: 100% seeing patients every day, can be a bit of a grind (55-60 hours/week). Pay starts higher (maybe 400-450k/year) and will rise quickly for 2 years to 600-800k/year, and then slowly rise after that as I get more efficient over time and/or with inflation. Main benefit is the money, lack of having research projects hang over my head (and having to bring work home with me). Possible downsides are missing the intellectual side of academia and the longer-term outlook that comes with research (i.e. every day/week/month is going to be the same in broad strokes, I'll be doing the same thing in August 2030 as I am in August 2020). Has anyone on this sub left academia after years of being in academia and succeeding at it? I feel like I may be throwing away an opportunity that so many want and so few get. | I would submit that the hours you work with an academic job are not the true hours you work. You're paid for 45-50 hours a week, but if you have responsibilities like most academics, you exceed those hours. With a private job, the number of hours you work is more fixed. That's not to say that you're not going to exceed them, you will.
> I am lukewarm about my research but could continue it.
Whatever you do as research, you're going to invest years of your life into it. Is it worth spending years researching something you're admitting you're "lukewarm" about? |
|
Tips for writing an academic paper for the first time? I'm writing a full paper for the first time that will hopefully be published. We know the types of journals that we are looking to get published in and we also have the data to start writing. I'm wondering if there are any tips that you guys can share about writing? Were there any techniques you found useful or tips that were handy for when you sit down and write your paper? I was also wondering about clarity over sounding intelligent. I have been told before that papers should be able to be understood by the general public but a lot of papers that I have read have really flowerly language. It seems like the authors are striving to sound intelligent rather than making it understandable for a non-expert in their topic. Do we really need to care whether normal people can read the paper when writing one? | What field you're in, broadly speaking, can play a factor. With that said, I do the following when preparing a manuscript:
1. Think about what story I want to tell; what questions did we ask? What conclusions did we draw? Write these down or even draw it out on a sheet of paper or whiteboard.
2. Layout the figures I need to answer #1 above; do I have all the data I need already, or do I need to conduct more experiments?
3. Write a rough abstract or outline; maybe 5-7 sentences max summarizing what I envision the paper will be (this will likely change as you go through drafts).
4. Write up the methods for the completed experiments; this is boring, but easy, and it feels good to get a section done.
5. Write up the Results section, as this is just a straightforward text of the figures.
6. Work on the introduction and discussion sections; I tend to go back and forth working on these, with the Results section as my guide for what introduction is appropriate, and the discussion further building and narrating my results.
7. Conclusions tend to be short in my field and serve as more of a summary statement of the rest of the paper, so I often leave it as the last step.
This isn't rigid and varies not only by field as mentioned, but from paper to paper and based on personal preference. |
|
How do you respond compassionately to students who seem like they're not trying? **So, I just want to preface this by saying I don't mean "what do I do when students miss lectures in-person?" or anything like that. I know that there are numerous reasons (pandemic or not) that could make it hard for a student to come into class. I'm talking about students who have the resources but just don't use them, then ask for unspecific "help" with the course.** Specifically, here in Canada, we have an upcoming long-weekend because it's Thanksgiving. I am a teaching assistant for a course that has a test next Wednesday afternoon. Today (Friday afternoon), a student emailed me to ask if I could meet with them (via Zoom) urgently because they need "help before our first test". Office hours aren't part of my TA contract (I just grade assignments, tests, and run in-person tutorials. Another TA runs the tutorials online because of COVID), so I told the student that unfortunately I would be unable to meet. I sent them a list of resources that the department offers and suggested they reach out to the professor if they have specific questions. In their response, the student said that the professor didn't have scheduled office hours before the test and said they would try to "figure it out on \[their\] own". I felt badly, so I went to check Brightspace to see how they are doing in the course. But it turns out, this student has not watched the past 6 lectures (out of 9 total) or watched the past 2 online tutorials (out of 3 total). The student has definitely not been coming in person because they are an international student who is out of the country. I understand that Brightspace course progress data is not necessarily 100% accurate, but the set-up of the course is also in such a way that it's not possible that the student downloaded all the material at the beginning of the semester (the lectures get uploaded each week). They've only spent 4 hours of time on the webpage, when there are about 10 hours of lectures alone posted on the page - even if they watched them at 2x speed, it wouldn't be enough to get through the lectures, let alone the rest of the material. I can also see that the student has not downloaded the notes accompanying the tutorials or videos, so I really don't think they have even attempted to work through most of the course material. In my email response, I suggested that they make sure they've watched all the lecture videos and tutorials as preparation for the test and explore the avenues I mentioned in my initial reply. In my head, I was thinking "why would you ask me for unspecific help if you haven't even tried to stay on-top of the course?" Obviously, that's not a helpful or compassionate way to deal with students, but I find this type of thing (which seems to happen fairly often) super frustrating. **So, TL;DR - How do you support students who ask for help when they don't make use of available resources first? How do you respond compassionately? What is helpful for you and your students in this kind of situation?** | I honestly think that an excess of compassion can be as damaging as cruelty. Think of the stereotypical rich teenager who cries because her birthday Ferrari was the wrong shade of pink. The people who become like this are those who are given everything and are never told no. Once you have fulfilled your responsibility (pointing the student to the course materials), if the student fails the course, it is on them. There are a plethora of reasons why it might be on them: maybe they are depressed and that's why they are not doing well in university and are not putting in the appropriate effort, but this means they need to address this underlying problem before continuing their studies (e.g., take a sabbatical), maybe they have really high anxiety, maybe they were never taught proper time management... Whatever it is, if the student is unable to do the expected work for a class, all you might achieve by helping them beyond what you are required is for them to fail later on, and the thing is, the later you fail, the more catastrophic it is. Having poor grades in your first year matters less than having bad grades in your last year. Having bad grades in your last year matters less than not getting a job. Not getting a job matters less than being put in a position of power where your lack of ability might hurt other people... In essence, whatever the circumstances, it is the student's responsibility to search for the appropriate resources to correct whatever prevents them from putting in the effort, even if the circumstances are not the student's fault. And society and the university should do their best to provide resources for those who are motivated but struggling to improve themselves and fix the toxic aspects of their life. But that is not YOUR job, and ironically, it is to the benefit of the student to not get used to other people overstepping their responsibilities to help them. |
|
PhDs in the Humanities who succeeded in your ac job search, what was your battle plan like? What advice would you give to a more junior PhD candidate in your field? Some personal background: I've just received my PhD in the Humanities (French) and I currently have a postdoctoral position secured until 2020 in the same institution where I received my PhD. In the meantime, I want to make sure I get to the job hunting season fully prepared and organized. I intend to look primarily in Europe and the US (where I currently am), ideally for a multi-year post-doc or a lecturer/asst professor position. What is the usual timeline to start looking for jobs? What would you say was crucial in you securing the position you have? What would you tell your younger, new-to-the-job-hunt self? | Can I just say that the responses here will basically constitute confirmation bias? If you only get the successes, you won't know how they differ from the folks who moved on. |
|
Posted from /r/bestof: Textbook publishing / selling is definitely a racket, but this post (linked) sounds like total bullshit to me. Has *anyone* ever heard of this kind of experience from a legitimate source? https://np.reddit.com/r/books/comments/5w0ecd/education_publisher_pearson_reports_biggest_loss/de722g9/?sh=81cc2366&st=IZXKRC7K Some choice quotes: >Two weeks in and department heads and a PEARSON rep corner him mid lecture, and try to humiliate him in front of the class by saying he's failing us for not giving us proper study materials and how badly it'll hurt our careers later on. He held his ground. Announced to the class that the university as a whole has a deal with Pearson, and each department must sign off on how much cash they pledge to make. I'm not sure what the benefits were to the school, but basically professors were told that if a student couldn't afford the materials, they can't afford to take the class. They threatened him, but he laughed at them. Department heads *and* a Pearson rep cornering a professor in the middle of class. Uh-huh. >After that, they would occasionally sit in on our class with a clipboard. One day I was able to sneak a peak, it was just a list of "mistakes". Bullshit mistakes too. "Swore when pen fell." Or "coughed, possibly faked to distract." The Pearson rep was the worst. She would literally just sit in our class and condescendingly ask "and how are they gonna study that at home? What materials? Don't you think homework would help?" Seriously? I can only *maybe* imagine a much less sensationalized version of this happening with a for-profit, bargain basement, student loan-funded ripoff machine fly by night "college." | Professor here. I also find it rather hard to believe, in part because this kind of thing would never happen in my department. If a textbook rep interrupted a lecture like that, or routinely came to class to compile "mistakes," then I would have campus security escort him or her out of the room. In addition, my department head would never side with a publishing rep and threaten me about a textbook. More generally, I have never been pressured to adopt a particular textbook or anything from a particular publisher. Reps stop by my office all the time to advertise their latest textbook or online offering; I politely listen to them and then just go back to work. |
|
Considering a PHD, but concerned about previous results and experience. Need advice on how to increase my chances... **Me:** 27 year old male. Currently on a bit of a life adventure, living in a city I always wanted to live in for a couple of years and then planning on doing a year of travelling. At the moment I'm working in a totally unrelated field to academia, but academia is a field I've always been interested in and seemed like a good fit for me (a personal feeling but according to others also)...... so once I reach 30, a PHD would definitely be on my mind. **Academic Background:** I have an undergraduate in sociology, which I received a first class honors in. I then did an M.A. in International Security and Conflict studies, which I received a 2:1 grade in. Only thing is I f\*\*\*\*\* up my dissertation for the M.A, got a 2:2 grade for it specifically and the last section of it was really useless and incoherent (spent far too much on earlier sections and then had to rush the end - a lesson for the future). **What would I like to do a PHD in?** * My dissertation (which was pretty useless) and my main focus of area for my M.A. was on the post-Soviet space - Russia's relations with its neighbors, political movements etc. So therefore political tensions and manifestations in Eastern Europe or the Post-Soviet space would be definitely a topic I would be interested in. * I'm also interested in far-right movements across Europe - the socio-psychological underpinnings, the actual security risk they pose, and ways towards deradicalisation. Admittedly I have no academic credentials in this area so maybe it is out of the question. **Sooooo?** Basically I feel I'm not exactly the ideal PHD candidate due to screwing up my M.A. dissertation (but still have a first class honours B.A. and 2:1 M.A. so not completely out of reach) and need to spend some of my spare time in the next couple of years building up more experience and a portfolio. I would greatly appreciate any advice or guidance you can give me, to help me increase my chances of landing a PHD in either of the aforementioned fields. Thanks in advance. | To be honest, I think it will be easy for you to get into a PhD program. The thing you need to think about is what happens after. The job prospects are bleak. |
|
How many papers did you publish during your PhD? I'm planning to apply for PhD programs for Autumn 2019 entry and I was just wondering how many publications people produce during their PhD programs. Obviously this is something that is discipline dependent (I'm interested in developmental and cognitive psychology) but I'm sure there's probably other people from different disciplines who are curious about this too. Also if you are still a PhD student, how many publications have you produced so far and how far into your program are you? | This is not just field-dependent but also topic-dependent; for example, if you are using established methods, it's easier to get to a publication stage than if you have to spend two years building a kit or developing/evaluating a new method before you can even gather a dataset. |
|
Am I stagnating or is this normal for a post PhD career? I'm just entering the third year of my postdoc. The work pace has been drastically different from my PhD, and I'm trying to work out if I'm simply not "dong enough" or if this is okay. As a caveat, none of my bosses or supervisors have any negative feedback. My immediate boss has only given me positive remarks on my end of year evaluations. I secured funding for my project during my 1st year, and I have roughly two more years of funding. However, I sometimes run against a wall of panic because I feel like I'm not doing "enough". During my PhD, my project was developing and designing a new use case for an array of hardware and software. I was involved in a lot of stuff from very granular details to very abstract details. When I started my postdoc, my workload dropped dramatically. Some weeks I might do something like 5-10 hours, and some weeks it's closer to 30 or more. On very slow weeks, when I've tried to go and find work to supplement my main tasks, I've often found myself stymied. Much of my work with my research involves the human side, and because we're in a major development phase, my boss isn't comfortable doing more user studies yet. Currently outside of my research a lot of my attention is aimed at finding more funding, which has been difficult because my lab director is largely unreachable, and so this has been very very slow. I feel like there's something I "should" be doing, but I haven't identified it yet. Should I be learning new skills or something? | No one is in charge of your life but yourself. If you have too much time on your hands, start changing your life. Make the best of it. Enjoy your breaks, and challenge yourself when you feel it is appropriate. When you want a better use for your time, try setting yourself challenges and start working toward them. If you lack motivation because you feel someone should be breathing down your neck, then use it as a growing opportunity. You are free now. No one tells you what to do. Start your life. Good luck! |
|
Undergraduate research supervisor denied my request for a reference letter I don’t know if this is the place to get some advice on something like this, but I’m 22 and a junior majoring in biology. I was first asked to intern with one of my professors last June and he seemed to enjoy working with me so he hired me on to work on a project as a research assistant. I was also working with a graduate student whom he had worked with before and she is my sort of direct supervisor, and I work with her the most. This specific professor also oversees a really cool residential summer internship at a national park and has told me I would be a great fit for this internship and I want it very bad. It would be the best opportunity. I have been good about following up with him and we recently had a great conversation about the current project we are doing, presenting our other project at NCUR as well as preparing for me to apply to this summer internship. We were both planning on me getting one of my letters of recommendation from that graduate student as I worked with her a lot and he felt it would be more impactful if the letter was from her and not him. I was nervous about asking her as I wasn’t sure how she felt about me due to some scheduling difficulties the past couple months. I know excuses are kind of BS but I live on my own and have to work a full time job to pay my bills and for school since I don’t qualify for any assistance. Luckily I own my own business and it allows me to be pretty flexible, but there are still scheduling difficulties and there were a few times where I just wasn’t available when there was work that needed to be done and I had committed to jobs that wouldn’t allow me to help. I know the rule is “be easy to work with” and I’m sure from her point of view, I just wasn’t easy to work with. But I will say if I said I would do something, I always followed through. I just had a very tight schedule last fall. So fast forward to yesterday after after a great conversation with my professor about the internship and him expressing that he felt confident in my ability to get it. I started my application and texted this girl to ask if she would be willing to write me a letter. She replied saying she doesn’t write letters for people she doesn’t know that well or hasn’t worked with much. The issue is we have been working together for about 6 months now, and previously she had even invited me to her house to look over my CV and meet her friend who had done that internship before, so I feel like she switched up on me. I feel finished in academia now. I’m scared to admit to my professor that she won’t write it because he’s going to question why she won’t, and she would have been the best letter as our work related most to the internship. I feel like I’ve screwed everything up and I just don’t even know what to do at this point. Any advice? | Have you ever received a written evaluation or some sort of performance review (report card, evaluative feedback, etc.) in writing from the graduate student supervising you? If so, include that document in an email to your professor, cite the graduate student's unavailability to write a letter, and request the professor to offer you a letter of support instead. Do not make the graduate student look bad. Do not get too wordy or reference any scheduling issues. Keep it factual to exactly how it was worded to you, and maintain a cordial tone.
Separately, respond with courtesy to the graduate student and ask whether they have some time to meet with you for a performance evaluation. State that you're seeking feedback in order to improve.
Finally, academia can sometimes make people feel perpetually inept. There's a cycle of abuse that anyone in any position of power can replicate. It's unfortunate. Please don't lose confidence, but try to turn this into a learning moment. How can you improve going forward? What's the takeaway? This isn't the end of anything, but it may be an enlightening one. Wishing you a great outcome. |
|
Final update: my departmental group scheduled a party at my abuser's home. I'm leaving campus. This isn't an update I wanted or one that I even want to write out but I am in despair right now so I am typing it out. In context, about three weeks ago I posted about a departmental party planned at my abuser's house and how after talking to the right channels the party was rescheduled to a different home. I don't think I went into a lot of personal detail in either post, but it was at his house that he sexually assaulted me the day before we broke up. There was no penetration but he got on top of me and dry humped me after I had told him there would be none of that. Post-breakup (which was in reaction to that and his decision to get black out drunk and in a car after I told him what he did wasn't OK and we needed to get on the same page about what was OK to do with my body) he continued to harass me in social situations, so I went to the Title IX office to get a no contact order. I thought that was the end of it but then he told one of my professors that I carried a gun on campus and I had to negotiate that. And then finally, a week and a half ago, he submitted to our creative nonfiction seminar a comic in place of an assignment, depicting his past relationships, our relationship (he uses my name), mentions my allegations of "abuse" and makes it all out to be over a forced kiss, and then several panels that appear to depict him raping and strangling my nude body. In these panels he says things like "there's a fine line between sex and violence and killing." He sent this out to all classmates via email as well as the professor which is the standard for submitting assignments. I filed for an emergency ex parte but today the judge denied a full restraining order claiming that the comic did not fit the requirement missouri statues for harassment. I was told by a police officer that basically he would have to brandish a knife or gun or something to get a qualifier for harassment. Although he has been kicked out of the class and has lost the only person in the department that can sponsor his thesis, he's still permitted to come into the same room I am in, be in the same building, hallway, office... And I can't do that. I've been told by my department that because the sexual assault can't be proven they can't do anything on their end. And I get it. I get that they have to do due process to guard against false accusations but what happened happened in his house when we were alone and no, he didn't tape it and no he doesn't wear a T-shirt that says this is what I did, and I get that I made a mistake by not immediately telling authority figures what he did to me but I just wanted to move on. There was no semen inside of me no chance of a baby no HIV or STDs just a moment where he abused my body that I thought I could move on from. Title IX has opened an investigation and they are supportive but they've told me the outcome might take as long as sixty days and even after all of this he may still be a student next semester with no penalty. I know the next thing he will do will be to act on his fantasies. This has been escalating and he has always been reactive with his anger and after taking him to court I know that he is going to try to hurt me when he has the chance. People in the department think I am exaggerating but they don't fucking know him or how he acts when he is mad. So I am staying off campus now, and am going to try to not give him that chance. I'm really sad that I am the one that has to run. I'm really upset that this man is allowed to go to all his classes and continue to teach a class full of young women for his assistantship. I'm really sad that there are still people in the department that after seeing the comic think he's an OK guy and that I am making everything up. I'm really sad that no one seems to care if he kills me or not and it makes me wonder what the point is even of fighting for an education if my life is so expendable. And I don't have an answer to that. But I ask for prayers from all of you. I don't want to die. I have so much fucking life in me still. I won't let him take that away from me too. | You may not feel comfortable doing this, and it's totally up to you, but if you want to PM me, I can put you in touch with friends of mine who are Title IX advocates. They have fought multiple campus administrations over things like this. I am outraged for you that your administration/department isn't doing enough. Do you have a copy of that comic saved (or does a trusted classmate)? That sounds like irrefutable evidence that his presence on campus is a threat to you and possibly to others. You have a right to your education; someone who violates and threatens you does not. |
|
1st Year PhD - Removed From Project Until recently I was a 1st year PhD student working on my project. However, I was dismissed following my viva under the guise of "poor writing" in a continuation report for transfer into the 2nd year. Initially shocked at this sudden change from my supervisor, as we meet weekly to touch base and my writing ability has never been raised as a concern. Going back through the assessors feedback comments from the initial draft, it was generally positive or constructive. i.e make figure x larger, move paragraph y above z. Overall, the report and oral viva were praised for well thought out discussions, sound methodology, good results and clear progression/future plans (all documented) with just a vague "introduction is poorly written". However, when pressed the assessor could not/would not expand on this, dismissing me with "its all poor" contrary to the feedback he himself had provided! I was told my only options at this stage are to "withdraw from your course, or submit an MPhil but I will not accept it". Thus I am appealing this verdict. After speaking with various staff and peers it has become obviously clear to everyone who has heard the situation that you would not remove someone for poor writing, if that is indeed the case. Institutional guidelines recommend to advise relevant training, workshops, exercises and teaching to address a students weaknesses. I believe this serves as wrongful dismissal/ not adhering to due process of the university. So I've raised this further to the senior staff. It has also come to my attention that the lab I was part of is notorious for politics and shady conduct. The student who had the project before me was bullied into leaving. In addition to a high staff turn-over, improper conduct and breaches of contract. From what I hear the uni does nothing about it because the head brings in too much money. "Poor writing" just seems to be the excuse to get rid of me, or the project is cursed! Advice on how to navigate this matter would be appreciated. If the appeal goes through it's doubtful I'll get my previous post/project back as there is too much bad blood. I wouldn't be comfortable remaining at the university if I was moved to another lab/project, if there is systematic abuse and underhanded deals going on. My supervisor is not happy about me digging around/appealing so wouldn't give me a shining reference so seek positions elsewhere. I've kept and backed up logs of meetings where no measures were put in place, emails where the supervisor, team and peers have all said the report was of a good standard, and presentations where no concerns were raised. At its core it began as a wrongful dismissal and academic appeal, but the more I look into it, ask around and hear from others experiences with the lab. There's documented evidence of abuse of power, discrimination, harassment/bullying among other serious allegations that the university HAS known about ...but have just brushed under the rug because they bring in too much money! Not what I would expect from the 18th ranked UK University. | Is there a way to affiliate with a different PI in the department? If so, the good news is that as a first-year, it's not much time lost. Then again, I'm a little unfamiliar with the UK system. This really sucks, and I hope you can find a PI who isn't difficult to work with. |
|
Postdocs who were depressed/anxious in grad school: does it get better? | Hi! I struggled with depression and anxiety throughout graduate school. First things first, go see a mental health professional. Your school definitely has some on staff who will meet with you and help you get to the root of your anxiety/depression. They are bound by confidentiality rules, so you don’t have to worry about your coworkers finding out. Please, please do this if you do nothing else.
The answer to your question really depends on why you are depressed. If it is because of environmental factors (toxic work environment, etc.), then the change of scenery that comes with leaving grad school may help. Unfortunately, depression and anxiety are tricky conditions and can have a really wide range of causes which mix and mingle. They can also linger long after their initial cause has subsided. Depression is particularly notorious for feeding back into itself.
For me, my depression was almost certainly hereditary. It was triggered or made worse by the stressful nature of grad school. By the time I finally sought help, I was nearly incapable of focusing on anything, much less my work. Eventually, I ended up on medication which didn’t solve the problem but gave me enough of a buffer that I could cope and begin to get better.
Some things that were useful:
* Finding a hobby that is also a physical activity. Better yet if it’s a competitive or social sport (I recommend squash; it’s easy to get started, and nearly every university has a squash culture). If you are always exhausted, this may really help.
* If you live in the northern part of the world, some of your problem may be seasonal. There is plenty of information about this online; consider it.
* Block off some “you time” in every week. Read a book that has nothing to do with your field, cook something, go out with friends.
* Go on vacation (easier said than done as a grad student). I suggest extending travel for conferences; most departments won’t care if you take a flight back a few days later.
And above all, seek professional help. |
|
Tell me your Grad School success stories! I'm going to be honest and say this sub is making me scared to even apply to graduate school. But I know I love research and I think a PhD will get me further in my career. But everything online is just horror stories. So please, tell me the things you enjoyed out of graduate school in STEM and why it was/is worth it for you! | I finished my PhD with an advisor who didn't know my name, didn't touch my thesis, and forgot to show up to my defense. That said, I still landed an awesome job at a national lab and absolutely love what I've been doing for almost the last decade. |
|
How to tell your supervisor that you are giving up on PhD? I am getting close to the deadline of my PhD studies but I have barely done half of what is required from me. I have no motivation, time and honestly the degree won't help me in my career. The best thing is to give up. How would you suggest I tell this to my supervisor? | Approach this with sincerity and gratitude. But be honest; you're a person, and your supervisor is a person too. They will understand if you tell them what you told us. They may try to change your mind, but you know what's best for you. |
|
Why would some profs encourage students to apply to other schools' PhD programs At my school (both my program and another), I know some people that did their Undergrad, Masters and PhD all within their respective programs. However, I also know some people that got rejected for PhD, but accepted eslewhere. Also more recently, when I expressed my interest to two profs (not related) wanting to continue with PhD, they encouraged me to apply eslewhere too. Is it all about good fit or that there would be more opportunities? | In STEM fields, I personally don't think you would benefit by doing all of your degrees in the same lab group. By going to a different lab or school, you're learning to work with different people and really expanding your network and connections. |
|
I feel like a burden and think my labmates hate me Using a throw away. I'm a first year PhD researcher and I need help. Also my "I" key is on the fritz so sorry for any typos. Maybe it's just the social anxiety and depression, but I honestly feel like a massive burden in my lab. I started in September so my experience has been shaped drastically by COVID. I have been slow to learn techniques because I'm not in the lab much - I did research for 3 years during my undergrad and completed a MSc, so I'm not incompitent, just unfamiliar wth this lab. I haven't had a chance really to bond with my peers because normal social events have been cancelled and we can't meet up for a pint after hours. But there have also been times I've been excluded: birthdays where no one asks me to sign the card or offers a cupcake (and there isn't one left for me either), during lunch they go to a dfferent part of the lab to eat together. Or they sit on their phone and ignore me but will chat with each other when someone else walks in. This week, they've started giving me the silent treatment. They don't engage with me unless I directly speak to them. If I have a question, they're too busy to answer it but always have time for each other. Conversations die when I walk by and I'm pretty sure they're talking about me. I feel lke a budern because I think I should be workng more independently by now, but I'm just not getting the training and support I need because everyone is busy and we're at reduced capacity. I don't feel lke I can go to my supervisor about any of this. Nothing is outright hostile and I haven't been in an unsafe situaton - yet. And I don't honestly know what she could do. Havng your boss tell you to make friends with someone is hardly going to encourage you to reach out. And I don't want to come off as "whiny" or acting lke a child - I already feel like I have to ask for too much hand holding with experiments. Maybe it's the infamous imposter syndrome, maybe it's not - *I* can't tell. So what do I do? I don't need to be BFFs with these people, but I feel like I'm walking on eggshells every day. How do you make friends with new people during a pandemic? Or how do I at least get them to be friendly? Am I breaking some unwritten rules of academia some way? Any kind advice welcome. | I'm not an expert, but maybe you could try getting closer to one person at your lab instead of the whole group at once. Just ask someone you think is the most friendly to you if they want to go for a walk during lunch or have a cup of coffee. If that person starts to like you, they might include you in the group automatically and invite you to events as well. If that doesn't work, you could try talking to the person you trust the most about how you feel. Maybe it was just a mistake; maybe they thought you weren't interested. |
|
Undergraduate researcher: at what point is enough, enough? I apologize if this comes off as a bit of a rant. But I'm honestly curious - what would you do in this situation? At what point, if things don't improve, do you tell the PI that it's not worth it to have an undergraduate in the lab? I'm a postdoc in chemistry/chemical biology at an R1 University. I currently have two undergraduates working under me, one of whom joined the lab ~8 months ago (Undergrad A), and another who is shared between our lab and a collaborator at the University and started ~5 months ago (Undergrad B). Both are pare of a prestigious, specialized program in biochemical sciences and are clearly very bright students, at least in the classroom. Undergraduate A was actually a student in a course I taught this past semester, and earned by far the top grade in the class (no, I did not help him outside of class time in a way I would not have for any other student). Undergraduate B, since starting working in our lab, has been a very good researcher. Sure, he's made mistakes but (1) nothing that can't easily be remedied or repeated rapidly and (2) clearly wants to learn, and asks the type of challenging questions that push me to learn more as well. Undergraduate A, on the other hand, has had some issues. When he started in the lab, things went smoothly - sure, I was practically holding his hand, but that's par for the course until they have experience with common techniques/procedures we use every day. Then, during the middle of the semester, he simply stopped showing up (with several things in progress that I then had to take care of). Understandable, considering that he apparently took something like eight classes this past semester - but I was given no notice or warning, and basically no communication for almost two months. The semester ends, and he comes back to the lab - great! Except within the first two weeks, it was apparent that he'd pretty much forgotten everything he'd learned previously. I had to do the hand-holding all over again. Some old issues I'd attributed to him being busy with classes - like asking him when to sign up for a particular instrument (e.g. "When can you do X? Okay, great, I'll sign up for time) and then not showing up (him: "Oops, I forgot/I had class then"). Messes were left behind, reagents left out, room-temperature sensitive proteins left on the benchtop overnight... So about a month ago, I sat him down to have a chat about being more conscientious in the lab, making sure he's here to do X when he says he will, keeping good records, etc. He said he'd get better, dropped a lab class (I did not ask him to do this) that was taking up a lot of his time, and we resumed research. Since then, the same issues have continued. I have been extremely busy - who isn't? - so I've maybe been a little short with him at times. However, he doesn't ask what he should be doing, when, or how; when I ask him what he's doing, he tells me very little (e.g. him: "I started X." me: "Okay, how far along is it? Where is it? When will it be finished?" him: "It's going; it's in the freezer. I'll let you know."). When I tell him that we should plan on doing experiment Y this week, and he should have X going on in the background but it is not a priority, there seems to be a total disconnect - he does X, completely ignores Y, and no tangible progress is being made. We finally got good proof-of-principle data for the project I've got him working on a couple of weeks ago; I wanted to repeat it more carefully this week. Instead, he spent the week practically avoiding me, and re-expressing every protein we've ever used (even though we do not need more of anything at this point). Reagents are still left out; messes are still being made and not cleaned up; common lab responsibilities are ignored. Perhaps the last straw was last night. He'd left for the day, apparently, and asked me to take care of something that was in progress - via e-mail, around 8 PM (I normally would not have still been in the lab; I work early hours, rather than late into the night). Luckily I was still in the lab due to a long experiment (that was frustratingly botched by an equipment failure), and took care of it. I e-mailed him and told him I took care of it, but not to come in over the weekend. I am/will take care of things he has in progress; I just don't have the patience for dealing with more right now. Then, this morning, I sent him what I consider to be a warning e-mail. As politely as I could, I brought up the issues and told him he needed to improve. I'm expecting the PI to come in soon, and plan to tell him a little about it just so that - if problems continue - it doesn't come out of nowhere to him. At this point, I honestly think I give him another month to shape up, or I talk to the PI and tell him I'll do the project myself. What do you, fellow academics, think? Ever had to deal with a flaky and irresponsible undergrad? | "During the middle of the semester, he simply stopped showing up (with several things in progress that I then had to take care of)." Fired. "Understandable," no. Fired. You are not doing this person any favors by giving third, fourth, fifth chances. |
|
What are the Pro’s and Con’s of being a professor? What do you like? What is it you don’t like? I am considering going on for my PhD and becoming a professor, but I am creating a pro and con list to weigh things further. I appreciate your responses! | Take what you read here with a grain of salt. You see a lot of people on this sub talking about their 70-hour workweeks and how much they hate teaching but still have to do it, etc. Meanwhile, though I'm not tenure-track, I have a full-time job that pays a little less than my tenured colleagues, and I work maybe 30 hours a week. If you want a research-heavy job, they tend to pay better but have a much higher workload. If you want a teaching-heavy job, and you are good at teaching, the workload isn't too high. This differs person to person. I have colleagues that spend a few hours prepping a single lecture, even for classes they've taught before. Meanwhile, it takes me maybe an hour to prep a new lecture and less than 20 minutes to prep for something I've taught before. As a counterbalance, I'm not a strong researcher, and so if I had a job where I had to do research, I imagine that my time spent working on research would be really inefficient. |
|
What can I do about a professor gossiping to other students about me? I'm in my second year of grad school with 2 semesters to go and a 3.9 grade point average. I take school seriously, but I'm a pretty good-natured, up-beat person. Last semester a good friend of mine (Friend 1), in the same program, told me the chair of the department came to her and warned her about hanging around other students with bad reputations. She was clueless as to which friend the chair was referring to and when Friend 1 told me, we laughed about it and tried to guess who she was talking about. I didn't give it much thought. Today, Friend 1 called me and said that another professor had pointedly asked her about me and if it was a good idea for another student (Friend 2) to have befriended me. The professor said I was known as a negative, bad influence and was worried about me poorly influencing Friend 2. Friend 1 was completely shocked and doubled checked to make sure the professor was talking about me. Friend 1 told the professor that she was describing the exact opposite of my personality and explained I was super positive and a great support. THEN Friend 2 called me and said the professor had also spoken with her today and, similar to the chair warning Friend 1, warned Friend 2 about associating with me. And she specified it was me and that I had a bad reputation in the department. Friend 2 was also shocked and let the professor know I was very positive with her and reassured the professor that I was a good person to be friends with. Not one professor has ever pulled me aside to mention any issue with me. In fact, the two professors who have warned other students about me are part of my graduate thesis committee! They've never said a word to me! And we have never argued or even disagreed on anything. I have no idea where this is coming from. What I do know is that at least 2 professors in my department have cautioned at least 2 students in our class of 10 to avoid being around me to protect their reputations. Why? What can I do? Will confronting one of them make it worse? I wouldn't care if they didn't like me and just gossiped about me amongst themselves, but they are speaking to students about me! Obviously, I can't go to the chair. Help! | Obviously, I can't go to the chair. I disagree completely. Yes, it's the nuclear option, but I wouldn't rule it out if this continues. Start by confronting the professors who are talking about you. Say, "It's come to my attention that..." these things are being said. Ask why; if they thought you were a problem, they never brought it up to you. Part of their job is to help professionalize you. What they are doing has the opposite effect—they see behavior they perceive as detrimental to a professional career and allow it to go unchallenged and, on top of that, warn other students about associating with you. I would seriously question their capacity as mentors and advisors. Before talking to the chair, consider the DGS. Maybe they can act as a buffer? But seriously, this is "hostile working conditions" territory. If you were a colleague, it would be unacceptable. That you are a grad student makes it morally reprehensible. To be fair, if they had talked to you on several occasions and you clearly had no intention of changing (and the behavior was truly detrimental to your potential career), it would not be ridiculous to warn others to be careful about who they befriend. But naming you would still be shady. TL;DR: this isn't okay. Confront the professors or get your DGS to mediate. |
|
How difficult is it to get a teaching job at a community college? I know people always talk about how difficult (with some even claiming it's basically impossible), to get a job as a college professor/instructor. But I often hear people focus on top colleges and more seem to be interested in working at a prestigious college and doing research. Is it less difficult to get a job at a community college or in a college with a focus on teaching (not wanting to do just research)? As someone who went to a community college in upstate NY, I never got the sense my profs were the top of the field to put it nicely. Most didn't even have phds. (I'm interested particularly in the history field) | Yeah, it's definitely possible. As long as you're reasonably flexible about location, you can... HISTORY?! Nevermind. History is a real beast of a job market. Definitely have an easier career path as a backup, like an NHL player, or a more lucrative one, like panhandling. |
|
How can a university support students with mental health issues/crisis There was a tragic loss in the dorms last week, and the school handled it horribly. This is not the first time this has happened. There was even a law suite a few years ago. The wait to get into the counseling center is 5 months, and it seems like all the school is doing is sending a crisis line phone number. I sent the dean an angry-ish email asking about what they planned to do to support students who are struggling. I wasn’t expecting a response, but she actually did! She wants to meet with me to talk about what they can do to help students in crisis. I am asking everyone and anyone who have struggled during school. Any ideas? | Our counseling center was overwhelmed, so the university purchased a subscription to an online counseling service that students can access. That might be something to look into. But ultimately, I think this is a societal-level problem, and I'm skeptical colleges can have much of an impact. |
|
I just got my first full day interview for TT research professor. I have a few questions about what is expected. Apologies if this is the incorrect forum, please let me know if so. Specifically, they asked for a 1 hour formal seminar on my research. It has been a while since I've been to one of these, but is there an appropriate split between previous and future research? Should I only focus on the story leading to my research proposal or discuss my interests more broadly? Also any advice for the chalk talk would also be appreciated, but I figure that should be easier since I am comfortable in my current research and where it may grow in the future. After 2 years of 15-30 minute interviews and no follow up I'm excited for the opportunity. Edit: Also is it appropriate to ask the chair that emailed me about the interview if they have specific requests for the questions in the first paragraph? | I would definitely email someone on the hiring committee to ask about the focus of your talk, since expectations can vary widely. If you don't get a clear answer, prepare to talk mostly (90%) about previous or current research. The chalk talk is the time to talk about your future plans in detail. For the chalk talk, my best advice is to practice with a critical audience. If you can, reach out to recent hires to ask about their experience and what questions they were asked. |
|
Is it true that assistant professors in the US have a high divorce rate? Someone told me that assistant professors in the US have a high divorce rate because of high pressure for tenure and frequently moving to new cities Is that true? | Not really. Most research on divorce rates indicates it’s inversely proportional to education. The more educated you are, the less likely you are to divorce. Obviously, there are many factors involved: marrying later, having money, etc. Education, higher ed, and industry research all tend to fall on the low end of the divorce rate spectrum if you look across jobs. That being said, nearly half of my cohort divorced. I think the main factor was that many married in the summer between the end of college and the start of grad school. Marrying young is a big predictor of divorce. The ones who took a few years, worked or did a master's, and then got married are still together. When it comes to moving and such, I would guess that’s more of a roadblock to marriage than a spur for divorce. |
|
How to ask/find out if my supervisor (Assistant Prof) got tenure? My supervisor was denied tenure his first time but managed to get a re-evaluation due to Covid (there's also a rumor he threatened to sue the university). I'm holding off applying to grad school as a part-time PhD candidate because I don't really want him as my advisor and he doesn't get along well with the professor I do want as an advisor. His review seminar was last October and there were positive responses at the department level this time around, but I haven't heard anything since. Anyone have any clues on how long this takes? It's hard to tell based on his actions if he knows anything. (in USA) | I don't understand this weirdness. You can apply to be in anyone's lab; why are you tracking one particular person's career who may or may not interact with your potential supervisor? Weird drama. |
|
Managing Burnout In Early Career Hello all, I am looking for some tips/strategies to manage burnout. I am still fairly early in my career. I received my PhD 4 years ago and have been in my current position for 3 years. I don't publish any more but produce reports on the systems analysis that I generate. I used to have new ideas and the drive to go the extra mile. However over the last year and a half that has not been the case. Sitting down to do deep technical work had become a struggle and some of my work has gotten sloppy. I feel sluggish and slow. I was wondering if any other early academics have experienced similar struggles and how you overcame them? Could this be a sign I am in the wrong role? | As someone who has dealt with burnout before, I’ve learned that rest is a really important part of being able to do good work. When was the last time you took a vacation—like a full week at least—where you didn’t do any work or think about work at all? That’s usually the first line of treatment for burnout. I would also look at what kind of hours you’re working and see if you need to tweak that (are you doing a lot of extra evenings and weekends?) as well as firm up work/life balance boundaries if needed.
I would also see if you can make an effort to have a hobby or regular social outing where you do non-work things—playing music, hiking, board games, painting, having a meal with a friend, whatever—at least once a week. I would also suggest doing a basic checkup of your physical and mental health otherwise. Sometimes burnout can come with depression or other physical issues. If you’re not sleeping well, not getting exercise, and not getting nutritious food, I’d try to dial that in as well so that you’ll be physically at a good baseline to tackle anything else that might pop up. |
|
I committed academic misconduct...now what Basically I sent someone an answer to an exam thinking the exam was over and he pasted it (I didnt know exams ended at different times) I've been thinking about this a lot and I realized this is all my fault. I should have read the instructions and thought about the rules more (cant even send answers after the exam). I truly learned from my actions but I am just wondering about the consequences for this The fact I commited academic misconduct is on my transcript and will be removed when I graduate. I am just wondering how this will affect my changes to get into a good grad school, even if I get it removed but I eventually have to tell then. I'm a computer science student and I did many things to improve myself in that aspects such as attending events and making side projects. I am just wondering what does this mean for the future. I am definitely going to be much more careful next time and read and follow all the rules. Since they said I committed academic misconduct I know all my grades are in question but I truly did earn them legimarely. Is their anyway I can prove myself that this wont happen again and I'm a good student ? What else did I screw up about my life? How can I come back from this | Good for you, OP, for taking accountability for your actions and recognizing your wrongdoing, and more importantly, wanting to do better. If you do end up getting this removed from your transcript, then this is *really* great for you. You may have a bit more difficulty applying to grad school when you're still in undergrad applying with your "marked" transcript, but (if I understand correctly) once you graduate it will look like it never happened.
Having this mark on your transcript, as you probably already know, *could* potentially delay your grad school plans because most institutions take academic integrity very seriously. However, even if your transcript is still marked, most grad school applications almost always have essays as part of your application where you can explain your situation. We all make mistakes, and it sounds like you've definitely reformed yourself.
However, if you *for sure* know there will be no record of misconduct once you graduate, you may want to think about applying to grad school once your record is clear. Then it's a non-issue.
Overall, I think your perspective is very mature and will help you now and in the future. Remember to read those academic misconduct policies at the start of each semester! Good luck. I think this is just a small bump in a bright future ahead. |
|
PhD advisor just asked me to consider moving cities mid-PhD I'm midway through the 2nd year of my PhD (microbiology/food safety related). When I moved to my current city for my PhD, I found out that my advisor was being named as the Dean for a new school that our institution was building in a city 2 hours away. He moved about a year ago, but we still communicate via video calls (and the pandemic shut down all labs on campus for several months), so it's not been that big of a deal. I'm pretty independent, so I feel comfortable working in the labs in my current city with guidance from him using emails/video chat. Yesterday, my other lab mate (she's a semester behind me in her program, but he was also her MSc advisor), drove the 2 hours from our current city to visit the construction site of the new school. It was beautiful, and I'm so excited for everyone involved. Our advisor also offered us the opportunity to move when construction is done (offices/classrooms will be done by August 2021, labs will be done by October 2021). Some of the pros are that I would have access to brand new labs full of state-of-the-art equipment. Most labs will have shared equipment, so I have tons of new equipment to learn about/use for my research. The biggest pro for me is access to faculty. There are currently \~35 faculty, with plans to double that in the next few years. I've already virtually met several of them within the last year working on some committees, and they all so eager to have interactions with students. Many have already offered me help and advice without ever having met me in person. I've come to know that it's not always what you know, but that it's who you know. Having access to them and their networks could offer me huge career opportunities. The cons are obviously what are making me ponder this decision. I should be completing my PhD sometime at the end of 2022, so I would realistically only be there for 1.5 years max. There could be job opportunities within the new school either as faculty or a post-doc, but obviously there's no guarantee (and I'm not completely set on staying in academia anyway). My partner and I own a home in our current city. I don't think it would be hard to sell as the market is very good for homes in our price range. Houses are about $20,000-$30,000 more in the new city. Also, my partner travels every other week/works remotely so it wouldn't be a huge deal to move to the new city in terms of his work; however, he just moved here in June, so he's just now started to feel more "at home" in this city (we are both over 1000 miles away from our home cities). My advisor knows that my partner has a say in what we decide and has given me a choice in moving, but I can read between the lines enough to know that his preference would be for me to move. I know this situation doesn't happen that often, but is there anything I can ask for in terms of relocation packages? Has anyone dealt with this before that could offer advice? | If it's just the two of you without kids to consider: move. The benefits of what you get access to on campus FAR outweigh the "we are starting to feel comfortable in our current town" vibes. This is peak selling time for real estate. Sell, then rent during the rest of your program. Prices will drop by the time you graduate, then purchase wherever you land. It'll give you extra mobility to accept any job offers that come your way. I really don't see a downside to relocation in this situation. |
|
Academics: Do you or did you have a topic that you wanted to write about that you saved for "after I get tenure?" As I understand it, the purpose of tenure was [at least originally] to allow academics the freedom to publish controversial research without fearing that their jobs were in jeopardy. I was wondering if this ever actually happens today. I'd be interested in either topics you are/were avoiding publishing on, or just whether you have an idea of how common this is. I imagine this is more relevant in the Social Sciences and Humanities, but I'd be interested in responses from anyone. | Sure do—I have two in fact, both monographs in progress—but neither is because of controversy here in the US (although they may provoke some abroad). Each involves multi-country archival digs and fieldwork, and the clearances alone would never have fit into a six-year clock, much less the writing. Now, with tenure, I publish articles on bits from the ongoing research that are tangential, and I can guide this Africa-wide, decade-plus project without existential fear or insecurity. Local universities in those countries as well as granting agencies are also more eager to partner with someone who is permanent and stable. So tenure hasn't altered my high level of comfort with subjects, but it has opened up big, important, consequential project paths. So the controversy for me involves an extended period with limited output by the almighty impact metric, then a big whomp when the whole finished book lands. [edit: So I'm in year five of waiting for clearance to Sudan...] |
|
Is there a hidden curriculum in graduate-level academia? Is there a hidden curriculum in graduate-level academia? For those who grew up without a lot of cultural or economic capital, or come from a working poor background, were you more aware of it during your graduate years than in your undergraduate years? What were the tools that you used to navigate this? I come from a long line of timber workers and waitresses, and anyone with a Bachelor's degree graduated from the same college - one that has a 98% acceptance rate and is not competitive in any sense of the word on any level. I know less than 5 people with advanced degrees. I feel confident in my area of study, and I am already working in my preferred industry, but I worry about struggling when I am so wildly out of my social, cultural, and economic element. | Part of the reason I decided to leave academia was because I was so uncomfortable navigating the social elements. I come from a poor family and was the first in my family to go to college, and I was surrounded by people whose parents were college professors and had lived such drastically different lives. The university's career center recommended a book called "This Fine Place So Far From Home," which was helpful but not helpful enough for me to feel comfortable in that world. (It also didn't help that I realized most of the people around me were obsessed with what we were doing, and I treated it like a job. I could see that I was not even remotely competitive when compared to someone who took a stack of science magazines on vacation.) |
|
Academics, what is good about being in academia as opposed to any other industry? | Freedom. Freedom to pursue your own interests to a greater degree than industry generally allows, freedom to build your work schedule around your own requirements to a greater degree than industry generally allows, and freedom from being told what to do to a very great degree. It's also one of the only jobs where you get to be an expert in your field and communicate that knowledge to a constant stream of new students. That mix of driving your own research and simultaneously teaching and working with students is a pretty great place to be for some people. In academia, there are a number of things you need to do, and a series of deadlines by which they need to be done. How you go about everything in the middle is pretty much up to you. |
|
I've done more twice the work the first author has put into the project, but PI insists he gets first authorship? What are my options? Should I just accept it and move on? | Not enough information here to give any really discreet information. "Amount of work" can be highly relative—amount of writing versus time spent doing work versus intellectual contribution to the work, etc. You also don't mention if the first author is another grad student, or what (general) field this is. All of these things matter in determining author order. |
|
Who has no/little interest in their research? And if you don't, do you pretend you do? | I have two modes in which I engage with my research. One is the nitty-gritty of doing research (proving theorems, writing papers, etc.), and the second is the funding/strategic/institutional aspects of doing research (applying for grants, forging new collaborations, networking). I usually have strong interest in the first and little interest in the second. The hard part is finding ways to engage with research in the first mode rather than the second. |
|
Is it ethical for me to visit a student at their dorm? I work as an academic advisor at a community college. My supervisor sent me a text message earlier this afternoon giving me a student's name, ID number, and dorm room number telling me that the student has been struggling hardcore. Apparently the student has not been attending any of his classes or turning in any of his work. The student is also one of my students in my seminar class. Well, it seems like other professors have contacted the student via phone/e-mail, and now administration wants me going to this student's dorm in-person to check in on them. My supervisor has told me the student is known to lie about what's going on in his life. Is it really ethical for me to go to the student's dorm and try to convince them to come to class? I'm not sure I have the proper training to negotiate with students who may be in distress or having problems, to the point where the student is lying to his other professors. Is there a "professional" way to decline what my supervisor is asking me to do, or at least mention that I don't think I am the right person to try and convince the student? | It honestly seems insane that anyone other than the student's assigned RA would even be allowed to do this, let alone be encouraged to. I would strongly encourage you to contact someone other than your supervisor before even considering going through with it. |
|
Tenure track job search frustration I am really burnout with the tenure track job search in USA. Applied to 100+ job, got 11 first round call and 4 second round interviews (all through zoom). I don't know why I am not able to convert any interview to a success. I really want a job at this moment to support my family. Presently working as post-doc in a reputed lab. I am really tired balancing my research and job search. Also due to covid travel restrictions last year, I couldn't travel to visit my family . I am an international student, I don't have the luxury to travel anytime I wish. Additionally, after my PhD last year I moved to mid-west where I don't have many friends here and lab is running practically online. I am really tired and stressed out. One of the things I observed that during interviews sometimes I speak fast or not able to put all the thoughts into word. I know I am capable of a TT job, but I dont know where I am going wrong. I have relevant research expertise and teaching experience. I cant sugarcoat or say the perfect answer to some of the questions but I always showed that I am interested and motivated in helping students with their teaching and research. Any tips, motivation, or suggestions is welcome. | Two lessons I’ve learned the hard way: there’s always someone with a higher degree and pedigree, and more publications, than me. Whenever I’ve interviewed for other positions and look who was hired over me, this is the case every time. The job that I have now was a matter of being the best candidate at the right time. Unfortunately, you don’t know when that will be. It only takes one time to be the right time, so keep trying and hang in there. We all know how you feel. |
|
Thorn between a tenure-track position and a relationship? I have been following the academic path in a textbook fashion. After a successful PhD, I embarked on a successful Postdoc and now was offered a Tenure Track position abroad. During my Postdoc, I have met my present girlfriend. We are together for 2 years 8 months. In the city I am staying there are no further prospects of obtaining a tenure-track position, other than continuing as a Postdoc. My girlfriend explicitly told me about her reluctance on the prospect of leaving, and wanting to stay in this city (at the heart of Europe, for the matter). I would like to draw from your collective experiences - with any advice or comments being appreciated: for those of you who had to choose between a relationship or an academic career, how was the decision made? What were the main points you factored in? And, most importantly, do you regret the ending decision? TL;DR: I have a TT job, but gf won't move abroad. This means staying in academia or leaving it. For those who had the same problem, how did you evaluate such a conundrum? | I wouldn't give up my career for a girlfriend. I might give it up for a wife, but I would hope that anyone I would marry wouldn't ask me to do that. But your girlfriend could perhaps say the same thing about you asking her to move to some random city just because you happened to land a faculty job there. Perhaps you can make a deal: move for a while and see how it goes, with the promise that you will move back to Europe together in X years if she is miserable there. Of course, she can always move sooner if she wants to, but it might mean the end of the relationship. |
|
How Bad Is It To Have Publications Under A Different Name? For reference I’m transgender and I have publications under my deadname. Nothing super significant yet as I’m still in undergrad but A) I won’t be able to change my name for a while I think and B) I still don’t want to lose credit for work I have done, especially since my ultimate goal is to pursue a PhD and hopefully get into academia. What would the protocol be regarding this in future job applications etc once there’s a mismatch between my legal name and that on these publications? | In addition to the other advice here (I agree that it's completely fine to have publications under multiple names), I recommend getting an ORCID number if you haven't already. An ORCID number allows someone to quickly tell that all of your publications are yours, no matter what name they're published under. FYI, some publishers have a chosen name policy that allows you to change the name an article is published under. Additionally, I know that Google Scholar allows you to indicate on your profile that you have published under multiple names and to group all of your publications together. |
|
Is a career in academia in Western Europe financially more rewarding and more balanced with respect to personal life than in the US? Pre-question: I didn't know which flair to choose from the available ones; if there's an issue, could a mod change it? I get this impression from browsing this sub. A recurring theme is of the underpaid and overworked academic, but it doesn't seem to be as prevalent in Europe; apparently it mostly pertains to academics in the US. Is this mostly true? | Just wanted to add that kids can make a huge difference as far as how far your salary goes. I make a U.S. assistant professor's salary in western Europe, and probably will for the rest of my life, and it's just fine. But my kid had cheap daycare and kindergarten (both private, about 400 EUR per month, and that was on the expensive side), and goes to a good school for free, and if he goes to university here that will also be free. Plus, I get paid a few hundred EUR per month for having a kid. Also, I tend to think that Americans tend to overestimate the taxes that are actually paid in Europe (though I only have my own experience). And to get this quality of life would be impossible or very expensive in many U.S. cities. In a lot of European cities, it is also not necessary to own a car (or two). Health insurance is generally more predictable and it actually covers things. Where I am less sure about is the bit about how hard people work. Continental European faculty jobs can be very competitive because there aren't many. Lots of the professors I know have spouses who stay at home or work part-time, enabling them to work a lot, and to build up their very long CVs. 80 hours per week? Probably not. And it also has to be said that the American 4/4 teaching load job where you have, say, 150 students a few times a week and are grading their assignments all the time are less common in Europe. Also, failing to get a TT job seems to be less dramatic/tragic. I have the sense that academics and Ph.D.'s are more respected and people can transition into related jobs that still pay a decent salary, like more jobs in Europe do (not like adjuncting in the US). |
|
What would you do if you saw something odd in a student's notes? I was recently rewriting notes and decided to test my art skills and draw a female nude on my notebook. I found that the nude looked disgustingly caricature-esque and decided to go back to writing my notes. In a hilarious, yet not so hilarious instance, I went to my professor to ask for help and the page where I drew the nude was opened to for a moment as I scrambled through my notes. I believe he saw it and I am incredible embarrassed. I did not acknowledge it because I am very awkward and I would have just made it more uncomfortable than it was. What would you do if you saw something like this in a student's notes? | When I was a TA for a genetics lab, the professor pulled me aside to show me the back of a student's turned-in assignment. It read like some sort of religious zealotry and/or a curse. We were confused and thought it was odd, but didn't elevate it as investigation-worthy. On a more humorous note, when grading BIO 101 exams, on a question related to incomplete dominance of an allele affecting the weight of mice, they drew a bar graph of genotype vs. weight with the bars represented as mice of increasing size and fatness. I got a laugh out of that one. |
|
Did anyone who struggled through undergrad go on to get a PhD? By the time I graduate next spring, I’ll have been working on my BA for 8 years. Between mental health issues and changing schools/majors a handful of times, my undergrad experience has been really rough. But I’ve finally found what I love (literary theory and criticism), and I have a professor who’s pushing me to continue in my field. She’s gotten it into my head that I could even go on for a PhD, and I really want to believe I could manage that, but my track record is obviously less than stellar, so I’m worried that it would be a waste of time or that I’d fail miserably. Has anyone else who struggled with school stuck it out in academia? Why and how did you do it? Was it worth it? | Working on it now. It took me seven years to get my bachelor's degree and I graduated with a 2.5 GPA. I struggled a lot with depression and anxiety, but like you, I found my passion for linguistics toward the end of my undergraduate career. I took a year off, went back for my master's degree, and graduated with a 4.0 GPA. I was then accepted into a PhD program along with a four-year research scholarship. |
|
About to submit a paper, but only have negative feelings, normal? Hi r/AskAcademia, I am a final year PhD students and about to submit two papers. I know so much work has gone into them. However, like an iceberg, the work I'm presenting is only a small aspect of all the total work I put into it. Nevertheless, I look at the final product and it feels like it could be so much better, but I don't have any more time. I'm going to submit the papers anyway, but I don't exactly feel proud of the work. Just proud that I did it. Is this a common feeling? | Just published a first-author paper, and at the time of submission, I couldn't feel any more embarrassed about it. I would literally have recurring nightmares about publishing it because I knew it inside and out, weak points and all. However, I started getting citations and positive feedback from colleagues, including two of the scientists I respect most in my field. I still think the paper could have been so much better, but at least now I'm content with what I accomplished. Sometimes we're our own worst critics. |
|
Struggles with my Advisor (Long Post) Hello everyone. I’m currently struggling in my relationship with my advisor. I am a 5th Year PhD candidate at my university. I have often had a tenuous relationship with my advisor but the more I sit with it the more I realize that it is possibly abusive. A few years ago I was reading a biography for my dissertation and I asked her for some tips on how to get the most out of a biography when reading it, since I knew she had written one. Instead she responded by telling me that she couldn’t believe that I asked her that question and I should know this already. Then she told me I should drop out of my university. I tried to get other Professors to back me up and instead my advisor scheduled an intervention and made me sit with her and another Professor while she listed the things I’m doing wrong in Grad school. After breaking down in front of her I left the meeting and attempted to take her advice. Shortly thereafter she told me that I had improved and things were better for awhile. One time I asked her for a letter of recommendation and she wrote one for me. I went to thank her afterwards and she told me not to thank her “because it’s her job and she shouldn’t be thanked for doing it.” Which I thought was a little strange. I often end my e-mails with a phrase of thanks to all of my professors and none of them seem to mind. But she got angry at me for “thanking her for her time” and told me to never do it again. As I studied for my Exam she started giving me weekly drill sessions where she would call me and ask me random trivia about the details of my field. It was during these meetings that I got increasingly stressed and frustrated with her behavior. If I got something wrong she would continually berate me for it, and told me that “I should know this material by now.” She also started prying too closely into my personal life asking questions about my exercise level and the amount of sleep I get. I told her that I was increasingly stressed and she started recommending me medication to help me sleep. Which was another red flag. The time came and she told me I was ready for my exam. I took it and ended up failing. I spoke to other graduate students in my department and they began to wonder if she had sabotaged me on purpose. I took several more months of her drill sessions and finally took my exam again and passed. I was willing to continue to work with her but I also began to speak to a professor who served as a graduate student coordinator and she suggested that I get a co-advisor to help mediate some of the effects of my advisor. After passing my candidacy exam I continued to work on my dissertation. I wrote and expanded on a chapter and sent it to her for feedback. She read three pages of it and refused to read any further because of grammatical mistakes. She then started berating me for not catching my mistakes and not proofreading, despite having proofread it multiple times and having other professors look over it. I ended up working closely with the writing center at my university to fix many of my grammatical errors and I sent it to her again. She read one sentence found an issue with a comma and refused to read anymore and continued to insult me for not proofreading despite literally working with a proofreading service. I decided to reach out to the graduate student coordinator and the department chair with my issues. And they recommended that I work on getting a co-advisor. There is another professor in the department who I have a close relationship with so I asked her if she would be willing to be a co-advisor and she responded that she would. After conferring with the department chair and the graduate student coordinator, I contacted my advisor and asked if she would be willing to be a co-advisor. And she responded saying that she was not okay with being a co-advisor. Because she didn’t believe that anyone in the department had co-advisors. And she was angry that I talked to the other professor first before discussing it with her. I contacted the graduate student coordinator again and she e-mailed my advisor and explained that it was possible to have a co-advisor but my advisor again refused because she “didn’t think it would be good for me.” But that she was willing to let the other professor be my main advisor and that she could still serve on my committee. We had a conference over Zoom this weekend and she didn’t attend my panel but attended a panel an hour later for one of the other grad students in the department. At this conference she received an award. I decided to finally reach out to her again and congratulate her on winning the award and how it was well-deserved. I updated her on my presentation and the good news I received from it. And I sent her my chapter and some of my writings again now that they have all been closely read by the writing center. She responded today and completely ignored the entirety of her message and then told me I needed to decide whether I wanted to keep her as my advisor or not. I responded that I did want to keep her as my advisor. She e-mailed me back again and berated me for not telling her that I wanted a co-advisor first and that it reeked of unprofessionalism. She told me to really think about whether or not I want her to be my main advisor and let her know tomorrow. I was completely willing to work with her despite all of the insults she hurls at me. But the way she responded to my e-mail with even more insults finally made me decide that I want to switch advisors because I don’t think I can ever have a positive relationship with her after all of this. But the problem is I’m applying for 6th year funding and I need a letter from my advisor. If I keep her as my advisor I’m worried she won’t write me a positive letter, and if I switch advisors I’m worried that the other advisor won’t have a chance to write a letter for me. I’ve been in contact with the department chair and the grad student coordinator and they told me that there really isn’t a good option going forward. So I’m not sure what to do. This relationship has caused me a ton of stress and prevents me from sleeping and has actually caused me to have physical illness in my interactions with her. I’ve tried to do everything I can think of to maintain a positive relationship with her but she seems unwilling to do so. She has also, in the past, been prevented from having graduate students for over 20 years. There was apparently an issue with her and a graduate student and they decided in favor of the student. I’m her first graduate student since then. I’m just not sure she understands how to be an advisor. As it stands it’s been over a year since she’s read any of my work on my dissertation. It’s really disappointing because I think she’s absolutely brilliant and she’s an amazing writer. But her interactions with me have just made graduate school much harder. TL;DR: My advisor told me to drop out, recommended me drugs, regularly insults me and refuses to let me have a co-advisor. And I need a letter for 6th year funding next week. | Yo, just switch advisors and get out of there. If the other person (the potential new co-advisor) will take you on full-time, run, don't walk, into that opportunity. Never deal with your old advisor ever again if possible, and don't even have her on your committee if you can swing it. The grievances you speak of with your current advisor range from completely negligible to absolutely abusive, which suggests to me that there are probably many other things that happened that you didn't have time to write about. You've got to get out of there. |
|
Is doing a PhD worth it if I want to work in industry? I am a molecular biologist and i knnow I want to work in industry. But I've been debating if doing a PhD is worth to then progress later on in my career in industry to higher positions. Is it worth doing a PhD for industry? Does anyone have any experience with that? I've heard very mixed reviews.... | In molecular biology, higher positions are mostly held by PhDs. Once you complete a PhD, you will discover how much you still have to learn. So, is it worth it? Yes, but not without cost. Pay will be low, you'll go through tough periods, and supervision is often poor. Afterward, you will be more mature, and that is ultimately what makes it worthwhile. Choose a topic or technique relevant to industry. |
|
For people who've left academia, how did you know you were done? Maybe I'm kidding myself because I'm afraid I'm not going to get tenure, but this is pretty draining, and impostor syndrome or no, I'm growing ever more convinced that I'm just not as good at professoring as I thought I would be. Why did YOU [or colleagues] decide to be done with the "life of the mind?" | Because I couldn't get a job without moving to yet another country. Still trying to figure out my alternatives. I really miss being a scientist; it wasn't just a great job, it was my identity. Research is the best. :( |
|
First time on the TT market, and got a phone interview request. I'm freaking out a bit. I'm ABD with a reasonable number of publications, and I got my first phone interview request for a TT job. I haven't done a phone interview since applying for my PhD. Does anyone have any advice? | Look up common interview questions; they will be similar for a TT job. The only question I got that I wasn't prepared for was what my ideal split between research, teaching, and service was. Practice talking and sounding animated, especially if you are a more laid-back person. You want to make sure you sound interested, as you won't have visual cues. Congratulations! |
|
I have a gut feeling some departments have an innate dislike of others. Am I crazy? Some of this feeling might stem from office politics or personal preferences for each other but I noticed a cold shoulder when telling people I studied economics. A lot of my economics profs are conservative in political preference and the humanities profs tend to be more liberal but that's a limited sample of maybe 20 people and I've never bothered to explicitly ask; although, one prof with a giant Obama poster and another with a Palin one was a bit of a giveaway. Regardless, I felt some judgment passed on me because of the department. *** Are some disciplines simply not fans of others? Or am I trying to apply tribal psychology where it simply doesn't exist? | No one likes economists, except maybe businessmen. Medicine looks down on psychology, psychology looks down on sociology, and sociology hates everyone (i.e., the system). Science doesn't think much of ag sci, and no one knows what to make of classics or philosophy. This is all total fact. |
|
Do P.I.s unilaterally control data their graduate students collected? This question is from a new development from a previous post. I decided to lean forward and plow through the issues I was having with my P.I., but I'm now in a place where department administration is making decisions on my and the school's behalf. Quick update is that I finished my first chapter and sent it to my P.I. to review 2.5 weeks ago. They have not returned any edits or given any feedback at all. They haven't even given me an opinion about whether it is good or not. They also decided they wouldn't meet with me for 2 weeks straight. I am now scrambling to finish my second chapter with little to no guidance, and what conversations I do have usually are about things that needed to be discussed weeks ago. My department administration and other faculty members would like to move me out of the lab, but they are concerned about who retains control of my thesis data. My current P.I. could prohibit me from using everything I've done in the last 3 years for my thesis, despite them not collecting a single datum. I, along with a field crew and some federal agency employees, collected all the data. My summer salaries were funded through my P.I.s discretionary funds and a grant they co-authored with a collaborator at a federal agency. If they do prohibit my use of the data, I essentially have no path to graduate on time. I am currently trying to figure out with my department and ombuds office who controls that data and if my current P.I. can restrict my access, but while I wait for answers, I figured I'd for general advice and experience here. Any thoughts or feedback welcome. | My summer salaries were funded through my P.I.'s discretionary funds and a grant they co-authored with a collaborator at a federal agency. This means the PI controls the data. You were paid to collect that data for them. |
|
Including "rough life" information in reference letters - yes or no? I'm at a mid-sized teaching university in an undergrad only department, so there are students who I get to know quite well (especially when they do research with me). I usually include "character" or "goal" examples in reference letters that come from my less formal interactions ("Student routinely drops by with questions about news articles or papers he has read." "Student is well known in the department, even to faculty who have never taught her in class.") I do not share examples that would not be directly observable, both so I have evidence for my statements and to avoid including details the student may not want shared (so I wouldn't use "Student has maintained the goal of becoming a science writer despite her parents wanting her to go to medical school.") I've run into a couple examples which make me question this rule of thumb - students who have dealt with substantial hardship with maturity and professionalism, qualities which I do consider "referenceable." I don't want to hurt a student's chances by appearing to play the sob story card, so I'm conflicted about whether or not to include these examples. ("Student is financially independent and works every night and weekend to support herself." "Student had to change plans for research this semester because his mother died and he is caring for younger siblings.") How do you deal with this type of info in a reference? Ask the student if it is ok to share? Leave it out altogether? Tie the quality to a different example? | I would add using those hints as examples of strong character traits. "[Student] is highly motivated and committed to overcoming any obstacles she may face. I have been particularly impressed by her resolve and ability to redirect her research following the death of her mother, despite the sudden, unexpected stress of grieving while having to care for younger siblings." |
|
Mentoring a student in a lower middle income country I am a female postdoc in the US, and a student from a lower middle i come country lately reached out to me via authoraid website asking for mentoring. I have little mentoring experience but stayed long enough in academia to share my experience (i believe), so it would be great if both my prospective mentee and I can benefit from this experience. From her message, my only concerns include our different majors and how frequently she wants to meet, but I am sure we can sort these out. While I need to reply her to make sure if our mutual understanding of mentoring is similar, any advice on this situation? Any reasons not to do mentoring? Btw, I think our mentoring sessions will be held via zoom if they happen | I would recommend highly structuring it. First, decide how much time you are willing to allocate (e.g., 30 minutes every month for 10 months, or whatever). Next, give her an assignment before every meeting so that she "earns" your time. Start with short answers and work up to mini-essays. This will help her present herself and write well. The first one should happen before you commit: ask for a personal statement—a CV, her goals, what inspired her to follow this path, and what she wants help with. |
|
Impact of recession on the life of a graduate student Hi, I don’t mean to ring any alarms by my title. I’m just curious to know how the 2008 recession (or any other local level recessions at any other times) affected the lives of people who were graduate students then? It is common knowledge that grad student stipends in most places is laughable. Im mainly concerned with figuring out what’s the worst that can happen should something like this happen while Im still ‘in school’. | I'll go against the grain a little here... I applied to a PhD program in '07 (before the recession) and began in '08. I was damn glad to be in grad school at the time. Stipends were shit to begin with, but at no point was I worried about my funding getting cut. I was happy to not be out fighting for a shitty job and happy to know that my future was essentially locked in for five years while the economy recovered. There's a reason grad school enrollment is countercyclical with the economy. |
|
Trans professors: how do you deal with name change in terms of publications? Full professor transitioning... I won't have problems at work, but I sure wish I had gone by my initials from day one. I'm still active in a field with Chicago citations (first and last name). Any experience dealing with this in terms of publications? I'd obviously want to ensure a sense of continuity with previous published work. | In addition to using ORCID, you might want to talk to a librarian at your institution about this. They know a lot about how those citation counts are actually created and how different databases may match examples of your work. If your institution has a digital repository or another system where they try to pull together faculty bios, that might be another place to submit copies of your own work to tie them all together. Congratulations! |
|
Academics, how do you avoid burnout? | Exercise, the outdoors, computer games, remembering you'll die one day and it all doesn't really matter. Edit: And working past 5 p.m. should be an exception, not the norm. Whenever I have lots to do, I go in early, not stay late. Don't let people make you think mad hours are acceptable. |
|
Lecturers, Course Leaders and Tutors - What have been the most memorable comments you have received in student feedback forms? I have filled out plenty course feedback forms during my time as an undergrad and this semester was the first time I have been on the receiving end of it as a seminar tutor. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. Overall I was pleasantly surprised as I was expecting it to be all bad because it was my first time. There were some pleasant ones, some neutral, and others that were so intentionally harsh that I just found it funny. What have been some of the most memorable comments you have received? | This semester, Professor Kitty did not do any of our learning for us. This semester, we had to do all of our learning ourselves. Though, my next favorite was: Professor Kitty is not my mother. Professor Kitty does not love me. |
|
Is it okay to involve PhD students in peer review? In my opinion, it is beneficial for everyone if PhD students help with peer review. The student will probably learn a lot and maybe they will notice things that the advisor (the actual reviewer) missed. However, the peer review guidelines that I'm aware of clearly state that it is not okay to share information about the review process with *anyone* without the approval of the editor. What do you think about this? | My advisor frequently shared articles he was reviewing with me. We would each read them, write critiques, and then share notes. He also instructed me not to share the articles with anyone or discuss them with other people. I think it was fine, and it was a good learning opportunity. |
|
What do you think about the new Netflix show The Chair? It's about all/most of us. Thoughts? | I've only watched the first episode, and I got quite irritated at how dysfunctional, lacking in self-awareness, and disorganized most of the characters were, which probably means it's a fairly accurate portrayal of your average university department. |
|
How to talk to your supervisor for the authorship of the paper in which others haven't contributed sufficiently? It's a very difficult discussion as my supervisor would want to have the names of all the people in the team while they didn't contribute directly to the work. As I have done most of the work, I feel that others are just getting their name on my hard work. Their contribution has been either very minimal or not adding anything significant. My supervisor would want everyone's name on the paper while I do not agree here. Should I talk to my supervisor about this or just accept it while I dislike it? | I used to feel this way too; lots of "co-authors" basically just lobbied for grant funding or proofread for typos, and it felt crazy to give them credit for research. Eventually, I realized that ink's free and a paper's just a paper. While it feels like a magnum opus the first few times you publish, you'll eventually struggle to even remember all the papers you've written. Putting aside vanity/ego and investing in making other people in academia like you will do so much more for your career than being able to boast about writing a paper all by yourself. In most fields, everyone knows that only one or two authors did 95% of the work anyway. A rising tide lifts all boats, and spreading credit around your lab as generously as you can ethically rationalize will end up paying off in the long run. |
Subsets and Splits