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0 votes
1 answer
405 views

Sabbatical Abroad Without Family: How Did it Work

Hello: Following this previous thread: (Profs who have done a full year sabbatical overseas with a family: How did you make it work?), I am equally curious about whether any prof has done a full-year ...
-3 votes
1 answer
264 views

How do you deal with grade deflation and with looking at grades?

I'm in upper years of physics and economics, as I've changed majors a few times and ultimately wound up coming back to physics, the subject that I love. That said, back in my business school days (I ...
4 votes
0 answers
232 views

How to deal with career anxiety and manage to remain concentrated on the matter in hand?

I am just over 30 years and about to finish my PhD. I will obtain my PhD from an EU country, and I must obtain residence permit to keep staying in EU. My thesis is almost a staple thesis which ...
12 votes
7 answers
2k views

What if you love your field but can't take the heat of academia?

Imagine "a person" who may or may not be brilliant in her field, but certainly has new things to contribute, some of them (in her opinion) fascinating. Imagine she adores her field, relates to it ...
2 votes
2 answers
851 views

How to politely ask for at least acknowledgement when I help people?

In recent years, as a PhD student in West Africa, I have helped several undergraduate and PhD students who were stuck with some particular problems to the point where they were barely to leave (I can'...
56 votes
8 answers
13k views

Math Ph.D. does not know what to do with life? [closed]

Background: I am a Math Ph.D. student in the U.S. (originally from a developing nation) in partial differential equations (PDEs) but on the theoretical side of PDEs (no simulation, no numerical). I am ...
0 votes
1 answer
332 views

How to overcome "reader's block" as an undegraduate student?

This semester I am reading lots of textbooks. In the beginning I learnt a lot by reading books but soon after, the amount of my learning started to decline. I feel like I have hit the reader's block ...
5 votes
6 answers
3k views

How do I determine if a PhD is financially feasible for me?

Pursuing an academic career involves risk, including financial risk. My question is: what factors should one consider when deciding whether these financial risks are worth it in one's personal ...
116 votes
9 answers
22k views

How to stop feeling guilty about unfinished work?

My biggest challenge as a PhD student is best summarized by the following from PHD Comics: "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham www.phdcomics.com A consequence of working in research is that the ...
0 votes
1 answer
2k views

I wasted a lot of time during my PhD. As a postdoc, I don't see much progress in my abilities. How can I make progress? [closed]

I made several mistakes in my PhD: Joined a PhD advisor who didn't have direct knowledge/experience about my PhD topic. She worked with nanomaterials, my work was on continuum mechanics. I had both ...
38 votes
11 answers
16k views

Was my student being disrespectful by using shouting language in her email to me?

I have a PhD in statistics and teach statistics for humanities students in a university. One week before the start of the semester I posted all the required information regarding the course textbook, ...
5 votes
1 answer
424 views

Stress and anxiety related to competition

Regarding stress in mathematical research, I saw posts like Is Mathematical Research Stressful? But it seems that most answers there don't stress what I mainly feel, that much of my stress (even as ...
1 vote
1 answer
278 views

Feeling like stuck in a wrong field of study due to inept technical background. Seeking advice on how to sustain in academia and research? [closed]

I completed my PhD from North America recently in a particular subfield in mechanical engineering. Though, I have published 3 decent publications and got a postdoctoral position afterwards, I am ...
75 votes
9 answers
53k views

I wasted six years of my life getting a PhD degree. What should I do, and how will I survive?

I struggled with low self confidence throughout my bachelors, masters and PhD in chemical engineering. After spending two years in Masters and six years in getting a PhD degree, I am lost at what I ...
3 votes
1 answer
307 views

How to deal with the fear of missing out?

I will be soon starting my Ph.D. but have already experienced some of the research environment. I have chosen to work on a field in machine learning that is becoming increasingly popular. Every time I ...

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