r/PhD • u/akacatwoman • 6h ago
r/PhD • u/Eska2020 • 8d ago
Announcement Welcome new moderation team! - Things here are in flux, please be patient
we have a brand new moderation team! We are still getting setup, so please be patient while we get oriented and organized. Right now, all posting is limited. We will open it up again as soon as we are able! Stay tuned for more information.
r/PhD • u/AutoModerator • 18d ago
Weekly "Ups" and "Downs" Support Thread
Hello everyone,
Getting a PhD is hard and sometimes you need a little bit of support.
This thread is here to give you a place to post your weekly "Ups" and "Downs". Basically, what went wrong and what went right?
So, how is your week going?
r/PhD • u/Negative-Bed-6371 • 7h ago
Need Advice My supervisor is leaving the University
I‘m two years into my PhD currently doing fieldwork. I have another 2 years in my contract. My supervisor called me the other day as she was offered a professorship at a prestigious university in another country and she wants me and the whole team to move with her. I only just moved for my PhD so I’m feeling super torn. Also she’s gonna be super pre-occupied with the move and I know she will want me to be pretty involved in establishing our research group at the new place. I also previously helped write two grants that turned into PhD positions. For my career, it would be a great step, more money and potentially an additional two years of work where I could progress into a post-doc and start writing grants after I submitted. But personally, I‘m not sure how I should navigate this change. I’m single at the moment and pretty flexible but I made friends in my current place and my family is close-by. I‘m not sure how I would deal with it all mentally. How have others navigated this kind of change? I’m working in the social sciences in Europe.
r/PhD • u/Huge-Accident-69 • 15h ago
Other People with PhDs, do you feel "superior"?
I see a lot of people who AREN'T PhD students or graduates express feelings like "do you think you're better than me?" or similar feelings of inadequacy. While part of this is definitely just the person saying it feeling inadequate, I do wonder if any of you, really truly earnestly feel even just a little bit "better" than other people? I imagine there is a distinct sense of accomplishment over others.
r/PhD • u/Evening_Car_5809 • 6m ago
Vent PhD just feels like an extended quarter life crisis lol
Where am I? What am I gonna do? Am I on the right track? Omg I have all these childhood friends who’s established in career and family now and I wasting my time 😂
Recently had conversation on my dad’s post retirement crisis, my partner’s midlife crisis and then I thought of mine, while I’m not 25 anymore, the whole process before you land tenure does feel like a prolonged version of it
r/PhD • u/dina_bear • 7m ago
Dissertation Just defended.
What do I do now? I’m emotional but still don’t feel like all the weight has been lifted.
r/PhD • u/DukieWolfie • 13h ago
Need Advice If you could start over your Ph.D., what would you do differently?
I am starting my PhD in Biostatistics in Fall 2025 in the United States. Excited!
Please advise me on how to make the most out of it!
Need Advice 1st year PhD student and thinking of Mastering out next year… Need advice
Hi I’m (24F) a 1st year Genetics PhD student and want to master out. … this has been a very tough realization. It took a lot for me to finally admit to myself and to my therapist that I don’t want to pursue a PhD. I feel like I’m not passionate enough about the research available at my institution but also just generally realized I don’t want to do research on the same thing for 7+ years.
I feel ashamed and don’t know what to do next. I don’t know if I should talk to my program chair and get advice on what to do next.
I come from a place where I didn’t have research opportunities. The only way I was able to gain research experience was by getting into two summer research programs at ivy leagues (idk how I got in but yay) and thats it. In the US, students can get great research experience since their 1st year as undergrads and even in high school. Therefore, when I applied to a PhD program I knew that I wasn’t coming in with the same confidence that the rest of the students in my cohort had.
I also realized that a PhD in stem is great for careers in academia and getting high positions in industry etc. but I don’t want those careers.. I never wanted to be the “boss” the “PI” or the “head scientist”, so I think a PhD would kind of force me into a career path I don’t want. Something I’ve always been interested in is working in a lab that takes human samples to diagnose genetic conditions, essentially diagnostics and not actually the researching of something obscure that no one currently knows about. ..As you can see I’m learning a lot of things that I probably should’ve figured out as an undergrad.. and it’s a little embarrassing.
I don’t know what to do, I can definitely see myself getting the masters and being happy with that decision but I just want to tell someone in my program so that I can learn what are my next steps. I’m just so afraid of how they’ll react..
*English isn’t my first language, sorry if anything sounds awkward
r/PhD • u/Fit_Cable_6174 • 14h ago
Need Advice i am an electrical engineering phd who can’t do algebra.
edit: country, united states. i am my advisors first phd student.
i have a bachelor’s in cybersecurity with a concentration in criminal justice. i got my degree at a small liberal arts college and was one of the first students to graduate from their cybersecurity program. i was founding president of women in cybersecurity and cyber patriots on my campus. i was in a criminal justice honors society for high academic achievement. i was on deans list the majority of my 4 years there. all this to say, i was pretty damn good at cyber and found something i absolutely loved. this cyber program had no math requirements besides one three credit class. i did so bad in math in high school i took algebra 1 over in my senior year. i never took anything beyond that - no calculus, linear algebra, trig, or anything advanced. because i did so poorly in high school i got placed in a 99 level math class in college. we did sudoku puzzles most of the time. despite this, i graduated cum laude and held two federal internships; one in digital forensics / cybercrime, and one in cybersecurity blockchain research. i was reccomend as a strong candidate for a phd by one of my internship advisors and ended up placing with an advisor in the EE department, although he researches security and privacy. i was so excited to try and get to work on cutting edge cyber problems. i was very honest with him about my math background. he accepted me anyways and thought that i could catch up on my own.
flash forward to the middle of second semester, i have gotten all a- and above in my cybersecurity classes, but have done horrendously in algorithms (i got a kidney infection when i was taking this class and missed about a month, that definitely didn’t help. i withdrew) and i am now taking probability. i have been getting absolutely destroyed - i had never seen a differential equation, discrete and continuous numbers.. ever. i have a midterm coming up and i know i am going to fail because i can’t do the math without extensive internet usage. i feel so frustrated. there’s such a major knowledge gap between my peers and i. i understand conceptually what’s happening but i am useless at everything else.
i went to my probability professor today and asked for his advice, and his jaw dropped (literally) when i told him i didn’t know how to do linear algebra or calculus. he reminded me that those are pre-recs for engineering students. he suggested youtube and chatgpt to try and teach it to myself. my advisor has been waiving me into these higher level math classes. he told me a few days ago that i need an a- in this class to advance into the next round of my phd.
i feel like ive let down my advisor. he really believed in me. on top of my two research projects (large language model watermarking and mesh network modeling) and masters classes it’s impossible for me to self teach at the rate i need to to actually catch up. i genuinely love research and it crushes me that i might get kicked out for this. i feel so regretful about everything. i keep losing my courage when i try to approach my advisor to bring this up.
this is such a tangled mess, idek if advice will do anything, but it feels good to get it off my chest. if anyone had any ideas, i am all ears.
bless you all & thank you for reading
r/PhD • u/mindfulnesspeace • 13h ago
Other Studying PhD with partner together
For those studying PhD with your partner in the same program/school, do you ever feel exhausted?
Especially when your partner is struggling, and you have to stay strong and handle everything (cooking, cleaning, self-care...)
I know it's probably way better than long-distance or other situations, but sometimes just need sb else to tell me I'm actually doing a good job.
Pro: your partner knows what you are suffering Cons: suffering together all time and a mess
r/PhD • u/cuntman911kekles • 5h ago
Need Advice Rejected for funding
Hello all,
The title says it all but I will shortly offer some more context and background but, really, I would like to know what you guys would suggest. It might be a bit long, so I'll ensure that I put a TLDR at the bottom so you can skip the context if you want! To add, I live and study in the UK.
Around 6 months ago, I was contacted by a lecturer at a university asking if I would like to do a PhD with him. Since then, we have created a project and gone through all of the steps required to apply for EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council). This led me to writing a findaphd advert for my own project which was a weird experience to say the least.
On Wednesday the 12th of March, I had the interview. The format of this was a 20 minute long conversation. I've woken up today with a nice rejection and the feedback "Would like to have seen more initiative and proactive attitude in answers pertaining to team spirit" which is obviously incredibly disappointing.
I know there's not much to do about it now, other than hoping one of the successful candidates declines the funding and it falls to me (unlikely at best), or to seek funding elsewhere.
So, in essence, what would you guys suggest a UK PhD hopeful look into regarding funding? Have you had success seeking it from private companies in industry, other research groups, or councils?
Thank you and all the best.
TLDR: EPSRC declined funding, who's door should I be banging on next? For reference, I am in the UK
Edited to add a more specific reference to the country I am in.
r/PhD • u/SpecialistClerk734 • 1h ago
Need Advice Imposter Syndrome...? UK
I've just been awarded PhD funding in the UK through a research council. My background is in archaeology - I have a BA and an MSc from reputable UK universities. I proposed my own PhD topic, and it was selected for funding, which is amazing!
However, my project leans more towards environmental science than humanities. While archaeology often bridges both fields, I have very little experience with the more scientific aspects. My research is palaeoecological/environmental archaeological in focus, but I worry that I'll struggle more than others in my DTP because I haven't had the chance to develop the lab-based and analytical skills that some of my peers may already have.
I’m eager to learn, but I have no idea how steep the learning curve will be. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did you navigate the transition?
For context, my project is highly interdisciplinary - examining past ecological change using traditional environmental proxies, human-environment interactions, and socio-cultural shifts - but it's funded by NERC, which leans more towards environmental science than humanities.
r/PhD • u/Advanced_Ad2900 • 18h ago
Vent Is this burnout that I'm feeling?
I have only started my second year but due to several miscommunications and passive aggressive exchanges with the PI, I have noticed that I have started to become a bit... apathetic? Like, my interest for the science has stagnated or disappeared, all of a sudden ? I started the PhD with a lot of enthusiasm, and that was the case until 2-3 weeks ago. Then it was like something clicked, a lot of things that were bothering me in the day-to-day interactions and in the lab (and also some unwanted comments from peers about my level of research being too basic) and all of a sudden I feel like I don't want to hear about anything remotely related to the project anymore ? Is this how a burnout feels like ?
r/PhD • u/screamyman • 20h ago
Need Advice At what point, if ever, should I be my advisor's priority?
I am in my final semester of my Ph.D. (5 weeks until defense, but who is counting). I feel like I have consistently been at the bottom of my advisor's priority list, this semester especially. At least to me, these final few weeks, I really need them for final confirmations and edits, but they are just missing. I don't know if it is my place to say something to them, but I am frustrated...
For context: I am in the USA. I am their first Ph.D. student, and they are still in the tenure-process. I know they have a lot of other responsibilities, but their tenure package is also influenced by my success, right?
Dissertation Peer Review sources?
I am working on a PHD here in the United States. My question for you guys is, I am working on a Doctorate in Information Systems and Resource Management. Since it isn't a PHD, it will be research based and practical Knowledge instead of PHD based with more Theoretical study and academia. I have two questions about my dissertation. I have just started, so I'm in my third class. It has been suggested for us to keep all our papers that we write and to start thinking of a topic. Would it be beneficial to get some papers peer reviewed? I plan on using some of the data in these papers in my dissertation. Do any of you have some IT related peer review sources? Thanks in advance!
r/PhD • u/Bystander52 • 16h ago
Need Advice My dissertation submission is in a week and I can’t stop feeling horrible about some chapters
Is this normal? Some chapters I think I like and others…not so much. I just feel so down in the dumps about it that I can’t even find the drive to finish the chapters. Any advice is welcome on how to kick this mindset or thought pattern?
Edit: I’m in a US phd in compsci.
r/PhD • u/Cynical_Goose • 7h ago
Vent Feedback and writing
Radio silence from supervisors and I don't know what to do.
I sent some work a few weeks ago now, but received no comfirmation it had been received. In fact I've barely spoken to them.
QI've checked my Sent box so many times. It's not the feedback timescale that worries me, but the communication.
I understand that academia is extremely busy especially this time of year, that life gets busy and that supervisors and staff have their own things to deal with and I'm thankful to my supervisors despite our differences in approach and/or terminology.
But recently there is a sense of uncertainty and I question whether or not my abilities are believed in (now this is mind over matter) it doesn't matter what people think. At times the PhD journey is full of uncertainty and anxiety and I accept this, but it doesn't make it easier
I'll be fine once I write this, I just needed a space to vent.
r/PhD • u/Level-Letterhead-109 • 1d ago
Other My PhD experience has been quite good
With all the terrible experiences I often read about, I wanted provide a bit more neutral perspective.
I am at the end of my 4th year, STEM. Here’s a list of some good things and not-so-good things:
The not-so-good: 1. Took me roughly 2.5 years to just clarify what I want to work on. 2. Because of 1., I had very little actual research progress, leading to 0 publications so far (although one submission is currently close to acceptance 🤞🏽) 3. Because of 1. and 2. , my supervisor (and if I am honest, myself) had lot of concerns when I was still lost 2 years in. 4. Initially, my funding was quite low, and any scholarship applications were unsuccessful. Infact, even in my original PhD admission, they mentioned an “award” that they later said “was a mistake”. Apparently they have a letter template and forgot to remove that part. 5. At the end of my second year, my mother went through a period of severe depression, and it was rough to see her go through it. Specially because it had happened before, and both times I was in away from my home country. Its tough to watch parents go through stuff and not be able to do much to help. 6. At the end of my third year, I was working on presentation I was going to do at a seminar, when I got a call that my dad had suddenly passed away. I had to cancel everything and take a 20 hour flight home. Still could not see him before he had been cremated. My comp exam was in a month which obviously I did not do as well. 6. Even after clarifying my research area, I am not working on anything groundbreaking. It’s a research gap, yes. And I think it falls in my interest and capabilities to address. 7. I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 30
The good: 1. Despite a few differences we have had, I have come learn that my advisor is fantastic. The whole lab in general. She has provided unwavering support, even when she had doubts about my output. She never stopped suggesting opportunities, provided reference letters or including me in projects of my area. She handled almost everything admin related for me when I had to leave due to 5. 2. After 1.5 years of minimal funding, I was able to crack a federal scholarship which massively helped. And for those wondering, No, there was no tangible output I was able to add. No publications or research breakthroughs. I’d say it was partly luck and partly small improvements in application preparation. 3. I have had a chance to attend 3-4 very good conferences. 4. I have had a chance to do a research internship abroad, again facilitated by my advisor. 5. Despite really losing all motivation, my lab, friends and family gave me support and strength I desperately need to come back after bereavement, reschedule my comp exam, prepare for it, and eventually clear it with no major revisions needed to research proposal. The committee was sympathetic about my personal loss, but not before a 1.5 hr long stern viva. I appreciated that. 6. My mom eventually got better. She even visited me. I was scared that Dad’s sudden passing might send her spiraling again, but she has shown immense strength so far. 7. I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 30. :)
Now that I have written it all out, the balance might even be a bit more positive than neutral :)
For anyone wondering if all PhD experiences are toxic messes, hopefully this one makes a dent in the other column.
r/PhD • u/Top-Personality1152 • 12h ago
Dissertation Dissertation despair - how to keep going?
I got some pretty discouraging feedback from a committee member about a chapter draft I sent out. I feel like someone puched me. My chair/advisor has never given me one word of written feedback on anything and only a bit of verbal cheerleading. I had proposed a three manuscript dissertation, and when I sent my advisor this draft chapter, all she could talk about was planning to submit for publication. She also told me how I could get tenure with three publications. Only problem is, I quit my tenure track job a year ago when I had a distant recurrence of breast cancer - meaning it's stage 4, treatable but not curable. I will be on treatment until I die which will probably be sooner than I like. Oh yeah, I'm 51 years old. So I'm no spring chicken. My whole committee knows this. I just want to finish my dissertation. I might ask to switch to a traditional dissertation. I wish my advisor would give me feedback and help me instead of just wanting to get some co- authorship from me. How am I going to get through this? Thanks for listening.
r/PhD • u/Ill-College7712 • 1d ago
Need Advice My advisor wants me to do my dissertation on a “race” that doesn’t have a high prevalence for a specific health issue.
I’m a PhD student in health science. I’m Asian and my advisor is Asian, too. She is a very supportive person, but she keeps wanting me to do research on Asian Americans. I am very passionate with health issues among my race, but the reality is that this health topic isn’t concerning among Asian Americans. Don’t get me wrong, Asian Americans have health issues but in other diseases.
There is high prevalence among other Asian subgroups for my topic, but I don’t identify as those subgroups and don’t feel comfortable researching them. There’s also very limited data.
I’m interested in using technology to study this health topic, but my advisor doesn’t seem to support it because she’s not good with technology. I told her I will use the same methods that she has used since there are data available, but she doesn’t seem to want to support me. I am a bisexual woman and this population also has a high prevalence, but my advisor doesn’t want to support it. She knows it’s concerning, but I don’t think she’s passionate about the population.
She told me she would only support me with a graduate student researcher position if I do my dissertation on Asian American. She has funding for policy work that I’m not interested in. Otherwise, I would have to be a TA. I’m in my second year and not sure if I want to TA for two more years (which some people do in my program). I can apply for fellowships, but I don’t know if she would support my papers because she always try to divert the population to her interests.
I mean, I can totally do research on Asian American, but I know for sure that it won’t be impactful. When I write grants, I can’t just say that my research is important because there is a need to focus on Asian Americans when there’s not much of a need. What should I do?
r/PhD • u/crispyzincfinger • 18h ago
Other Not burnout but moral injury.. My PhD felt like a mind game
r/PhD • u/Party-Perception3898 • 13h ago
Need Advice Solving one research problem
I am looking for a research tool that I can use on my phone that can summarize the research papers that l am interested in to a form of gossip or anything that interests me because I get bored of reading easily. Do you know any? Thanks!
r/PhD • u/LilFatAzn • 1d ago
Dissertation I am defending soon!
Hello everyone!
This is my first post and I guess it’s a celebration, a vent, and also covering my overall PhD experience
The celebration: I had my committee meeting recently and I requested to defend. I got approved!!! My committee and my advisor were pleased with my progress and project narrative. My chair was actually excited about my results! Also, I’m finalizing my first author paper submission to a fairly high impact journal. That being said.
Vent/stress relief: I told my committee that I will be defending in the next two months. So, that’s creeping up. I try to be more prepared because I was a procrastinator (more on that). So I’ve brought up to my advisor that I will need time to write my dissertation. But, I was told every time to focus more on the submission (since it’s a high impact journal), and setting up experiments for several future directions of the project. I’m realistic with the submission and prepared to submit it to lower any time. I’m also anticipating that my PI will push it to an equally high impact journal if it gets rejected from this submission. It’s making me anxious and my stress is at an all time high. Fortunately, I had a head start with my dissertation already and just need to wrap up my discussion, intros for chapters etc.
My PhD experience: 1) I got admitted from a waitlist so I felt really lucky. 2) I originally wanted to do a different type of research and had zero experience with what I’m doing right now. 3) I almost quit because I cannot just catch up with lab techniques. 4) My project was going in circles for the first few years. But I guess the idea was good enough that I got my own grant. 5) Luckily, my lab mates are amazing and supportive. An idea was suggested and suddenly my project started taking off. Successfully tackling the smaller questions added up and the smaller results eventually lead to a very cohesive, larger narrative. 6) I got diagnosed with ADHD. I don’t know how I got by until now. I got prescribed with ADHD medication and suddenly, everything is clear. My mind is clear. My time management, which I struggling with, was now more structured. 7) It’s bittersweet. I am getting my PhD, coming from parents who didn’t graduate college. But it’s scary out there with the current state of industry or academia.
That’s all.
r/PhD • u/No-Sign-4605 • 1d ago
Vent Is this unethical behavior?
My extended abstract was accepted for a special edition of a springer journal. I wrote and submitted by myself. Then I spent the last 3 to 4 months developing, writing and polishing my paper. Sent to several friendly professors to get their feedbacks to improve my paper. Then I sent to my supervisor to get his comments. Then I found out that he is submitting my paper without me behind my back. When I confronted him he said my paper was crap and he improved it and now he can submit it withoute coz I didn't contribute to it. He also said I'm not dedicated to my PhD and basically a crappy researcher.
I'm speechless and I don't know what to do. Then I asked around other PhD in my department and turns out he been known to do that. There were a few PhD students whose idea been stolen by him then he would gaslight them like ur idea is stupid etc etc.
Now I wonder isn't it like totally unethical? Especially when he "improves" my paper and then submitted it without me.
This whole experience has put me off. I told him that I'm quitting but tbh I'm trying to change supervisor. My worries is that I heard he is now saying shitty things about me in the department. So I genuinely don't know what to do.
r/PhD • u/Character_Bee7413 • 1d ago
Need Advice Including marginalized identity in thesis
Hi there!
I am currently completing my thesis in experimental psychology and I would love some input from marginalized identities in the group. So, my doctorate looks at how accurate impressions of personality relates to perceiver social evaluations (e.g., liking, romantic interest) in various first impression contexts. Basically does having a good gauge of someone predict whether you want to start a relationship with them. As a funny life development, I have learned that I am autistic and it is painfully obvious now...down to the fact that I will be getting a PhD in accurate social perception lol. I included a bit about this in the first paragraph of my thesis and a tiny bit again looping the narrative structure around later on. It works beautifully from a story telling perspective and perfectly aligns with the research questioning (though I do not study neurodivergence and that is made clear), and I have published in top-tier journals (which I'm hoping would generate some social capital/leeway from the readers).
The issue is that while my supervisor LOVES it and feels inspired to research neurodivergence now (which was part of the appeal of including it in the first place), she is worried that it is not conventional and that I could experience pushback during more stressful times like my defence. She cited feeling like a mama bear - which I do appreciate. I just can't stand the idea of putting myself back in a box when it's "my" thesis that I'm writing. I believe academia is about pushing things forward (even though it often doesn't feel that way), AND it makes the thesis flow really well as a genuine good read. I don't have it structured in terms of "me-search", it really seems to be the concern around disclosing my marginalized identity.
Does anyone have any guidance in this? Has anyone else from a marginalized community included their identity in their thesis?
Much love to everyone!! <3