What did you do (or would you do) in the first days, weeks, etc. after defending? I need some epic ideas!!! 😎

I never thought this day would actually come. I was terrified throughout the entire program - too much uncertainty. Yayayayayay!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🎊

My baby has been gestating for 5 years and she's finally here. She's frying an egg because she got fried in the defense real good but also low-key she probably cooked (so say my labmates...).

Thanks to this community for your support:)

I defended my PhD and passed about two weeks ago!

I move for my job next week but my start date isn't until the 24th. What should I do with my free time? ​

This is half vent and half advice-seeking, but as the title suggests, I’m finishing (or trying to finish) writing my first manuscript. I’m a STEM PhD student and this isn’t my entire thesis project, but it has eaten up my last two years. As we inch closer to wrapping it up, I have this sense of something like, “who allowed a kid like me to do this?” My advisor is pretty involved which I do appreciate, but it’s a collaboration using a system he doesn’t know well so he generally shrugs and agrees with whatever I say. On the other hand, the collaborators will answer the questions I can come up with but haven’t been at all helpful in terms of the science and direction. In short, I feel pretty alone in the process, which maybe is good for my development as an independent researcher but bad for my sense of security haha.

When I look at my twenty-odd main and supplementary figures, the main text where every sentence represents weeks of scientific work, all the methods and code, etc… my heart starts pounding and I get overwhelmed quickly. I find myself redoing and cross-checking everything to the point of inefficiency. I’ve developed a sense of constant anxiety that everything I’ve done is wrong, and I’m about to discover one mistake that collapses the work like a house of cards. My advisor says to write down tasks and do them one by one (thanks, man), but that only works as long as I know exactly which tasks still remain, whereas I find myself discovering new tiny holes every day. All this to say -

Is there a way to keep it together in this last stretch, where it’s all about attention to detail? Any tips for how to manage would be helpful…

I’m graduating with a physics degree and have two opportunities:

A Quality Engineer position starting around $70k salary with opportunities for promotion.
Or
A fully funded condensed matter physics PhD ($22k stipend) researching solid-state batteries and quantum materials. The advisor expects students to graduate in 4–5 years, and many graduates go into industry.

If you were in my position, which path would you choose, and why? If you’ve made a similar decision, what happened?

I just turned 30 this year. And I've had the goal of getting my PhD since I was 16 in highschool. But... I had some stuff get in the way. You see, when I was 16 I got encephalitis. It caused minor brain damage and retrograde amnesia. I retained and regained at of knowledge afterwards, but there was (is) still a lot I hadn't. But, with the support I had, I still ended up graduating highschool top of my class, straight A student. Even had an opportunity to graduate early but wanted to graduate with my friends.

And then college started...

I started at my community college right after highschool. I loved it. But I didn't have the support I had in highschool and also lacked a decided path (also my jackass teen mind was more so focused on dating than school at the time too). It literally took me about 5 years going back and forth in my community college to figure out what I wanted to do. But finally I did and I got accepted to a university (barely met their requirements, but got in).

And then...

I almost flunked out on my first term.

I then looked into my mental health. I had suspected myself to have ADHD for a while - It runs in my family and I literally every sign of it - but finally decided to have my mental health checked after my trouble at my university. And turns out... Yup, ADHD. As well as Social Anxiety Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, Depression, and OCD (I'm also likely autistic, but that topic came up relatively recently and I have yet to be diagnosed).

Now, this was great. Turns out my university has a program for coaching students specifically with mental health disorders such as ADHD. I was accepted to the program and my coach helped me excel for the next two years. But... For those two years I didn't take any courses in my major. I tool minor courses and other electives that interested me. I was terrified of my major because I had started to realize how behind I was in my knowledge of the subject. Very much thanks to the memory loss from my brain damage when I was 16. There were (are) literally elementary level, common knowledge facts and vocab in my major I have yet to relearn. Not because I can't, but because I'm embarrassed to admit what I forgot and don't know where to look to regain this basic knowledge (side clarification - I'm a biology major and I have a hard time identifying local common species in my area. Or my lack of knowledgeof the human body even. I couldn't tell you what a majority of our organs are, where they are, or what they do. These are just a few example of my lack of knowledge in my subject).

Then... almost four years ago now, I decided to take a break from school because of my mental health. It was only going to be one year, but financial issues got in the way and now it's been about four years.

Luckily though, over the past few years, I have got the mental health help I need. And found healthy solutions to my financial trouble. And now have the opportunity to start back at my university.

My one issue still is though, my social anxiety atop my memory loss.

I'll still be starting back towards my bachelors when I get back, but it is still my goal, FAR down the line to pursue my masters and eventually PhD.

And I think my biggest block currently is lack of reassurance from others who understand. Not necessarily someone with the same story of course, but someone who succeeded despite equivalent draw backs.

I need to know my goal is possible. I don't care how hard or long it is to obtain. I just need reassurance that it is obtainable despite my challenges.

So, as my title asks, is there anyone with equivalent stories who succeeded? And are there any suggestions to help me succeed?

Thank you so much for enduring through my short novel of a post and thank you for any relatable stories of your own and suggestions. I wish the best to all!

Edit: I will note, I have seen a few similar posts in my search, but I still felt I needed to share my personal story for a more definite sence of relatability.

Edit 2: After reading just the first comment, I realized my angst for this goal is far ahead of where I am now and my focus should be on my current academic standing (weather or not I can get even a bachelors). So I think I'll repost to a more appropriate sub. But I will keep this post here incase there are any suggestive or relating words for me here from other intelligent people. Again. Thank you all.

A few months ago, I complained my PhD research was shit and I wanted to break out to industry.

Then, I saw a postdoc opportunity and hopped on the wagon immediately. Today, I was offered with this position.

I should celebrate the moment, but I haven’t defended my thesis. Kinda feel nervous.

I never imagined I'd end up doing a PhD. When I was a kid (around 2006), my dad came to the U.S. to do his master's degree, and our family lived here for two years. I loved it, when we moved back to my home country, I always dreamed of returning one day, but I thought it would be impossible because of how expensive it would be.

Fast forward to 2020, I graduated with a bachelor's degree in Geology. Finding a job back home was very difficult. I eventually found one, but I wasn't happy there. Then, in 2022, I was offered a fully funded graduate opportunity in the U.S. It was originally supposed to be a master's, but my current advisor told me she only had funding for PhD students.

My first thought wasn't, "I want a PhD." It was, "This is five years in the U.S., the country I've always wanted to live in." So I accepted without knowing what I was getting myself into.

Now I'm in my fourth year of a PhD in Energy Engineering. I don't hate research, but I've realized that I don't enjoy my specific research topic as much as I thought I would. Some people seem genuinely passionate about their work, while mine often feels like just something I have to finish.

To graduate, I'm expected to publish 4 first author papers. One is under review, the second is with my advisor, and I'm currently working on the third. Over the past year, my mindset has changed. My goal is not and has never been academia, I want to stay in the U.S. and build a career in industry. Because of that, I don't care about publishing in the highest impact journals, chasing citations, or building an academic reputation. I just want to finish my PhD, graduate, and move on with my life.

Sometimes I wonder if that's the wrong way to think. I'm still working hard, I'm writing the papers, doing the research, and putting in the hours and effort. But my advisor is extremely busy, doesn't seem very invested in my project, and my research is not in her area of expertise.

When I compare my experience with other engineering PhD students, I notice that many of them have advisors who say, "Here's your project, here are the goals, now go do the work." My experience has been way less structured, and I've had to figure everything out on my own.

Eventually I stopped comparing myself to other students. Instead of thinking about whether my research will have a huge academic impact, I started looking at each paper as a project that demonstrates technical skills I can talk about during industry interviews. That mindset has helped me keep going.

This year, my advisor also allowed me to claim my master's degree while continuing toward the PhD. I considered leaving after the master's, but because I'm on an F1 visa, it wasn't a practical option given the current visa situation. There are nights when I go to bed crying and wishing my advisor would just fire me.

The best part of this journey has been meeting my fiancé. He's also a PhD student in the same field, but he has a different advisor. He's doing really well and will graduate next year. We're planning to apply for the green card soon (under his profile bc it is waay better than mine), and hopefully everything works out. If I become a permanent resident while still in my PhD, I might just quit and go work in industry.

Has anyone else started a PhD just leave their country and for better opportunities? Did you lose interest in academia but decide to finish anyway? Or did you leave before finishing?

I'd like to hear from people who've been through something similar.

Long story not so short: I have all my subjects in, all my years in, published part of my thesis and then... life happened. I became a double care taker and since my scholarship ended I had to take a full time job outside academia (so I could actually pay for stuff).

This was end of 2022, I hear the university could potentially "take me back" so I can just present the thesis and defend it, but I'm stuck with the dumbest paperwork there is. Of note, I was made for bureaucracy, but I'm too scared to open the damn document. I'm advancing at snail speed, with bursts of motivation at the time.

My thesis is almost complete: I have to review one pending question with my PI to debate in the discussion and then do the figures. After that, the review from my PI who is awesome and we have a nice relationship. And then the powerpoint and I'm done. How can it possibly be so hard?

I will now correct the paperwork and send it again, thank you venting. But then, it's going to be the next thing and the next... I'm AuDHD in case you haven't noticed, so some silly things may look like a big monster sometimes.

I hope to vent next time with a frog, thanks for reading!

Hi everyone! I was accepted into a few PhD programs, two in history, one in Scandinavian studies. The history program I would most be interested in would be an advisor looking at the history of newspapers across northern Europe. The Scandinavian studies advisor has written extensively on Sweden during WWII.

My research looks at attitudes towards Swedish neutrality and how it became part of the Swedish identity. Overall, the transition from a top-down government decision, to being a public desire. My overall goals are to work as a professor of history, or to conduct research in the nordics, working at museums.

My question is, would a Scandinavian studies program limit me if I want to work in the US or Sweden? Would I be able to work in a history department? Should I reach out to the Scandinavian studies program about doing a joint dissertation with the history department?

The history PhD is cheaper, both similarly ranked. I am applying for funding, but have to decide which program to list for the application.

I’m on good terms with my teacher and learned that he will be defending his phd or dissertation (idk the difference). In class he seemed somewhat wary of saying yes and told me to email him once it’s closer to the date. Is a defense more of a personal thing or is it okay to ask to come? I just don’t want him to go against the norm/what he wants just so he doesn’t let me down. Any advice is appreciated!

EDIT: Thank you for all the replies, and in case anyone reads this and wants to know - the consensus is that while the advice is bad, it is up to me to decide whether to take my PIs advice, leave it, and/or push back when necessary, as part of a PhD is learning how to advocate for yourself.

I've posted here before but I'm looking for advice once again 😅. For context I am a North American student doing a PhD in Europe, and my PI is European. Overall my PI is very sweet and nice, and I really love my work, lab and personal life. However I've noticed a few things that concern me, and I dont know if my PI has my best interest or wellbeing in mind at times. A few things:

1. We were discussing moving samples from one city to another (2hr train ride). There were almost 100 falcon tubes that needed to be transported in dry ice; think 2 10kg boxes. Her solution was to have me transport them on train since I dont have a drivers license. I asked about someone driving but apparently no one could. I didnt think this was feasible or safe for either me or the samples, and I tried to negotiate down to taking 10-20 tubes over a period of days. Two other people (my co supervisor and a senior lab tech) were in the room and looked a bit uncomfortable but didn't say anything. In the end a lab tech offered to drive me when I told them about the situation thank God.

2. I am scheduled for an internship in Germany from November to January. My current apartment lease ends in January so I'm starting to look for housing, but it can be really hard in this city at times. Just in case the worst happens, I asked to come back in the middle of January so I would have time to house hunt again. She instead suggested I store my items while I was in Germany instead of finding a place, but that would leave me homeless if I came back with no lease lined up.

I think both of these could be chalked up to not thinking things through, but considering shes a physician clinician I doubt it? She also has a few other habits I dislike (like asking me simple questions such as "Do you know what a control group is?" in front of others, but I try not to mind). However the 2 issues I pointed out above have got me wondering if I should trust her in the future with information about myself. Everyone here is insisting that I should trust my supervisors but I've been burned by that before (my last PI kept asking about my financial situation and tried to convince me not to work as a TA and just try for scholarships I wasnt even eligible for).

Any advice is appreciated!

I know how this sounds and alls well that ends well. But I am am sick of wondering.

I rambled my answer for a few questions which may be okay. But then I was asked about something related to a statement I had made in passing in the motivation section but not really addressed deeply through the results (several other motivatons were addressed). It was one of those things where as you write you end up realizing that presenting the results some other way would be better but the motivation text still had a couple of references to the original ideas. Anyway, it took me a long time to get to the right answer. I had to think my way through it in real time, even though it was potentially a simple question. Now I'm wondering if my committee thought that it was strange I couldn't answer something so simple quickly. Eta: STEM USA

Hello everyone. I just started my PhD in Germany, to work on a government-funded project. It was extremely difficult for me to find a group that would take me on as a candidate, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunity.

Before accepting the offer, I of course spoke with my P.I. and the PhD students of my group, and they told me everything was good in the faculty.
However, once I arrived i got to know that there are only 4 active groups, a total of 7 PhD students (3 of which in my lab, myself included - one is almost finished). There is maybe one postdoc in the whole faculty, none in my group. We are so few that problems are starting to come up, like lack of support for the supervision of the practical courses.
I am the only one working on my project. I feel like that the previous students who worked on this left at a critcal point, that could make or break the whole premise of the project. My P.I. seems supportive, but she doesn't seem to want to give me any directions for advancing with the research. My opnion on her might change once I get to know her better.

From what I read here, it seems like wanting to continue to work in academia after the PhD is a terrible idea, but it has always been my dream, so please allow me to be naive.
Right now I am having serious doubts if I made the right choice accepting this position, as I am afraid to find myself being left almost alone in the faculty, and wasting my potential due to lack of support, while working on a failing project. I even fear that the faculty may shut down overall, with very few students doing their bachelor/masters here.

So if you were in my shoes, what would you do immediately to feel better about your choices? I'm not even sure what my options are at the moment. I really feel lost, and have no idea where to go from here. Any advice/anecdote is appreciated.

I moved to industry after my PhD. Recently I prepared the final paper to submit. However started to miss the research life. Immediately I have a thought: maybe I should go back academia starting from postdoc? Then my brain kept replaying the miserable moments during PhD like modifying and rewriting the paper again and again.

Is this sort of Stockholm syndrome? Do you have the same experience? Should I seriously consider to find an academic position?

I am a STEM grad student, 3 full years in and currently in the middle of qualifying exams. In May, I switched advisors.

I am one of a long list of grad students who failed to be able to work with my previous advisor. (And I believe I will be the last, as he is now prohibited from taking on more students.) My department is being very supportive, and my new advisor is wonderful.

The problem is that no one at my university does anything close to the subfield my PhD project is in - so now I have a significant expertise gap on my committee and in my project supervision.

However, I love my project. It is what I came to grad school to do and the reason I didn't leave my advisor for so long. I was determined to stick it out. A key reason I decided to leave my bad situation was that several faculty told me privately that the department would support me to continue my project with other supervision (external if necessary).

But now that I'm talking to potential collaborators and looking for external supervision, I'm worried that it may have been wishful thinking. I think my department is familiar with my previous advisor's conduct and assumes everyone in his field is as well. But even if that is true, and I'm not sure it is, other PIs still may not want to get involved with me as it would cause significant tension with my previous advisor, and he is quite well known.

So here we are. My options:

- Quit/master out and start a new PhD somewhere else. I've had my master's for a year now through the same program, so I feel I would just be quitting. Starting somewhere else, I could be upfront about my extensive experience and desire for a "efficient" project. In the long run, it would set me back a few years, but I would learn a lot more. I'm increasingly thinking my old advisor may be a charlatan. He really didn't teach me enough. But I can't imagine starting a PhD over again at a whole new university. It is making me cry.

- Rush graduate with a PhD. Some faculty have told me that I am far enough along in my project that I could simply write up what I have done and graduate. It may not be a good dissertation, but it would be enough if what I decide I really want to do is GTFO. But I want a research career, and that means publications. Not sure that is feasible.

- Start a new project at my current university to add to my dissertation, strengthening it and my credentials. But like I have said, no one at my university is doing something close to what I want to do. I came here specifically to work with my previous advisor. This option feels like a waste of time to me right now.

- Continue on old project. Possibly with external leadership, but at minimum, I want someone on my committee who works in the subfield. My preferred option. I want to finish things well, tie up some loose ends, and turn my work into publications. Pipe dream? Possibly.

What would you do? Which of these options seem completely infeasible to you? Anyone have comparable experience? Please, I need advice.

I understand my career goals factor largely into this. I am looking to stay in scientific research, ideally a national lab setting. I don't want to become a professor, but I would consider working at a university in a research faculty position. No matter which option, I am probably looking to do a postdoc at an institution of greater standing than my current one.

Also maybe important to consider is that I haven't published any of my work so far or secured external funding (grants, etc.) due to my previous advisor discouraging or prohibiting me from doing so.

Previous advisor thinks I am a pawn in a political attack against him and is not cooperating (has not even agreed to meet with me since he was informed of the switch). However, I've been assured by multiple university admin levels that I have the right to proceed with my data and results.

I’m 1 year into my 5-year PhD program and I feel like I’m making a mistake. It’s a dual master’s / PhD program (100% funded) and in the first year I’ve completed nearly all the coursework for the masters (I have one term of classes left) and am very close to proposing my master’s thesis. I also helped another faculty member with a paper and did all of the analysis and wrote the method/results section (which she has promised me authorship for).

I feel like I’m moving in the right direction, but the problem is that I have really no passion for my thesis topic and can’t seem to narrow my research focus at all. I’m in a fairly broad social sciences program (Human Development) so I can study almost anything with human behavior, but can’t seem to find my niche. My thesis topic was chosen entirely by my advisor (I’m a very agreeable person so I just went along with it).

I’ve learned a lot in the first year, but have found myself drawn almost exclusively to quantitative methodology and complex modeling. My thesis currently is a dyadic, longitudinal MLM (which is really the only thing keeping me interested in it). I feel like I should’ve done a statistics program, but am in too deep now. My undergraduate degree is pretty much useless without higher education.

I enjoy statistics, research methods, data analysis, and human behavior broadly. I mainly struggle with determining what question should be asked and why. I don’t particularly enjoy the process of developing a highly specialized research agenda, which seems vital in academia. I also don’t currently see myself wanting a traditional tenure-track career, although I could imagine working in applied research, data analysis, program evaluation, or industry.

For people who have completed or left PhD programs: How long did it take you to find your research niche? Is enjoying methods and analysis, but not feeling strongly attached to a particular topic, enough reason to continue? At what point should I seriously consider mastering out?

EDIT: the program is located in the US

Hello! I am curious if any other PhD's have included a chapter or section in their dissertation on work outside of their core experiments. I've come across two examples of this - one where someone discussed the importance of open science and how they incorporated that into their thesis work, another where someone discussed how their trans identity affected their experience as a PhD student and some personal writing they published on the subject.

My defense date is coming soon (September!) and I'm just considering whether this is something I want to do on science outreach/policy efforts. Also, they're just so interesting to read, so I would love to see more examples!

Thanks in advance for anyone who replies! I appreciate it.

I have graduated from my program but still I have to revise parts of my dissertation. In other words, I was allowed to walk after my successful defense.

Here's the issue: I have to provide a reason on a form explaining why I was UNable to complete everything in the allotted program maximum. This is because I still have revisions.

There is no specific reason other than the same issues many of us have--procrastination, personal issues, grief, experiment revisions.

What can I say that sounds like I am not making excuses, sufficiently vague, but still answers the question? I usually think the LESS information the better when it comes to most administrative type forms in general.

I don’t even know where to start, but I’m at my absolute breaking point. I’m currently doing my PhD in Journalism, and I’ve hit a total wall. I reached the point where I genuinely need some dissertation help just to make sense of what I'm supposed to be doing.

For context, my research focuses on digital media ethics, but right now, I can’t even focus on the actual writing. My main issue is my advisor. Every time I submit a draft or ask for direction, I either get vague, one-line replies two weeks later or complete radio silence. Because of this total lack of feedback, I literally don't know what concrete steps to take next. Do I rework the methodology? Redo the literature review? I’m just staring at a blank screen.

Because I’ve been floating in this limbo, I’ve missed several internal deadlines, and now the panic is setting in. The constant anxiety has turned into full-blown burnout. I wake up, stare at my draft, feel overwhelmed, and accomplish nothing. It’s a vicious cycle.

I’m so behind that I’ve even caught myself desperately googling if hiring a dissertation writer or an outside consultant is a normal thing people do just to get an outline or structure back on track, because I feel completely abandoned by my department.

I really just wanted to share my story and see how others survived this. Has anyone else gone through extreme burnout caused by bad supervision? How did you break out of the paralysis and actually figure out your next steps when you were months behind schedule?

Hey all, I guess i’m looking for a time you had to do something like this and maybe some advice to help me out of this funk.

I’ve been working on this project now for 2 years. I’m trying to finish the paper and really struggling to find the motivation to write. I’ve been invited to present at a conference in November and I’m supposed to present at a huge conference in my field early September.

I’m freaking out about presenting in September and feel that my work is garbage. I’m not sure why i feel this way. I just cant face it. It’s like i’m afraid to write it up. I wish it could all be better than it ended up being. I don’t know why people even invite or let me into the conferences.

Anyway, any advice to overcome this fear and absolute hatred for my own work? How can i talk about it well at the conference? There’s gonna be some seriously big people in the field there. I feel like i shouldn’t be among them or that they will try to embarrass me publicly or something.

How did you finish writing something you hated and felt wasn’t really good enough?

Thanks in advance.

PS part of this is also because I’m technically supposed to be on a 6 month break to do my internship but because the experiments weren’t complete, i work on my PhD on the weekends.