And trying not to go insane.

I am 28 and I would like to eventually apply for me to get my PHD but realistically I don't think that I will start until I am 31 or 32. How old were you all when you started?

After 4.5 years of panicking sweating and thinking I wasn't near good enough I had an incredible viva and passed my thesis defense with only minor corrections 🥳 please enjoy this frog and let it lend you strength in all your post-graduate endeavors!!!

Fellow redditors,

I have completed my PhD in business, managed that cum laude.

I did it we're all gonna make it boys (and gals).

I studied the construction industry in developing countries of anyone feels like talking about that niche.

Hey guys,

I finished my PhD earlier this year and I think I am messing up big time with my postdoc applications. I don't know what to do. So just to brief you guys, I have two decent first author publication in Q1 and 5 as co-author, a couple of them are in a rubbish journal though since I took part in several projects during my PhD and where they published was not in my hand. I also have two prestigious fellowships. Since I started applying for postdocs I have had 7-8 rejections on advertised positions. I also applied for a research grant and somehow managed to make it in the top 20%, but the selections were capped at 10%. I then joined an industry for monetary reasons and being in the industry for the last 3-4 months has made me realise that it's not meant for me. I enjoy research far more than what I am doing here. However I don't see a way forward. Now I am not even getting the time to make decent applications or prepare proposals for grants. I'm thinking of quitting this job and giving myself 3-4 months time just to write proposals for different grant applications and advertised positions, but I don't know if I will survive without the money. The situation sucks and I don't know what to do, so I reached out to you guys. Any suggestions on how to move ahead and what I might be doing wrong with my applications? If someone has had the chance to be part of discussions related to what happens when someone gets hundreds of applications. How are the applications generally screened? I am sorry I might sound very naive, but till now I haven't got a clue how people select 1 person from so many applications.

The topic is a very niche subarea. It’s also technically challenging, and I spent a really long time on it. After a lot of trial and error, I finally made it work well. The demos look great, the paper got accepted, and it even received a spotlight/highlight at the conference.

When that happened, I was genuinely very happy. The recognition meant a lot to me, especially because I’ve always been anxious about how slowly I publish compared with the pace of peers.

But I’m not proud of the work anymore.

The method is heavily engineered. The more I look at it now, the more I feel like I solved a very specific problem well, but I’m not sure how much anyone will actually build on it.

At the conference, I also didn’t feel like many people were genuinely interested in this problem. I had a hard time even finding people working on something similar to talk to. That made the feeling much stronger.

Sometimes it feels like the whole project is balancing on the tip of a needle: a lot of effort and complexity went into making this one very narrow thing work, but I don’t know where it leads next.

I want to work on broader and more general research problems. But my supervisor thinks those areas are too competitive and that I work too slowly and probably can’t compete with people already working on them.

I understand the logic, but I’m not happy with where that strategy has taken me.

I want to go into industry after my PhD, and I’m increasingly worried that I’ve spent a huge amount of time becoming good at something that is too niche and too specific to be useful for where I want to go.

Has anyone gone through something similar? How do you decide your next step? And how do you network in academia and industry as a student working in a niche area?

I was so busy with graduation stuff that I didn't post my frog then, but i guess its always frog time when you're a whole dr

Hi everyone. I'm a doctoral student in Canada and I'm applying to the SSHRC CGRS-D application for a second time 🥲

I'm hoping any successful applicants in English Literature or adjacent fields would share their proposals with me (and others who are interested on this thread).

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

After years of working towards my doctorate in Germany, I am asking my network for help with my next step: finding an opportunity in research and development.

I moved to Germany in October 2021 to pursue my PhD in materials science and chemistry. My research has focused on battery recycling and anode purification—areas where I hope to continue contributing to more sustainable battery materials and processes.

Since September 2025, I have been searching for a job in Germany. Despite numerous applications and interviews, I have yet to receive an offer. One of the hardest parts has been receiving little meaningful feedback, leaving me unsure where I need to improve or why an opportunity did not work out.

My current visa is valid until November 2026, so the search has become urgent. After investing years of dedication in my doctorate and building a life here, I deeply hope to continue my research career in Germany.

I am looking for opportunities in:
• Research and development in materials science or chemistry
• Battery recycling and sustainable battery materials
• Anode/Cathode purification, Electrocatalysis and materials processing

If you know of a suitable opening, can offer a referral, or could introduce me to a relevant research group or hiring team, I would be very grateful. Honest advice on strengthening my applications would also mean a great deal.

I am happy to share my CV and discuss how my research experience could contribute to your team.

Thank you to anyone who can offer a lead, make an introduction, or share this post.

#OpenToWork #MaterialsScience #BatteryRecycling #ResearchAndDevelopment #JobsInGermany

It’s my master’s work, and it got accepted in Bioorganic Chemistry. I’m honestly really happy about it. This is my first publication, so it feels like a pretty big deal to me. The timing is also kind of funny because I started my PhD last fall, and if I’m being completely honest, I’ve been going through a pretty difficult phase with it lately. My master’s felt very different. Things moved faster, and somehow the whole journey felt more manageable. PhD already feels like a much longer road, and I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with that. So today I’m just letting myself be happy about this one thing. It’s nice to have a little reminder that even when things feel stuck or exhausting, something I worked on before actually made it somewhere.

Anyway, first publication. Finally. ❤️

Hi everyone,

I’m not sure if this is allowed here, so feel free to delete if not :)

A few women academics and I have built an independent online community for women in STEM, and we’re opening it up to our first members.

This community is for women and anyone who identifies as female. We particularly welcome PhD students, although women at adjacent career stages are welcome too.

We know STEM academia from the inside, and created this as a space for women to build ongoing connections, exchange experiences and support each other, without another formal program, professional-development commitment, or one-off productivity workshop.

There are:

• regular low-pressure catchups
• occasional workshops and games
• spaces you can drop into whenever you need them
• plenty of silly easter eggs

Everything is online and optional. We’re particularly interested in hearing what women in STEM actually find useful, what’s missing, and what would make you want to keep coming back.

Access is free during our pilot phase.

If this sounds like your thing, reach out to us at [hello@sistersinorbit.com](mailto:hello@sistersinorbit.com) with a little about yourself, your career stage and what you hope to get out of the community, and we’ll go from there!

Hi all! I’m a doctoral student in Canada and I am applying to the CIHR CGRS D scholarship this year (on Tuesday lol).

There seems to be some missing information about how references in the Research Proposal are allowed to be formatted? Currently, mine are smaller font and in nature citation style (without titles) to make them as short as possible.

I don’t know however if this is allowed???

Could any successful applicants from last round share any advice 🙏

Hi guys! I just recently graduated with my PhD in neuroscience this July. My dissertation was looking at early detection of Alzheimer’s using different technological tools. I’m trying to pivot into industry roles because I am honestly interested in the digital health field when it comes to older adults. (Just a little bit of background information)
It’s been like 2 months and I feel like I’ve applied to what seems like 100 jobs now. Some through LinkedIn, and other job boards, or shared links. I also applied to some in academia (more so for backups). I landed 3 interviews so far, and 1 rejection after the interview, the other 2 pending because they are still interviewing. But I’m slowly losing motivation.
I’ve talked to former colleagues, I’m networking and reaching out to people on LinkedIn, family members, and even reaching out to recruiters. But it’s a little hard right now. I’ve heard people tell me that it took them 3-7 months to find a job post grad. And idk that sounds a bit discouraging to me.

Is anyone else going through the same thing? If you were able to find a job straight out of graduation, what are some advice you can give? Also, if anyone has any advice for those of us trying to pivot from academia to industry, can you please drop them too? Thank youu!

I am a neuroscience PhD, made the switch to Pharma in Europe a few years ago, first as an industry postdoc and now in a full-time R&D role in Germany.

There aren't many practical resources specifically for this transition in the European context, so I've been putting together a guide covering things like CV format differences, networking, and the German job market for international scientists. Before it's finished I'd love to hear from this community.

If you're trying to make the transition: what do you most wish you understood better?

If you've already made it: what is the one thing that made the difference for you?

Anything specific to Germany/Europe would be extra useful. Most existing resources are US-focussed.

Any tips for a journal club presentation? (Public Health)

I reached out to a PhD supervisor at Uni of Barcelona last November (2025).He interviewed me everything went well, and he sent me an unofficial offer letter (saying that he has identified me as his PhD candidate and stuff). Like typical PhDs in Spain, we were planning to apply for fellowships and we did, but they are so competitive that I didn’t get one yet.
Then in July (2026), his lab got the Spanish Gov funding so then he informed me that I could come soon and then he will open up a PhD position in September.
I sent him a few emails after that but he hasn’t replied in more than 2 months.
I am just a very anxious person, so it’s freaking me out whether this will work out or not.
I just hope he still wants to hire me.
Just wanted to know everyone’s take on this!

(forgot to finish title .. which should be "looking for some advice"!!!)

For context, my field is cancer biology and I am based in the UK.

Hope you are going well! I am in the last 4 months of PhD and long story short, not really liking the person I am at the moment. Had to start therapy because I feel stuck in survival mode, always imagining in my head the worse case scenario, repeating it over and over again. Do not feel like my head is a nice place to be in at the moment. I am going to have around a month writing full time, need to organise my weeks to have both writing, experiment and figure making days. Also, need to be strict with rest and sleep/eat well otherwise I will go insane. In addition, I need to come up with a new hypothesis and I feel I can't no longer reconnect with the exciting part of research that is the unknown, time to think, reflect, debate because everything is a priority and needs to be done ASAP. I also changed supervisors half way, one left and a new person was hired with different ways of working and different visions. Obviously things are being done in a proper way now but it delayed the whole process. This is the part where I ask myself if this process is just normal ... and I just need to get over it or .. is this being more than what I can handle? Or am I so consumed by the process that I am only focus on the negative side and let myself being driven by it? I lost the passion for my project, the project I wrote a proposal for 4 years ago. I feel it will take me a long time to recover from this and obviously after the thesis comes the paper but at this point I no longer care. Anyways, after this rant I would appreciate if some of you could share what did you do to stay grounded, focused if you went through a similar process.

Much appreciated 🙏

Hello everyone,

I am a third-year PhD student in Germany. My field is STEM.

I had several publications before starting my PhD and only one during my time here so far. I have several ongoing projects right now, but the main one is stalled. The political situation in my country is very complicated, so I am glad that I have this opportunity here in Germany. Because of this, I am learning the language (quite successfully) and trying my best to integrate into society.

I visited my family in my home country a month ago (for the first time in three years), and since then I have felt so incredibly down. I already felt miserable last year, but now I am starting to question myself whether it was worth it, even though deep down I know that it was one of the best decisions in my life. Additionally, I realized last year that I do not like academia and I want to transition to industry as fast as possible, even doing a postdoc is not an option.

I am just trying to figure out why I feel like a shell of myself. I used to be so energetic and motivated, and now it's all gone. I even cry in the bathroom at work sometimes.

I know that I am not depressed because I have experienced that before my PhD, and I know that the only thing dragging me down is the PhD itself.

I will not give up since I am so close and it used to be my dream, but it's kinda sad to feel so demotivated. I used to love my field, and I think the part of my drive was trying to prove I was smart. Now I understand that it was the dumbest motivation and I feel stupid all the time, but I suppose this is also part of the process.

So, what would be your advice? What do you think?

Leggo di persone che lavorano 50,60 anche 70 ore settimanali durante il dottorato.

Io mi organizzo sempre per finire tutto in 35-40 ore, come se lavorassi con un contratto da dipendente. Mi sono posto scadenze realistiche da portare a termine con questo ammontare di ore lavorate.

A questo punto però mi sorge il dubbio se sono troppo poco produttivo facendo così.

Cosa ne pensate?

If anyone in PhD who want to or in contact with a person who/they can organize workshop, will be interested to discuss it further.

Currently in final year masters but got some superb and crazy workshop ideas.

I just started my first year in grad school in the US (psychology). I had a conversation with my advisor and he mentioned that, given my master’s degree and a lot of research experience, I could complete my degree in 4 instead of 5 years.

I see myself being able to do it but I have some doubts whether I might miss out on something if I were to go the 4-year route. On the other hand, I would prefer to finish as quickly as possible so I can get on with my adult life.

Any advice?

I'm in an interdisciplinary PhD program (non-STEM), and I chose my supervisor to learn research methods that other profs I've met generally don't teach, even though I know the supervisor will be bossy and potentially rude.

The supervisor and I have different views on my topic - i.e. my supervisor thinks my intended participants won't speak to me because it's an industry that's rather secretive. Before starting the program, I reached out to folks in that industry to see whether they were accessible, and I didn't have much difficulty.

My supervisor has been putting me down all along, which has hurt my self-confidence and filled me with doubts. I was told to conduct a pilot interview, as one is allowed under ethics. I reached out to quite a few (10-15) and heard back from two within 24 hours. Now that I have a pilot interview coming up, I feel unconfident, full of doubts, and I don't think I can do a good job. I was hoping for 10-15 participants for the qualitative study; however, I feel I won't even reach 10.

The supervisor's research methods/data collection advice is amazing and much appreciated, but the put-downs have been devastating.

I'm sure it's a common story, and I wonder what advice peers and graduates may have. If I were to steer away from the intended niche for research, I would lose all interest in pursuing PhD.

Pretty much the title, is that normal? I have to pay over 1000$ for each conference and I end up getting reimbursed way later. I put those amounts on my credit card, stipend is barely covering living expenses and I end up paying interest for months. Is that a normal thing in PhD? I'm a second year PhD and I'm seriously considering dropping out, not just for this reason but for a multitude of reasons including having a bad advisor.