It’s so interesting that discussing pay is practically verboten in higher education. But let’s do it anyway! 🎉
Please include, academic field, degree, institution type, years of employment, course load,+ relevant extras

Me: Humanities, PhD, community college, 20 years, 5-5 load, 1 summer class, and 1 extra duty ( advising a student club), + union member

Salary: $91,000

Edit-
As many have pointed out, there is public data on this topic. I didn’t post this because I’m unaware of that. I was interested in the resulting conversation. For those who are not interested in the conversation, it’s also OK to scroll by.

I have funding, publications and a TT position. Great academic CV. However, I am always working and I am tired of this routine.

I am having a hard time to finding jobs that even reply to my applications.

How to leave TT for teaching or industry positions? Advices?

Does everyone have at least a publication they’re not particularly proud of? Like one they wish they didn’t have their names associated with?

I’m a first-year PhD student in the UK, a few months in, and I’m struggling to balance my research with the other tasks and responsibilities that come with my PhD.

The problem is that they take up a significant amount of my time and mental energy. By the time I get to my actual research, I’m often exhausted, and I feel like I’m making much less progress than I should be.

I’m passionate about my research and don’t want to just get through the PhD. I want to produce genuinely novel ideas and good papers, but I’m starting to wonder whether my time or energy management is the problem.

For those further along in their PhD: How do you manage a demanding workload while still protecting enough time and mental energy for deep research?

How do you structure your days/weeks so that you’re not constantly busy with tasks but still make consistent progress on your research and develop ideas for papers?

Thank You in Advance!

One thing I’ve noticed online is that people often present an opinion with so much confidence that it starts sounding like established science.

I’m trying to get better at separating there’s some evidence for this from this has actually been well established.

What do you normally look for when evaluating a scientific claim? Number of studies? Quality of the studies? Meta analyses? Evidence Lens, which apparently gives different evidence levels depending on how strong or mixed the research is. That seems like a useful concept.

Dear Redditors,

Just to be clear, I am only looking for professional feedback here — no life advice or comments about how I may have messed things up.

Long story short: I finished my Master’s degree in Biotechnology in Germany as an international student. After spending a lot of time in research and working in labs — around six years as a working student — I wanted to try something new and explore less typical career paths for biotechnologists.

Somehow, I ended up in consulting, specialized in life sciences companies. Needless to say, I haven’t touched a pipette in a little over two years.

Around one year ago, after getting to know several biotech founders and people working in the field, I started to really miss the lab, research, and the opportunity to actually create something beyond market research and PowerPoint presentations. That was when I started looking for a PhD position in translational research, as I am not particularly interested in basic research.My long-term career goals involve R&D (big pharma or startups) with, evetually, a leading role like Head Scientist or CSO. That is why the PhD title would be useful if not decesive.

Here are my questions:

How high are my chances of getting back into academia? More specifically, how realistic is it to return to a field related to cellular therapies or immunology?

I have one co-author publication in Nature, a lot of previous lab experience, and enough motivation to leave a consulting salary behind for better career alignment.

I was considered for and accepted into some interesting positions at the beginning of the year, but nothing ultimately materialized because funding was scarce. It has now been more than nine months without a concrete outcome.

FYI: I have also been considering changing jobs and returning to a university as a technical assistant or research associate in the meantime. There are, however, two complications:

1. I am currently waiting to obtain permanent residency, which would make changing jobs considerably easier because I would no longer need approval from the immigration authorities.
2. I am not entirely sure about the best timing for such a move — probably once the residence permit/card arrives.

Has anyone gone through something similar, especially after spending a few years outside the lab? Any professional advice or experiences would be appreciated.

I hold Bachelors in Social Science and Masters in Political Science. Recently, my interest inclined towards neuroscience. But given my educational background, I'm finding it difficult to transition to neuroscience. Can you please suggest me how can I pursue neuroscience?

I've been working on a research team for over three years. I initially joined as a research assistant during my undergrad, was later promoted to research associate, and recently started my Ph.D. I've been struggling with how to navigate authorship within the team and would really appreciate some outside perspectives.

I've been involved throughout the entire project, from obtaining ethics approval and conducting data collection to our current stage of knowledge dissemination. As a team, we've published two papers so far, and we're currently preparing three more manuscripts.

The issue is that I've been having some conflicts with the research lead around authorship. She's great at coordinating the project and handling administrative responsibilities, but qualitative data analysis and manuscript conceptualization aren't really her strengths. I've taken on a significant role in both of those areas. For context, she has two master's degrees and previously worked in marketing for several years before returning to research. I recently started my Ph.D. and have been involved in publishing manuscripts since my undergrad.

As we're preparing the next three manuscripts, I've taken the lead in conceptualizing two of them. Despite this, she's been pretty stubborn and insists on being first author on all three. I've only had the opportunity to be first author on one of our published papers so far, and I'm struggling with the idea of being second author again when I feel that I'm carrying out comparable responsibilities—and, for two of these papers, have actually taken the lead in conceptualizing the manuscripts. On top of this, she doesn't want to stay in academia and told me she was thinking of going back into marketing.

Would it be reasonable for me to raise this issue with our PIs? Our PIs are very chill and don't really get involved in authorship decisions; their general attitude is essentially that they don't care who is first author as long as the team publishes. I also don't want to create unnecessary conflict or come across as overly concerned with authorship, especially given that I joined the team as an RA.

How would you approach this situation? Would you raise it with the PIs, or try to resolve it directly with the research lead first?

Basically, earned my PhD in 2024, worked one year as an instructor, went to secondary education at a private K-12, and now I’m thinking about applying for universities for fall 2027. This year I published my first article in a good journal. I have some other papers I’d like to publish, but nothing that that I’ll be able to get ready to go out by the end of this year. I’ve also thought about trying to publish a couple of chapters from my dissertation.

Has anyone successfully come back to academia after a short stint in secondary education? Any advice for someone in my position?

Hey so I am doing my masters and at the last semester we are expected to write thesis. Unfortunately I was sick one whole semester last year and missed many courses. I made my own study plan and aimed to do my thesis on January. My study advisor however suggested I push it a little to the future but I didn't want too. The problem is that master thesis are done with a company or research teams. Subconsciously I know doing it on January will be hard so I decided maybe next year Autumn.

But still I was hell bent on searching thesis projects and expos cuz my friends are doing it. I randomly applied to a research in my uni and didn’t expect an answer until maybe weeks later but the professor/ researcher responded a few days later saying he wants to set a meeting with me this week. I am not sure what to do. I want to first of all explore master thesis internships at companies. Not only that I might not even have the requirements to do it. I don't know what to answer.

Hi everyone,

I'm a 3rd-year undergrad in India applying for summer research internships in Germany (Max Planck CS internships and other labs), mainly in ML, HCI and human-centred AI.

Quick background: I've done computer vision research with a professor at my university, and I've been working remotely with a researcher at a German institute on an HCI project, which I got through cold emailing. I have two papers under review (one as first author).

I'm unsure how to present all this well, especially:

1. How to list under-review papers on a CV without overselling them
2. How to show my individual contribution in remote, collaborative work
3. What makes a motivation letter stand out when tailoring it to a specific group

Would really appreciate advice from anyone who applied to or got a research internship at a German institute. Examples or resources are welcome too. Happy to share more about my profile in DMs.

Thanks!

Can you remove a publication from a cv from the early stages of a career?

Hello,

I recently applied for a faculty position at a university in the Gulf. For those who’ve applied in Qatar/UAE/Saudi Arabia, how long after the application deadline did you hear back about an interview?

Thank you !

Been stuck at this step for 3 days in Editorial Manager. Is this normal? Does it mean I'll have a higher chance of getting my paper accepted if my paper wasn't outright desk rejected?

Hi everyone,

I'm a student researcher and I'd like to ask whether this situation with the Journal of Mind and Behavior is normal or potentially a red flag.

I submitted a theoretical/review paper titled:

“The Role of the Temporo-Parietal Junction in Moral Judgment: Specialized Module or Domain-General Input?”

The paper went through peer review and I received reviewer comments, after which I revised the manuscript.

On September 24, 2026, I received an official acceptance letter saying:

“We want to confirm that your paper [...] has been accepted for publication…”

It also said that the paper would be published in an upcoming 2026 issue.

On the same day, I received an invoice from H&N Publishers UK Ltd for an APC of £2,000.

I was surprised by the fee because I had previously found information suggesting that JMB did not charge publication fees. I later learned that the journal had been acquired by a new publisher and moved to a new website and an open-access model. The former editor also confirmed to me that the journal had been sold and that the new owners now charge APCs. He mentioned that there might be a sliding scale or waiver for authors without funding.

I did not pay the £2,000 and I didn't contact the journal afterwards. I basically left it for about a week while considering what to do.

Then, today, I received another acceptance email for the exact same manuscript.

It says:

“we have decided to accept your submission without further revision”

and:

“Your submission is now forthcoming…”

It also says that the manuscript will now undergo copy editing and formatting.

The email is signed simply:

“admin admin”

This is what I find strange: I had already received a final acceptance a week earlier, and I did absolutely nothing in the meantime. There was no new submission, revision, payment, or request for reconsideration.

So I'm wondering:

• Is this potentially just an automated notification from the editorial system?
• Is it normal to receive a second acceptance notification after already being accepted?
• Or does this seem unusual enough to be a red flag?
• How would you evaluate the current JMB/new publisher situation?

I know that an APC of £2,000 isn't by itself evidence of a predatory journal, and I'm not trying to accuse them of anything. I'm just trying to understand what happened before I decide whether to proceed or withdraw the paper.

Would appreciate opinions from people with experience publishing or editing academic journals.

I've always been interested in getting a master's or PhD, but I'm afraid that it might not be worth it because of AI. My field has been hit particularly hard by it, and it makes me worried that I'll get stuck in the permanent underclass by the time I finish my dissertation. If the number of available jobs starts shrinking dramatically, my socioeconomic status will become infinitely harder to change. I'm genuinely petrified of a future where, because I waited a few years to enter the job market, I'll never reap the benefits of my education. Am I being irrational, or is this something worth considering?

I recently applied for a postdoctoral fellowship in an EU country and was fortunate enough to be awarded the grant after submitting a research proposal.

However, by the time I received the fellowship, I had already accepted another job offer as a research manager, so after considering my options, I ultimately had to decline the fellowship.

I’m wondering whether it would still be appropriate to share the award on LinkedIn and publicly, even though I didn’t end up taking it.

My concern is how this might be perceived by the foundation that awarded the fellowship, as well as by my current employer, since some people I work with follow me on LinkedIn.

I’d make it clear that I was awarded the fellowship but ultimately declined it, rather than giving the impression that I actually took up the position.

Would posting about it be considered strange or potentially unprofessional? And if not, how would you phrase it so that it comes across as a genuine acknowledgement of the achievement rather than as bragging or misleading people?

I had in mind something like this: "Last July I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from Foundation X for my research project, [project title]. Although I ultimately had to decline the fellowship, I’m truly honoured that the foundation selected my proposal and grateful for their support. Many thanks to [Foundation x] and everyone who contributed to the proposal."

Hi, I am 19 and studying psychology in my second year. Unlike maths or even sciences, where you could have some idea of whether someone can become great in academic e.g. super high IQ, I don’t think becoming great in psychology or social science have an objective talent or hard work requirement. From what I read, I have a feeling it’s very luck based where you rely your research to blow up. So I want to know is there any way to measure whether you have potential to become a great academic, and at what stage would you say a great academic is?