r/PhD

I want to know what to expect. I’m going to start a PhD in the area of Robotics/Control Theory

EDIT: location likely Germany

Hey all, I've just graduated from undergrad, and I'm starting a Biosciences PhD in the Fall. I have the next two months free outside of a small commitment, and I'd just like some advice on how I can best get prepared for this PhD journey.

I'm feeling a bit of Imposter Syndrome/Unpreparedness, I guess, since most of the folks in my cohort are coming in a few years out of undergrad; I'm on the younger side as well so I feel a bit out of place.

I'm thinking of getting in habit of reading a scientific paper in my field every other day to get better at reading. Is that a good idea?

Any tips/suggestions are greatly appreciated!

(materials eng) I am surrounded here by people who do more than I, have done more than I, and will do more than I.

All these professors are giving talks, are married and show no signs of struggling through a PhD. Everyone is polished and well spoken. Everyone is famous. I feel silly presenting a poster because I know that the PhD scientists here no longer do such a thing. It's a grad student thing so I feel like a little child being watched by a parent.

I've never felt so small in my life. I don't have the credo to be here. I'm grateful that my advisor found the monies to let me go and have a hotel but there's no point to a conference for me. I have a first author paper that is only in review (I'm a third year). I am no super star. I don't have 500 citations on Google scholar. There is no point attending an academic conference if you a. Don't have a paper out and b. Aren't successful in the discipline and life at large. I want to run and hide.

I grew up caring a lot about politics, and I do believe in general that the future will be better.

However, it has been hard to see how crazy this country has been (US in this case, could be your country if you are from elsewhere), and I have found that my motivation and mental health are being directly impacted by that, which ultimately affects my work as a graduate student. I can still do my work, but I find myself getting exhausted sooner than I used to. And I am not happy about this.

My therapist advised me to read/learn less news, which I have done. However, it is still hard to stay focus nowdays. I will keep working with them of course, but just want to see how you all navigate this. Thanks a lot!

I know a balanced perspective is important, but it seems like every time I see something positive about a PhD, it's immediately followed by a "but" and a list of ten negatives - making the perspective overwhelmingly negative.

Today I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed and discouraged with the application preparation, so I’d really appreciate hearing the good (and only the good) about a PhD. I'm looking for a positive thread to bookmark for when things feel tough.

If you’re currently doing a PhD or have already finished one - especially in STEM/biology - can you share ONLY the good parts?

*What made the process meaningful, exciting, fulfilling, or worth it?*

and

*What changed in your life after graduating?* Thank you

I was just wondering how close ppl usually are to their advisors.

EDIT: It's so interesting seeing such different types of relationships with PIs, wow

View Poll

Genuine question. My wedding is next weekend (woo!) but I’m also trying to submit my thesis in the next few weeks. I have diagnosed ADHD and I am probably a bit burned out but I just feel like this process is never going to end and I might actually submit on my deathbed at this rate (although at least then it would be over)

Edit: I’m clearly a bit emotional today but small kindnesses like these responses from people in similar situations do actually mean an awful lot, thank you 🤍

I just finished my PhD (yay!!!) and got a TT job at a local community college (double yay!!!). I had a bunch of ideas for papers I was going to work on this summer, but now that I’m done, I just can’t feel any motivation to research or write (I’m in the English (lit crit), so I don’t need a lab or anything lol). Any tips for keeping up the motivation to continue research?

Hi everyone

Had another rejection from a call for papers, that part isn't what bothers me, what bothers me is I know I didn't put my best foot forward with this paper and honestly, I'm starting to get quiet angry at myself.
I know I'm not lazy, but I seem to always choke when it comes to writing articles and remembering submission deadlines,

I want to ask for some advice from any who have a methodology or a routine when it comes to writing articles for publication?

Tips, hints, help, guides, even avenues of research on whatever the topic seems to be?

My research is haphazard at best, I seem to stumble across quotes and relevant information rather than have tried and true sites/research areas

I feel like I'm drowning, and any help would be greatly appreciated

There’s actually a movie about this for free on YouTube and Tubi called, “Death PhD.”

View Poll

I’m currently on the 40th version of my paper and I feel like I’m losing my mind.

At first, my advisor was obsessed with tiny details and word choices. Then we moved on to structural logic. Now, at version 30+, they suddenly decided the methodology is wrong and I need to add more experimental results. We haven't even submitted to a single journal yet.

I feel like we’re stuck in this useless loop and self-indulgent perfectionism. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time, cuz reviewers are going to have comments no matter what, so why try to make it perfect now?

And I’m now terrified to even type a sentence cuz I’m afraid of using the wrong word. How do I break this cycle and just get the damn thing submitted?

What I mean in the title is that the classes I have taken since publication have made me realize I did so many things wrong. Basically, I committed every statistical mistake that my OG 75-year-old stats and methodology professor taught this past semester. He discussed the issues with null hypothesis significance testing in the era of computers, particularly "tabular asterisks" instead of planned contrasts and theoretical risks. I had to categorize rather than use raw frequency because the distribution was heavily skewed. In the class, he discussed that categorization results rely on arbitrary cutoffs and should be avoided at all costs. He said stepwise regression should be avoided entirely (my next paper utilizes this method). I was ecstatic about this publication milestone until I realized how weak my methods were. I'm embarrassed at my own work (not my argument/setup/idea), but how poorly it was executed. Half of his class, I was sinking into my seat, and was humbled quickly about how little I actually know. He is trying to push for more rigor in psychological science, and I basically fell into every mistake he discussed that has held the field back.