Hello PhD

171. The Life and Times of a Humanities PhD Candidate

March 15, 2022March 15, 2022 Daniel Leave a comment

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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 biomedical programs, the similarity starts to fade when discussing other bench-sciences like chemistry, or even patient-focused fields like epidemiology.

If those adjacent fields reveal unique and instructive differences, how much more exciting to explore the distant reaches of the PhD universe – the Humanities PhD!

144. Finding a Career that Fits with Marlys Hanson (R)

February 28, 2022February 28, 2022 Daniel Leave a comment

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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 his engineering program. But after six months on the job as a field representative for a machine company, he was fired.

He had been an excellent student, and excelled in class with top grades and praise from his professors. In the field, he had none of that feedback, and his motivation plummeted. He blamed himself for the failure, but he couldn’t understand how all his success had collapsed so quickly.

170. Mailbag: Should I Quit Grad School?

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 Daniel Leave a comment

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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 start a book shop somewhere.

For most students, that moment passes and they move on with their training and career. But sometimes, the moment doesn’t pass, and students begin to ask more fundamental questions.

169. Change Your Plans, Not Your Goals

January 31, 2022February 15, 2022 Daniel Leave a comment

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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.

She found a job prospect at a particle accelerator lab, but was turned down because they wanted more programming experience. So she packed her bags and headed home.

Her goal remained the same – to study astrophysics and earn a PhD. But due to circumstances, her plans had to change.

168. Academic Twitter: Step-By-Step

January 16, 2022January 16, 2022 Daniel Leave a comment

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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 write my own material?

Which topics can I write about, and what should I avoid?

Well, we’re here to help. Twitter can have wonderful benefits for your career and your research, but there are certainly pitfalls. Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting started on Academic Twitter.