Hello Phd

Sometimes, your humble HelloPhD hosts forget how narrow our experience has been in graduate education. We’re both biomedical PhDs, and while we trained in different departments, there was a significant amount of overlap. For us, a PhD meant classes, comprehensive exams, rotations, lab meetings, experiments, seminars, and so on. While those experiences were common across […] The post 171. The Life and Times of a Humanities PhD Candidate appeared first on Hello PhD.

Sarah had achieved her dream. With a PhD in Physics, she had accepted a new position as a Theoretical Physicist. But as the months wore on, she started to feel overwhelmed and depressed. She’d done well in school and enjoyed her classes – why couldn’t she focus on her work? Sean graduated with honors from […] The post 144. Finding a Career that Fits with Marlys Hanson (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

If you’re a grad student who hasn’t thought about leaving your PhD program at least once, you might not have a pulse. When experiments fail, grants are rejected, or you get reprimanded by the PI, it’s often comforting to remember that all of this suffering is self-imposed and you could simply leave the University and […] The post 170. Mailbag: Should I Quit Grad School? appeared first on Hello PhD.

Even as a child, Alexandra wanted to study space. She had a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Cambridge University, so she seemed like the perfect candidate to for a PhD program. But after graduation, she didn’t feel ready. She’d need a Master’s degree first, but money was tight and her student visa had run out. […] The post 168. Change Your Plans, Not Your Goals appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s no secret that a lot of scientific conversation happens on Twitter. It’s a great place to share your research, keep up with trends, and connect with collaborators. But many grad students and postdocs have questions. Is it okay to promote my own work? Can I just retweet other scientists, or do I have to […] The post 168. Academic Twitter: Step-By-Step appeared first on Hello PhD.

Turning over the last page of the calendar seems to naturally invite some reflection on the previous 365 days. When you look back at 2021, what went well? And what do you wish you could change in the coming year? This week, we take the opportunity to reflect back much farther – to our days […] The post 086. Five Resolutions for Happier, Healthier Scientists (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

This week, we dive head-first into the mailbag to answer listener questions about grad school readiness, teaching experience, and more! Just Finished! Our first missive comes from Kaylee, who recently graduated! I just wanted to send an email to thank you for all of the hard work you have put into creating Hello PhD over […] The post 167. Mailbag – Am I Ready For Grad School? appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s inevitable.  At some point in your research career, you’re going to get that sinking feeling. Your experiments will all fail, your PI will get on your case about finishing that paper, and your graduation date will drift maddeningly out of reach. So what can you do when your research starts to drag you down? […] The post 075. When Research Sucks (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

The CACTUS Global Mental Health Survey asked valuable questions about stress, performance, and career goals for scientists. The data revealed plenty of room for improvement, as researchers struggle with harassment, work-life balance, and limited pay. But the study’s authors also asked more open-ended questions: Do you have any suggestions for organizations within academia or other […] The post 166. Want to Improve Research Careers? Scientists Have 5,434 Suggestions. appeared first on Hello PhD.

Most academics are overwhelmed, even the ones who are successful in terms of being productive researchers, busy teachers and efficient administrators. But, they seem like the norm and everyone who struggles is not, and this needs to be disrupted and changed. Research fellow/post-doctoral researcher, Africa. I’m worried about sexism in academia in general and this […] The post 165: A Survey Asked Researchers About Their Mental Health. Here’s What They Said. appeared first on Hello PhD.

Do you hear it? It’s the sound of hopeful scientists frantically typing out their grad school applications! They’re pondering the best format for a CV, scouring University websites to learn more about each graduate program, and begging their research advisors to PLEASE make the time to write that letter of recommendation! The silence you hear […] The post 164. The Essential Guide to Grad School Applications appeared first on Hello PhD.

The only thing harder than hiking for three hours into a remote boreal forest is realizing you forgot your sample kit back in the lab. For many researchers, running out of a reagent means walking down the hall to borrow more from a neighboring lab, but field researchers don’t have that luxury. They may be […] The post 163. The 3 T’s of Successful Field Research appeared first on Hello PhD.

When we think of scientists, we often think of the lone researcher plodding away at the bench late into the night.  We imagine Alexander Fleming scrutinizing his penicillium molds or Einstein pondering the latest equation he’s written on the chalk board. We go a step further when training new scientists: we ask them to complete an […] The post 056. Team Up for Speedier Science (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s 8PM on a Wednesday night, and you’re sitting in a quiet lab all alone. It’s your turn to present during lab meeting on Friday, and that familiar sense of panic starts to set in. What HAVE you been doing with your time? You flip back through the lab notebook and remember how you spent […] The post 162. Get More Done with LabScrum w/ Dr. Lisa May appeared first on Hello PhD.

All those feelings of excitement and possibility screech to a halt when you walk back into the lab to see your PI glaring over her reading glasses. She looks at her watch. “Hey, good to see you. So glad you could join us,” she drips with sarcasm. After missing a beat, you rally. “Yeah, sorry […] The post 161. Career Development is NOT a Waste of Time. We Have Proof. appeared first on Hello PhD.

You know it. You love it. It’s mailbag time! We answer real listener questions, plus a few questions no one is asking! Make it Meaningful The first question comes from Lexi, who is trying to choose between a PhD program that is ‘pure fun’, and one that will have broader impacts: I will be applying […] The post 160. Mailbag – Finding A Postdoc Overseas, Lab Equipment at Home, et al! appeared first on Hello PhD.

Imagine a tennis ball dropped on cement – it immediately bounces back to your hand. Now imagine dropping that same ball on a sandy beach. The bounce of a tennis ball on pavement is a form of resilience, but it’s important to note that resilience is not just an inherent property of the ball. Context […] The post 159. Cultivating Resilience w/ Adina Glickman appeared first on Hello PhD.

In 2011, a whopping 36,000 science and technology grad students earned their PhDs.  That same year, about 3,000 faculty positions were created.  So why did you feel like a failure when you decided to step off the tenure track? Taking the high road Scientists aren’t always as rational as we seem.  A rational person would […] The post 027. The Road More Traveled: Stepping Off of the Tenure Track (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s Friday morning, and you promised your PI a draft of your paper before the weekend. The trouble is, you lost a lot of time this week to distractions. Monday you had lab meeting and a few other planning sessions. Tuesday you worked from home but got sucked into cleaning the kitchen and folding laundry […] The post 158. Five Strategies for Defeating Distractions appeared first on Hello PhD.

Most graduate students look on their research advisors as a mentor – hoping for guidance on science, career, and life in general. But even a superstar PI can’t provide that kind of comprehensive mentorship for all students all the time, and those stellar advisors are rare indeed. That’s why EVERY student needs to think about […] The post 157. The Three Mentors You Need appeared first on Hello PhD.