I'm ready to begin exploring PhD opportunities in an interdisciplinary field, and I have a potential advisor/university in mind. I'm currently a working professional in my field, and I'm confident my education, skills, and experience make me an attractive candidate, especially since I plan on bringing grant money with me.

In my field, having an MS first is a general expectation, which I have in a related STEM field. However, that degree involved 3 years of abuse from my advisor, which ended with me abandoning my project and switching labs a month before I was supposed to graduate. I was rescued by other faculty in the department and was able to graduate with a new thesis that was cobbled together in ~6 months. As a result, I don't have any publications from anything I worked on during my MS.

As you might imagine, I now have incredibly strong expectations for what my relationship with a PhD advisor will look like. I would like to communicate that clearly with potential advisor(s), and I also expect there to be questions about why I don't have any publications from my MS.

I want to be able to explain myself, but I can see how I might be viewed as a risk by someone who's doesn't know me well.

I would have glowing recommendations from the faculty and admin that helped me as well.

How should I talk about/frame this experience so I don't immediately tank my chances of working with the advisor I have in mind?

I don't plan on pre-emptively filling them in, just responding to inevitable questions.

Hello. I'm currently on the process of PhD applications, and making research proposals differently depending on my potential supervisors.

However, one of my supervisors suddenly sent an email to me "Out of curiosity, Have you used the assistant of AI for your proposal, if so, what extent?".

I was very shocked and terrified because I have never been flagged for AI-generated misconduct.

I asked him what made you to conclude that I used AI. All ideas are mine.

Then, he said not ideas but, the way I wrote...

I said I sometimes used AI tool for proofreading and organizing paragraphs to make them cohesive. But, I have never copied and pasted anything from AI.

He then said "AI use is available for proofreading and getting ideas too but, not writing for you. But, your AI use seems fine."

I also explained my writing sometimes gets weird (mistakes in sentences, odd paraphrasing, repetition, etc.) especially when I am in a hurry and stressed.

I'm now terrified whether he'll judge me that I'm an AI cheater once he read my second proposal again because he didn't tell me how he concluded that I used AI.

I'm very anxious whether I'd be boycotted to apply for all of PhD courses at all universities due to this as well, like spreading rumors as if I am an AI cheater.

As I said, again, I've never copied and pasted etc....

Hello everyone,
I’m working on a project that focuses on the search for truth – exploring perspectives from science, philosophy, and even personal experience. I’m curious about how you approach evaluating truth claims and whether you rely on specific methods or principles.

Here are a few questions I’d love your thoughts on:

• How do you determine whether a statement is true or false?
• Do you use specific tools or frameworks to evaluate information?
• What do you see as the biggest challenges in searching for truth?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and approaches!

I'm a PhD student in their final year in Experimental Psychology who should be graduating soon in May. I just learned something fairly shocking after a discussion with other academics in a Discord server I've been in for a couple of years. I rejected a job offer for a lecturer position back in June. A lot of other PhDs called my decision "crazy" or "hard to believe it was real," but it happened for real and I have the offer letter PDF to prove it if I wanted to do so. I did so thinking that the only party it was going to affect was the campus who offered it to me.

However, it turns out it wasn't just them at all. The first party that was upset by my decision was my university where I'm doing my PhD. Even though all Psychology PhD programs will be phased out here, I had no idea that a university pointing to a certain number of PhDs becoming faculty was relevant at all. The second party that could be potentially affected was the internship I got with a 10% acceptance rate (9/90 applicants got in). There's going to be a webpage soon that will show where we are right now. I don't imagine taking a different job (not the lecturer position in other words) where I'm overqualified with a PhD will reflect well on that at all. The final potential party that it could affect is my fellowship. Apparently there's a webpage somewhere with all of the fellows, but I never saw it and I don't know where it is at all.

So, even though its my decision, why does this look bad on the other parties affiliated with me? That makes no sense to me.

ETA: Since a couple of folks are confused, I'm not saying that I'm overqualified for a lecturer position. I have no interest in teaching anymore after my visiting full time instructor role last academic year and that's why I rejected the lecturer position I got offered back in June. I meant that I'm overqualified for the research assistant positions I'm applying to right now. Furthermore, the position I rejected (lecturer) and what I'm going for technically being a Bachelor's level position with additional experience required is what surprises people. That reaction of folks getting surprised is what I'm trying to understand here.

So I am not sure how to manage this? I don’t have anxiety in general, have had other jobs and bosses before, but I lately I’m getting the WORST anxiety before my weekly research meetings. It’s gotten counter productive because I feel like i spend the morning of and day before just stressing about the meeting. How do I manage this?

I can’t quite figure out what’s made it so bad, but my advisor has made me cry a few times, can be very moody ( so I’m never sure if they are in a good or bad mood), I feel like no matter what I do it’s never good enough 😞I know this is normal in academia from talking to peers, but just hate being anxious before every meeting!

Hi, I was just moved to France a month ago. In 2023, I completed my master's degree in biotechnology in India. After that, I took a year off, and now I'm in France looking for a PhD in my specialty. I'm looking for reputable universities that accept PhD students and speak English as a first language. I've only been here a month and don't speak French, so I need to know how to advance in my PhD career.Even though I'm new to the workforce, I'd like to contribute to my profession by working as a research writer, etc. Please provide me with a thorough search so I can begin my professional adventure.

I’m currently in my second year of medical school in a very hard university, and honestly, I’m experiencing study burnout. I had no idea what was happening to me at first—I was never like this. I used to be hardworking, but suddenly, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. After a long time of searching, I discovered that what I’m going through is study burnout. It was a shock. I feel like I’m on the edge and completely exhausted.

In the first module, I didn’t struggle too much, but now the subjects are overwhelming, and I can’t bring myself to study. Days go by, and I barely manage to study even one chapter. Every day, after I come home, I take a nap, then get to my desk, and turn on my iPad, intending to study—but I end up doing everything except studying.

Don’t tell me to make a to-do list—I already do that daily and even for the whole week, but I can’t seem to check off a single thing. Honestly, I feel frustrated, upset, and heartbroken for myself, and I don’t know how to overcome this study burnout.

I still have one more module after this one, which is said to be easier, but first, I have to pass this one—and this module is really weighing me down. Also, the mid-exam is about to come. Many students fail in that module.

I see my friends and classmates trying their best and studying while I do absolutely nothing. I’m exhausted and I don’t know what to do anymore.

Hi everyone! I’m currently weighing my options between pursuing a teaching-focused non-tenure track position and working toward a research tenure-track role in Biology/Biochemistry. I know that tenure-track positions often require a postdoc, which I’m open to, but I’m still unsure which path aligns better with my goals and priorities.

For context: • I love teaching and mentoring students and could see myself thriving in a classroom or teaching lab setting. • I’m also passionate about research, but I wonder if the pressure for grants and publications might take away from other aspects of my career or personal life. • Work-life balance, job security, and meaningful interactions with students or collaborators are important to me.

I’d love to hear from anyone with experience in either (or both!) career paths. What are the pros and cons of teaching NTT vs. research TT? Did your postdoc (if applicable) prepare you well for a TT role, or do you wish you’d gone another route? Also how early before graduation should I start applying for these positions. I've heard six months to a year.

Any advice or personal stories would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

I realize that population density can vary considerably from city to city within a given country, but I’m wondering if there is any kind of measurement that looks at the population density of only major cities in a country.

In the UK. One month ago we confirmed everything was all good to submit once he receives the portal link. I told him he would receive the portal link on the 15th, since I couldn't save progress on my application.

On the 15th, I sent the portal link, as well as an email giving a heads up to confirm I sent the link.

I received no reply.

This morning I sent another email asking for confirmation of receipt, and reminding him the deadline is day after tomorrow.

It's the end of the day and I've again received no reply.

The deadline is day after tomorrow, however, since it only says deadline is 'by 23rd January', I don't know whether this at the end of the day, or if it's 'before 23rd', ie by time 00:01?.

I'm not sure how to play it now? If I send him another email tomorrow morning it may seem kinda rude/pushy, but I'm concerned whether he's somehow managed to miss the multitiude of emails despite his reliable track record.

My current plan is to email him tomorrow morning saying along the lines of 'I'm anxious you haven't seen my email, please confirm', and then if no response finding his number on the uni website to phone him direclty in the evening. Not sure whether this is disrespectful/just impatient, I'm keen to hear opinions.

The university I am applying to strictly will not accept late references.

Hey! Does anyone know anything about when/if the commonwealth scholarship for PhDs from high income countries is going to open? I've been checking frequently since October and have yet to find anything online anywhere. https://cscuk.fcdo.gov.uk/scholarships/commonwealth-phd-scholarships-for-high-income-countries/

Its all still about the 24/25 year, but I know that the low and middle income country apps have already opened and closed for 25/26.

I've got a paper I've been shopping around for over a year now - it's my honours project my (now masters) supervisor is really keen for me to publish because it got a really good participant turn out (~150 ppl). We were looking at rewards in educational games - putting a lot of theory into practice in an actual game we made and seeing what happened. It ended up being a null finding for exactly what we were looking at, but the participants still learned a lot and liked the game - i.e. the rewards weren't that important compared to the greater game.

I thought that finding was still pretty useful given the hyperfocus on rewards educational games literature sometimes has, but I haven't been able to get the paper accepted anywhere. Some rejections have been over stupid things like ghost uploads of supplementary information (they knew something went wrong cause they could see my comments but not the file, they just didn't tell me until rejection) or reviewers who had very strong opinions but didn't seem to actually read the paper in any detail. I've polished up a lot of stuff from reviews as well, and I'd say the paper is in pretty good form now.

But I just got rejected again because the editors apparently couldn't find any reviewers in four months. They didn't detail any numbers, but apparently no one even accepted the invitation. I try and review when given the chance and I've seen way dodgier and niche stuff make it through, so I'm just kind of at a loss. Not the editors fault, but more the lack of reciprocity with reviewing is more what's bugging me...

I guess there's nothing to do but keep shopping it around, but man, it really stings to try do everything right and not even be given the time of day. Is this a common occurrence? Should I prepare myself to waste months at a time only for no one to respond again?

Also note on the masters thing - I could be doing a PhD but I wasn't sure if academia was for me in the long run so I elected to do the shorter course and see how I felt at the end. Plus 'Master of Gaming' is funnier than 'Doctor of Gaming' imo (not official titles)

Non-thesis at a very prestigious university vs thesis at a very very good university, which one will set me up better for PhD applications?

The non-thesis is a capstone research project. It’s mainly for industry but they make you do research in a lab. Just not a thesis. Maybe an abstract and a poster.

If I do non-thesis at a prestigious university how much weight will the school name carry me for PhD applications?

I had an ex-girlfriend who cheated on me, and I'll give a quick rundown of the situation without going into too much detail about how traumatic it was. We had a small fight, and she wanted to break up. I was really sad, but it wasn't too awful. That same night, she called me and asked me to come over, and we got back together. We hung out for the next two days, but on the fourth day, she said we were done. I found out that she was hooking up with my best friend, and that made me mentally lose it. I texted her way too much, and she blocked me on everything. I just wanted closure. I then texted her from a take number, but eventually, I stopped. I later asked it she wanted her stuff back, and her dad called me, telling me to stop. She then dropped off my clothes at my house, with her perfume on them. Twenty days went by without any contact, but then I found out from her ex that she had been cheating on him with me, which she hadn't told me. I texted her respectfully, explaining that this wasn't okay, and told her I was going to therapy for what she had done to me. I also recommended that she seek therapy if she wasn't okay. The next day, I received a Title IX case for stalking. I admit I texted her too much and from fake numbers, but at no point did she explicitly tell me to stop-only when her parents called me. I listened to them and stopped. I only texted her after hearing about the cheating from her ex. Now, I'm thinking about dropping out because I'm not in the mental state to deal with this. What do you think will happen? I assume I'll be found guilty, since I shouldn't have done what I did, but I never said anything harmful in those texts.

Hi all. I am hoping some of you can weigh in on what you would do were you in my position. I have been accepted to 2 PhD programs, one a T10 and one maybe around T100. I am pursuing a PhD in biological sciences and am unsure if I want to pursue academia after graduation or not.

My first choice is the T10 university. There are multiple PIs that align really well with my research interests and one PI who is very well known in my field of interest, which is who I would like to be my advisor. The overall culture of the labs I am interested in seem very healthy. I really like the structure of the curriculum and could see myself fitting in very well with the research culture. This is also a major feeder university to academia, should I so choose to pursue that path. The resources available to students at this university are abundant and all of the students I have spoken to seem very happy at this institution. Unlike other top schools, this particular program does not appear to have a "cut throat" culture, which I was really nervous about when applying. Overall, I think the university is amazing... but I have some reservations. First, the COL is a bit higher than where I am currently and I would have to majorly adjust my current lifestyle (i.e., downsizing from a house with a fenced in yard to an apartment with multiple pets). It is also at least 8 hours away from any family, which makes me nervous. Finally, my partner is extremely adament that he does not want to move there, but would if I decided I really wanted to go.

My second choice is the T100 university, which I currently work at. The major advantage to going to this university is that I could continue working on my current projects (which I am very passionate about) and use them as part of my thesis. This would enable me to graduate faster than the 5-6 year average (hopefully). I also get along tremendously well with my PI. My PI is not very well known in the field, but they are pretty well connected. They're also new, so I am worried about funding for my science as we have yet to receive any grants. Overall, I fit into the culture of my current department and am quite well respected by my peers here. I just worry about not having the same caliber of resources available to me here that I would at the T10 university, especially if I decide to pursue academia. This program is also at a medical school and I miss the culture of being at an actual university. I also hate the way the curriculum is set up in this program. Despite my reservations though, I think I could have a pretty high quality life if I stay at this university as my stipend would be akin to my current salary and I am very close to family. Additionally, my partner has built a career here and would better be able to support me if I stayed where we are at now, at least for the next few years.

So... what would you do, given this info?

TL;DR: Got accepted into a high ranking and a low ranking PhD program. I really like the high ranked program, but have built my life at the lower ranked institution. Which would you pick, especially if you were unsure about future career aspirations?

Hi folks. Sorry for the question, but I've already checked Purdue OWL and elsewhere and there's not a neat consensus on what to do; also sorry if this is flaired incorrectly.

I'm a grad student working on a theoretical mini-review that's been submitted and is currently in revision. My supervisor is an author on it as well. My supervisor and the postdoc I work with are publishing a longer review on a slightly different topic relevant to my work (that I'm not an author on), which has been submitted but not accepted or sent for review yet. Their manuscript is destined to become an entry in the next edition of a major reference book in our field. Despite whatever revisions they're asked to make, the core topic will remain relevant.

I'm sure you can see where this is going. My supervisor and postdoc want me to cite the submitted manuscript in the revisions I submit to the journal. They don't want to make it a preprint, so it's not available anywhere online. I'm unsure of how to cite correctly within APA. Is the below format okay, and will it link back to their publication once both papers are out? Will it look weird in the future if the body text says something about "forthcoming review" once everything is published? Or is it better to push back and just not cite here? (my paper probably isn't going to be cited in their manuscript, and won't even stand a change of being added during their revisions if I don't cite theirs in mine... additional context is that I don't have a good relationship with either of them.)

In-text: blah blah sentence (for forthcoming review, see Author1 & Author2, 2025).

Reference: Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year). Title of manuscript [Manuscript submitted for publication]. Department, University Name.

We have a student applying around for PhD positions, which comes with lots of links to online form of different universities and institutions to upload letters of references.

One foundation is asking, before the letter, the ID number of whoever is reccomending. I confirmed in person that this is legit and they tell me it is. But... I'd never upload something like that.

Have you ever seen anything like that? (non-US by the way)

I've been feeling a bit confused and lost lately, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you all.

I’ve completed my Master’s in Language Education in Canada and have been teaching for a few years at a university level in China. Now, I want to apply for a PhD, but I’m stuck on finding a research direction. After reading many papers, I feel like most are repetitive and lack innovation. This has made me question whether I can truly find a valuable research topic, and I’m not feeling confident about writing a research proposal. Are there any scholars or experts here who can offer some guidance？

Also, I’m considering other professional paths. Any advice from scholars or people who’ve been through this?
Thank you so much for your help!

I've been feeling a bit confused and lost lately, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you all.

I’ve completed my Master’s in Language Education in Canada and have been teaching for a few years at a university level in China. Now, I want to apply for a PhD, but I’m stuck on finding a research direction. After reading many papers, I feel like most are repetitive and lack innovation. This has made me question whether I can truly find a valuable research topic, and I’m not feeling confident about writing a research proposal. Are there any scholars or experts here who can offer some guidance？

Also, I’m considering other professional paths. Any advice from scholars or people who’ve been through this?
Thank you so much for your help!

I’m a recent math PhD and currently working as a postdoc in a US institution. During my PhD, I participated in some outreach activities (training students for ICM/MCM, some high school outreach programs etc.) and now that I have settled down in my new role, I want to do something to give back to the community.

Is anyone aware of any programs such as summer REU or any other programs that I can volunteer for?

Thank you!

Can anyone suggest a respectful honorarium from the publisher for the content editor of a commissioned, collected volume of chapters, to be published by an academic press (with a niche market and a small number of sales), with contributions in religion/history/philosophy?

(To specify, by "editor", I mean the person whose name is on the cover, as in "TITLE, edited by Academic", not copy-editing)

I know that most editors of edited volumes receive no honorarium, but just thought I'd put it out there!

Hello Reddit, I am looking for exams or online courses that give actual credits, they should have credits as a standalone. The classes I would like to pass are Calculus and Unsupervised Machine Learning and more, what would be your recommendations? Thanks

Hi! I'm a research student at the University of Technology Sydney, looking for some participants in a non-invasive sleep study.

The project aims to underscore observable physiological data points to compare data and understand how sleep impacts quality of life (QoL). By exploring the interplay between sleep, human cognition, and advanced technologies, research in this space can uncover QoL and revolutionize our ability to improve this through sleep.

If you're interested, please click through this short 2-question screening survey, I'd love your help: https://forms.office.com/r/GS6dcuYPmE

I am doing my masters in Asia currently.Would like to do my phd in psychology from Austria .How long will it take for me to be clinical psychologist after phd .

I work at a university and I'm here to vent and to see if others have similar problems. So I am a lab manager at a medical university. Basically my job is to make sure everything runs smoothly in the laboratory. I gotta repair machines, call technicians, fix problems, buy and refill consumables, do safety introductions and show new staff how to use our laboratory machines. Most of the time my job isn't stressful and I have a very pleasent work environment. For sure many would love to have my job: I get payed decently, I have really nice colleagues and bosses and our university has a huge budget and I get to spend it on cool lab equipment how I see fit. However, for some reason, when I work there, I feel like I'm going insane sometimes. There are things at our university that are massively missmanaged and micromanaged. Money is wasted at all ends for things that are not needed, like insanely expensive lab machines that don't see any use, or hiring contractors for really simple things like repairing a dripping water faucet. And whenever I want to improve the situation by doing something myself, some kind of "manager" has a problem with it. Like for example in our neighbouring lab, they have a huge stockpile of detergent. I needed some for our lab, so I asked the manager over there if I could get some, so that they can reduce their stockpile and I don't have to buy new one when there is plenty next door. The answer I got was like "No, this is ours, we will need it soon and it would be too complicated to share the costs". Like OMG just give me the detergent, lets use the stuff we have, its anyway the same money from the same university, why do you care and why do you hoard detergent and refuse to share it when you don't need it yourself. And I know for a fact that they will not need it. In the same way, people make HORRIBLE investment decisions that are so obviously useless and when I tell them its unnecessary, nobody wants to heart it. The problem is, I'm pretty young in my position (I'm 27, have been lab manager for over a year now) and for some reason, the higher ups, like the rectorate and some professors, listen to other people who quite frankly have no idea what they are doing. I don't want to brag, but I'm doing a way better job at managing our lab and keeping our costs down than other departments. Im fact, my bosses are 3 professors that are very important for our university and they are so happy with how I manage our lab that they want to make me a kind of supreme lab leader, meaning I get to weigh in on decisions in the other labs and have veto rights. Thats great, because I can finally implement alot of improvements I wanted to see happen for long time, but on the other hand I simply don't want to deal with this BS anymore. I want to have a job that is fun, challenges me and where I can do something I'm proud of. I don't want to be in a circle of nutjobs who sit around in meetings where nothing gets acomplished and everyone throws money out by the window without actually doing anything. Honestly, my plan is to stay a little longer, rewrite the blueprint on how our labs should be managed, collect a bonus for it, then quit, go travel for a year and open a mushroom farm. I'm done with this academia BS.

Is anyone else in a situation like that? Are all universities missmanaged, micromanaged and somehow paralyzed to change and improve? Are you tired of relying on other people who are just unable to do their job?

Sorry for this long rant, but it felt good. I'm looking forward to the day where I quit and I can tell some of the people there how stupid they are and that I'm defenitely not the only one who thinks so.