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0 votes
1 answer
403 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 ...
Yawo Kokuvi's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
261 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 ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
842 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'...
user avatar
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 ...
Noname's user avatar
  • 609
0 votes
1 answer
331 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 ...
bikramnepali's user avatar
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 ...
padawan's user avatar
  • 12.3k
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 ...
argmt's user avatar
  • 305
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, ...
Alice's user avatar
  • 750
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 ...
user avatar
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 ...
AskingQuestions's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
276 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 ...
Vedanta's user avatar
  • 31
75 votes
9 answers
52k 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 ...
Abhik Tandon's user avatar
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 ...
MichaelMMeskhi's user avatar
47 votes
7 answers
6k views

How can I overcome academic "researcher's block"?

I work as a senior academic in an important university in Europe. My name is in several publications in top journals in my field. I have always published papers together with brilliant collaborators ...
Albin's user avatar
  • 561
96 votes
10 answers
28k views

What makes academic failure different from failure in another career?

It is my understanding that academia as a nebulous whole has its own culture and speaks its own language that makes it a very different environment to work in compared to other so-called "industry" ...
astronat supports the strike's user avatar

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