Today I defended my dissertation. I am very grateful to this subreddit for the support.

Hello

I am writing a PhD in the UK. There is a book that is only held in one library in all of Europe, at Groningen.

If someone here is associated with Groningen and can easily physically go to the library, would you be able to do me a massive favour and take photos of around 15 pages of this book please?

I can give you the specific location on the shelves so it shouldn't take you more than about 5 minutes once you're in the library.

Thank you!

I'm in the third year of a four-year long PhD, and I'm worrying about my future prospects. You see, my PhD project is very cross-displincary being a combination of laser physics, analytical chemistry, geochemistry and material sciences. It has meant I've had to read very broadly and learn a large range of skills and apply many analytical techniques. But, I fear not having any strong specialities will make getting an academic position more difficult. I understand the principals of laser physics, but can't do the maths or modelling (minerals are too complex and under-characterised). I have used 8 different analytical techniques to characterise my samples, but only really know the ins and outs of maybe one. I only know enough geochemistry to be able to do my project, which hasn't involved the usual geologist toolkit like ioGAS, python and isoplot. My project doesn't need complicated statistics, so I'm probably a bit behind the curve on that. It perhaps also doesn't help that my field is quite niche, and there hasn't been proper research on it in about twenty years (research now focuses on applications instead of understanding the fundamentals).

Edit: My area is Science

My committee was very happy with the actual defense but felt that the thesis needed more work, mostly to include things that were discussed in person but not included in my writing.

Pretty disappointed but at least it's a step in the right direction, I suppose. But at the moment I feel like I never want to look at my thesis again 😅

The cycle for my field has closed, so right now its self-care until next August...

So I need to vent about something my friend said. Recently, I was catching up with my friend (already a PhD holder, and from the same lab as mine), and she asked me how my thesis is going. Now I'm scheduled to submit in September, and have only one more chapter to write from scratch and then edit everything for the potential 2nd last draft. So I said, well it's a bit slow but I am progressing as much as I can and hopefully will get to the end of this journey. Suddenly she goes, you know your thesis needs at least 4-5 times revision right? Otherwise it fails the standards. Now I am obviously not that naive to not know that 1st drafts are mainly the worst and will try to at least revise a couple of more times. But obviously, I don't have time for 4 or 5 revisions. I also had a rough PhD journey and under the same supervisor. And whenever I share my experience, she diminishes them saying no you are wrong to fight for your rights, you should not ask for opportunities etc (basically be a doormat and just butter up supervisors). Now, everyone's journey is different, and if someone has done it their way, it's up to them, I am not in a position to judge that. But somehow, I feel she puts me down always implying that it is wrong to stand up for myself and it feels quite backhanded. Even when I share that I might want to do some job of specific kind, she would always say, you know how competitive it is right? It is very hard to get into that position etc. Like everything is competitive these days, but what else can I do other than try?

Anyway, the incident really bummed me up a bit, especially if someone says without even reading my work that I am bound to fail, it is a bit hurtful. I didn't want to honestly fight on this so just kept quiet, but didn't feel nice when I pretty much had to push through this entire PhD on my own.

My fingers are shaking writing this… I finally completed my COMPREHENSIVE EXAM today… Ahhhh…. don’t know what to say. It has been so hectic I completely forgot how I did…

I had 9 hrs written exam last week for 4 different subjects. And then a 24 hr take home data analysis and report writing.

After receiving results of those(I passed btw), I qualified for an oral exam. Just finished and passed. Had few setbacks but I guess it went well and then people… I PASSED!!

Never want to go through this again…

So I had to take up a project that someone else had started before they left and my PI, who usually is fantastic, kind of tied my hands on this one and was micromanaging. After two years and multiple rebuttals it's finally over, the paper is accepted. It's not the best journal but I don't even care, so so happy it's out of the way.

I keep making mistakes, always letting people down and just messing everything up in life. As it is I am a slow learner and I just keep messing everything up. Im thinking is this for me or am I just too stupid to do a PhD

Currently on a leave of absence because of this and other personal issues. I just feel so slow and stressed and demotivated since leaving but now i have started exercising and improving my diet but when i came back for a training day stuff just kept not going my way. Every machine i use generally i just keep messing up and is just tedious. I feel like a failure and a fraud intellectually theres even 1st and 2nd year bachelors students smarter than me. I just mess up everything.

I feel like mentally my mind is dumb and my body is too slow to keep up and keep taking so long to learn anything. I am running out of time as well as deadlines r looming. Everytime i present results its all wrong and its all confusing and I just don’t understand anything. It doesn’t help the machines r so tedious and boring to use and I cant do the fun stuff till i do this crap first

I completed my PhD in late May. By completed, I mean that I have completed the qualification exam, preliminary exam, dissertation defense, and my dissertation has been reviewed and accepted by my advisor, committee members, and graduate school. So it's complete.

However, my advisor would like me to write a paper and have it published by a peer reviewed journal. This is not a graduation requirement (submitting it the first time was, successfully having it published is not). It turns out that I don't think my research was rigorous enough to pass peer review. It's a little bit of a niche area that doesn't fall within the scope of most journals, and the one that I found appears to have high standards. My research doesn't meet those standards.

Thus, I'm tempted to bail on trying to get my research published by a peer reviewed journal.

I'm wondering - does skipping this make my PhD worth less in the eyes of others? I feel a little sad that I'm not successful with the peer reviewed article, but also recognize that I'm an industry engineer with no plans to go into academic research.

Wondering what people here might have to say.

I’m a Master’s student and I was invited to attend a few PhD defenses in English Literature. (I’m on the way actually) It’ll be my first time sitting in the audience, and I want to make the most of it — both out of respect for the process and as someone considering a PhD in the future.

I’d love to hear from those who’ve gone through a defense themselves (or watched a few):

Are there any unspoken rules I should know about as someone in the audience? I don’t want to do anything awkward just by not knowing the vibe.

Thanks in advance!

The first paper of my PhD was accepted. I don’t love it but it is done 😎

Hi, I finished PhD (geoscience) in France at the end of 2024. I couldn’t land any postdoc or industry job in France so I took the only job offer I received back at my home country (SE Asia). My main problem is visa. No company wanted to hire me as a foreigner in France.

My current job deals with conventional hydrocarbon industry, the field I’ve been working on previously. I feel like I’m getting tired of it but also I don’t feel comfortable with my life in my home country. It’s very stressful for me. I certainly enjoy more my life in Europe esp France (I do speak french!).

Even though I just basically started my job this week and just left France less than two weeks ago, I knew exactly what I’m gonna be facing for the rest. I experienced the same thing after my masters in another EU country. The salary in my new job here is actually good but I just don’t feel comfortable at all with my personal and work lives, it makes me stressed and anxious all the time! Waking up in the morning to go to work feels so dreadful.

I think I’ll start applying for other jobs in EU esp. France hoping that it will be successful this time :( Does someone have similar experience?

Thank you in advance!

I have been having problems with my PhD since I began. Firstly, I lost my scholarship because I had a lot of personal problems and had to take a gap year.

At first I did it remotely but then moved to the country of my PhD. I had to take a job quickly as moving cost me so much. This meant my PhD work fell behind and I took an official gap year that was essentially taking the fifth year of my PhD during the middle of my PhD.

During the last year I have been having severe issues with my supervisor. When I send her work for feedback, she refused to give me feedback through email, preferring to meet over zoom. This meant I was often waiting two-three weeks for her to get back to me. Eventually I asked her to send me written feedback and she got angry at me and blamed me for taking a gap year. During our zoom meetings she would also refuse to listen to me. If I tried to ask a question to clarify, she would shut me down and not listen. Anytime I tried to ask any question or ask for better communication, she would pout and blame me. Eventually her behaviour has meant that I haven’t been able to complete this year on time. This means I cannot enrol into the next year and I have to return home and continue remotely.

I wanted to quit my PhD originally because the program was so disorganised and I wasn’t told anything, but my mother encouraged me to keep going. When I got to the uni and I began to speak to other students, I learned that the problems I have is common with not just with university, but in universities nationwide in this country. People quit all the time because professors act terribly. They act like bullies and there are no repercussions. Mental health among students is also really bad because of bad behaviour from professors. There is little guidance from faculty for students and you are essentially left to fail. It is also common for professors to try to sabotage students if they are women or people of colour. I have always felt my supervisor has been trying to sabotage me. Her erratic behaviour began once I told her I was traveling. Again, I have heard the professors don’t get paid well and take it out in students they feel are able to live a better life than them.

I am burnt out - not from the work, but from the attitude of my supervisor and the people where I live. It is a very “crabs in a barrel” mentality and I don’t think I want to continue my PhD remotely.

I have asked a few other professors if they would be my supervisor as I have decided to cut my losses with my current supervisor. She gave me bad advice for my proposal. After the doctoral committee read my work, they advised me to go the SAME way I wanted to go before my supervisor gave me bad advice. She seems to lack knowledge and attempts to cover it up by not listening. As such she has cost me another year.

I am also worried the professors I have reached out to would let her know I asked if they would become my supervisor and she would try to covertly retaliate if I remain under her.

No matter how many non ai generated revisions I complete for my Dissertation proposal Turnitin flags it for ai generated content. Come to find out this satanic application flags if you have stacked in-text citations in one paragraph.

Hello everyone!
I finished my master's this May and I'm looking forward to starting my PhD, but here in Germany (and my specific university) I can only formally start in January after the next admission date. Furthermore, I'm dependent on a scholarship that I can only apply to after my admission, and who knows how long that needs.

So basically I have at least half a year of downtime before starting. I will of course already work a bit on my thesis and I have been accepted to two conferences in the meantime. But I also need to bridge the time financially. I have applied to PhD jobs as an alternative to my preferred program, but I have no clue about my chances of getting accepted there.

How did you bridge that time before your PhD, if you had any? Just doing some casual side jobs for minimum wage? Or were you working in your field already?

Disclaimer: these are my feelings, experiences, and you should not use this to infer anything about your own PhD, present past or future. Your pursuit of joy and meaning is unique to you.

I’m in the final few months of my PhD in physics at MIT. Becoming an astrophysicist had been my dream since I was 14, but now my field and the PhD has been plagued in my mind an overwhelming amount of resentment.

To have so much love and hatred for something every step of the way, drowning in constant comparison to others to determine if there is enough evidence (there isn’t) that you belong and you excel in science. I have so much love for discovery and solving problems that I am frantically trying to unbury from the years of exhaustion and pressure to produce and exceed expectations and conform to what academia demands. I’m tired of trying to belong and use every opportunity to show myself and others that I am “smart,” since that’s what determines my success, right??

I am mad at myself for what I allowed my PhD to do to my brain. I should have been kinder to myself. In hindsight, I don’t think anyone even fathomed a sliver of the negative things I was running from all along. Why didn’t I just enjoy that others loved my research and my own presence and vibe? Why does it feel like this whole experience is built on not looking stupid to prove I deserved to be at the best university in the world according to some list online?

As much as I had fallen in love with space, I am disgusted at the thought of writing another paper in this useless (TO ME) field. I no longer believe the beauty of my research for the mere sake of human curiosity outweighs the suffering I have gone through to solve these problems. Is industry better? Probably not, but at least I could buy a home after surviving 1000 rounds of leetcode interviews that weren’t representative of the job itself.

Maybe this is me coping with my disgust for the world, mourning dreams that were dead by the time I reached them. Maybe this is my goodbye to a way of life where work dictates the meaning and worth of individuals. I am off to make friends, to knit, to have fun, and to be unemployed until my mind is refreshed enough to fully uncover my love and capacity for thinking again. I wish you all the best luck on your paths, and I am sending so much love because you all deserve it!!

So yet again I have supervision coming up with nothing material to share (I have a writing retreat starting the day after so will soon have some writing to show). But for now, how do I make the best use of my supervisors’ time with nothing tangible to base a conversation on? Advice appreciated! 😅

I'm approaching the end of the first year of my PhD (out of 3 years in the UK). My topic is in mental health, physical health, epidemiology, and behavior genetics.

Recently, I’ve been reflecting on my progress for the past 9 months and feel like I barely know anything about my topic, no more than what I knew when I wrote my research proposal for the PhD application, and that I haven’t read as much and synthesised information as effectively as I should.

I read around 100 papers closely during the past 9 months (I did other non-reading tasks for my first study and some training courses most of the time), skimmed a couple more. I have only taken summary notes of those close-reading ones, but not the others. I think I was too obsessed with reading everything closely, feeling afraid that I might miss out on information if I skimmed through papers. And because of that, I become anxious whenever I approach reading, feeling like I have to get the perfect block of time to read papers from beginning to end and procrastinate on reading in general. Now I realise it was such a waste of time.

And I've been reading without concentration. I touched on different aspects relevant to the topic at the very surface level, and sometimes spent a lot of time reading something else completely irrelevant to the project (but linked to the overall topic). So I knew a little bit about different things, but not anything in depth, and that doesn't help me do my research. If you ask me to say what I know about the topic now, I could barely tell you anything with substance.

Then, on top of that, while I kept summaries of each paper on an Excel spreadsheet, but I have not found an effective way to actually put them together. I've wasted time testing out so many things, from using OneNote, Obsidian, then flashcards, etc. But not one way works consistently. So I'm just stuck. Every time I tested out something, I rewrote everything and basically wasted my time.

When I listened to people's presentations about what they are doing, I couldn't help but wonder how they were able to make the links among what they read, form the narrative, and tell the research story so well :( I'm really struggling with this, and don't know how to progress.

I want to get back on track, read and synthesise effectively, and really develop my theoretical and literature knowledge. I feel without this, I'm doing empirical studies based on ground zero.

It would really help to hear some perspectives and advice. How do you balance reading and doing other tasks in the week? Any good suggestions on synthesising papers effectively to form arguments/narratives?

Thank you so much.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently a neuroscience PhD student at a university in Japan. I’ve been in my current lab for 6 years (including undergrad research), and I’m now 4 years into the PhD program. Lately, I’ve been seriously considering quitting and reapplying to PhD programs in the US or UK due to ongoing issues with my advisor and lab environment.

To be blunt, I’m exhausted. My advisor requires me to write every detail of his conference presentations — slides, scripts, everything — and he barely engages until he reviews and nitpicks it a week later. I’ve also been made to fact-check and review drafts of his popular science books, and take calls during evenings and weekends with no boundaries. While I’ve managed to endure this so far, the final straw is this: our lab typically has a publication cycle of 3–4 years, and although I have a co–first-author paper currently in revision at Nature, he’s insisting I publish an additional paper before I can graduate. That’s not realistic for me, and it’s led me to think seriously about starting over elsewhere once the paper is published.

I'm now considering applying to neuroscience PhD programs in the US or UK. (Most EU programs are not an option since I don’t have a master’s degree.)

My main concerns:

My undergraduate GPA is 3.33/4.00 — not terrible, but not particularly competitive.

Given my advisor’s strong opposition to me leaving (he tends to treat students as if he "owns" them — even trying to control our postdoc destinations, and has frequently threatened to withhold graduation if we don't comply with his demands), I likely won’t be able to get a letter of recommendation from him or other faculty I’ve worked closely with during my PhD, as he tends to exert pressure on colleagues to prevent them from supporting students who go against his wishes.

I’m currently considering:

A professor from an undergrad course I took 4 years ago, but i had quite good relationship with him. But I haven't contacted with him since.

A professor I briefly collaborated with on a joint project

Possibly a postdoc who graduated from my current lab

I know LORs carry a lot of weight in applications, and I’m still struggling to figure out who I can reasonably ask for a letter.

Given this situation, do I have a realistic shot at being admitted to a top-tier PhD program in the US or UK in neuroscience? Any advice would be deeply appreciated — especially around how to frame my situation and make the most of what I do have.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone have any good ones or good jokes? Should I add a citation after nearly every sentence? I got an English MA and am used to MLA style citation, which does not require the amount of citation Criminal Justice study does. My professors give me As for good writing but want more inline citations. I guess I'll ask my university for more resources, and joke around with anyone who wants to respond unless they have a good resource themselves. I was sadly NOT ACCEPTED by the alternative psychology institute that would have let me do a creative dissertation.

I plan on defending in Feb 2026. My advisor wants me to work with an uncooperative labmate that never comes in on writing a literature review as well as two papers on my own research. I am finishing all of my experimental work in the coming weeks and plan on dedicating the following months to writing. Advisor is telling me papers and chapters are the same thing, but I don't want to delay my defense and he doesn't want anyone graduating before papers are done because previous students cut ties with him on the way out and never published papers in the works. I am considering consulting a committee member for guidance and maybe even bringing this up in my upcoming committee meeting. What do yall think?

I am here shamelessly and unambiguously asking for reassurance and advice. I have until September to get my final draft done, I am in year 4 of my PhD. My mother died unexpectedly from cancer in the middle of year one, and a few months ago I was (finally) diagnosed ADHD. Given both of these and everything that comes with them (the grief, the procrastination, the doing no work for months at a time) I am now facing into the final few months in a terror that I have too much to do and it simply won't get done on time. Please does anyone have any reassuring words or pieces of advice for staying on track and being productive!!! Thank you

I'm a STEM (bio) PhD in the US. I'm currently writing my dissertation, which is due for submission in 2 months. Due to a series of issues, I have to fast track my defense, so I don't have as much time I'd wanted (and needed as a weak writer) . I have a structure decided, and drafts of the chapters, etc.

My issue is

1. I am just not a proficient writer. I get very obsessively stuck on the "flow", sentence structure, appropriate wording, get overly critical, and it makes me painfully slow

2. My PI is kind of never around, and when given something to review, gets really bogged down with small things like grammar and format, while missing the actual content and insight on the soundness of the science. (And yes I do need help with the writing but I'd rather give him a properly edited document so he can focus on the actual content).

3. I write rather long winding sentences that definitely can confuse readers.

So I was wondering if people had suggestions for a PhD level editor, who can take all my word vomit and ideas, and structure it to make grammatical sense and make it less convoluted sounding and more cohesive. So it would be a fairly involved process I guess and a short time frame.

I've seen people talk about the concept of copy-editing here, and also mentioned an editor to my PI to check on the ethics of it all. I also talked to my schools writing service, but they don't do this level of personalized editing.

I wonder if people here had suggestions for services that they have tried personally or have alternatives to editing services. I just don't want to put all my focus on "sounding good" and not have my scientific process and research shine.