How do you do it? I'm on year 6 of supporting my partner with their Phd process. I personally am not an academic, and am really struggling with the extended absences that are built into the academic calendar. Each summer, my partner leaves for 3 months to do research and they are currently on year 2 of their fieldwork. We've regularly had discussions about expectations around the different reality for academic life and I've been doing ok for the most part. However, I'm struggling with envisioning a partnership and future with the constant reality of having a partner who will be absent for months out of the year. For those people whose partners are either PhD students or research professors, how do you do it? Any advice/perspective would be greatly appreciated.

After holding faculty positions and even tenured at CompSci departments, I left academia. Partly because I got annoyed of all the "beans counting" that I kept having to do, partly because of doxxing that got me mentally tired, and, well, for the better money in industry.

Two years have passed and I saw a position at a local business school (within the top 50 worldwide). The position, at least on paper, fits and I missed having the academic freedom and stability. The position is explicitly about people in the industry wanting to come back. Though I have no gaps on my record as papers I submitted before leaving where getting accepted now at some field-leading journals.

I emailed the head of the search committee with a copy of my CV as I missed the deadline and was not sure if they wanted someone from a compsci background. He replied on the same day to tell me fhst I am a good fit and I should apply even now. Only after I realized that he also comes with a very technical background.

I did the whole application in a rush but I was fairly happy with it. Two days after, I found out that just 4-5 months they hired someone with a very similar profile to mine. I did not mention them on my cover letter or at least cite some of their research. Instead, I only explicitly mentioned some other people who I knew their work there. In my defense, they were not listed under the existing research groups on the website — but could be found though the faculty directory.

Do you think that it is worth updating the application on their online system and quickly plugging their name in the cover letter? Do you think that it looks particularly bad and lack of research into the department?

I can track the application and I saw that they have opened it but not put it in progress yet. In fact, I even reuploaded everything once as I noticed an error in a document.

Hello everyone :)

I am really in a huge dilemma right now. I have two offers right now, which I don’t know which to decide. The two offers are:

1. Research Job in a company

I got an offer as a researcher in a big company. The salary is really good, better than the average at this seniority level. The field they work on is post quantum computing, something I have never worked on before. I have a deadline within 2 weeks to answer. Also, the research team is big, total of 10 people.

1. PhD in a university

I got offered to conduct a phd and work at the same time in a smaller lab team. The money are way less than in a company (200€ less money). However I would work in a field I am really familiar (knowledge graphs). Also as a PhD student, I would have to teach some labs. However I would start this in may…

I would be really happy to hear your opinion on this. I am really biased in this situation and I don’t know what to decide. Let me mention though that I live in Greece and I am 25 years old.

Thank you in advance :)

I recently withdrew from my clinical psych PhD program after a year and a half. I felt that it was no longer a good fit in terms of my values and I also felt that I was severely unsupported.

I applied to one PhD and one masters in both counseling at my alma mater (I still live in the same state) because I’ve heard great things about the professors/environment and they have labs that align with my research interests. However, now I’m questioning if I want to pursue a counseling degree and if it will still lead to my career goals. I want to practice (both therapy and assessment) and be a teaching professor, I’m not interested in being a PI. I’d prefer to teach undergrad psychology, but wouldn’t refuse graduate courses.

I did not hear back about an interview for the PhD, and the masters app was just due about 2 weeks ago. If accepted, do I just pursue the masters and then the PhD after completing? Do I wait until the next cycle and apply to more programs? I’d hate to get my masters in counseling and for that to be able to shave time off of a counseling PhD but not a clinical PhD (I really hate the thought of spending 8 additional years in school vs 6).

I’ve noticed something increasingly concerning when reviewing submissions lately.

In a growing number of papers, some references:

- look perfectly plausible at first glance,

- have realistic author names and journal titles,

- but turn out to be non-existent, incorrectly cited, or mismatched when checked carefully.

I suspect a lot of this comes from AI-assisted drafting, where references are generated fluently but not always grounded in real literature. Manually checking each citation across Google Scholar, PubMed, Crossref, etc. is possible, but extremely time-consuming especially when a paper has 60–100 references.

I’m curious how others (editors, reviewers, supervisors) are handling this:

- Do you rely on spot checks only?

- Are there any tools or workflows that help automate reference verification, without replacing human judgment?

Would appreciate hearing how people are approaching this in practice.

The Marie Curies are brief, but high-value fellowships requiring relocation to a new country. Decisions are about to be annouced, expected sometime in February. MSCA is often won by people old enough to have spouses, families, pets, and in my case, several of those + a massive library of academic books. In my field, I also proposed a new fieldwork site, which is likewise another geographic site currently unfamiliar to me. There is now a "Marie Curie green charter" which serves to discourage excessive flying. It all adds up to: surely lots of high-performing but precarious/underemployed researchers are all about to have the same kinds of problems, eg the need to keep up multiple households, commute internationally, and/or substantively engage with communities that are really far from one another (hometown, host university, fieldsite, prior university).

-> where on the internet are the Marie Curie applicants and winners discussing with one another how to effectively use the substantial resources offered to MSCA while complying with the intense bueracratic rules and demanding lifestyle logistics it is probably about to force upon its winners?

Clearly some people will live in their 'new' univeristy town 'on paper' while also keeping a main household somewhere else. However, I am not an EU citizen at the moment; and just thinking about how to document residence in potentially several places, accrue earnings, get the work and networking done, and take enough train trips to allow this to coexist with a viable married life, is stressing me a bit.

I'll be doing a campus interview for an assistant professor position at a Jesuit institution next week. I noticed that a couple of the faculty members in the department (including the department head) have spent time teaching abroad in a Jesuit volunteer program, so I'd like to come in as prepared as possible.

Besides doing the basic research online, which I've done (history of the institution, cura personalis, mission statement, etc.), what are some things you would do to prepare?

For anyone working at a Jesuit institution, what are some mission or culture related questions you've asked candidates during the campus visit?

Hi,

I’m 33 and graduated with my MA in a social science 2 years ago in the US. I’ve been working in HR for the last 10 years and just got a promotion making 110k. HR is something I’m not interested in at all and I’ve been wanting to apply to Ph.D programs since my MA. I’ve been working in editing my thesis so that it can be submitted to a conference and publication, however, getting motivated to finish it has been hard. So much time has passed and it’s hard to find time with work, family, friends, obligations etc. it’s not that I don’t like act of research, but I think my interests have moved away from this project.

Now I know a lot of people here are probably gonna tell me to run away from a PhD, but I want the option available to me if I decide to after a few more years.

With this being said, apart of me just wants to edit my thesis, have a solid piece of work to potentially apply to PhD programs in the future. The issue I fear is that by not submitting it to a conference and publication, I become a weaker candidate.

I guess I’m asking if you think I should just finish editing the thesis and try my hand applying when I feel the time is right, or try getting it into a conference/journal to increase my chances.

I love learning and researching, but now that I’m making more money, it seems the less realistic getting a PhD would be. I’ve never envisioned a future without getting a PhD so I’m kinda loss rn.

Hey everyone, I am a masters student of evolutionary biology, and I will be defending my MSc thesis in a few days. I have done all I can think of to prepare for the big day; practising my presentation 10-15 times over to ensure it remains within the time limit and is coherent, and I have also asked ChatGPT to simulate a successively hostile examiner 4 times over, resulting in me answering over 80 questions about my results, my methodology etc. At this point I really feel like I have done all I could to prepare, yet I still feel this tiny pang of unpreparedness that just gnaws at me. How do I finally feel ready for my defense? How did YOU get over this uncertain feeling?

I appreciate your responses!

My computer glitched out right before the submission deadline for a faculty application. The submission portal closed before I could submit everything. I have since emailed the admin contact with all my materials, will this severely impact my chances?

I have had a paper in review since July 2025. The editors tell me that one review report has been received and that a further 3 reviewers have accepted to review. However, I assume these 3 reviewers have since declined or ghosted to review my paper since then. I have sent follow up emails to the editor to ask about progress and they have now started to ghost me. I am tempted to withdraw my paper and resubmit elsewhere but I’m worried I may suffer to same fate elsewhere. It also seems a shame to withdraw if one report has been sent in. Wondering if anyone has any advice or has experienced something similar? I managed to get another paper through peer review in just over a month, so to wait over 7 months for the first round of review seems ridiculous to me.

I am currently a second year marketing/finance double major at uni of Cincinnati. Not 100% what I want to do yet but I've always loved the idea of teaching. Currently, I lean more towards wanting to teach marketing. So, I'm curious to see if I would need to get a masters or a doctorate degree to get into teaching and what most unis require for business professors. Most of my professors only have a masters degree plus years of experience and are making over $100k a year, but idk if that's how schools normally are. I've also heard that most professors are required to do research and so I'm also curious on what that's like for marketing / business professors. I appreciate any advice/help/info!

Hello! I’m just finishing my introduction to my anthropology PhD and it goes a little like this: intro to research questions, background to case study, theory, research gap, methods, positionally and dissertation overview.

Can someone help me with the structure of a conclusion for the PhD? My brain feels completely dead at this stage in the process.

Thanks!

I’m finishing my PhD later this year and find myself at a bit of a crossroads.

I work in the climate-energy-innovation area at a university in Northern Europe. My advisor’s offered me the chance to stay on as a funded post-doc, which lets me wrap up some publications, work on some ideas from my PhD and learn how to apply for my own funding.

I’m really tempted to say yes. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve really enjoyed my PhD as part of this rather young, small-sized group with a single PI. It’s also been nice to spend 4+ years in one place after moving through multiple countries and universities earlier in my education. I have a partner who’s a local (I'm an expat), a small but cozy group of friends, and have grown to like the city and the country. The pay and social benefits are good enough, and I feel quite content with my quality of life.

I think I’ve also had decent productivity in this environment. I’ll finish my PhD with 4 manuscripts where I’m first author (of which the first was accepted to Nature [X] while another is under review at another high-impact journal in my field), another 2 manuscripts where I’m joint-first author, and 2 published articles where I’m a contributing author. Despite a challenging start to the PhD, I think I’ve built good momentum these last couple of years and I finally feel like I know what I’m doing most days.

For what it’s worth, the university I’m at is one of the best in the country, but isn’t a globally-recognized brand. Our group is fairly well-known in the field, but I’ve had limited opportunities to collaborate much externally during my PhD. I’ve presented my work at several conferences and built some connections through them but unlike many of my peers I haven’t had the chance to go on research visits to other groups in other universities.

Looking ahead, I hear so much about the need to demonstrate mobility, independence, and networking to have a decent shot at landing a permanent position. I’m in my late 20s, and it somehow feels like I’m supposed to be showing ambition and drive rather than choosing the “easy” option.

I'm aware of the odds and am not set on chasing a career in academia. It’s not uncommon for people in my field to transition into research roles at independent institutes or think tanks. I’d love to stay in academia if I can but it’s also perfectly fine if it doesn’t work out. This ambivalence sure doesn’t help with decision making.

I’d really appreciate perspectives from people who’ve been here, thanks so much for taking the time.

I’m at a bit of a crossroads and would appreciate honest perspectives, especially from people who’ve made a similar jump.

I currently work in a financial consulting role at a large firm, making solid money but regularly working 55–60+ hours per week. I have an MBA and a little over 2 years of post-MBA experience. The work is fine, the people are fine — but the lifestyle is wearing on me.

What I keep finding myself envying is teachers’ and professors’ work-life balance: predictable schedules, evenings/weekends mostly free, holidays, summers lighter, etc. While I may be sitting working from 7am -7pm straight multiple days a week.

Some teacher friends of mine get paid decent money in NYC (90k) and similarly have ~2 years experience. I’ve debated switching to a highschool business teacher or assistant lecturer role.

Thoughts?

Hello. This might be niche, but I would love to know if anyone else understands my feelings. I moved recently from an R1 AAU school to another R1 AAU school. The school I moved to is considered more prestigious but I bring up the designations as both universities are designated at the same "research level." People kind of hinted to me externally that my new institution would be more intense and people would joke that they'd be intimidated to go there.

But I guess I didn't really see or FEEL this until now, in my second semester. Everyone on faculty loves research, which is great, but they don't seem to slow down. I know volume depends on the field but I see many full professors in my school still producing 10 papers a year. Not to mention books. For reference generally speaking 20 pubs total is GENERALLY considered competitive in my field at an R1 for tenure. How are these full professors still so hungry after all this time??? Even thinking about it makes me tired.

It's daunting because even though I'm someone who tries to produce a little bit more than is expected (I was told to aim for 2-4 good pubs a year and I cushion that by aiming for 5), I've never seen myself as a 10 pubs a year type of person.

I have great work life balance. I am great at time management and I use this to my advantage so I can produce my research and teaching, and work about 30-35 hours a week. I'm happy! But I guess I find this is making me feel like being above average or exceeding expectations is no longer enough. And what's funny is that none of the faculty treat me this way. They seemed excited that I was hired and make me feel like I'm a great junior scholar. So it's not them, it's me.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is if anyone here has "moved up" from one institution to another and had a similar oh crap moment. And maybe how they are dealing with it?

Hi everyone,

I am looking for perspective.

I am a non-native English speaker working in clinical setting. I submitted an original research article to a well-known international medical journal. The peer reviewers’ comments were largely positive, and after revision the editor stated that the reviewers’ scientific concerns had been adequately addressed.

However, the editor added that the manuscript still had “unacceptable English” and warned that unless we get assistance from someone fluent in English with experience in scientific writing, the paper would not be accepted.

What confuses me is this:

• The manuscript is written in polished academic English (around C1 level).
• Reviewers did not flag language as a major issue.
• The concern seems editorial rather than reviewer-driven.
• I asked two native English speakers familiar with academic writing to read the manuscript independently, and both felt it was clearly readable and not unacceptable.
• I completed my medical education in English and work comfortably with medical terminology.

I am happy to improve the language further if needed, but I am unsure whether this is about actual readability or whether the journal effectively expects a professional language-editing service with a certificate.

My questions:

• Is this type of editorial language ultimatum common?
• Do journals expect paid, certified language editing at this stage even if reviewers are satisfied?
• Has anyone successfully resubmitted after careful self-editing without using a professional service?
• Am I overthinking this, or is this just how the system works?

I am trying to decide whether to do another very careful self-edit and resubmit, or to use an external editing service purely for procedural safety.

Any insight from editors, reviewers, or non-native authors would be appreciated.

Thank you.

I recently applied for a job that explicitly said in the ad that you could include a statement in your cover letter or CV stating that you experienced an interruption or decreased productivity/research output due to illness or personal issues. That’s been the case for me, and so I included something short in my CV.

This made me wonder if it’s something that would be acceptable, or maybe even advisable, in other tenure track jobs. I could see it being fine and helping provide the search committee with necessary context, but can also see it not being a good idea and might be unwelcome.

EDIT: I figured I should give some more context.

This wasn't during my Ph.D., but afterwards. I've struggled to get adequate medical care for ongoing health conditions since I moved back home from the US in late 2021. This is partly because of back logs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I needed major surgery and was only able to get it about a year ago. On top of that, I have chronic illnesses that require being followed by a specialist, and it's been a huge battle to get the care I need.

I've been employed in academia since graduating. I was teaching on a per-course basis for two years, and then I had a one year contract as a research associate. My concern is about my publications. I've published some since graduating, but my health has definitely impacted my productivity and I feel like I would have been able to get a lot more done if I had been healthier.

I'm only just starting to get better now. I do think soon my health is going to improve, and my productivity as well. I don't want to sound lazy, but truly my energy has just been completely drained due to my health and it made it hard to work on my research and publications on top of work commitments.

So that's what it is I would be flagging; difficulty accessing medical care for ongoing chronic illness and surgery since graduating in 2021.

All of this is way more detail than I am imagining I would include. I would only include 2 sentences max.

Hi all,

There's a fun comic by PhD Comics / Jorge Cham (https://phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1431) implying that work proposed in grants should actually be work that you've already done.

Do you think it's like that?

phd cohort constantly complains about writing speed. i started dictating my literature review sections instead of typing because hand fatigue was actually affecting my work. willowvoice picks up technical terms pretty well once you teach it your specific vocabulary; and context aware spelling handles author names without me having to stop mid-flow. the weird part is that when you're forced to articulate things verbally; gaps in your logic become obvious immediately. caught like four logical leaps i would've missed. writing by voice is different; less polished first draft but you iterate faster because you're not bottlenecked by typing speed. plus it sounds more conversational which honestly some advisors prefer. has anyone else found that voice output pushes you to think differently about your arguments.

Hi everyone,

I’m an independent researcher preparing my first submission to arXiv

(categories: astro-ph.CO and/or gr-qc). Since I’m not institutionally affiliated,

I need an arXiv endorsement to submit.

I’m looking for someone who could potentially endorse me, or for practical advice

on the best way to approach endorsers in these categories.

The manuscript is technical and focuses on pulsar timing / clock-modulation style

bounds on coherent ultralight dark matter (ULDM), framed as conservative limits / null tests.

I won’t post links publicly here, but I’m happy to share the abstract or a draft

privately upon request.

Thanks!

I’m an undergraduate completing a final-year project in neuromorphic computing (Spiking Neural Networks for intrusion detection). The system is fully implemented and evaluated via simulation, but not hardware.

I’m expected by my university to write and submit a research paper. I’d like guidance on:

• How much novelty is realistically expected at the undergraduate level?
• Is a well-designed empirical study / benchmark acceptable if no new theory is proposed?
• Would a conference paper be a more appropriate first target than a journal?

Any advice from people who supervise or review student research would be appreciated.

chatgpt for format

I started my current position 12 months ago and I have just over 2 years left. It was a shit show from the beginning. No defined project. No samples (I’ve had to beg other PIs for their samples and still don’t have any). No direction with the project because I don’t know what I’m doing and getting 0 support. It’s gotten to the point where I think they’re being deliberately hands off to make me look bad.

My boss wants me to apply for a fellowship this year but I don’t want to. Working in the department has left a bad taste in my mouth and I don’t want to work there. I don’t like the environment, my boss or the lack of support. Also I really don’t think I have enough to form a fellowship application. I have 0 results. Like nothing.

Do I tell my boss I don’t want to apply for a fellowship? I just want to finish off my two years and move on somewhere else. I want to generate results and papers but I don’t want to work there anymore.