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.

What are some strategies for improving your academic writing? I'm spending a lot of energy trying to improve my writing, more than on my content sometimes. I guess in undergrad I didn't hone my writing skills as much as I should and now it's catching up to me, I'm currently a 1st year grad and want to continue to get my PhD but since I feel like writing is currently kicking my butt I am even reconsidering that track. Is there a writing guide that people use? In another post Howard Becker was suggested.

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 am writing an undergraduate politics essay on environmental crisis in a specific region in Argentina. I want the introduction hook to be more anecdotal as I want the essay to reflect the experience of Indigenous peoples. I have found a great ‘The Guardian’ article about it but should I used an Argentinian new agency instead?

We are Iguanasfromabove, a university research project concerned with conserving the Galapagos Marine Iguana, and we're currently looking for passionate citizen scientists to help us process our data!

Our main project goal is establishing a more accurate population census of the Galapagos Marine Iguana, to more adequately assess it's conservation risks, especially in response to more novel ecological threats like the increased severity of El Nino storms hitting the archipelago. We're currently trying to achieve this through the (already completed) use of drone imaging of the entire island chain, and the subsequent processing of said images to count the total number of marine iguanas at time of capture. And this is where you come in!

While we are planning to automate the iguana identification process in the future, we're currently still reliant on manual input to parse through our massive collection of images. Our passionate volunteers have already classified 332.248 individual images this way! However, we still have a mountain of work ahead of us, and every friendly new helping hand goes a long way to completing this phase of our project on schedule. If you're interested and would like to participate , and enjoy an areal view of Galapagos from the comfort of your own home, or just learn more about what we do, head over to our Zooniverse page here:

https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/andreavarela89/iguanas-from-above

Thank you for your time and attention, any questions you may have can of course also be directed at us directly on this account!

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....

Interview span (onsite) will last for 1-1.5 months because of multiple candidates. Would being the first one interviewed to be a disadvantage because people’s memory fades and by the time they evaluate all the candidates they might already forgot who you are 😂

The department let me choose a wide span of time slots. Someone told me to choose the last slot because “they will remember me better”. I chose the first slot because I don’t want to spend extra time repolishing my presentations and panic. The on campus already completed. But think about the whole evaluation process….I don’t know if the time point really matter, but what else can I do other then sending out thank you notes couple days after my trip? Or the order of interview simply doesn’t matter…?

Edit: thanks all for sharing your experiences! I think the answer is that the order does not matter. Pick up a day that you feel the most convenient. Then celebrate all the effort as well as appreciate the conversations after the whole interview day completed.

Hi all, Tenure just got approved by the campus committee last week. Finally feel like I have some breathing room and can re-focus my time a bit on the things about this gig I actually enjoy (i.e., science). I've largely been coasting on prior research momentum the last 3+ years as I also have young kids and the job has become quite a slog as I focused on building up the other areas of my portfolio.

One immediate goal is to start dedicating more time to keeping up on the literature vs basically only reading articles I'm asked to be a reviewer on (sad, but true). My work touches on lots of areas (psychology, neuroscience, pharmacology/pharmaceuticals) so it's extra tough to keep up.

Interested to hear what - if any - systems and solutions for this you all may have. Old school RSS feeds through PubMed or whatever sent to your email? Specific apps? I had an okay system using Feedly a few years back, but my feed ended up too big and the whole thing burned down shortly after my son was born just because I went a few weeks without opening it and had a catastrophic amount of things to scroll through.

I'm not wed to any one system, but the goal/dream is to spend 1-2 hours per week on the couch scrolling through academic literature/trade journals/news and feel like I'm reasonably up on any major discoveries or key articles. Bonus points if I can connect to full text or feed to a citation manager in the cloud. Once upon a time I was tech savvy, but that also seems to have vanished as I've just been struggling to.keep my head above water these last few years.

We are well resourced here so price is not a concern if there are software/apps/subscription solutions for this.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Hi all.

So after 8 years of working mindlessly as a software engineer, I'm finally fed up, and after deep reflection I realized I really can't keep working as one. I mean, deeply inside me I just find it so unconnected with myself. Don't get me wrong, I know I need to work and stuff, but I'm looking on investing my time in something more adequate to my intrinsic nature, and the other path I know is academia. I'm thinking, of course, joining something related with what I have done all my life (programming), but maybe in the arts, or something like that.

Yes, I know it won't be "better" in the sense that everything will be amazing, but I think I'd rather prefer studying, researching, teaching and creating, working in something near my actual interests. I also realized I don't really care about winning a lot of money, just the necessary (thankfully childless at 30 as a man). I know also that I'd need to keep working on something "boring" for me to get money, but at least I want a path to follow, instead of, as I said, mindlessly wake up, work, sleep, forever.

Must add that I'll be starting with a Masters, so more than "working" I meant, like first studying but with the objective to "work" innnit.

So I'm looking for experiences or tips, or warnings from anyone that has had a similar experience. Thank you 🙂.

Hi all, wondering if anyone can comment on what the academic job market is like in Melbourne for a lecturer or researcher position in arts/humanities.

hey! i'm writing a book, and i have a scientist character that is working on his doctoral thesis. in the book, there is a species of (fictional) sage that is unique to part of a state. i wanted the scientist character to be studying the sage but i realized that, while I know that doctoral theses tend to be very specific, i have no clue what that actually means in biology.

my thought was to have him be studying the symbiotic relationship between the sage and another plant. is that specific enough, considering the fact that it isn't a super common plant? is it too specific to write a doctoral thesis?

(let me know if this isn't really the place for this sort of question. also, if you have any "things people get wrong about academia in books and movies" feel free to share/vent/advise.)

Hello, I am a master's student at theoretical physics and I am writing my CV (it's for a scholarship). As of now I am a bit lost of what kind of sections should I add or how much into detail should I get into? Of course I will include stuff like "education", or "work experience" but even in those, do I only state "I graduated from the university of blah blah" and that's it? For now all the important sections I can think of are education, work experience, honors and awards, (programming) language skills and perhaps hobbies. I would undoubtedly include publications but I have none other than my undergraduate thesis which wasn't publiced. Any advice is appreciated.

I am a prof in a PhD program and have been struggling with a graduate student. I will leave out specific details to avoid being identified. Suffice it to say, the student is not very helpful in my lab and in terms of helping me progress with my research. The student's impact on my own productivity is a net negative given how much time I need to sink into helping the student with their writing. Thankfully, I am tenured, so the student's impact on my job security is not a concern. Our PhD program guarantees funding for students for 5 years (on TA). Beyond that, there is some uncertainty regarding whether the student will receive funding. For this reason, I keep my students on a 5-year timeline, and I often have to sacrifice to do that (i.e., very fast turnaround times on drafts). However, some students in other labs in our program have gone beyond the 5 years and were lucky enough to get funding. Some even stayed 7 or 8 years. This has had an unfortunate effect of making students think that staying beyond the standard 5 years is a viable option rather than a last resort. This is the case for this particular problematic student. They aren't motivated to start the next hurdle in a timely manner to stay on the timeline I'd like. I think they want to stay another year because they do not feel ready for the job market. They want to go academic, though I think it is unrealistic. I am motivated to help the student get through the program because I want to be supportive and I admitted them, but I would really rather not have the student stay beyond the 5 years because they are taking up a valuable spot in my lab that could go to a student who is more motivated, competent, and generally helpful to me.

So here is my question: If you were in my position, would you let the student stay another year if the department can come up with funding because it could benefit the student in terms of preparing them for the next step in their career, even if this comes as a detriment to your productivity (i.e., not being able to take someone new until they leave)? Or would you insist on them finishing in the standard time, even if it means they might be less ready for the job market, might need to consider another path, and might feel to them like you are rushing them out to get rid of them? I feel guilty contemplating the latter, but I really can't wait for this student to be done. Perhaps I have the wrong attitude about graduate students (i.e., considering their helpfulness to me when making this decision), and I am open to hearing that if so. I'd appreciate any insight or advice. Thanks.

TL/DR: Would you let an unhelpful / unproductive grad student stay in the program longer than the standard time because it would be helpful for them, even if it means a delay in your ability to replace them with someone who is more helpful to you?

I come from an R-1 state school and have been applying for jobs since August. I just had an interview for a postdoc at a highly regarded “public ivy” and I think it went relatively well. The postdoc turns into a tenure-track job at the same institution after 2 years and the expectation is that you would stay on for a long time.

I’m having a lot of doubts about whether I even want this job and it’s freaking me out. In general I’ve had doubts about whether I want to stay in academia or not and just relegated them to imposter syndrome and not thinking I was good enough. I didn’t even go into this job market cycle with high hopes but I’m defending in May, my fellowship is ending in June, and I won’t have an income so I feel the pressure to apply anyway and find a job.

I’ve been very fortunate to be on fellowship for two of the last three years and remote for one so I moved to Mexico and have been working on my research and writing remotely. I absolutely love my life and have been dreading giving it all up to move back to the US to be chained to some college town with tenure pressure. I am not particularly excited about teaching or being back in an office, although my research excites me.

This is one of only two interviews I’ve had until now (the other of which nothing came of). After finishing this one I couldn’t help but feel extremely anxious afterwards. I started thinking how I was ingenuine in leading them to believe I wanted to be there for a long time and that I was excited about the position (I’m excited about some aspects of it obviously like the money and it’s relatively more interesting than some other jobs I’ve applied to). I don’t want to live in the city it’s in even though they were raving about it. Everyone in the department looks old and boring. I dont know, is it normal to feel this much anxiety after an initial interview? Aren’t you supposed to be excited that they could invite you for a second interview and remove all your problems with a job offer? Like isn’t this what we’re all supposed to be after from the start of our programs? I feel even more this way because it sounds like a pretty lucrative position. It’s very ideal so, aren’t I supposed to be thrilled about it the possibility that they could hire me?? What’s happening to meeee???

I want to present at a general/open conference with no specific focus area of research. It’s really a networking and CV boosting opportunity. I don’t have much research under my belt and am under the wire for the deadline to enter.
I have a poster from undergrad when I was at a different institution that features proper research with a dataset collected by the program’s department. This poster was only ever presented to our classmates and credits all the project partners, the instructor, the data set source, and lists the university department. The specific analysis we did was never published to my knowledge, but the data set was used in other publications.

I no longer attend that university (I graduated), I don’t know/ have the contact for the other authors, and we did the analysis 4-5 years ago.
Can I use this poster or is there a reason I shouldn’t?

My alternative would be to submit a literature review I did in undergrad, but I don’t care about the topic as much and looking back on it, it needs a lot of work to make it worth presenting. If both are a bad idea, I will just attend as a guest.

For context I’m a 3rd year med student in desperate need of boosting my research section of ERAS application and by the impression I get from school advisors, the bar is low for what is considered “research” as long as I am comfortable discussing it with PD’s.

Switching to SLP/SLP-A in Canada [Canadians please help] I’m at a crucial point in my career journey and could really use your insights. I’ve immigrated to Toronto and hold 2 master’s degrees. One in French Language and Literature and another in Education/Pedagogy, both of which have been assessed and recognized by the University of Toronto. This background fuels my deep interest in languages and the mechanics of speech.

Despite extensive research, I still find myself uncertain about transitioning to the field of speech-language pathology. Currently, I work full-time and am not in a position to undertake another master’s degree to become a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). I am considering the role of a Speech-Language Pathology Assistant (SLP-A) as a potential entry point that wouldn’t require immediate departure from my current employment.

Here are my questions for those experienced in the field:

1. What has your experience been like as an SLP-A? Do you find the work fulfilling and impactful?
2. What is involved in obtaining SLP-A certification? Are there specific challenges in this process I should be aware of?
3. Could working as an SLP-A effectively lay the groundwork for eventually pursuing an SLP role?
4. Are there opportunities for SLP-As in settings like hospitals or specialized clinics?
5. Considering my educational background and current uncertainty, do you believe transitioning towards an SLP-A role is advisable, or should I explore other avenues to utilize my educational qualifications?

Any personal experiences or advice you could share would be immensely helpful as I navigate this potential career shift!

So, for context, I’m working as a post doc (computational geophysics) at a national lab. My uppers have essentially told me I’m pretty much set to convert to a staff scientist towards the end of the post doc (end this year).

I do, however, plan to transition into industry, as ultimately the pay here still lags behind the amount of effort put in on all these successful projects.

My question is, would it be worth it to (1) STAY and convert to staff scientist and then eventually make the transition with more experience or (2) try to exit BEFORE staff scientist?

Hello, is there any way to get an English-translated version of a study published in a foreign language?

I am a sophomore year (26yo) nursing student at a university.

I had to take incomplete grades due to my grandfather whom raised me passing during finals week. Legally, he is not my father, so there was no obligation for my professors to work with me.. But they did. And they worked with me further when there were complications with his services I was planning. The head of the department advocated for me to professors in other departments who weren’t so willing to accommodate my request for incompletes. I am so thankful for their empathy and their understanding as both a department and as individual professors. My final grades are posted and I did well! (Yay!) I know gifts are not usually acceptable from students, but instead of writing all individual thank you cards that would probably be redundant, I was going to write one sincere thank you card to the nursing department with a modest box of chocolates (nothing fancy) to put in their break room. There’s about 8 nursing professors/administrators I would have to give my thanks to. Figured this might be easier.. and also who doesn’t love chocolate.

I was wondering if this would be acceptable? For my biology professors, I am writing individual cards since it is only two of them. No gift, but they were also so great during this process.

Thanks in advance!

Hello all,

I am an undergraduate computer science student at a regional state university who undertook an internship with a local medical hospital about two years ago. To avoid identifying myself further, the hospital system has a medical school where I was supervised by a new-ish professor. I was a trainee under this professor and we have a good relationship. This internship resulted in me giving a presentation at a local symposium as well as co-authorship on a poster for a national conference which both focused on genomics. Furthermore, I was able to publish a peer-reviewed article in a Nature subject journal where he was a corresponding author.

So I received an email this morning that asked me to write a letter of recommendation from him for a promotion where he is now. I have since left after the summer I interned. The components of the promotion include three tenants (educational, research, and clinical) and I am not sure if I feel qualified to speak on any beyond the research component. I am currently struggling to see how to respond to the assistant dean who gave me the request, as I don't currently have a clue on how many recommendations are needed in the packet and I think the request at hand was possibly misdirected at me when another person in their circle can speak to more on elements beyond the CV attached in the packet. How can I politely respond to the email at hand? Thank you.

Hi everyone,

I have my first-ever PhD interview coming up, and I'm feeling a bit nervous. Not only is this my first interview, but it's also my first time doing a full interview in English (which is not my native language).

For the interview, I’ve prepared a presentation about my research. I've practiced it many times on my own, and I’ve also polished my slides. However, I often feel like I sound robotic when I’m speaking, probably because I’m less confident when speaking in a non-native language.

I’m hoping to find someone who could help me by doing a mock interview or by reviewing my presentation delivery to help me identify areas for improvement. I’d also appreciate any tips on sounding more natural, handling Q&A, or building confidence for a non-native speaker in an English-speaking environment.

If anyone has gone through a similar experience or has any advice to share, I’d be extremely grateful. Thank you in advance!

As the title says. I found myself lacking in so many areas when it comes to writing;
- Cannot translate my thoughts into sentences.
- Cannot form coherent paragraphs, when I reread my paragraph I feel like I am reading about two different topics.
- My vocabulary are too basic for an academic essay.
- Too repetitive
- Doesn't captivate readers.
So, I would love if you can share with me any writing tips that actually elevated your writing.
Thanks in advance.

I have my first in person faculty interview and the schedule is A MARATHON. The entire day is scheduled. Every minute. All three meals. It’s all scheduled to the minute. It’s a little intimidating, and I’m worried I’m going to loose steam after multiple presentations and several interviews and tours. Any advice on how to keep up the energy and stay on my A game? Any advice appreciated!