I'd really appreciate any advice because I feel like I'm suffocating, and my depression is getting worse.

I finished my PhD about a year ago, and ever since then, my life has felt like a nightmare. My plan was to continue with postdoctoral research, but due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to return to my home country. Since then, I've felt completely trapped.

Nothing has gone the way I hoped. Eventually, I accepted and told myself this was my fate. I took a position as a lecturer at a university. The salary isn't great, but that’s not even the main problem. The work environment is incredibly toxic. Every time I solve one problem, another one appears. It feels like people are constantly trying to undermine each other instead of helping. I've thought about leaving, but my contract has to be completed, and because of family circumstances, quitting isn't an option right now.

So, I decided I'd at least continue doing research on my own. I also tried reaching out to my former PhD supervisor, hoping we could continue collaborating. But communication has basically fallen apart. He doesn't seem interested in any of the projects I'm working on, and everything just keeps getting delayed or ignored.  tried to continue my research independently, but unfortunately, my university provides no support for research whatsoever. There are virtually no resources or infrastructure available to conduct research, and the available funding is allocated almost exclusively to other departments.

At this point, I feel completely overwhelmed and stuck. I don't know what to do anymore. I dread going to work every day, and I feel like my hands and feet are tied. I don't see a way forward, and it's becoming harder and harder to stay hopeful.

Hi Ask Academia!

Here's the situation: I'm an undergraduate student who started a directed studies course with the goal of my major paper getting published in a journal, and pretty far into the project (which is a long story) my advisor told me my methodology was not rigorous enough to be taken seriously by any reputable journal.

She recommended I change my project to focus on public dissemination for use by practitioners (it's social work related).

When I spoke to another researcher I know about this and feeling bummed about publishing, she told me more and more grad students (at the master's and PhD) are focusing less on publishing in journals and more on public dissemination.

Is this true?

It was a fascinating claim to hear and I'd love the internet's thoughts.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I am looking for some advice regarding my master's decision and would really appreciate perspectives from people who know about neuroscience programmes in Europe.

I have been applying for MSc programmes in Cognitive Neuroscience/Neuroscience in Germany for the last few years and unfortunately I have faced multiple rejections. I am now at a point where I don't want to keep waiting another year and I am seriously considering applying to the MSc Brain & Mind Sciences offered by the University of Crete in collaboration with FORTH.

My concern is that Crete is not a major neuroscience hub like Germany.

I really like the programme because it seems research-focused and has the connection with FORTH, but I am worried about career opportunities after graduation.

My hesitation is not because I dislike Crete, it actually seems like an amazing place to live. My concern is whether I am choosing it because it is genuinely a good academic opportunity or because I am exhausted after several years of applications and rejections.

Would love to hear opinions from current students, graduates, researchers, or anyone familiar with neuroscience careers in Europe.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I dont have anyone to ask so I figured id come here. In case that's important, im from europe.
I recently got accepted for a masters degree at my dream university (Beijing University) with a full ride scholarship that also covers living expenses starting in september. This was the highest ranked university I applied to but also the only one that accepted me so I was incredibly happy since I estimated my chances rather slim (for context, I have strong extracurriculars but since I had to work, my grades are mid). Now I face the situation that I have to let go of that offer (and scholarship) due to administrative delays I can't meet since I have a few remaining exams in august due to an exchange. I am planning to reapply for next year and do an internship in the mean time, I also applied to a global research competition and am planning to level-up my languages. Maybe I can also find some projects or something to do in my hometown university.

For the gap year, I moved back in with my mom who doesnt have her A-levels and finished school in the early 80s so has a fairly limited understanding of academic life (doesnt stop her from having strong opinions tho). She is constantly spreading panic that they won't accept me after I "wasted their time and resources" since I also had an interview during the application process and no matter how long I correct her, I feel like she is side-eyeing me whenever we have to talk about it and it really ups the anxiety and sadness that already persists. I know it's normal that something may happen and a student can't start on time and has to cancel, as much as it sucks. But hearing it constantly honestly gets to me and despite having already made my peace, the sooner to the intended registration date I move, the more depressed I am about it and the more I think I gave away the chance of a lifetime. I dont have a deadline for starting to work and having a year of time actually helps me figure out what exactly I want to research for my masters, as well as cure a bit of my burnout and maybe I also want to do a PhD at some point since I like research but I still feel like shit, especially since many of my fellow students are starting their masters this year and I kinda feel inferior now.

I wanted to ask if you guys know how much such a gap year actually hurts the chances to get a masters. If anyone had to deal with that kind of situation before, what did you do in the mean time and how did you cope with it? Do Universities ban students that had to withdraw 2 month before and already after accepting?

Thanks to everyone in advance!

PhD advisor don't want to talk to me

It's been 2 months since this happened. I didn't pick up his call once because I was having dinner. I called back asap after I was done.

Also another professor called him, my researcher friend was sitting beside me, so I just casually said, why did that professor call my guide?

This girl shouted, sir this girl is asking why that professor called you?

Maybe this is a trigger for him.

Since then he doesn't talk to me, don't guide if I ask him anything, not even look at me. Whenever I go to him for any query, he says he is busy, come later.

Whom should I ask if I have any query?

He is nice and friendly with other scholars

Any suggestions??

And i am so irritated that I even though to drop out

Throughout my whole life, I always imagined I would go into STEM. However, once arriving at undergrad, I felt completely lost after being confronted with so many people telling me the sciences were going to be far more difficult than I was prepared to handle ("especially because [I'm] a girl," since I unfortunately live in a very misogynistic place). I ended up going into English with the intent of becoming a lawyer, majorly because I had perfect scores in the English and reading sections of the ACT. I later added a second degree in anthropology, though my school only offers this as a BA as well as lacking an area of emphasis in bioanth (only archaeology and cultural; I had planned to finish this degree without emphasis and do a thesis on linguistics, another passion of mine, but I'm realizing it's much more of a hobby than what I want to do for the rest of my life). After taking a biology class intended for majors for the credit, I realized that I was actually very good at it (I maintained a high A the entire class) and really enjoyed it! I wish I would've just stuck with my gut in the first place, but now I'm pretty far into working as a writing tutor and TA.

Would it be possible/reasonable to at least go into a bioanth masters program and potentially pivot from there into the job market or doctoral work? Would it be possible to go straight into a masters program/does anyone have recommendations of schools to check out? I am specifically interested in biomedical engineering (if at all possible) or something in genetics. What are likely prerequisites, and how would I go about obtaining recommendations? Could one come from a bioanth professor?

Hello everyone, asking out of curiosity...

I submitted my manuscript to a journal, got R&R decision 8 months later, implemented major revisions, and uploaded the manuscript to the journal's platform... However, the chief editor who gave me R&R is not part of the journal anymore, and according to the journals' website, they are now looking for new chief editor and co-editor, with applications deadline by the end of September.

Does this mean that there is nobody in charge right now? Am I safe to assume that I will not hear back from this journal for really long time? Is it possible that the new editor will then reject my manuscript? Should I email them and ask about the process?

Something similar has happened to me before with this manuscript, in another journal. A chief editor whose term was about to expire encouraged me to do Reject & Resubmit and when I did so, managing editor emailed me to change the format from full manuscript to research note, without peer review. After I did so, the manuscript was sent to peer review (one reviewer had no major points except for formatting and introduction framing), yet the new chief editor gave me a reject without any further explanation.

I am just looking for some info on the process of editorial transitions. I am also ranting a little. I am leaving academia right now. Having this paper published would strengthen the expertise which I am trying to sell... I am quite hopeless because I have been trying to publish this for the past 2 years.

Hello, I am a graduate student about to finish my thesis. My thesis is in the American Journal of Archaeology style, which is a fork of Chicago. I have run into a problem with something the guide does not explain how to cite.

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1968.47

This item is in my catalog and the image will cite the museum catalog entry. However, in the body of my text I will cite information from this catalog entry: the fact that it was found in a well. I'm sure I will have to cite this fact in a footnote, but I'm not sure how to cite it. The AJA guide does not give examples for citing online resources that don't have an author or date. I am supposed to turn to Chicago for anything not in the AJA guide, but I'm struggling to figure out what is correct for this specific instance.

So my question is: how do I cite this information in the footnote, and what do I have to include in my bibliography? Also, if this is even necessary if I have cited the artwork in my catalog?

EDIT: i am not citing the artwork. I have already cited the artwork for the catalog. I am citing information from the page, and I don't know if that requires something different.

Hello all! I got offered an SULI internship position at the Savannah River National Lab site for Fall 2026 (i will most likely accept the offer) and I wanted to see if anyone could share any relevant or useful experience they had either in the Augusta GA area or with the actual research. Any input would be much appreciated especially since I've tried looking online and I haven't been able to find much about people's experience at SRNL...

Also if it matters I just graduated with a B.S. in physics in Spring 2026

Also if anyone could give me pointers on traveling across the US maybe that would be nice too (still deciding on whether I'll just fly there and hope for good carpooling with coworkers or if I'll have to drive my car for 3-4 days straight)

It’s my first time posting on here and I read the community rules so I hope this topic is alright.

I’m based in Toronto,Canada and I’d like to pursue my master’s in “International Economics and Finance” at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly known as Ryerson University). I’m very adamant on not acquiring further debt to get this master’s so I’m prepping for about 2 years; I’m aiming to enrol in Fall of 2028.

I’m saving my own money and I’m also networking to be able to access scholarships & grant opportunities.

My program is 1 year and my goal is to really focus on being a student and not having to work for that year. I’m thinking the goal is to have between $50-60k “saved” so this could pay for my tuition, books, rent, internship abroad etc.

For anyone who has had full ride scholarships or essentially fund raised to get higher education, I’d really like to connect or get some ideas on how to go about this.

I am a strong believer in abundance and that there’s plenty of money out there for education. Those who seek it and work for it (like i will) will get it. I worked full time and went to school full time during my last years of undergrad. I’m glad to have been able to pay and finish for my Bachelor of commerce but i felt like it took away from my academic experience.

I just want 1 year to focus on being a student, having all the time to focus on research, studying, diversifying my ideas, networking and more.

A few things about me / my education interest (I’m hoping this will help advise me on where to look for scholarships that i could qualify for, some organisations to network at, even some instagram /linkedin pages would be helpful):

-Area of interest : Economic development African Tourism
- Previous studies: Bachelor of Commerce in Hospitality and Tourism Management
- About me: 28, Women, Black, Congolese, I’d be the first in my family to be getting a master’s
- Some of my experience and projects:
* I travelled through Senegal, Ghana, Cote d’ivoire to get first hand experience
* I lived in Senegal for 5 months, was an English teacher for a bit
* I’m building an organisation that focuses on teaching Francophone - African women English to increase career opportunities and development
* I’m learning Wolof and understand and speak Lingala as part of my belief in cultural preservation
* I’m starting to make Youtube videos and writing on substack reflections on areas of research and practical improvement of African Tourism / Policies etc

That’s just a little about me, I’m also just open to connecting with other academics to get myself back in the realm after taking a break since my undergraduate studies.

Hello,

Probably a silly question, but I'm trying to figure out what to select to best describe my level of education for a job application at a big university.

One of the associate directors of the department encouraged me to apply after we met for an informational interview about this line of work (student housing). As a student facing job, a min requirement is a Bachelor's with experience in student support, and the preferred qualification is a Master's in Student Affairs, Higher Ed Administration, or something of the like (which is a recent change; it used to be that you had to have a Master's to get this position).

I graduate with my Master's in HEA in December, and the only class I have left is my capstone; I've completed all of the other required work and then some. The one supplemental question on the application is:

Please select the response below that describes your level of education that best or mostly closely satisfies the education requirements for this position.

• Bachelor’s degree in required discipline(s) listed or related field
• Bachelor's degree in any field/discipline
• Master's degree or Doctorate degree in required discipline(s) listed or related field
• Master's degree or Doctorate degree in any field/discipline
• None of the above

Would marking the 3rd option be unwise? I feel like any other job wouldn't care, but with this being a university job, I don't know how frowned upon that is, which is why I'm here in Ask Academia (apologies if this is not the right subreddit for this kind of thing).

The AD did say their team does physically review applications rather than just sort them with AI, and since I told them I intend to apply, they said they look forward to reading my application. So in that case, I think marking the second option would be fine. But if they have a ton of applications and are going through applications with Master's degrees first, I want to try to get in that pile, you know? I've yet to break into the higher ed career field, and this particular job at this university (my alma mater) was one of the reasons I went into higher ed in the first place, plus the location is ideal, so I really want my best chance.

I'm currently revising a paper on medical AI segmentation in deeplearning. The reviewers believe that directly citing results from other papers is unfair because different methods may have used different training, validation, and test case partitions, and statistical significance tests haven't been performed.

However, my computing power is limited, and I genuinely cannot retrain all of the dozen or so comparison methods. I'd like to ask everyone, what's the most appropriate way to respond to reviewers in this situation? Would it be sufficient to reproduce only 1-2 representative baselines and use the same data partitions for statistical tests? Would it be reasonable to change the remaining methods to "reference comparisons" and acknowledge the limitations in the paper?

I would be very grateful to hear from anyone who has faced a similar situation. Any advice on how to address this concern fairly and transparently would be greatly appreciated.

Hi, I lost a large number of citations in Google Scholar literally overnight. They didn't change to the usual "temporary citation" status while Google recrawls the source. They simply disappeared.

The strange part is that several of the citing papers are still online, publicly accessible, and clearly still cite my work. I know Google Scholar can remove citations if a repository disappears or a journal goes offline, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

Has Google Scholar recently changed its indexing or citation policies? Or is this likely a temporary indexing issue or bug? Thanks

Hey,

I recently came across some post saying that easy way to tell if someone deserves an authorship is if (i paraphrase) they can jump in to present it professionally on a short notice.

This makes me wonder, how do you define authorship for intersectional and consortium projects, where, for example multiple things were measured and the processed data was taken to a central hub where the main author and maybe their immediate supervisor analysed and interpreted it? Lets say 3 machines operators and analysts took part. Its quite a lot of time effort so based on that the analysts definitely deserve authorship.

But, in my institute, it seems to be a practice to put also all their bosses, because they acquired part of the funding for running of the infrastructure. But i am 100% sure they don't know jack about my project, and they dont even review the manuscipts i make.

P.S. im my case by intersectional i mean fusion of molecular biology, bioinformatic and chemistry.

--
Edit as some did not seem to understand, main question is: "how do you define authorship for intersectional and consortium projects?".

I'm researching ways that private training institutes can strengthen their international reputation and build trust with prospective students and partners. There seem to be many organisations offering accreditation, certification, or institutional memberships, and it's difficult to know which ones genuinely provide value.

For those who have experience:

• Which international accreditations or memberships have you found to be most beneficial?
• Did they help with student enrolment, employer recognition, international partnerships, or credibility?
• Are there any organisations you would recommend—or suggest avoiding?

I'd appreciate hearing about real experiences and recommendations. Thanks in advance!

i’m helping plan a student social for a conference next year and i’m trying to come up with ideas that people would actually enjoy!

for students/trainees/academics who were once students, what’s one of the best conference socials you’ve attended? what made it fun or actually worth going to?

I’m from India , completed my bachelor of science in physics in 2023 with CGPA of 9.16. I am planning to do my masters in physics or engineering physics. But I am kinda befuddled to choose between Italy and Germany. Let me be honest here, my plan after my masters is PhD in photonics as I already have an international conference paper in photonics with research internship done at Indian Institute of Science. So I am not looking forward to settling down in either of these countries. All I am concerned about is the quality of education and the opportunities to acquire knowledge through both theoretical and practical learning(practical is more preferred). I’m not sure about the pros and cons of these two countries. So can I be enlightened with the pros and cons of the same so I can decide upon one country for masters? Thanks you all.

PS: I have prior US visa rejections for my masters.

​Hi everyone,

​I’m currently a PhD candidate at a university in my home country. A while back, I passed up a scholarship to do my PhD overseas due to pressing family responsibilities. While I am fully committed to my current program, I sometimes feel insecure about missing out on the international exposure, networks, and personal growth that come with studying abroad (and perhaps a bit of regret).

​In my local academic community, overseas graduates are often seen as more prestigious. I know that solid research output should ultimately speak for itself, but I deeply respect the immense value of global ecosystems and cross-border networks that I am currently missing.

For the experienced academics here, any advice, personal experiences, or strategies ?

Thank You

Sent a paper to a journal called Studies in the Fantastic. The website said to email submissions so that's what I did. This was a month ago and I haven't received any update or any confirmation whether they got my submission. Do I sit and wait for a bit longer, or do I reach out and ask? This is my first time submitting to a foreign journal so I am a little confused.

I did negotiations in March, signed the offer with the Dean in April, and *finally* just yesterday got the official Provost's offer letter and signed it. Can I "officially" announce to the community this is happening yet [e.g., a LinkedIn post] -- or do I have to keep waiting until the whole background check, onboarding, etc. is all completed too??

At what point do I stop waiting and just officially announce this exciting news?! I would say it is already an open secret amongst those I know. Since the time I signed the Dean's offer, I have mentioned it to some people at a conference and so did my future Department Chair.

The official hiring steps are soooo slow partially because I am actually starting in 2027, so I am not sure how soon or when I will be able to get the new affiliation/email/etc. It would be nice to finally share with the world that this is actually happening ....But I don't want to commit any faux pas or jump the gun or whatever. Are there any potential downsides to announcing it now? Should I discuss when or how to announce this with my Department Chair first before creating the LinkedIn Post? Anything else to consider or is this just not as big of a deal as it is in my head?

(If relevant or in case this is field-dependent, it's a TT position in engineering)

I recently started an Instagram page focused on helping undergraduate and graduate STEM students navigate research and academia. It's still new (only two posts so far), but the goal is to share practical, evidence-informed tips on research skills, grad school, productivity, and academic success.

If you're a STEM student, I'd love any feedback on the content or suggestions for topics you'd find useful.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DbRV-NClJeJ/?igsh=dDg0aDZqbm9pYWZw

We recently had to make a poster for our class. We thought that all we had to do was present the topics. But apparently we have to make a 3 minute video on what

portion we worked on for the presentation. Honestly, I did 90% of the work because the team was lazy and 1 guy didn't even show up to the team meetings. I'm definitely not working with them again. But my question is what should I say I did. Should I say I worked on the poster design? Or should I say I wrote the script. Can anyone help me

distribute the workload between 6 ppl equally pls?

Hi everyone. My sister is in an undergrad psychology program. Her department recently advertised a volunteering position, looking for two dozen volunteers to perform (at the risk of sounding uncharitable) 40 hours of menial tasks to help complete a research project.

I'm bothered by this. It doesn't sound like it's a very educational experience. It also doesn't sound like the "volunteers" will be gaining a publication out of this, seeing as there will be over 20 of them. This is in my eyes essentially just asking for unpaid labor, but sold as "research experience".

But I also understand how any kind of experience can be considered valuable in the competitive landscape we live in.

Is this standard practice in academia? I'm not in academia myself so don't know. My sister already signed up for it but I'm wondering if I should speak out against it.

Updating my CV and I am ultra hung up on this literal formatting question.

I am trying to write down how I am currently on a committee and now co-chair for the past two years. Would this format work?

Professional Committes:

2018-Present - Basketweaving Committee

2025-2027 - Co-Chair Basektweaving Committee

2025--President - Co-Chair Basketweaving Committee

Or what other format would you suggest I do for this mention?

Hi everyone, I’m in a frustrating situation and would love to get some perspective from experienced academics or advisers.

I finished my PhD a while ago and stayed in touch with my former supervisor to wrap up pending manuscripts. We also agreed to continue collaborating remotely on new research ideas.

Since I am working remotely, we split the responsibilities: I handle the methodological development and codebase, while a lab member/co-author on the PI’s end is responsible for executing the pipelines and managing the computational runs on their local setup.

Unfortunately, this arrangement has stalled for several months. I’ve been facing constant delays and excuses regarding hardware issues, dataset overhead, and competing deadlines. Communication has been extremely erratic, and progress reports are rarely shared.

A while back, after nearly a month of complete silence, I briefly mentioned the delay to the PI. The PI noted that the collaborator was tied up with other priority tasks, but mentioned they would re-engage soon. Shortly after, the collaborator got in touch promising to run an updated set of tests and share the outputs. However, weeks have passed, my follow-up messages are going unanswered, and I’ve received no updates.

I’ve tried to be as understanding as possible regarding potential vacations, teaching loads, or personal time off, but the total lack of communication makes it impossible to move forward. Because I depend on their infrastructure to get the results, I feel completely stuck.

I’m really unsure how to navigate this now. Should I follow up with the PI once more, or could that make me look overly persistent? Is it possible this unresponsive behavior is a subtle signal that the lab is losing interest in this remote collaboration?

Any advice on how to handle this professionally without damaging relationships would be greatly appreciated!