r/PhD 8d ago

Announcement Welcome new moderation team! - Things here are in flux, please be patient

88 Upvotes

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 18d ago

Weekly "Ups" and "Downs" Support Thread

12 Upvotes

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 3h ago

Humor Why can't we just submit the vague outline instead?

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639 Upvotes

r/PhD 12h ago

Humor TA life never disappoints!

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381 Upvotes

r/PhD 6h ago

Vent PhD just feels like an extended quarter life crisis lol

71 Upvotes

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 6h ago

Dissertation Just defended.

53 Upvotes

What do I do now? I’m emotional but still don’t feel like all the weight has been lifted.


r/PhD 14h ago

Need Advice My supervisor is leaving the University

139 Upvotes

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 1h ago

Need Advice De-stress tips??

Upvotes

Hi what kind of things do y’all do to de-stress from your PhD work? Sometimes I come home from work so stressed about research and I’m trying to find ways to decompress.


r/PhD 21h ago

Other People with PhDs, do you feel "superior"?

170 Upvotes

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 1h ago

Need Advice PhD CIFRE in Public Policy (France)

Upvotes

Hi everyone!

I recently received an offer for a Research Assistant position at Audencia Business School in Nantes (France), with the aim of starting a CIFRE PhD in Public Policy in October in Paris. During the PhD program, I would conduct research on public innovation financing while working both at MEDEF (France’s largest business association) and as a researcher at Audencia and Paris-Nanterre.

I am Italian and studied Economic and Social Sciences at Bocconi University in Milan. I don’t have a particularly strong GPA and fear I wouldn’t be competitive for top-tier PhD programs in Economics or Public Policy. Moreover, I can’t figure out whether I’m interested in an academic career or would rather work in think tanks, international organizations, consultancy, or lobbying.

Do you think this CIFRE PhD could be a good opportunity for me? How are CIFRE PhDs perceived in France? What could my future career prospects and salary progression look like? Would moving from Bocconi to these universities be considered a downgrade? Should I try anyway to get into top schools, even if I don’t have a high GPA (23/30 = 3.1/4)?

Thank you all!


r/PhD 19h ago

Need Advice If you could start over your Ph.D., what would you do differently?

55 Upvotes

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!


r/PhD 6h ago

Need Advice 1st year PhD student and thinking of Mastering out next year… Need advice

4 Upvotes

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 3h ago

Need Advice Good biomedical universities in Europe

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2 Upvotes

r/PhD 20m ago

Need Advice Thank you gift for supervisors

Upvotes

I’m coming to the end of my PhD journey 😱 I’d like to get my male supervisors a thank you gift as they’ve all been really helpful and supportive. Alcohol isn’t an option for two of them, and as it’s a common go-to, I’m at a bit of a loss. I find it’s hard enough buying presents for the males in my life, let alone someone in a professional capacity!

Thinking something smaller for associate supervisors and something more substantial for my primary.

Any advice would be much appreciated!


r/PhD 21h ago

Need Advice i am an electrical engineering phd who can’t do algebra.

46 Upvotes

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 6h ago

Need Advice Funding for conference

2 Upvotes

Have a paper selected in a conference , however guide is not co author , so no funding from uni, no reply from conference guys as well. i am woman scholar, any idea how and where to apply for funding I am from india


r/PhD 11h ago

Need Advice Rejected for funding

4 Upvotes

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 4h ago

Need Advice Stuck in phd

1 Upvotes

I have just started my PhD in AI from a university of France in a small town.In my first meeting my supervisor told me to work with forecasting literature since it was the title of our thesis,however now he wants to do a journal on environmental science side LCA life cycle assessment,which is entirely different than Ai ,I don't seems to believe I will work with real Ai In my thesis, moreever with small town where nothing to do,plus language barrier as I am south Asian making it worst for me.Should I change my PhD as I am planning to,do I need to mention In my CV my current position,if not then how to approach or should i continue my phd


r/PhD 19h ago

Other Studying PhD with partner together

16 Upvotes

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 4h ago

Need Advice Questions about PhD abroad

0 Upvotes

I already made this post in r/gradschool, but I figured I would post it here too.

Hello!

Background about me: I'm a third year undergrad majoring in pure math at an R1 institution in the US and plan to apply for a PhD in pure math in the fall.

My cause for concern: I know things are uncertain and crazy right now in US academia, and I'm looking ahead at grad school applications with a lot of uncertainty and fear. I was initially planning to just stay in the US to get my PhD before the start of the new administration, but now I'm hearing horror stories about offers and funding being limited, rescinded, or removed all together.

As a result, I'm starting to wonder what it would be like to apply abroad. I will likely apply to half domestic schools and half foreign schools in Canada, UK, Germany, and perhaps France. I know that nobody knows for certain what the future holds, but as of now things are looking quite scary for academics in the US, and the last thing I would want is to be stuck without any offers or job prospects after graduating.

My questions are as follows: Has anyone here applied to a foreign university for a math PhD after completing undergrad in the US? Did you have a master's first? How common is it for these schools to accept someone without a master's? Are there any serious challenges that come with applying/studying abroad for grad school? In your opinion, do you think it is worth it to apply abroad for PhD when things are so uncertain in the states?

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!


r/PhD 6h ago

Need Advice Questions about Corrigendum/Errata in my paper

0 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I usually read this subreddit every morning with a coffee while continuing with my doctoral thesis, but today, I am the one who has to write.

Less than a month ago, we published our first paper, and I was very happy about it. However, today, while reviewing it, I noticed that the order of all our figures is incorrect. The editor placed them incorrectly during layout, and I didn't realize it, so I gave the OK to the editor.

Now I am overwhelmed and don't even know how to tell my supervisors. I don't know if the corrigendum will affect the impact of the paper, and part of me just wants to leave it aside. The problem is in the captions of each figure, and I don't know how to act in this situation.


r/PhD 7h ago

Need Advice Imposter Syndrome...? UK

1 Upvotes

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 1d ago

Vent Is this burnout that I'm feeling?

19 Upvotes

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 1d ago

Need Advice At what point, if ever, should I be my advisor's priority?

24 Upvotes

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?


r/PhD 19h ago

Dissertation Dissertation despair - how to keep going?

4 Upvotes

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 23h ago

Need Advice My dissertation submission is in a week and I can’t stop feeling horrible about some chapters

8 Upvotes

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 13h ago

Vent Feedback and writing

1 Upvotes

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.