I’m a PhD student (22F) at the beginning of my phd. In my lab, there’s a professor who works on a topic very close to mine, closer than my supervisor’s. I’m hesitant to collaborate seriously with him. On the one hand, he’s very competent, and the few times we’ve worked together, it was helpful. On the other hand, some of his behaviors bother me: as we were leaving a work drinks event, he asked to be co-author on a paper he didn’t work on, he criticized my supervisor, and he gives me lingering looks when we pass each other, which I find hard to interpret and which make me uncomfortable.

He’s told me several times that he’d like to work with me. I feel like I should keep my distance, but this collaboration could be useful and open doors for me after my PhD. I’m not sure whether I should trust my gut on this one.

Hey everyone,
Looking for some serious advice on how to handle an awkward Letter of Recommendation (LOR) situation.
Long story short, I recently asked my Master's thesis supervisor for an LOR. I made the massive mistake of sending a generic AI-sounding email. He called me out directly, saying it showed how "careless" I am. I immediately apologized, explained a chaotic situation (my uni email access was expiring), and thankfully, he still agreed to write it.
Twice in the past, I had to call him back into the lab because I forgot something he had just taught me.
I got a distinction on my Master’s thesis under him. He has been incredibly supportive in the past and even checked up on me after my viva.
Is it acceptable to ask them what they plan to highlight, or is that considered taboo/rude?
If it is okay to ask, how should I approach the conversation without sounding distrustful or pushy? I want to make sure my application is cohesive and that their letter aligns with the specific skills I’m trying to highlight in my personal statement.
Has anyone done this successfully? What wording did you use?
Thanks in advance!

I'm an early-career researcher seeking advice on collaboration and authorship.

I've had colleagues propose co-authoring papers based on projects I developed independently, after I'd already completed the technical work and deliverables. I'm happy to collaborate on new developments, but I don't think someone should automatically become a co-author simply because they see an opportunity to publish existing work.

Recently, my PI pressured me to include a colleague on a journal article, even though their contribution was extremely limited (probably less than 1%). I had wanted to publish the work independently while acknowledging this colleague's contribution in the acknowledgment. The situation is complicated by what I perceive as favoritism toward this colleague, which is widely known at my institution, and sometimes considered unfair by others.

I'm frustrated by what feels like a recurring pattern in my team: some people wait for others to develop ideas and do the work, then attach themselves to the results. It seems not working like this in other teams of my institution.

My relationship with my PI is friendly, but often hierarchical. Disagreements are difficult, and I generally feel expected to comply with their decisions.

My questions are:

- How do you push back when a PI pressures you to include a colleague as a co-author?

- How do you protect your contributions without damaging professional relationships?

I'm not against collaboration or sharing credit. I just want authorship to reflect actual contributions rather than personal relationships.

I'd appreciate advice, especially from early-career researchers who've faced similar situations.

I'm looking for a software which allows me to vary the variables of a function with sliders in order to achieve a good first model before fitting normally. Kind of like how desmos allows changing constants with sliders. Is there like an origin app, a standalone software or something? I'm trying to fit a complex experimental curve with a function, but it has a lot of variables so it's really hard to get a consistent model by eye and keep it while fitting.

I've come across a TT job that is still accepting applications until the end of the month, but which has its first review date at the start of it. I'll throw my hat in the ring regardless, but I was wondering from anyone who's been on the other side how likely it is that late submissions get seriously looked at. It is a humanities job at an ivy, somewhat narrow field.

Recently I have been in one of the amazing workshops for faculty in my university about Peer Observation in Teaching practices.

The speaker was amazing in that field yet they questioned us, the audience at the end with very conclusive statement: Finish the sentence: Don’t provide feedback unless…..

I wonder what you think about this, especially when you are part of peer observation in teaching.

Obviously we have all heard the horror stories. While I have looked into the body of research into what improvements need to be made to support campus community members going through the title IX or related processes, what I have yet to see is a case study of an institution that is actually succeeding. Nor have I even heard anecdotal stories about an institution that handles these things well.

I know, of course, that we are much less likely to hear about it going well than going poorly. But it felt worth asking: Does anyone know college or university that seems to be doing a good job on this front?

Unconventional inquiry, and I realize that most of this sub is undergrads, early grad students, and newly minted PhDs, but I hope that maybe an outside-the-box-thinking PI might see this.

I am an R&D executive at a major biotech, and I got there without a PhD. It was definitely more difficult and much more competitive that way, but I was able to achieve it through being very fortunate, diligent, and successful in my career. I was a PhD candidate long ago, but had to drop out of my program due to a health crisis in my family. I went straight into the industry starting as a bench scientist and have been climbing the ladder ever since. However, it has always been a personal goal to finish my PhD.

I earned an online MS degree back in 2022, so I recently took all of my core coursework. I am not really interested in taking any more classes. However, my team and I are working on many very interesting disruptive diagnostic technologies at my company, and there are some unique opportunities to collaborate with academia.

My question to the academics here, is if I bring an interesting project to you and we can collaborate towards productizing a new technical offering, is that body of work (publication, dissertation, IP for your institution) something that you could see as being sufficient to earn a PhD? I'm mostly asking from a philosophical point of view, but I'm also happy to answer specific questions by PM.

Thanks for reading, and for perhaps helping an old lab rat's dream come true!

Saw a TT position that asks for teaching and research expertise that the department’s freshly hired AVP already has - same area of focus and teaching experience.

The position has been posted for 3 months and the new AVP started just a month ago. Does this mean the department has an internal candidate if they match everything in the ad?

Edit/update: thanks all for the kind words and encouragement. I think I manifested a little with this post - I heard from my collaborator (and scientific bestie) that the letter is circulating for signatures and should arrive on Friday.

Original post: I’m a mid career social scientist working in healthcare research in a school of medicine (USA, highly ranked R1). I started at my current institution as a postdoc hired by a mentor, and stayed here for a faculty job. So I never really had to do the full job market…

I’ve hit a ceiling in my current position and there are some institutional dynamics that are making it more difficult to do my research. So I went on the job market this spring.

I have a verbal offer at a different R1 - not as highly ranked, but well respected within my field. The institutional priorities and culture are better aligned with my priorities and values. Plus one of my regular collaborators is already there.

I visited and interviewed in August, then had several zoom follow ups with the chair, dean for research, and the head of their clinical and translational science center. I also met with the department admin director and went over expectations for salary, start up, etc. I’ve since seen the chair in person at a conference and even attended the department reception. I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m impressed with the department and institutional culture and excited about the opportunity.

I last spoke with the chair in person two weeks ago, and he said they would have an offer ready within a week. I still don’t have an offer. I’m not sure how much I should be following up? I don’t want to come off as nagging, but also need to make some other personal and professional decisions that are impacted by this offer.

I have my first on campus interview for an assistant professor job coming up. Due to the location of the main campus and the satellite lab I would be based at, at some point during the multi day interview, someone, presumably on the search committee, is going to drive me 4 hours to the other campus.

As excited as I am about the job, as an introvert, I am dreading this long drive with someone who is essentially a stranger. Any tips for keeping casual conversation going for this long?

One of my engineering lab professor from 3 years ago agreed to write a letter of recommendation as long as I write a draft for her. I decided to spend most of the draft talking about our final project since we were given a lot of creative freedom, so I feel like it did a good job of highlighting my ingenuity.

Problem is we did this project with our lab partners that we had all semester, and mine was nearly useless. Throughout the semester, he would tell me that he failed pretty much every quiz, he got horrible grades on the lab reports and pre labs that we (thankfully) did individually, and he was so lost during the labs that he could barely contribute to them. Naturally, for our final project, I decided to do pretty much all the implementation and most of the lab report. I assigned him maybe 25% of the lab report, and he decided to ghost me the day that it was due, which meant I had to do most of his part as well.

Anyways, I decided to let my lab partner get away with it, because his life outside of school seemed to be not so great, and I didn’t want be the reason he had to take another semester’s worth of student loans.

Now, I feel it would be beneficial to let her know I did most of the work when I send her the draft so she knows that the project was mostly me, and that I’m not trying to take credit for his nonexistent work, but I don’t know how to go about it in a way that seems like I’m not rewriting history. Have you guys dealt with a situation like this?

Hello all,

I was in a workshop in Germany and the presenter made a comment of how dr. rer. nat. is higher than dr. sc. hum. . I am a bioligist/neuroscientist doing my doctorate, and I had to enroll through medical faculty because there were complications between my lab and how long i was there and the biosciences faculty, so my supervisor told me to switch to medical faculty. When I heard his comment, it made me feel weird and kind of concerned. Is this really a common conception (in Germany vs. Europe vs. world in general) and how will it really affect me? I am a little anxious now.

Edit: thank you all for quelling my anxiety :D lovely to hear that it really doesn't matter down the line, and there is little distinction of it outside of Germany (which i plan to move after completing my doctorate). when i was first starting out, i wanted to enroll as a dr. rer. nat. as it felt closer to home (as i started out with integrative and cell biology, also i think it sounds cooler). i am at a lab that is part of pharmacology institute in a university so there is a bit of a closer bond to the medical faculty. i was not aware of this perceived "hierarchy" since there are a mix of people who have and pursuing these two types of phd in our lab, so i really thought it was just a name to show the faculty you are graduating from. i'll set a goal to graduate summa cum laude just in case 😼 (don't tell me that not matter either haha)

Good evening! After submitting my thesis proposal, I realized that I forgot to specify the number of participants in my study (Population and Sample). Can I still make this correction during my oral presentation? If so, how should I address it? Thank you so much for your response!

Someone from another research group is writing a paper that crosses over into my area of expertise. Their advisor/senior collaborators are super busy right now, so they asked me to read through their draft, check the math/technical details on my side of the field, and suggest edits.

Right now, they are treating this as a casual favor (basically just for a thank-you in the acknowledgements). I'm not really sure where the line is between an acknowledgement and co-authorship here.

Is it fair to say I only have the time to do a deep review if it could lead to being a co-author? At the same time, what if I read it and it barely needs any changes? How do you bring this up beforehand when you don't know how much fixing the paper actually needs?

I'm really confused about drafting emails. It's taking a lot of time to draft an email. But still I get no response.

I would really appreciate it if you could share your email template/structure that got you to an interview.

I'm just trying to understand the tone you are using. The structure you are following.

Why or why not?

What if they hold a graduate science degree?

I'm 22 and in the second year of a Master's in Applied Linguistics/TESOL in Morocco. I'm very introverted, and I need advice because I feel completely lost.

Where I am now:

I chose English because I genuinely love it, and the only place I could study it was the higher school of education and training. I didn't want to go straight into teaching because the teaching situation in Morocco is awful. Now I've lost my energy and don't want to do anything. I cry almost every day, sometimes in class or in public, and I try hard to hold the tears back. My personality is weak. I barely participate in class anymore. In the first semester I did, rarely, but now (3rd semester) I just don't want to.

The people around me:

Some classmates have hurt me, and others have mocked or accused me of things in public or talk behind my back. Then they come talk to me normally and I talk back as if nothing happened, and I wonder if I'm doing something bad to myself by doing that. My relationship with some of my classmates isn't good, and the environment doesn't make me feel good (some people are really toxic in a way that I didn't expect; they look old enough to have functioning brains but they're so toxic). I'm also very selective: I observe people, and if I notice bad behavior I avoid them. I wonder if I'm just avoidant. I have no one to talk to about this. I've tried, but the people around me don't get it.

Stress:

I'm not lazy, but stress has really damaged me mentally and physically. I've lost a lot of weight in very short periods. I don't want to put myself through that anymore, especially when many professors told us they were assigned their modules very late and nobody seems to care. They send us assignments the night before. The whole system feels like it doesn't care, from the faculty window staff to the banks saying "the system is down." In Morocco you need a whole day or more for paperwork that should take minutes.

The meaning question:

Sometimes I think: I was born, I have to grind to get a good career, earn a lot, live well, and then die. That doesn't excite me. There are times I've wished I was never born (even now). I'm not saying this to be dramatic, it's just how heavy it feels.

My options:

1. Quit the Master's. But I've already spent a year of a two-year program.

2. Finish it, then teach in a Moroccan higher institution (if the Master's allows that) or elsewhere for a few years to build my CV, then apply to teach in Japan. I like Japan from videos: I've heard pay is low, but life is peaceful, people mind their own business, and many seem introverted and shy like me. I know every country has a dark side, and I'm scared to move, but I'd adapt (it's not like I'll have another option).

3. Do a PhD. I don't think my level is good enough.

4. Earn enough online, maybe with a skill that doesn't need a degree, and live peacefully in a better country. I don't need perfection, just mostly stress-free, comfortable in my body and mind, with Wi-Fi, exercise, and things I enjoy.

I've also heard many people argue that introverts aren't suited to teaching because it requires so much socializing, and their arguments made sense to me. Now I'm questioning the whole path.

My questions:

1. How did you know whether a PhD was right or wrong for you?

2. Is a PhD realistic for someone introverted who is very sensitive to stress?

3. Is teaching an option for introverts, or am I fooling myself?

4. Is a Master's plus a few years of teaching enough to get a teaching job in Japan or elsewhere?

5. Is it worth finishing the Master's after one year, or should I leave?

Honest advice is welcome. Thank you for reading this far.

I was going through possible phd topics and was interested in doing computational biology and bioinformatics research on Atherosclerosis, microbiome and AMR . But it seems that most of the work are done , with no scope to add any information or research. It just feels too exhausting to even finalize the topic for my phd , how am I supposed to complete this degree. Someone who has any information on this , or any suggestions of possible research , plz responded

I am a former K-12 Teacher, now working as an Academic Advisor at my local University. Ask me anything, I'll give my honest opinion and advice!

Hi, I have to do a mandatory 6-month internship during my undergrad and was accepted into a top research institute in my field as a research assistant. I have a feeling I could like research and I am contemplating doing a PhD.

How do I get the most out of it when I am actually there? Also, do you have any tips on how I should prepare?

All my classmates are doing their internship in private companies and have much more defined roles.

I'm preparing myself, reading materials and playing around with things I find interesting. I told my supervisor what I'm doing and he send me even more materials which I am going through right now. I have never done formal research in an academic institution, only some hobby stuff and feel like I don't know anything.

Thank you!

hey all, just made this and I'm kind of nervous posting it

it's called Puperino. basically I kept downloading pomodoro apps, using them for a week, then forgetting they existed. they all felt a bit cold and serious. so I made one with a little dog called Biscuit in it.

when you start a focus session he wanders over to his bed and curls up and naps. when you're done he sometimes brings you a little gift, which you can keep or trade for bones to buy stuff for his room. you can also dress him up, which I spent way too long on (he has a witch hat and a crown, it's very important)

not gonna lie, not wanting to wake him up has kept me focused better than any streak thing ever did 😅

it also does the usual stuff: the timer on your lock screen, tasks, stats, and a stay mode if you're like me and pick up your phone every 4 minutes

it's free. there's an optional pro with more rooms and stuff if you want to support me

would really love feedback, even if it's "this is buggy" or "this is pointless" haha. what would make you actually keep using a focus timer?

I supervise several undergrad and postgrad projects each semester, and I’m not happy with how I keep track of them. Right now it’s a mix of email threads, a spreadsheet, and my memory of what I told each student last time.

The things I keep running into:

• I give feedback, and two weeks later I can’t tell whether the student acted on it.
• Students often sit on questions, then surface late.
• I lose track of which milestone each student is at when I have more than a handful.

For those of you who supervise several students:

1. What do you use to track milestones and feedback (Trello, Notion, shared docs, LMS, something else)?
2. Has anything worked well, or have you given up and gone back to email?
3. Do your students engage with whatever you use, or do you end up chasing them?

Disclosure: I’m exploring building a lightweight tool for this, so I’m trying to understand how others handle it before going further. I’m not selling anything.

WES is just a money-collecting scammer who's giving ridiculous excuses to intentionally delay your application because they just accept all the cases they get and have no capacity to process all the documents. My transcript came from a reputed, well-known institution, but in over two months they haven't done anything other than keep the document in the review stage. After that review stage there'll be a long evaluation phase also. At this point I don't need the report anymore because all the deadlines have already passed. I learned my lesson. Don't make that mistake, guys! Stay away! Their customer service number directs you to an Indian call center where the one or two people there have no clue what's going on and have no access to the internal system to check what's going on with your application. They just see what you see in your portal, and they are just there to give excuses so their Indian CEO can collect more money.

Hello, I was curious what kind of jobs are out there for people with only a Master's degree. Do I have to get a PhD to work in lecturing/teaching at a college or university? My degree is in the field of Political Science, International Relations, and European Union Studies and Transatlantic Affairs.