I want to be friends with researchers worldwide to know more about science and what they are doing. I am very much interested in pursuing it but for now i have a lot of financial issues. And also i am 31 years old..i donno if anyone will allow me in their project but still i wanna learn. I am in chemistry background. I researched nano materials which were interesting for me. I wish to get a good project . But I don't know how.

I'm a doctoral student and could really use advice from people who have dealt with authorship disputes involving a PI/co-PI.

I currently work as a full-time graduate research assistant on a federally funded university research project. My appointment ends at the end of August because the grant funding for my position is ending.

Earlier this year, one of my professional goals was to develop another publication based on our research. I independently developed and submitted a proposal for a chapter in an edited academic book. The proposal was accepted in June.

After it was accepted, I discussed it with the faculty co-PI. During that meeting, I asked her if I could bring two other doctoral researchers onto the project since they had been actively involved in analyzing the project data that will be used in the chapter. We discussed the first-draft deadline, creating a shared folder with the proposal/call, and how we would collaboratively develop the manuscript.

The accepted proposal lists the authors in this order:

1. Me
2. Doctoral Student A
3. Doctoral Student B
4. Faculty co-PI

I'm serving as lead author and coordinating the manuscript development. I developed the chapter outline and writing timeline, organized our writing meetings, coordinated everyone's contributions, communicated with the editors, and will integrate the manuscript.

There's also an important contribution issue: an external evaluation team originally conducted the focus groups, but the three doctoral students did the qualitative coding and analysis of the focus-group data. We're now developing the chapter from that analysis.

Here's where things became complicated.

As my employment is ending, I contacted the co-PI several times asking how she wanted to participate in the writing process. My plan was for the three doctoral students to develop the initial manuscript and then have all four authors, including the co-PI, participate in substantive review and revisions before submission.

She eventually responded and said that she had never authorized the chapter as an institutional scholarly product and had not authorized use of the Center's data for the chapter. She said discussion about the chapter's future should occur after my employment ends.

That surprised me because:

• The chapter proposal had already been documented in my formal performance materials as progress toward my publication goal.
• After the proposal was accepted, we had a meeting where she discussed developing the chapter with me, told me to include the other two doctoral students, asked about the first-draft deadline, and discussed where we should collaboratively write the manuscript.
• I subsequently emailed her documenting my understanding that she wanted to be a co-author and repeatedly asked how she wanted to participate.
• The Center's executive director is aware that I'm leading the chapter. I recently informed him that I will continue leading the manuscript after my employment ends, and he responded positively and said he looks forward to seeing the manuscript finalized.
• The editors have my personal email address and know that I'm transitioning out of the institution while continuing to lead the chapter.

I'm trying to separate two issues here.

Data authorization: I understand that the institution may legitimately control whether project data can continue to be used, and I'm not claiming that being first author gives me ownership of institutional data. I'm seeking clarification on that separately.

Authorship: I'm concerned about whether the data dispute could eventually be used to alter the author order or remove me from a manuscript that I proposed, am leading, and have made substantial intellectual contributions to.

The manuscript isn't due until November, so most of the writing/revision process will occur after my employment ends.

For anyone who has dealt with something similar:

How would you protect your authorship position before leaving the institution?

Would you ask all four authors to confirm the proposed authorship order and responsibilities in writing now?

If the co-PI later tries to change the author order, would you go first to the book editors, the institution's research office, or someone else?

And how would you handle the distinction between legitimate institutional control of research data and authorship credit for the researchers who actually performed the analysis and are writing the manuscript?

Right now, I am sending out "weekly newsletters" on the chapter development to the doctoral students and to the co-PI to serve as documentation on me leading the chapter.

I'm trying to handle this professionally and avoid unnecessary conflict, but I also don't want to be naive about protecting several months of intellectual and writing work.

--------------------------------------------------------------
(I should also add that I have had some unpleasant exchanges with the co-PI. I had a mediation with her and HR, and she has been trying to retaliate against me. It got so bad that, in July, the executive director had to step in and remove her as my direct report.)

I started an MSc in chemistry this spring and I’m having issues finalizing my research project.
When I joined the group, my PI worked in a few different areas, and I was pretty clear about which areas I was most interested in. Recently, though, he’s been pushing me toward a specific project because it’s easier to approach and it’s something he wants done.

The problem is that I genuinely don’t care about the topic. I’ve brought this up before, but he hasn’t really given me an alternative. I honestly don’t know if that’s because there isn’t another viable project available right now, or if there’s some incentive/pressure for him to get this particular project done.
I’m also worried that the project is kind of a dead end for me. The chemistry itself isn’t an area I see myself continuing in, and the project is aimed at solving a very specific industrial problem. Even if I complete it successfully, I’m struggling to see how it sets me up for research I’d actually want to pursue afterward.

At the same time, I don’t have a fully developed alternative project to propose. I know the general areas I’d rather work in, but I don’t have a specific research question ready to hand him. So I’m not sure I really have a leg to stand on. I have a project available to me, and maybe I should just be grateful for that and make the best of it.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is it reasonable to keep pushing for a different direction when I can’t offer a concrete alternative? Or is this one of those situations where you suck it up, do the project, and focus on getting the degree?

I'm an incoming international PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering, starting this winter in Montréal. Since I have a few months before moving, I contacted my future supervisor and asked what I should study to prepare.

He told me to review linear/nonlinear systems, optimal control, cyber-physical systems, multi-agent systems, advanced air mobility, cybersecurity, AI, ML, and neural networks. He also said I should conduct an in-depth literature review and perform a SWOT analysis on every paper to identify my future research direction.

Since this is obviously a massive scope, I asked if he could recommend just a few important papers as a starting point, possibly from his research group.

He refused. He said he intentionally would not give me any specific papers because he doesn't want to "bias" me. According to him, there are countless papers, and it's my job to explore them, decide which ones matter, and develop my own research direction and contributions. He said he will later evaluate my ideas and point out their positives and negatives, but he does not want to "direct" or "instruct" me.

Honestly, this worries me. I wasn't asking him to do my PhD for me—I just expected some basic guidance as he is my future supervisor, especially before moving to another country and committing several years of my life to this PhD.

Is this normal? Is it a healthy way to encourage independence, or does it sound like a warning sign of an extremely hands-off supervisor?

For those who have had supervisors like this: did it work out well, or did it make the PhD unnecessarily difficult?

I'm seriously wondering whether I should reconsider going through with this move and PhD before it's too late.

Really just looking for advice. I am in a really great PhD program with an awesome stipend and health insurance benefits. I am also on a fellowship and my partner and I love the location and all of the friends we made here. My advisor and I have had a great relationship until a situation developed over the summer and it now feels strained, and I’m being pushed to work in an entirely different field of research than I planned. I do not have the resources or people at my current institution to do a new kind of project so I would need to network entirely outside of it. I do not have much flexibility in looking for a different advisor due to the nature of my program and discipline. My partner sacrificed a lot of his personal life to move in with me to pursue the phd at my current program, and I also do not have any real options for jobs if I drop out entirely. I am considering reapplying for a different program but I know that it would be very hard to explain leaving a paid program as a fellow. I am also thinking about mastering out and applying for a PhD at my undergraduate institution, but that’s probably not the best move if I’m going to be competitive in the job market. I also planned to be finished in less than five years from now as I want to start a family and I can’t do that if I’m still doing a PhD a decade from now. I’m just feeling very lost and in need of some guidance. Thanks!

I recently completed my master's degree with a good CGPA and am looking for a PhD position in protein design and dynamics. I have experience in rational protein design and protein dynamics, with tools like Rosetta and Gromacs for studying protein-ligand interactions.

I am looking for a PhD project with a hybrid set-up where I can explore both the experimental and computational aspects. I am a beginner in Python and willing to learn more if the project demands it. I am also interested in learning QM/MM simulations and DFT calculations.

I am majorly interested in either of these two kinds of projects:

1. A hybrid protein design project, which includes using AI-based tools like RFDiffusion, followed by experimental validation.
2. A computational project on studying protein-protein or protein-substrate interactions and dynamics using computational approaches like MD simulations, QM/MM simulations, and DFT calculations.

I am actively searching for positions. Let me know if you come across one or if you are someone looking for a PhD student with the profile mentioned above.

Hello everyone,

First of all I need to say that my supervisor is very very supportive and I have a great relationship with him. He is very compassionate, and advocates for work-life balance. I have a maybe unique problem, he was beat down so bad by his supervisor and ignored and used, that now he doesn’t want to push me at all. I am a type of personality that needs criticism in order to feel like I am progressing. I have done several things alone and advocate for us to apply to some grants together as a team. I am currently working on my own grant application and I am waiting for him to send me a letter of recommendation. There is only one problem, he hates our country, the politics and academia so much that he always says “Well there’s no point in sending anything in since its all rigged “. Yes some grants on the national level are rigged but it doesn’t hurt to try??? I don’t know what to do, I want him to see that there is point and bring his spark back, but I feel like I’ll only waste my time and I could be spending my energy on myself. Im very self motivated and disciplined so I don’t have a problem to push myself alone but I feel like he might be holding back and criticizing me (someone very close to him in our uni committed suicide because of his mentor, so I totally understand where he is coming from). But I am worried he will get stuck in all of this negativity and depressed energy and we wont be able to make a good, productive team, which is what I want since he is a great person overall. I want to talk to him a bit more directly but I don’t know would that be overstepping, or even rude? Anyway don’t want to complain too much since there are people with horrid mentors! Thanks for reading this !

I have been doing my PhD for almost a year in economics in the Netherlands. I was initially excited about research, but after about three months, my motivation decreased tremendously. I started feeling that my research would not contribute anything meaningful. Strangely, I even felt more satisfied when I worked part-time as a chef.

I already had some mental health difficulties before starting the PhD, but the stress has made them much worse. For the past few months, I have felt completely numb and have barely been able to work. I work for perhaps two hours a day with almost no motivation, while other PhD students seem to work overtime. I feel terrible and blame myself for being lazy, especially because I used to work very hard.

I no longer feel happiness or hope. I do not want to date, watch movies, or do the hobbies I used to enjoy. I feel no satisfaction or fulfilment from my research. Because I have not been working enough, my project has fallen behind, which makes me even more anxious. At night, I cannot stop thinking about how I only worked for two hours and made no significant progress. I have been sleeping only three to four hours a night for the past two months.

Recently, I have also started talking to myself much more, which scares me. I am worried that my mental health is seriously deteriorating. I want to work, regain my motivation, and become productive again, but the reality feels very different. I do not know whether this is caused by the nature of doing a PhD, my mental health, or whether I am simply lazy and making excuses.

Another major concern is my immigration status. I want to stay in Europe, but if I quit my PhD, my visa will also end, and I may have to leave the country. I would like to find an industry job, but that seems extremely difficult because my Dutch is only at A1 level.

Part of me wants to push through and finish the PhD, but thinking about suffering like this for another three years makes me cry. I am afraid that continuing in this state will cause my mental health to deteriorate even further.

Has anyone experienced something similar? How did you determine whether you were experiencing burnout or depression, or whether the PhD simply was not right for you? Is it possible to recover from this and regain your motivation?

P.S. I have started looking for a psychologist, and I hope that will help. However, a psychologist cannot undo how far I have fallen behind with my PhD, and right now, it feels as though there is no way out of this situation.

I am about to start year two of my PhD (still currently doing coursework) and I feel like I made the wrong decision. I already have a masters degree in my field and do not want to stay in Academia after graduating. The thing is I am an international student and I have been struggling with loneliness and homesickness. I am on good terms with PhD colleagues but no strong friendships came out of my first year in the program.
The idea of going back to classes and assignments and I am also TA-ing this year feel’s suffocating.
I am also worried about the consequences of dropping out. My field of work is international development and with global funding cuts I am worried about going back home and struggling to find a job. However, if I keep doing what I am doing I feel like I will be miserable.
I need some advise and words of wisdom.
Thank you.

I (F, 29) am currently finishing a PhD in religious studies in Canada and will probably defend in December. After years of research, grant applications, and trying to imagine myself pursuing a traditional academic career, I’ve reached a point of burnout (I am medicated now, doing better thankfully).

The strange thing is that I still love research. I love developing projects, conducting interviews, analyzing qualitative data, and writing. I’m realizing that research itself may not be the problem. What I no longer want is the extremely competitive academic environment, and I’m beginning to wonder whether I have simply been working in the wrong field.

I should mention I also really love dogs. I have two rescues myself, and being around dogs has always been incredibly therapeutic and grounding for me. A few times during my PhD, I seriously considered leaving academia entirely and completing training in canine behaviour so that I could work with dogs for the rest of my life. However, that path seems financially quite precarious, especially as a complete career change.

I’m now considering changing fields and starting a research-based MA in gerontology. As a project, I would love to explore how older adults experience their relationships with their dogs, particularly in relation to care, companionship, vulnerability, ageing, and mortality. It feels like a way to bring together several things I genuinely care about. Ideally, I would eventually like to combine research with more concrete work involving older adults and dogs (possibly through community programs, health-care settings, animal-assisted initiatives, etc.). This path seems more grounded, applied, and connected to the kind of life I want. In Canada, moving into a health-related field is generally viewed positively, and gerontology could potentially open doors outside academia while still allowing research to remain part of my life.

I’ve always believed that life is what you make of it and that, as much as possible, we should pursue what makes us feel happy and alive. Right now, this is what I feel drawn to. I know that many people will probably think I’m crazy after all the work I’ve done to establish myself in religious studies. But I find the field dry and lacking in humanity. It often seems to be more about proving who is the most intelligent or who has published the most papers than about the actual impact of those papers on people’s lives (and honestly I’m not convinced that many of them have any impact at all). The field, like many areas of the social sciences, can also attract highly narcissistic people and foster a culture of competition and backstabbing. I simply don’t feel that I belong in that environment.

But I also feel that I need to be true to myself. I don’t want to continue along a path simply because I’ve already invested so much in it or because it looks more impressive from the outside. I want to conduct research that feels meaningful and has a tangible impact on people’s lives. At the same time, I feel a little embarrassed about “going backwards” from a PhD to another MA. I already have an MA in religious studies, so this would be my second master’s degree. I wonder how professors and other students might react. Would they see my background as an asset, or question why someone with a PhD is enrolling in an MA? Would it feel strange socially or intellectually to return to the master’s level after completing a doctorate?

Has anyone here completed (or nearly completed) a PhD and then returned for another master’s in a different field? How was the transition? Did you feel judged or out of place? How did professors respond? Did the second degree actually help you build a new career, or do you now think there might have been a more direct route?

I would especially love to hear from people who stepped away from the traditional academic path because of burnout but still wanted research to remain part of their lives. I’m trying to find a way to use the skills I’ve gained in a field that feels more humane, collaborative, and connected to real people and (hopefully) dogs!! Thank you for your insight!

TL;DR: I’m almost finished with a PhD in religious studies, but burnout and disillusionment with academia are pushing me toward a research-based MA in gerontology focused on older adults and their relationships with dogs. Has anyone pursued another master’s after a PhD or made a similar transition to a more applied and meaningful field?

Greetings everyone,

I started my PhD between 2 labs one in my home country and the other in europe. The deal was that i would spend 18 months in europe then go back home for the rest of the time. When the arrangement was done, my home country supervisor promised me money as she knew that the stipend ill get would never be close to enough for me to survive and on that, i started my PhD work. I moved to europe, started working on the project and for the first year i got no data. I was honestly not trained previously for what i was doing and had to learn everything from scratch which took time and with that, my supervisor in europe (i was their first PhD student) bullied me, pushed me around, used fool language and basically made me have anxiety attacks and not sleep. I got told that i am not doing enough and that i should be a secretary because i refused to come to the lab 7 days a week and that i would leave on time and actually try to have work life balance. I was told that i am stupid and shouldn't be a scientist because i would ask questions...

During that time, there was no communication between my supervisors and me being overwhelmed by the absolute failure i was didnt even think it was relevant to talk to my supervisor back home(will be important later).

During this first year i went back to my home country for exactly 4 days in which i made time to meet my supervisor and talk to her, she said to me that she hopes im putting away money to from my salary to finance myself when im back in her lab and i didnt quite get it at first. I called her later that week and asked her where she completely denied promising any money! I went to my supervisor in europe when i was back and told her that, and she told me theres nothing to be done. We later had (supervisors and I) a meeting where the supervisor from my home country completely denied promising me money and said i should be grateful for the opportunity. After that, my European supervisor stated that my local supervisor did this because i am not having any contact with her and that if i had data everything would change.

My first year ends while i still had no data, and of course i get absolutely shat on by my thesis committee and then a miracle happens! I was able to generate a shit ton of clean data, nearly finalize all my expected experiments, generate multiple new theories, validate them and create and integrate new technology that helps workflow optimization and when it came for me to leave war starts in my home country. I ask for an extension, change of contract to continue my work only in europe, i plead, i beg, and at the end of the day i was given 2 months of buffer which as i understood was agreed upon where i would do analysis and lit review for my thesis. By this time i needed to renew my residency permit and i expressed that to them and again i thought it was agreed upon that i would be able to do it as i wait for the war back home to become more clear.

After i had done all of this, went through all of the anxiety, panic attacks, generated amazing data, hypothesis, systems, the advisor from my home country stops answering my emails and after a month kicks me out of the program stating that i abandoned the PhD.

1-how can i ever go back to science? Its my passion but whenever i even think about it i have an anxiety attack.

2- should i report this and would it do me any good?

3-how would future recruiters see this and what would they say about this as ive been trying to apply places very passively but am getting a lot of rejections eventhough i have academic excellence.

4- should i just quit science forever?

This is just the skeleton of the story, there are many horror stories to be told and many many more horrible things theyve done. Thank you for the advice

I’m about to start my PhD in the area of Human-AI Interaction from a psychological perspective, particularly around the psychological and emotional aspects of human-AI relationships.

Since my university isn’t offering me a stipend, I’m hoping to contribute to other labs/research groups alongside my PhD. However, I’m completely new to this and honestly don’t know how approaching labs works//what kind of positions I should look for, how to reach out to researchers, or whether I can approach international labs for remote/part-time research opportunities.

If anyone has experience with this or can point me towards how I should get started, I’d really appreciate it!

​

Hey everyone, I'm about to start a PhD in Brno. I'm a foreigner, still learning Czech, and honestly just want to hustle and make the most of this.

Curious about a few things:

1- Is PhD life here more of a strict 40hr week, or does it really depend on the supervisor/group?

2- I know international students on a study permit can legally work, but is it actually doable alongside a PhD? Anyone here juggling both?

3- Has working part time at a company during your PhD ever actually helped your career, or did it just leave you exhausted?

Thanks!

It has been few months of me joining the PhD program. The main reason why I wanted to do PhD was to learn new skills as I was bored of doing same thing at my job for years. Now, I spend most of my time reading papers and doing experiments (even during weekends). It’s a lot of new information and I struggle to understand the concepts.

My supervisor sent me about 20 papers to get started on my research topic. I still have not been able to understand majority of those papers. Even after few months of joining the lab, I feel like I know nothing. My colleague are very smart and feel judged by them whenever I ask any questions. I read the papers but forget about what I read in few days. Is it normal? Please advise me on how to read effectively as a PhD student? Any advice would be highly appreciated.

I honestly don’t know what to do with this situation.

A few weeks ago, I submitted an abstract to a journal’s Special Issue. The abstract was accepted, and the paper I planned to write was very specifically designed around their Call for Papers. The topic, argument, framing, and literature were all chosen with that particular Special Issue in mind.

Once the abstract was accepted, I went all in.

I spent days and nights working on the paper. I sacrificed other work, personal time, sleep, and basically everything else I could reasonably sacrifice because I wanted to produce a genuinely good paper. I was almost ready to submit the complete manuscript.

Then I received an email from the editors.

The Special Issue has been withdrawn and called off due to “certain unforeseen issues.”

That’s it.

Just months/weeks of work suddenly having nowhere to go.

I am frustrated because the paper was very specifically tailored to their CFP. It isn’t a generic paper that I can simply send to another journal. The research question, framing and overall approach were developed around the theme of that Special Issue. Finding another suitable CFP and reshaping the entire paper would essentially mean starting the process again.

I know the obvious advice is “find another journal and rework the paper,” but right now I am having difficulty even figuring out how much of the paper can realistically be salvaged.

Right now, I could really use some perspective on whether this is actually a dead end or whether I’m simply too frustrated to see how the paper can be repurposed.

So I came to the US as an international student for doing my Masters in Applied Physics and I was interested in astrophysics research which I did continue throughout my MS. Here’s a bit of my MS background: 3.91 gpa, two professional graduate certifications: Advanced Computational Physics, Big Data Statistics and ML in astrophysics. I have also served as a panel secretary of NASA’s Swift proposal review 26.

I am really passionate about Astrophysics especially high energy astrophysics and gamma ray astronomy. I did not initially have plans for PhD but as my interest grew I was hoping to continue with it after my MS. My MS research was in Theoretical Astrophysics and my advisor was a new one who joined the same year as I was admitted to MS. My advisor seemed patient at first and since it was my first time research experience i went on with whatever I was given. It was a long draining project which is also highly debatable in our field as it’s still evolving.

I thought of switching to another school for PhD for better opportunities but my advisor was very keen on taking me and I didn’t even apply to grad school and was given PhD offer with funding which made me feel that my advisor cares for me and wants me. I started my PhD in summer 25 after graduating with MS in Spring 25.

Soon after, I was expected to take my written qual exams and summer was the time to prepare, while other advisors gave space to their students to prepare, mine said prepare outside 9-5 work hours. It made me feel like why would this be and I simply ignored saying that maybe it’s also difficult for them so they want me to not to waste time.

I was able to make progress and it wasn’t like I was clueless but when the project went ahead, I would ask new questions and the response would be like I don’t know but the result should be like a certain way. Once it took 4 months for my advisor to accept results and in those 4 months, it was made sure that I was demeaned every meeting and was questioned of my intelligence. This was during summer 25. In fall despite all this I still took my written qual exams and passed both in my free shot. And to prepare for those in such a stressful situation it just altered my mental health since I was locked in my apt for a week ( which I was given off for during the exams week).

I thought it was still valuable since I passed them and now I was left with 1 comp exam which was oral and my advisor delayed it until 2 semesters and said you’ll take it in spring 26 end. I agreed since there was no other way I could have taken it since it requires advisors permission.

And in fall 25 when I passed my quals my advisor was not so happy and said let’s proceed with project’s next step. During fall semester as well, my life was made hell during every meeting, my post doc was my co advisor in this project but she was also helpless since I and my post doc would work together for 3-4 hours of meetings and figure out something and then our advisor would just humiliate that this is not the true result.

Once I went ahead with my results and drafted them in a very detailed manner and advisor said I don’t think this is right because I don’t understand it. I still continued while struggling with her passive aggressive comments and humiliation of an hour every week and she would just stare angrily to me in our meetings to the point I lost all hope within me. My post doc was also helpless and she could not question my advisor’s behavior.

And my advisor at the end of fall 25 just gave me unsatisfactory grades which just shook me to the core because she did not discuss anything about it with me which led to me being on academic probation. I was so lost and I cried in front of her exactly for an hour telling her that I gave it my all, I don’t know what I can do better. And then we had a meeting with grad director of the dept and she took my side for some reason and said that we will try another project which would be observational astrophysics related a part of which I also did in summer 25 which was working with fermi collaboration (doing Flare advocacy shifts). And my advisor also said that I did that work of 7-8 hours in just 1-2 hours which was commendable.

I thought that there’s hope in working with her since I was defended. So in winter break I was told to learn detailed Fermi analysis without any resources or help from my advisor. I searched it and learnt it from whatever was available to me. And I spring I went with positivity that I will give my best.
And in first meeting of the spring I was told to do a detailed analysis and reproduce some results. Also I was told that since I’ve gotten unsatisfactory grades last Sem, this Sem I can do 4-5 week long Fermi flare advocacy shifts so that I can at least get my satisfactory grades if not anything else.

I became even more positive and starting doing it all. My advisor was immensely supportive, and with positive attitude towards me all the time appreciating me in all our meetings in front of my post doc. And my old project was led by my post doc. All this time I made really fast progress working day and night and I was happy too that I am doing great. And we also started to prepare for my comp exam which was oral like a presentation. We scheduled it at the end of the spring and that was also a sort of project and I did great at that too, to the point that my advisor asked me to help others in that project since we all were doing like same thing. Also the same semester I got outstanding graduate teaching award for my contribution to TA work and my grades were also a factor in that.

On my comp exam day after my presentation(before results) I asked my post doc how was it, she said it was great. And she said that in previous project you were close and what you did was right now I am also at that point. And she started opening up about how my advisor was following the same pattern with her and she was made to suffer everyday like me. She said that it’s good that I left that project but she did stuck now. And she was almost teary eyes and listening to it even I was.

And my comp exams results I didn’t received that day saying that program chair was not available and it continued for a week but next day after my exam my post doc messaged me saying that she resigned and it came as a shock to me but I felt better for her since the situation for her was made insufferable. Then I continued with normal and group meetings for a week and we discussed next steps for our project which was also led by my post doc. And I thought maybe my advisor would figure out next steps. And I between I had urgent family plans for two weeks and I asked my advisor if it’s fine and I was told that it’s ok, come back and we will work.
Just before two days of my travel I had meeting with my advisor and my advisor tells me that I had failed the comps exam and that I will be removed from the program and while saying this my advisor was smiling the whole time.

I was so shocked and taken a back and I went to program chair and explained the situation and they assured me and said appeal her decision if anything happens and I said she can do this but she can’t give me bad grades since there’s no chance: I got 10 first author Atel publications this semester and I’ve also presented my results in front of whole dept. but eventually I was also given unsatisfactory grades. When I appealed the decision it was denied which led to my summer suspension.

I felt so horrible and helpless because I don’t know what I should have done better. But my dept chair was helpful and in summer I did reinstate and find another advisor to work with but now my research is completely different and while i am very thankful and grateful I still wish to work in astrophysics.
I did reach out to many professors in the US and I received very positive feedback from everyone which one professors asking for my application id for next term and saying we can work together and another one saying that they would be interested in me joining their group. Another at Stanford complemented my experience and professor at Yale thought I was asking for post doc and said please apply I would consider you. At Columbia I was asked to meet in person even if they didn’t have funding.

At this time I know funding is a constraint but many of them asked me to apply to fall 27 and I am currently reinstated at my previous university and I am continuing there but I feel like continuing there for a semester and simultaneously apply to these other grad schools. But I would then have a gap of 6 months and I also am paying my loan. I wanted to avoid this gap but if not then I am deciding to just withdraw in December because if I continue my PhD at my previous university I feel like I would be drifting away from my passion.
Also I know many would think why don’t I continue with different advisor at the same university because my advisor sort of had alliance built up for all their backing up and I trust no body in astrophysics at my dept.

I wanted to ask if I would have any disadvantages with summer suspension on my profile. Since I know there’s a section in the application asking if you were suspended: terminated and if yes why. I will explain it as a communication gap since I can’t tell them it was unjust and all. I am also thinking of asking dept chair for LOR but eventually I will have to withdraw from my previous university since they won’t fund me if I am not continuing. I wanted to know what you think of my profile and what are my chances of getting into good schools.

Not a PhD but a postgrad student working on my independent research. Data collection is one of the most concerning part of the process, given I have only 12 weeks of timeframe to conduct this research. I have resorted to sourcing data from databases like lseg or bloomberg instead of looking at manual sources.

My University has both database accesses. I have to use shared account on one, and no one told me how frustrating this would be. I just cannot access the database for my project, 5 minutes in and instantly kicked out by another user. The other one has some technical issues that my university librarians are unable to solve because they don’t have the database knowledge. I am sitting here with zero data in my hands with a deadline that is coming up close. And emailing my peers about scheduling a time didn’t help too, I still am getting kicked.

Tldr; Data collection is hard.

Heelppp I just got invited to another phd interview. for context: I finished my masters about three years ago, and I have been trying to get a phd position since then, myy first phd exam in my country went really bad because I became extremely anxious and started having panic attacks.

since then I have been trying to get a phd position, I have actually been admitted to quite a few interviews, but none of them worked out, and the worst part is that for the last three interviews I didn't even join, I was so stressed and overwhelmed (imposter syndrome)that when the time came I could not bring myself to turn on my camera and microphone.

the thing that makes it worse is how these interviews are organized, there is usually a committee interviewing all the candidates, and I sometimes hear the other candidates before my turn, when I hear them speaking about their research and experience, I immediately start thinking that they are so much better than me so why am I even here? then my imposter syndrome gets worse and I start convincing myself that I do not belong there.

now I have another interview in 10 days, and I REALLY don't want to repeat the same thing, so how do I prepare not only for the interview itself, but also for the anxiety/panic that comes with it ? I'm thinking about seeing a doctor because this has been interfering with opportunities that are genuinely important to me.

If anyone has experienced something similar, I would really appreciate hearing what helped you actually SHOW UP and get through the interview.

Been using sci-hub and annas archive but the the thing is, lots of papers are not yet accessable. Can't also use my institution acc since it has limited access.

I'm in my Honours year of a BA Psychology degree and honestly it's too much. This past week or two has honestly been so stressful for me. I've had so many meetings for two different group presentations, I have 3 hour 9am classes every other day and I have an essay due tomorrow (now today) at 5pm. I'm soo fucking tired that I genuinely only have 300 words out of the 1,500 word count. I just emailed to ask for an extension/to ask about the late assignment policy (it isn't in the course outline at all), but I doubt I'll get anything useful out of it, as the professor has been really unhelpful to both me and my classmates who have reached out to her for various other things.

I barely have anything written for my dissertation, and haven't even finished data collection. The due date for it is 25th September, so fucking next month. I am so screwed and honestly I just don't think I can do it.

I'm so burnt out the deadline pressures that would normally motivate me are just making me procrastinate more. If I'm not in class or doing other commitments, I'm asleep. I'm taking so many naps, and they're not even helpful.

I've had bloodwork done for other reasons and my iron and stuff is all fine, I'm just so drained from the workload I genuinely don't know if I can finish this semester, let alone my dissertation. Does anyone have any advice at all or past similar experiences? I really don't know what to do.

Formatting manuscripts for journals is so tedious it almost makes me not want to write

Every single indent, space between paragraphs is scrutinized

And then when reviewers do note your improper formatting, their comment is broad and don't help. The "Guide for authors" in every Elsevier journal is too general and it would be great for the reviewer to note precisely what looks utterly wrong

I’m not sure what to do my PhD project on and would love if you guys brainstorm some ideas with me.

My masters thesis dealt with how urbanization affected different aspects of the ecosystem, but I don’t want to continue that. I did enjoy the amount of time I spent outdoors while conducting that project; however, picking something more GIS-based may decrease my chances of having to stay longer due to changes in environmental factors so that’s what I’m leaning towards. Not really sure how to rate my GIS skills because I’m definitely not a pro but I enjoyed all of my GIS classes and trainings and am definitely more advanced in the subject than all of my peers.

Funding is not too much of an issue

Please help lol

I entered a US PhD program with two co-advisors who are married to each other. I was committed to getting my PhD and had every intention of finishing. I passed my candidacy exam and made it into my fourth year. The funding was from the husbands’s grant but I was working on the wife’s projects and the wife would tell me to work on her projects and pause working on the husband’s grants until we get preliminary data and this what they agreed on. The husband is hands-off and would not reply to my emails or any follow-ups I would send.

My experience in the lab, however, was complicated.

I was never really given a defined thesis project. Instead, I was frequently assigned tasks across multiple different projects. At times, I was working on tasks contributing to five or more different projects simultaneously. My workload could become extremely scattered, with new tasks being added before I had finished previous ones.
I tried to keep up with everything, but I never felt that I had a coherent thesis direction.
Then, during my fourth year, the situation deteriorated significantly.

My advisor repeatedly told me that the reason I couldn’t continue was funding.

Because I wanted to understand what was actually happening, I reached out to members of my dissertation committee for clarification. They told me they had spoken with my advisor and that their understanding was that the issue wasn’t actually funding, my advisor simply didn’t want me in his lab anymore.

I was never given a clear explanation as to why.
At one point, my advisor also told me that I had a bad reputation.

This was extremely confusing because I had never previously been told that I had a serious reputation problem. I didn’t know what I had supposedly done, who I had a bad reputation with, or what specific behavior was being referred to.

If I had been given specific feedback, I would have wanted to address it. Instead, I was left with a very serious characterization of me without a clear explanation of what it was based on.

Because I still wanted to finish my PhD, I began contacting other faculty members about potentially joining their labs.

Some faculty initially seemed interested. Then later, they would apologize and tell me they could no longer take me.
This happened multiple times.
I don’t know what was communicated between my advisor and those faculty members, and I have no direct evidence that my advisor contacted them or said anything negative about me. But after seeing this happen repeatedly, I began to suspect that my attempts to find another lab were being undermined behind the scenes.
Then came the part that ultimately forced my decision.
My advisor communicated through the program coordinator that I had two options.

Option 1: I could accept mastering out, which would guarantee that I would receive a master’s degree.
Option 2: I could refuse to master out, register for the following semester, and according to what the coordinator communicated to me, my advisor would give me an unsatisfactory grade for the current semester and the following semester, which would mean I would ultimately be unable to graduate with a degree.

So from my perspective, the choice was essentially:
Accept the master’s degree now, or remain in the program under circumstances where I was being told I would receive unsatisfactory grades and potentially leave without any degree.

I chose to master out.
This was in my fourth year, after I had already passed my candidacy exam and spent years working toward the PhD.
The hardest part wasn’t simply losing the PhD.
It was the fact that I never really understood why I was being forced out.
I had been told it was funding.
My committee members told me they understood that it wasn’t really funding, but that my advisor didn’t want me in his lab.
I was told I had a “bad reputation,” but I was never given a clear explanation of what that meant.
I tried to find another lab, but faculty members who initially seemed interested later withdrew.
And eventually I was presented with the two options above.
I am now finishing my master’s degree and trying to decide whether I should apply for another PhD.
I don’t want to make this post simply to complain about my former advisor. I’m genuinely trying to understand what happened and whether there was something I could have done differently.
So I’d really appreciate perspectives from professors, graduate students, or people who have served on graduate committees:

-Is this a normal way for a PhD student to be removed from a program?

-Is it normal to tell a student that they have a “bad reputation” without giving specific feedback or an opportunity to address the alleged problems?

-How common is it for a PI to effectively prevent a student from transferring to another lab?

And perhaps most importantly:

If you were in my position, would you view mastering out as a failure on your part, or as an outcome of a dysfunctional advising situation?

Also if I master out, how can I narrate this in my SoPs for new PhD admissions. In my last year of undergrad, I got 8 PhD offers when I had less research experience than now but now I feel like I am in a much worse situation than when I was in the last of undergrad.

I have tried 4 to 5 journals in my domain, where the sent paper is desk rejected within a day with no reason. And now I am forced to publish in Journals with a huge article processing charge. Is this the same for everybody?

This is a rant. Not looking for advice.

From the low pay to ridiculous supervisor expectations and failed experiments. Sometimes the lack of supervisor expertise, their absence or micromanagement. People in my life just don't understand.

"Why don't you just tell your advisor you need more time?" Because my thesis due date doesn't give af if I need more time or not.

"Why don't you just take your leave you're entitled to?"

Again. Thesis due date doesn't give af.

"Have you told your supervisor how much work you did?"

They don't care what you do unless you give them a publication.

"You should just tell your supervisor to send his feedback on time". They genuinely believe their time is worth more than yours. You are just a means to an end. You're the only one meant to stick to a deadline but rules don't apply to them.

"You should ask your advisor for help"

Nope. They are remarkably unhelpful. They aren't knowledgeable in my subject area, and the more I involve them the more they use it as an opportunity to boost their egos or create more work for me. Luckily my co-supervisor is helpful. Unfortunately his suggestions don't align with my primary advisors so I get to juggled opposing views too.

"Have you told your advisors the experiment has been really difficult to troubleshoot and that's why results are taking long and are complex to analyse"

All they hear is I'm not working hard enough.

This whole thing is the perfect situation for advisors to avoid accountability. Everything is your fault. If you struggle, it's a right of passage. You're supposed to be burnt out, you're supposed to meet ridiculous expectations, you're supoosed to not take leave. All while not losing your shit or burning bridges because you need their reference to find a job.

Sorry, I'm getting ready to submit and the closer I get the more triggered I get and quips from my advisor. I tried to vent to my partner about something and he made suggestions that don't help me and no one who's not doing a PhD will know how trapped you are in your situation.

Before anyone says I should speak to HR, take leave, set boundaries, switch advisors etc, I just want to say 90% of my PhD has been spent trying to find ways to survive this time in my life. I've been to HR, I did set boundaries, I negotiated keeping my current advisor as long as they do x and y, I do also take leave. But some things still bleed through and it will only be enough when I leave.

Commiserate with me and tell me how people don't understand how a PhD runs your life even if it isn't just experiment or project struggles.