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Human: [ask] Am I cut out for Architecture school if I failed Calculus? Or didn't have enough math in Undergrad? And that math in general is not my forte? I am an artist and I love to draw, additionally I can very quickly pick up new software and learn how to use it effectively. But this is about my math skills, which are currently terrible. One of the biggest reasons I chose my undergrad degree at all was specifically because of it's lack of math requirements in order to graduate. Thankyou Assistant: You almost don't need any math for Architecture. Some basic math for preliminary structure calculations, that's it.

Human: [ask] Am I cut out for Architecture school if I failed Calculus? Or didn't have enough math in Undergrad? And that math in general is not my forte? I am an artist and I love to draw, additionally I can very quickly pick up new software and learn how to use it effectively. But this is about my math skills, which are currently terrible. One of the biggest reasons I chose my undergrad degree at all was specifically because of it's lack of math requirements in order to graduate. Thankyou Assistant: Algebra, not calculus, would be enough to pass any courses in the architecture program. Unless it's like my school, where you have a mandatory, stand-alone calculus course like CALC1. So you should check the curriculum for whichever school you're applying to!

Human: Blue collar Ironworker looking to become an architect? Is it possible? Ask/r/Architecture Blue collar union ironworker for over 16 years in the field, I’m wondering how difficult would it be to transition into being an architect? Are there internships or Apprenticeships? Is it worth the career change? Dealing with a back injury and trying to find alternatives besides physical demanding work. Sorry I’m advance for my improper way of ask questions not too savvy on Reddit Assistant: Might want to consider structural engineering as well. Your experience as an iron worker would be more useful, architects don't do much structural steel detailing. Of course structural engineering requires being good at/not hating math more so than an architect. Just food for thought.

Human: Blue collar Ironworker looking to become an architect? Is it possible? Ask/r/Architecture Blue collar union ironworker for over 16 years in the field, I’m wondering how difficult would it be to transition into being an architect? Are there internships or Apprenticeships? Is it worth the career change? Dealing with a back injury and trying to find alternatives besides physical demanding work. Sorry I’m advance for my improper way of ask questions not too savvy on Reddit Assistant: It would be pretty hard to get a job in architecture if you don’t have any sort of CAD/BIM experience or an accredited architecture degree, tbh. If you can get your foot in the door, you can be eligible to sit for the architecture exams after 9 years of working for a licensed architect. Check out NCARB’s website for more info. https://www.ncarb.org/

Human: Anyone else as unreasonably annoyed as I am that programmers use the title “architect”? All my job alerts for architecture jobs are filled with these tech jobs. It’s not even network architect or something specific anymore. There are programming job positions called “Architect”. I am way too annoyed by this. Real architects need to reclaim the title. Assistant: You aren't alone; actual engineers are just as annoyed.

Human: Anyone else as unreasonably annoyed as I am that programmers use the title “architect”? All my job alerts for architecture jobs are filled with these tech jobs. It’s not even network architect or something specific anymore. There are programming job positions called “Architect”. I am way too annoyed by this. Real architects need to reclaim the title. Assistant: The best is when recruiters email me with software jobs… Like dude, you didn’t read anything at all before you emailed me

Human: I’m planning on studying architecture but literally all the stories are so depressing I was looking at people's experiences with arch on YouTube and the internet in general, and more than half were on why they quit it or why you should never study it. I still really want to at least try it out though, do you guys have any positive encouraging stories on your experiences? Pleassseeee Assistant: You've gotten a ton of great responses but I'll share my approach...I dropped out of an architecture master's when I realized how much they end of just exerting the developer's will. So I doubled down into commercial real estate instead, and will go back and finish the architecture degree when I have become successful enough to work on some of my own projects.

Human: I’m planning on studying architecture but literally all the stories are so depressing I was looking at people's experiences with arch on YouTube and the internet in general, and more than half were on why they quit it or why you should never study it. I still really want to at least try it out though, do you guys have any positive encouraging stories on your experiences? Pleassseeee Assistant: Join us…

Human: Advice on asking about salary during job interviews I am a recent graduate with a masters in Architecture. I am looking for jobs in the DMV area and wondering what an appropriate salary would be here to ask for. I am trying not to devalue my worth, and want to ask for the best salary I can get. I have a master degree, 3 years of office experience, was apart of the honors program in college, was a design mentor in college, and have won 2 state wide design competitions. At my old company I made 24/hr. as a part time employee. With these achievements under my belt, area I am living in, and starting position I am in for entering the workforce, what would be a recommended salary? If you don't mind sharing, I would also be curious to see how much you were making when graduating. Assistant: Ask for $60k. That’s in the 75th percentile for Mid-Atlantic according to the AIA Salary Calculator.

Human: Advice on asking about salary during job interviews I am a recent graduate with a masters in Architecture. I am looking for jobs in the DMV area and wondering what an appropriate salary would be here to ask for. I am trying not to devalue my worth, and want to ask for the best salary I can get. I have a master degree, 3 years of office experience, was apart of the honors program in college, was a design mentor in college, and have won 2 state wide design competitions. At my old company I made 24/hr. as a part time employee. With these achievements under my belt, area I am living in, and starting position I am in for entering the workforce, what would be a recommended salary? If you don't mind sharing, I would also be curious to see how much you were making when graduating. Assistant: https://info.aia.org/salary/salary.aspx Use the AIA Salary Calculator. Your design awards and academic performance *may* help you get the job but they won't impact pay. They care about your degree and amount of experience. It looks like you should be getting mid to upper 50s as a recent college graduate without a license, but with a professional degree. I graduated 4 years ago and got $54k at that time. If they ask *you*, you should probably tell the $60-65k or so.

Human: Is the climate crisis / climate change a chance for architecture to develop into a more vernacular, local way ? shifting from an international style using standardised materials to something very rooted in the local geographical / climatic context. what are your thoughts ? Assistant: Francis Kéré is exactly doing it and have received an award this year. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/10/francis-kere-pritzker-prize-architecture-social-change-sustainability/

Human: Is the climate crisis / climate change a chance for architecture to develop into a more vernacular, local way ? shifting from an international style using standardised materials to something very rooted in the local geographical / climatic context. what are your thoughts ? Assistant: In developing countries yes, but its unlikely to happen in the rest of the world. IF architecture gets a lot greener in the west, it’ll be toward high tech high density buildings, not back to vernacular.

Human: [Ask] What do you think it takes to be a master architect? Great architects like Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid, Mies van der rohe, B.v Doshi, A.P Kanvinde, Frank Gehry and other world acclaimed 'Master Architects'. What do you think are the traits or qualities that made them them stand out from the rest. Is there a pattern to it? So far the only thing I've been able to think about are that all of them established a set of design ideologies and philosophies around which their projects revolved. Assistant: Inventors and dreamers are the masters of architecture

Human: [Ask] What do you think it takes to be a master architect? Great architects like Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid, Mies van der rohe, B.v Doshi, A.P Kanvinde, Frank Gehry and other world acclaimed 'Master Architects'. What do you think are the traits or qualities that made them them stand out from the rest. Is there a pattern to it? So far the only thing I've been able to think about are that all of them established a set of design ideologies and philosophies around which their projects revolved. Assistant: Ego

Human: What is the state of the art in affordable housing? I'm a layperson with a pedestrian knowledge of architecture. I like the intention of the ideas of Le Corbusier regarding urban planning and housing but I know time has proven most of them to be counter-productive. Also, that's stuff quite old. In this time of housing difficulty if not crisis, what is the state of the art regarding urban planning and especially architecture for affordable housing? Where should I look for the new ideas and also foundational ideas of that is considered effective nowadays? Assistant: People need to earn and be responsible for their "house" whether it is affordable or not. They have to maintain them. All affordable houses have to be built in such a way that they can be easily maintained. All plumbing, electrical, and mechanical systems have to be easily accessible for repair and maintenance by home owners or contractors. Currently, I see many simple leakages in one small pipe, destroying multiple attached units.

Human: What is the state of the art in affordable housing? I'm a layperson with a pedestrian knowledge of architecture. I like the intention of the ideas of Le Corbusier regarding urban planning and housing but I know time has proven most of them to be counter-productive. Also, that's stuff quite old. In this time of housing difficulty if not crisis, what is the state of the art regarding urban planning and especially architecture for affordable housing? Where should I look for the new ideas and also foundational ideas of that is considered effective nowadays? Assistant: What is housing and affordable is pretty subjective.

Human: 3d models hi everyone, i'm trying to improve myself on 3d modeling and found this image of a building called ECUT office building and really love aesthetic of it. does anyone have an idea which programme was used to make that model? and how can i learn and practice more about this? https://preview.redd.it/blrfk1l18o3a1.jpg?width=1744&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=04d206770919d1fc8cf484488e513220dcecb80d Assistant: I think there are many ways to achieve something like this. This is how I’d do it. I’d model the building and surrounding buildings in revit. Find a good view, export it as line work, pop it into illustrator to adjust line weights etc, then link that file to photoshop and add all the graphics textures shadows, etc. it’s really a combination and workflow of multiple programs to achieve something like this. Here’s some examples of my work where I’ve achieved something similar. https://amcf.cargo.site

Human: 3d models hi everyone, i'm trying to improve myself on 3d modeling and found this image of a building called ECUT office building and really love aesthetic of it. does anyone have an idea which programme was used to make that model? and how can i learn and practice more about this? https://preview.redd.it/blrfk1l18o3a1.jpg?width=1744&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=04d206770919d1fc8cf484488e513220dcecb80d Assistant: My guess is it’s a render with 2D graphic elements added in Illustrator afterwards

Human: [ask] I got accepted to Sci-ARC, I am a resident of Iowa and have Iowa State as an option to go to. Is there a way that I justify the cost of attending Sci-ARC vs. going to ISU? Assistant: For Undergrad, I'd say no. For Grad, I'd go strong maybe. I have one friend from undergrad that attended there, did amazing work, and is now with an amazing firm doing insane real life projects.

Human: [ask] I got accepted to Sci-ARC, I am a resident of Iowa and have Iowa State as an option to go to. Is there a way that I justify the cost of attending Sci-ARC vs. going to ISU? Assistant: Absolutely not.

Human: [ask] What would city architecture look like in a world inhabited by birds? If we were to be in a universe where birds are the sentient species where there was never a need for the carriage or car, how would city architecture look? Some other variables come into play though like the fact that birds need takeoff space and space to fly in between buildings. Assistant: Birds don't need jobs because they rely on survival of the fittest rather than property rights to distribute resources. Therefore they would not need cities but rather vibrant wild ecosystems. Also even the cleverest birds are unable to operate a cement mixer.

Human: [ask] What would city architecture look like in a world inhabited by birds? If we were to be in a universe where birds are the sentient species where there was never a need for the carriage or car, how would city architecture look? Some other variables come into play though like the fact that birds need takeoff space and space to fly in between buildings. Assistant: Probably like Beijings Olympic stadium

Human: [ASK] Looking to build interesting, eco friendly, small/container homes in USA, how do i go about finding the right architect? Hello everyone, Aspiring entrepreneur here, looking to build some cool sustainable homes which i want to plop in interesting locations. I am looking for an architect and i have no background in building or architecture. I do own an interesting mid century modern home though. Can anyone suggest how do i go about finding the right architect who can help bring my vision to reality ? any advice/help appreciated. I live in wilmington, DE. (Step brother of philadelphia( which is the step child of NYC) ). Assistant: In all honesty (just a forewarning really) this is a terrible idea and you should abandon it immediately. I cant decide which part is worse, you want to use shipping containers, you want small homes (building departments hate small homes many jurisdictions rule this out with minimum home sizes) or that you want to plan homes without sites and "plop them down" without respect to the site. Shivers. DE is dominated by developers not professionals unfortunately so you have that hurdle too.

Human: [ASK] Looking to build interesting, eco friendly, small/container homes in USA, how do i go about finding the right architect? Hello everyone, Aspiring entrepreneur here, looking to build some cool sustainable homes which i want to plop in interesting locations. I am looking for an architect and i have no background in building or architecture. I do own an interesting mid century modern home though. Can anyone suggest how do i go about finding the right architect who can help bring my vision to reality ? any advice/help appreciated. I live in wilmington, DE. (Step brother of philadelphia( which is the step child of NYC) ). Assistant: Have you looked at what your competition is doing? Dwell - 12 Tiny House Companies That Can Make Your Micro-Living Dreams Come True I'd start there, and look for an architect that has the design and marketing savy to help you separate from the pack. The architect should be familiar with the locales where you plan to build and fabricate these units, but the Architect could actually be located anywhere. The work of many architectural practices crosses borders.

Human: Why is architecture "stuck" on modernism when urban planning and other fields have moved on? I started to study urban planning this year and was quite surprised at how negative my professors were towards modernism. One of our first assignments was to design a garden city. Looking into it I found that this seems to be quite common in the field of urban planning. The impression I have gotten is that Architecture schools are the opposite, favoring modernist architecture over classical or older styles. Why do you think there is such a difference? Assistant: Architecture has gone past modernism since at least the 70s... right now the vast majority of production is not modernist in the strict sense, but rather iterations of the architects/office's predominant style (for the top dogs) or instead examples of local contemporary vernacular (dutch style, nordic housing, swiss school, etc. etc.) Plus High-Tech never really left the scene but morphed into weak styles dependant on technological systems and products.

Human: Why is architecture "stuck" on modernism when urban planning and other fields have moved on? I started to study urban planning this year and was quite surprised at how negative my professors were towards modernism. One of our first assignments was to design a garden city. Looking into it I found that this seems to be quite common in the field of urban planning. The impression I have gotten is that Architecture schools are the opposite, favoring modernist architecture over classical or older styles. Why do you think there is such a difference? Assistant: Ummmmm Parametric, Biomorphic, Parabolic, Post Modernism, etc...

Human: Making money as a designer Hi y’all I am a 27 year old working at a design firm in LA and currently what I’m paid is hardly enough for me to pay the bills here and I need to make more money to get by if I wanna stay in LA. Currently I love my job and I get tons of great feedback on my work but I’m starting to feel like it’s gonna be a while until I can get my salary to a higher number. I would consider myself to be a expert in 3D modeling and rendering and I know there are other uses of my skills for things like the film and video game industry that pay a lot more.. basically what I’m asking is does anyone here know of ways architects can supplement their income / change careers do we can still use our design skills and get paid more livable wages? I love to design model render sketch and bring other peoples ideas to life and I’m pretty good at it so it really crushes me to feel so poor while being so good at something. Any feedback would be awesome. Thanks! Assistant: Why not get into ArchViz? Most of the designers here are architects.

Human: Making money as a designer Hi y’all I am a 27 year old working at a design firm in LA and currently what I’m paid is hardly enough for me to pay the bills here and I need to make more money to get by if I wanna stay in LA. Currently I love my job and I get tons of great feedback on my work but I’m starting to feel like it’s gonna be a while until I can get my salary to a higher number. I would consider myself to be a expert in 3D modeling and rendering and I know there are other uses of my skills for things like the film and video game industry that pay a lot more.. basically what I’m asking is does anyone here know of ways architects can supplement their income / change careers do we can still use our design skills and get paid more livable wages? I love to design model render sketch and bring other peoples ideas to life and I’m pretty good at it so it really crushes me to feel so poor while being so good at something. Any feedback would be awesome. Thanks! Assistant: What are you earning at the moment? Maybe you can switch jobs doing the same thing and get yourself a nice salary bump.

Human: can i use 0.3mm Tip Pen Instead of 0.4 or 0.5. The Country where i live in has a company which produces only 0.3mm Pointer. so its cheap for me. but if i were to get sakura pen or steadliner. its expensive for me.i just want to be free in drawing instead of worrying about my pen ink getting empty Assistant: it’s absolutely fine. don’t worry about it! the miniscule difference in line weight doesn’t make a difference compared to if you were constantly worried about wasting ink. work within your means and use whatever tools you have available

Human: can i use 0.3mm Tip Pen Instead of 0.4 or 0.5. The Country where i live in has a company which produces only 0.3mm Pointer. so its cheap for me. but if i were to get sakura pen or steadliner. its expensive for me.i just want to be free in drawing instead of worrying about my pen ink getting empty Assistant: You can always adjust line weight by going back over it with the same size pen if you want a slightly broader line!

Human: Is it normal to feel anxiety trying to do Texture Analysis(Lesson 2)? I had been doing my best to take these lessons as often as possible, but doing Texture Analysis where I draw 3 boxes worth of textures daily for the homework stresses me out immensely and makes me anxious. It's hard to tell if I'm doing it right or not and even more so to make sure I'm getting the shadow and not the color black by accident, leading me to question "which is shadow", beating myself up mentally for getting it wrong, and getting super stressed. It also was the reason I kept away from the site/reddit in general due to fear of showing my face after the long inactivity. Is it normal to feel like that for Texture Analysis? Assistant: Welcome to art, this is your life now.

Human: Is it normal to feel anxiety trying to do Texture Analysis(Lesson 2)? I had been doing my best to take these lessons as often as possible, but doing Texture Analysis where I draw 3 boxes worth of textures daily for the homework stresses me out immensely and makes me anxious. It's hard to tell if I'm doing it right or not and even more so to make sure I'm getting the shadow and not the color black by accident, leading me to question "which is shadow", beating myself up mentally for getting it wrong, and getting super stressed. It also was the reason I kept away from the site/reddit in general due to fear of showing my face after the long inactivity. Is it normal to feel like that for Texture Analysis? Assistant: I'm having the same trouble with the dissections exercise. Been on it for months and barely finished one page. ADHD doesn't help at all though

Human: Is it normal to lose line confidence when you start rough perspective (Lesson 1)? I've been doing the ghosted planes exercises for months (since I was very ill), so I'm pretty confident that I can draw straight lines otherwise. But when I began rough perspective exercise, I ran into 2 problems: 1. Before we were given leeway to draw quadrilaterals, but now we were asked to draw sharp rectangles without any guidance on how to estimate angles. It took me 3 pages to draw normal rectangles that I could finally use for the rough perspective exercise 2. All of my lines became wobbly, maybe due to the fact that I was feeling very demotivated :( Assistant: Hey, I think it's normal to lose some confidence at any stage of the whole process, more so if you don't have much confidence to boost or "shaky syndrome". Like I lost all motivation and confidence with the "Rotated Boxes" assignment (it took me forever despite knowing and understanding Uncomfortable's instructions, like my brain just would not move on) and I was about ready to burn all my art supplies. So hang in there and keep practicing. As well as take breaks. Like he says: "Trust the process."

Human: Is it normal to lose line confidence when you start rough perspective (Lesson 1)? I've been doing the ghosted planes exercises for months (since I was very ill), so I'm pretty confident that I can draw straight lines otherwise. But when I began rough perspective exercise, I ran into 2 problems: 1. Before we were given leeway to draw quadrilaterals, but now we were asked to draw sharp rectangles without any guidance on how to estimate angles. It took me 3 pages to draw normal rectangles that I could finally use for the rough perspective exercise 2. All of my lines became wobbly, maybe due to the fact that I was feeling very demotivated :( Assistant: Well, I started this part of Lesson 1 today, and have pretty similar experience. So at least I'm not alone. From what I know about learning, such things can happen, if you need to apply a skill to a new task, especially if you are still learning this skill. I hope it will fix itself with practice.

Human: Brainfarts - do you have them too? Before you think i'm trolling - i do not, i just call it brainfarts because it comes out like a fart.I practice every day with drawabox - if i dont feel comfy moving on, i spent my time repeating exercises that i had before. But sometimes i feel the urge to doodle and somehow my doodles improve, even if i just do exercises without really practice any drawing at all. My doodle cats somehow look cute and their stuff, that i draw for them, looks like stuff a cat would like and not something that could come from the cellar of a serialkiller with a catfetish. So my question is... do you guys experience something like this too? I mean, normally, like on the piano, i sit down and hear it, if i got better or not. But with drawing its like...i dont know.. its like farts. Little improvement farts that show from time to time. My drawings still sucks ass, dont get me wrong (especially if you compare it to the postings in this subreddit), but it feels like something happens in my brain even if i dont really realize it or see it all the time. Assistant: Eureka moments. These are what I live for as an arts educator. I can only teach you so much, but when I see someone go “aha!” And their weird little drawings make a big leap forward I am so happy. It’s like a combination of what you as an artist want to do combining with the information and skills I’m trying to deliver, and suddenly something so much better happens. Genuinely makes my day.

Human: Brainfarts - do you have them too? Before you think i'm trolling - i do not, i just call it brainfarts because it comes out like a fart.I practice every day with drawabox - if i dont feel comfy moving on, i spent my time repeating exercises that i had before. But sometimes i feel the urge to doodle and somehow my doodles improve, even if i just do exercises without really practice any drawing at all. My doodle cats somehow look cute and their stuff, that i draw for them, looks like stuff a cat would like and not something that could come from the cellar of a serialkiller with a catfetish. So my question is... do you guys experience something like this too? I mean, normally, like on the piano, i sit down and hear it, if i got better or not. But with drawing its like...i dont know.. its like farts. Little improvement farts that show from time to time. My drawings still sucks ass, dont get me wrong (especially if you compare it to the postings in this subreddit), but it feels like something happens in my brain even if i dont really realize it or see it all the time. Assistant: I like the way you phrase it as brainfarts. Kinda like little surprises, little gifts from your learning subconscious. Gives me hope.

Human: How many people actually do the 250 box challenge? I stopped doing drawabox about half way the 250 box challenge because I got burnt out. I plan to restart drawabox from the beginning in summer vacation (im in high school). Just wondering how many people actually do the 250 drawabox challenge? Assistant: Still doing it super slow, like 10 boxes a week.

Human: How many people actually do the 250 box challenge? I stopped doing drawabox about half way the 250 box challenge because I got burnt out. I plan to restart drawabox from the beginning in summer vacation (im in high school). Just wondering how many people actually do the 250 drawabox challenge? Assistant: Most do it since much of the time the people doing drawabox aren't skilled enough to draw good free floating boxes after lesson 1.

Human: how to stop self deprecating whenever a drawing doesn't turn out well? This problem has really been plaguing me for the past 4 years, and it really prevents me from getting better in general. Each drawing has to turn out well else, the longer I go at it the chances of me giving up on it just increases exponentially, i came to the conclusion that it wasn't helpful at all long ago, yet i can't get over this no matter how hard i try. (fyi, i do go see a school counsellor.) This has caused a great deal of stagnation in my progress, and it only gets worse because the more i acknowledge how stagnant i am in my progress and seeing others get better and better, just makes me spiral into self deprecation more and more. not only that i have absolutely no idea how to get out of this rut. i would love to hear how you overcame this problem, thanks :D Assistant: i'm reading Atomic Habits and the first thing James Clear says was "Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits" "if you're broke, but save a little bit every month, then you're on the path toward financial freedom, even if you're moving slower than you'd like" its okay to draw bad, if you improve little by little, you'll eventually get there. you can just redraw a good idea when you are much more skilled. Habits and Skills are like compound interest. progress is saved but not shown.

Human: how to stop self deprecating whenever a drawing doesn't turn out well? This problem has really been plaguing me for the past 4 years, and it really prevents me from getting better in general. Each drawing has to turn out well else, the longer I go at it the chances of me giving up on it just increases exponentially, i came to the conclusion that it wasn't helpful at all long ago, yet i can't get over this no matter how hard i try. (fyi, i do go see a school counsellor.) This has caused a great deal of stagnation in my progress, and it only gets worse because the more i acknowledge how stagnant i am in my progress and seeing others get better and better, just makes me spiral into self deprecation more and more. not only that i have absolutely no idea how to get out of this rut. i would love to hear how you overcame this problem, thanks :D Assistant: Wasn’t it Picasso who had hundreds of his paintings unsold in storage? In a way every artist is their own worst critique. The way I rationalize it many artists don’t even reach mass appeal until post mortem, so I would jog, not sprint.

Human: 250 Box Challenge: Using pen and not using a ruler? It says we should not use a ruler and we must use pens, not a pencil and eraser. But in the videos, he uses graphic drawing and he erases at free will. And judging by everyone's posts of their 250 box challenge, they use a ruler. Because my lines suck when I dont. Am I correct? Assistant: trust me, people don't use rulers on their 250 box challenge. you can make straight lines with enough practice

Human: 250 Box Challenge: Using pen and not using a ruler? It says we should not use a ruler and we must use pens, not a pencil and eraser. But in the videos, he uses graphic drawing and he erases at free will. And judging by everyone's posts of their 250 box challenge, they use a ruler. Because my lines suck when I dont. Am I correct? Assistant: Not using a ruler is good practice. You’ll learn to be more deliberate with a your ghosting and follow through, and you’ll also learn to be ok with having some terrible looking boxes. Very soon youll have good straight lines and great looking boxes, but youll need to draw tons of shitty looking boxes to get there and learn to be ok with it. All the best!!!

Human: DrawABox and Mental Health Problems I would like to get your opinion on a situation that may be all too common: trying to learn with mental health issues. First of all, before starting to explain my case, I would like to say I'm doing therapy and I take my mental health very seriously as many people do. So, let me begin. Last year, I rediscovered DrawABox and started my journey rediscover my joy for drawing. I know very well that drawing is not a walk in the park in any stretch of the imagination. There is much work to be done before to make real progress and we may never be satisfied with the result. That is the reality of it and we can do little to make it different. I understand it very well. I have a goal with my journey in the world of art (in special digital art) - I have a passion for character design and illustration, because I love the idea of weave intricate stories using visual media (sometimes to add to textual storytelling). Now to the meat of the situation. I have been diagnosed a long time ago with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (not our run of the mill anxiety), Persistent Clinical Depression, ADHD and Asperger - a whole bunch of problems. I don't seek advice on how to solve these problems. I know them very well and they will not go away any time soon. My goal is to seek advice from anyone that, for example, had to deal with sh\*t like this. When I began to make the lesson 0 of DrawABox I saw this piece of advice: >As the 50% rule relates heavily to mental health, I would be remiss not to take a moment to talk about **depression**. A lot of people out there will really struggle with the idea of doing something only to fail. As I've mentioned already, many of us have been taught that our value as an individual is inextricably tied to our ability to succeed, to the point where forcing yourself to fail (as this course will have you do quite a bit) can actively trigger depressive episodes. It gets that much worse when you consider how many people actively try and use art as therapy — not as part of a larger regimen under the guidance of a professional, but as their singular self-prescribed solution, and unfortunately it can make things worse. > >For those of you in that situation, **I strongly urge you to seek whatever professional support you can**. Therapy with a trained professional isn’t about changing who you are, or attempting to *fix* you. Rather, at its core, it’s about giving you the tools you need to better manage and understand your emotions, so that when you’re faced with a bad drawing, you can understand not just on a logical level, but deep within you that this does not in any way suggest that you yourself are bad. So, don’t be afraid to step away from this course, and to seek out that help. We’ll still be here when you’re better equipped. I know this is not a professional advice from a medical expert and It is written from the kindness their heart to protect people from getting worse. But, I felt pretty bad when read this. In my case, I felt like I would have to put my learning process on ice until getting better until getting better. This may never happen or may be sporadic thing. Time is a terrible foe and it won't stop for anyone. I'm not that young anymore and I know very well the value of time. I cannot wait forever for something that may never really be "good" and measure if I'm good to go is a tricky thing do. Should I drop DrawABox? I'm not exactly too anxious about everything in DrawABox. Much more about critique. I know it is unreasonable, but my mind goes places by itself. What other option do I have to continue (even outside DrawABox) my studies. I would like to say it was a very painful paragraph to read and may have caused, in part, my state of mind to shift to something undesirable from the start. Again. I want to be VERY clear that I'm not in any way blaming this piece of text for my failures or even ignoring the good advice. I'm only saying that there is much more on this subject than "go to therapy and come back later". It is very hard for me to write something for public scrutiny (much like submitting a DrawABox exercise :D), but I'll bite the bullet this time and hope for the best. Thank you for your kindness, especially from people with anxiety as myself. Assistant: The way I read it is that the meaning is flipped : it is not “don’t draw if your mental health is not in top order” but rather, “if doing draw a box makes your mental health worse, stop and seek help.”

Human: DrawABox and Mental Health Problems I would like to get your opinion on a situation that may be all too common: trying to learn with mental health issues. First of all, before starting to explain my case, I would like to say I'm doing therapy and I take my mental health very seriously as many people do. So, let me begin. Last year, I rediscovered DrawABox and started my journey rediscover my joy for drawing. I know very well that drawing is not a walk in the park in any stretch of the imagination. There is much work to be done before to make real progress and we may never be satisfied with the result. That is the reality of it and we can do little to make it different. I understand it very well. I have a goal with my journey in the world of art (in special digital art) - I have a passion for character design and illustration, because I love the idea of weave intricate stories using visual media (sometimes to add to textual storytelling). Now to the meat of the situation. I have been diagnosed a long time ago with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (not our run of the mill anxiety), Persistent Clinical Depression, ADHD and Asperger - a whole bunch of problems. I don't seek advice on how to solve these problems. I know them very well and they will not go away any time soon. My goal is to seek advice from anyone that, for example, had to deal with sh\*t like this. When I began to make the lesson 0 of DrawABox I saw this piece of advice: >As the 50% rule relates heavily to mental health, I would be remiss not to take a moment to talk about **depression**. A lot of people out there will really struggle with the idea of doing something only to fail. As I've mentioned already, many of us have been taught that our value as an individual is inextricably tied to our ability to succeed, to the point where forcing yourself to fail (as this course will have you do quite a bit) can actively trigger depressive episodes. It gets that much worse when you consider how many people actively try and use art as therapy — not as part of a larger regimen under the guidance of a professional, but as their singular self-prescribed solution, and unfortunately it can make things worse. > >For those of you in that situation, **I strongly urge you to seek whatever professional support you can**. Therapy with a trained professional isn’t about changing who you are, or attempting to *fix* you. Rather, at its core, it’s about giving you the tools you need to better manage and understand your emotions, so that when you’re faced with a bad drawing, you can understand not just on a logical level, but deep within you that this does not in any way suggest that you yourself are bad. So, don’t be afraid to step away from this course, and to seek out that help. We’ll still be here when you’re better equipped. I know this is not a professional advice from a medical expert and It is written from the kindness their heart to protect people from getting worse. But, I felt pretty bad when read this. In my case, I felt like I would have to put my learning process on ice until getting better until getting better. This may never happen or may be sporadic thing. Time is a terrible foe and it won't stop for anyone. I'm not that young anymore and I know very well the value of time. I cannot wait forever for something that may never really be "good" and measure if I'm good to go is a tricky thing do. Should I drop DrawABox? I'm not exactly too anxious about everything in DrawABox. Much more about critique. I know it is unreasonable, but my mind goes places by itself. What other option do I have to continue (even outside DrawABox) my studies. I would like to say it was a very painful paragraph to read and may have caused, in part, my state of mind to shift to something undesirable from the start. Again. I want to be VERY clear that I'm not in any way blaming this piece of text for my failures or even ignoring the good advice. I'm only saying that there is much more on this subject than "go to therapy and come back later". It is very hard for me to write something for public scrutiny (much like submitting a DrawABox exercise :D), but I'll bite the bullet this time and hope for the best. Thank you for your kindness, especially from people with anxiety as myself. Assistant: Drawing should be fun. Art should be fun. If you’re taking it too seriously, remember that.

Human: how on earth do I draw with the shoulder? i've tried to ditch the wrist like the lessons tell me to, but I can't even make basic short makes with decent precision with my shoulder. it just feels so awkward and every line I make falls entirely off its track. I've tried the ghosting and overlayed lines exercises but they don't help at all cuz I think my arm is just too shakey to get any of it right. could someone please give me some help or advice on how to actually get this down? my lines are super shakey and inaccurate so any other tips on mastering markmaking would be fantastic as well. Assistant: I draw with my elbow not my shoulder

Human: how on earth do I draw with the shoulder? i've tried to ditch the wrist like the lessons tell me to, but I can't even make basic short makes with decent precision with my shoulder. it just feels so awkward and every line I make falls entirely off its track. I've tried the ghosting and overlayed lines exercises but they don't help at all cuz I think my arm is just too shakey to get any of it right. could someone please give me some help or advice on how to actually get this down? my lines are super shakey and inaccurate so any other tips on mastering markmaking would be fantastic as well. Assistant: Change to overhand grip!

Human: Help, feeling super lost with the 250 box challenge Here's some of my last boxes I watched the video and read the instructions many times, and I'm on box 86 now. But I feel so lost. I've tried ghosting towards the vanishing point and trying to visualize the lines, but it feels like I'm just guessing each time. It takes me about 5-10 min to do each box. At one point I started drawing 3 boxes per page (I'm using A3 divided in half) because I really needed to see the full extension of the lines. Then I find the mistakes and correct them, I even started "grading" my boxes, seeing how many lines were correct, how many with minor mistakes and how many lines were flat out wrong. Am I overthinking this? Also, my lines are terrible, I think I destroyed the only two fine liners I have so they're not a consistent weight. Then I go over them to fix, but it ends up fraying and becoming a hot mess. Did you also feel like you were just going by instinct or were you super careful? What were your "techniques"? How good is good enough? Any tips on making the lines look less messy? Help please. Assistant: Your boxes are fine, I did 250 at 5-10 mins a box too. Just keep going and keep correcting your mistakes. If you want an additional exercise, draw some boxes with plotted vanishing points like in lesson one. On the paper, are you drawing on rough or computer paper? I did the exercises on rough paper for months and destroyed so many fine liners. I think the rough surface eats away at the nib. If you dont already have one, find a good smooth sketchbook. Personally I like Strathmore Mixed Media paper

Human: Help, feeling super lost with the 250 box challenge Here's some of my last boxes I watched the video and read the instructions many times, and I'm on box 86 now. But I feel so lost. I've tried ghosting towards the vanishing point and trying to visualize the lines, but it feels like I'm just guessing each time. It takes me about 5-10 min to do each box. At one point I started drawing 3 boxes per page (I'm using A3 divided in half) because I really needed to see the full extension of the lines. Then I find the mistakes and correct them, I even started "grading" my boxes, seeing how many lines were correct, how many with minor mistakes and how many lines were flat out wrong. Am I overthinking this? Also, my lines are terrible, I think I destroyed the only two fine liners I have so they're not a consistent weight. Then I go over them to fix, but it ends up fraying and becoming a hot mess. Did you also feel like you were just going by instinct or were you super careful? What were your "techniques"? How good is good enough? Any tips on making the lines look less messy? Help please. Assistant: This video helped me ScyllaStew how I draw boxes but I think yours look good anyway.

Human: Struggling with motivation I used to be pretty good at getting myself out of periods of lack of motivation but it's particularly hard right now. Anyone wanna share their methods for getting back into the groove of things? (I do allow myself time off when I feel burnt out but I don't even feel burnt out rn!) Assistant: I find that motivation follows Action. I try NOT to think about doing things and just start doing things, small Things. Make your bed, brush your teeth, get dressed, take a small walk. I HATE the thought of exercising. But if I just put my shoes on and start small, within 45 seconds I’m motivated to do another minute and it just progresses from there. Try to Create small habits that require Zero thoughts.

Human: Struggling with motivation I used to be pretty good at getting myself out of periods of lack of motivation but it's particularly hard right now. Anyone wanna share their methods for getting back into the groove of things? (I do allow myself time off when I feel burnt out but I don't even feel burnt out rn!) Assistant: Ask yourself: why are you doing art? What is your goal? Once you parse that out, it will help lay down the motivation for you.

Human: When you want your drawings to actually look good, do you still draw the construction lines like spheres, cylinders etc or do you you just imagine them in your mind and draw without them so the drawing looks cleaner? Assistant: If you want your drawings to look good, then you *need* to draw construction lines beforehand. They can be erased afterward. There is no such thing as imagining them in your mind correctly, they need to be physically drawn.

Human: When you want your drawings to actually look good, do you still draw the construction lines like spheres, cylinders etc or do you you just imagine them in your mind and draw without them so the drawing looks cleaner? Assistant: I keep em. They look neat

Human: How do you stay consistent and build discipline? I hope this is the right place for this question! I’ve attempted Draw A Box a few times and always have trouble staying consistent. I can go for a good period of time but often end up falling off at some point, only to pick it up again after time has passed. I’ve been more consistent in learning other skills (writing/3D modeling) but drawing feels so touch and go. I aim to be a creature of habit and not motivation What has helped you all remain disciplined and keep working at it? Assistant: I started to make a webtoon about 4 months ago, I absolutely DO NOT allow myself to check how many people visited or subscribed to me till I update a new chapter. It gives me the motivation to finish my chapter so I can check if i received any love! (Not gotten much so far but a girl can dream :D ) I'm just like you, absolutely motivated one seconded and then it's gone the next second. But so far this trick has been working for me :)

Human: How do you stay consistent and build discipline? I hope this is the right place for this question! I’ve attempted Draw A Box a few times and always have trouble staying consistent. I can go for a good period of time but often end up falling off at some point, only to pick it up again after time has passed. I’ve been more consistent in learning other skills (writing/3D modeling) but drawing feels so touch and go. I aim to be a creature of habit and not motivation What has helped you all remain disciplined and keep working at it? Assistant: Doing things even when you don’t want to do them and consistency. If you practiced drawing everyday for a year, even just half hour sessions, I can almost guarantee you will develop a habit and more than likely have more motivation to draw and also get more enjoyment from the process. The problem w motivation is that it is very capricious. Time and work build habit.

Human: What happened to “Draw-a-Box” Human Anatomy Lessons? And will they be coming back? Draw-a-Box has definitely helped me a lot during the long-run. I would love if uncomfortable somehow returned those lessons. Assistant: /u/uncomfortable could you add all the previous lessons back but maybe with a big red warning at the top "THESE LESSIONS ARE DEPRECATED, INSTEAD TRY THIS BOOK / TUTORIAL / LINK"? I think they're probably still a good starting point for people even if they're outdated as you mentioned.

Human: What happened to “Draw-a-Box” Human Anatomy Lessons? And will they be coming back? Draw-a-Box has definitely helped me a lot during the long-run. I would love if uncomfortable somehow returned those lessons. Assistant: I seem to recall him saying use proko

Human: Is drawing 4 hours a week OK to improve? Since I have a busy schedule, I can only draw on the weekends. Sometimes I spend the whole day drawing as it's pretty relaxing. But I made it a habit to draw 2 hours at "least". I used to draw 1-2 hours everyday. So I'm scared if I fall behind. Assistant: Yup! As long as you are mindful of what you’re doing. (Doodling is different) any practice, that is done well, is good practice

Human: Is drawing 4 hours a week OK to improve? Since I have a busy schedule, I can only draw on the weekends. Sometimes I spend the whole day drawing as it's pretty relaxing. But I made it a habit to draw 2 hours at "least". I used to draw 1-2 hours everyday. So I'm scared if I fall behind. Assistant: Learning more is better than drawing more

Human: I think I have found some problems with this course after halfway through lesson 2 1. I think u/Uncomfortable recognizes most of the students quit. It's looked down upon to judge this system but wouldnt that weed out anyone who would have any criticism? The only people left will be the ones who are good at it or enjoy it. You can say it's lack of dicipline or they didnt have the will, but thats really easy to say from the inside looking out. 2. Most of the people doing this are extremely well put together and ready for this kind of challenge. I think there needs to be a pre-Buildabox course for regular people. The reason people get frustrated and leave is because this isnt for them, it's for artists, people who already think like an artist. This is most evident when you are drawing textures for the first time. You go from a box challenge to "Okay, now draw a paper ball". To someone who doesnt draw that's impossible without training. I've seen people's homework and the amount of texture they are able to do is breathtaking. So either the people in this course are established artists who are just training or have already had loads of experience or an eye for things. Edit: Also people are WAY too good at confident strokes. I dont understand how people can draw this straight. 3. It's discouraging to hear Uncomfortable tell you how bad you are over and over in the lessons. I know he's trying to sound sympathetic but it just feels.. blah, and when you cant do a lesson you feel like garbage. 4. The videos have WAY too many ads. I mean like 3-4 per video. It's incredibly annoying. 5. I dont believe this course teaches you anything. Its supposed to teach you how to learn how to draw but if you cant learn how to draw the way he does I feel like you are just wasting your time. I dont feel like I can apply perspective in a sense outside of a box. That will probably change in the future, but the point is after lesson 2 It feels pointless. Most of us have school and a job and to dedicate a year to this is a tough order without knowing what we are getting into. This course reminds me a lot of how people treat bad therapy "Oh it wont work if you dont believe it will" Thats called blind faith, if observation has an effect on the outcome then it's not science. 6. I'm not giving up and I dont think this course is bad or wrong. I think its fine for artists who need to learn more perspective. But when im done ill give some full opinions. Please dont downvote this because it's not your thinking, I think its important to take the views of a frustrated individual who is willing to give his opinion on the early bits of the course. Many people probably thought the same thing but never spoke up and if you shut them down then things can't improve or be taken into consideration. Assistant: I do draw a box concurrently with "the art and science of drawing," on skillshare, I think they cover each other's weaknesses. Drawabox gives tools to study art, Eviston gives you ways to use them. Drawabox gets you real good at boxes, art and science shows you how to use a box to draw a coffee cup handle.

Human: I think I have found some problems with this course after halfway through lesson 2 1. I think u/Uncomfortable recognizes most of the students quit. It's looked down upon to judge this system but wouldnt that weed out anyone who would have any criticism? The only people left will be the ones who are good at it or enjoy it. You can say it's lack of dicipline or they didnt have the will, but thats really easy to say from the inside looking out. 2. Most of the people doing this are extremely well put together and ready for this kind of challenge. I think there needs to be a pre-Buildabox course for regular people. The reason people get frustrated and leave is because this isnt for them, it's for artists, people who already think like an artist. This is most evident when you are drawing textures for the first time. You go from a box challenge to "Okay, now draw a paper ball". To someone who doesnt draw that's impossible without training. I've seen people's homework and the amount of texture they are able to do is breathtaking. So either the people in this course are established artists who are just training or have already had loads of experience or an eye for things. Edit: Also people are WAY too good at confident strokes. I dont understand how people can draw this straight. 3. It's discouraging to hear Uncomfortable tell you how bad you are over and over in the lessons. I know he's trying to sound sympathetic but it just feels.. blah, and when you cant do a lesson you feel like garbage. 4. The videos have WAY too many ads. I mean like 3-4 per video. It's incredibly annoying. 5. I dont believe this course teaches you anything. Its supposed to teach you how to learn how to draw but if you cant learn how to draw the way he does I feel like you are just wasting your time. I dont feel like I can apply perspective in a sense outside of a box. That will probably change in the future, but the point is after lesson 2 It feels pointless. Most of us have school and a job and to dedicate a year to this is a tough order without knowing what we are getting into. This course reminds me a lot of how people treat bad therapy "Oh it wont work if you dont believe it will" Thats called blind faith, if observation has an effect on the outcome then it's not science. 6. I'm not giving up and I dont think this course is bad or wrong. I think its fine for artists who need to learn more perspective. But when im done ill give some full opinions. Please dont downvote this because it's not your thinking, I think its important to take the views of a frustrated individual who is willing to give his opinion on the early bits of the course. Many people probably thought the same thing but never spoke up and if you shut them down then things can't improve or be taken into consideration. Assistant: OP, do your homework, and you will get your results. https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/pemcqc/how\_are\_you\_people\_this\_good\_at\_organic\_texture/ TLDR: OP didnt do the 250 box challenge (the namesake of the course) and wondering why he's not getting results.

Human: IS IT OKAY TO DRAW ONLY FOR 30 MIN EVERYDAY? Hey there, new one in the sub here! I always admired art, not only through drawings but through music, computers and nature. Drawing is all my time favorite thing to do (besides gym). Its amazingly peaceful to be just in your own mood and pace. However, I now want to know how to actually draw better. I know it might kill my mood to draw as you have to work hard to become better, but don't worry, I'll make sure to enjoy the journey and still have a loving heart towards drawing. So, coming back to the point.... Well the point is basically the title... Can I still make it if I draw everyday only for 30 min? Maybe I'd increase it to an hour, but I'd really really just would like to place it at 30 min. I've got reading, gym as other hobbies too and I'm preparing for a really competitive exam in my country so that takes up my whole day too. If I am really into drawing and really do want to improve, I might just move it upto an hour but what do you people think? Please let me know... Thanks a lot Assistant: Drawing daily, for any amount of time, will always help you improve! Building that habit of drawing *something* every day is the important part here. The only way to get better at drawing is to actually do it, so any amount of time on a daily basis will help. 30 mins a day is a great amount of time for starting out!

Human: IS IT OKAY TO DRAW ONLY FOR 30 MIN EVERYDAY? Hey there, new one in the sub here! I always admired art, not only through drawings but through music, computers and nature. Drawing is all my time favorite thing to do (besides gym). Its amazingly peaceful to be just in your own mood and pace. However, I now want to know how to actually draw better. I know it might kill my mood to draw as you have to work hard to become better, but don't worry, I'll make sure to enjoy the journey and still have a loving heart towards drawing. So, coming back to the point.... Well the point is basically the title... Can I still make it if I draw everyday only for 30 min? Maybe I'd increase it to an hour, but I'd really really just would like to place it at 30 min. I've got reading, gym as other hobbies too and I'm preparing for a really competitive exam in my country so that takes up my whole day too. If I am really into drawing and really do want to improve, I might just move it upto an hour but what do you people think? Please let me know... Thanks a lot Assistant: Its not about how long you're drawing in a session, but how to make it efficient. Big difference between noodling for half an hour and doing studies for half an hour.

Human: do u guys have notebooks that you write down what you learn or do you always just have sketchbooks with your progress do u guys write down what you learn too? cuz i've only been drawing and trying to not forget anything haha Assistant: I have a simple blank notebook for notes, a sketchbook and tablet for drawings (I do both traditional and digital with my 50% rule), and a ring binder with plastic sleeves for my DrawABox exercises.

Human: do u guys have notebooks that you write down what you learn or do you always just have sketchbooks with your progress do u guys write down what you learn too? cuz i've only been drawing and trying to not forget anything haha Assistant: i dont know i draw digitally so i can just make a folder with all my art of a certain category.

Human: Having trouble with the 50 Percent Rule As you may know, Uncomfortable suggests that from all the time we spend on drawing, we dedicate half of it doing the Drawabox lessons and the other half just drawing whatever we want to make drawing a habit. I have no trouble doing the lessons, I'm told exactly what to do and how. But when it comes to drawing freely my I get stuck, I have no idea of what to do. I have to look for references as I can't draw from imagination yet. Should I practice? Should I study anatomy or landscapes? I want to learn and get better but I want to have fun and enjoy drawing at the same time. Perhaps the answer is "just draw whatever you want" but my problem is that I don't know what I want and it's stressing me out. I feel like I'm trapped in this practice/learn/draw loophole. Has this happened to anyone else? What can I do? Assistant: I really recommend checking out Peter Draws on YT. He inspired me to doodle and draw loosely, just putting down lines without thought and forming details from what you observe. Its a truly freeing experience from worrying about structure and perspective and just having fun filling a piece of paper with weird details. Hope this helps :)

Human: Having trouble with the 50 Percent Rule As you may know, Uncomfortable suggests that from all the time we spend on drawing, we dedicate half of it doing the Drawabox lessons and the other half just drawing whatever we want to make drawing a habit. I have no trouble doing the lessons, I'm told exactly what to do and how. But when it comes to drawing freely my I get stuck, I have no idea of what to do. I have to look for references as I can't draw from imagination yet. Should I practice? Should I study anatomy or landscapes? I want to learn and get better but I want to have fun and enjoy drawing at the same time. Perhaps the answer is "just draw whatever you want" but my problem is that I don't know what I want and it's stressing me out. I feel like I'm trapped in this practice/learn/draw loophole. Has this happened to anyone else? What can I do? Assistant: Honestly I think the fifty fifty rule is for helping people to practice fundamentals more and not just draw whatever they want all the time. I say you're free to do more lessons if you want, and switch to drawing from the imagination when the inspiration hits. It doesn't have to be drawing from the imagination either, could be a study from a photo, plein air painting, etc. Also what if doing more practice or lessons is exactly what you want to draw? I say that counts!

Human: Not sure what I'm supposed to think in order to improve drawing boxes So I draw a box, its messed up as expected, NBD. I extend the lines, see that some points should be in different locations. Next box. As I'm drawing it, it's like I can't really look back on my previous mistakes to help me place the points. I'm only in the 30s, so maybe I haven't drawn enough, but I'm concerned if I don't change something then I'll miss something completely and nothing will click even after 250. First I draw the Y, and then after drawing one converging line, the other one has to be a certain length so the 4 lines going to the y axis vanishing point are consistent (It's hard for me to determine the length of this line, not sure how I'm supposed to). And from then on it's like it's all guesswork and luck with line points and lengths. Even after I do the corrections, it doesn't remedy the uncertainty I have when I start the next box. This leads to the main question I have which is what thought process am I supposed to go through in order to make sure my next box is even just a little bit better? Assistant: Revisit the rules of perspective until they become logical and intuitive. You're having trouble because they haven't "gelled" in your mind yet. https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-mediums/drawing/learn-to-draw-perspective/ http://www.draw23.com/perspective https://www.dummies.com/art-center/performing-arts/drawing/drawing-geometric-perspective/

Human: Not sure what I'm supposed to think in order to improve drawing boxes So I draw a box, its messed up as expected, NBD. I extend the lines, see that some points should be in different locations. Next box. As I'm drawing it, it's like I can't really look back on my previous mistakes to help me place the points. I'm only in the 30s, so maybe I haven't drawn enough, but I'm concerned if I don't change something then I'll miss something completely and nothing will click even after 250. First I draw the Y, and then after drawing one converging line, the other one has to be a certain length so the 4 lines going to the y axis vanishing point are consistent (It's hard for me to determine the length of this line, not sure how I'm supposed to). And from then on it's like it's all guesswork and luck with line points and lengths. Even after I do the corrections, it doesn't remedy the uncertainty I have when I start the next box. This leads to the main question I have which is what thought process am I supposed to go through in order to make sure my next box is even just a little bit better? Assistant: I don’t know, because I’m still on Ellipses, but I think: slow down. That has helped me. Just go a lot slower.

Human: How much inactive time is too much? I started this course like 3 months ago, but due to some medical problems I had to stop, that was 2 months ago, I finished lesson 1 before stopping and now I want to come back, should I repeat lesson 1 or can I continue to the Box challenge? Maybe there is something else I should do, I would like to hear your opinions. Btw: Originally I did every exercise twice, once with my right hand and once with my left hand, I don't know if that is relevant. Assistant: Warm up with a few exercises and then move on, you don't need to do all of it again.

Human: How much inactive time is too much? I started this course like 3 months ago, but due to some medical problems I had to stop, that was 2 months ago, I finished lesson 1 before stopping and now I want to come back, should I repeat lesson 1 or can I continue to the Box challenge? Maybe there is something else I should do, I would like to hear your opinions. Btw: Originally I did every exercise twice, once with my right hand and once with my left hand, I don't know if that is relevant. Assistant: I think you can judge best if you need it, but it wouldn't hurt to do it again

Human: Um, new here. Where can I find the lessons? So I’m 33, teaching myself to draw and already I want to cry with frustration. I need some… practical guidelines for complete beginners. I’ve been practicing shapes thus far lol I’ve noticed people completing lessons on here; where can I find them. I’d like to try. Assistant: Here are the lessons related to this subreddit: https://drawabox.com/ Here is another source of good structure to begin drawing: https://imgur.com/a/EZPc28m

Human: Um, new here. Where can I find the lessons? So I’m 33, teaching myself to draw and already I want to cry with frustration. I need some… practical guidelines for complete beginners. I’ve been practicing shapes thus far lol I’ve noticed people completing lessons on here; where can I find them. I’d like to try. Assistant: It's gonna be hard, I gave up a long time ago - but the first lesson or two completely reshaped the way I look at drawings

Human: I just passed my Qualifying Exam. I’m officially a Ph.D Candidate!! As many of us, I’ve had imposter syndrome since I started grad school. Until my exam, I honestly thought I would fail my QE as I really didn’t belong and didn’t think I knew enough. I thought they would hate my proposal and rip it apart in front of me. However, after today’s exam, I finally feel more confident in myself. Having a discussion about your proposed project with other researchers really does help bring things into perspective, and can be thought provoking. Having your thoughts and ideas supported by other well established researchers is something that I never thought would happen. To everyone going through comprehensive/qualifying exams: you can do it!!! We are our own worst enemies, but believe me when I tell you that you know a lot more than you think you do! You’re going to kill it! Assistant: Congratulations! This marks (in theory) the point where your committee is on your side: supportive rather than antagonistic. Excellent work! I wrote up my experience while it was still fresh in my mind; maybe you'll consider doing the same to dispel some of the common fears that new grad students face regarding the qualifying exam?

Human: I just passed my Qualifying Exam. I’m officially a Ph.D Candidate!! As many of us, I’ve had imposter syndrome since I started grad school. Until my exam, I honestly thought I would fail my QE as I really didn’t belong and didn’t think I knew enough. I thought they would hate my proposal and rip it apart in front of me. However, after today’s exam, I finally feel more confident in myself. Having a discussion about your proposed project with other researchers really does help bring things into perspective, and can be thought provoking. Having your thoughts and ideas supported by other well established researchers is something that I never thought would happen. To everyone going through comprehensive/qualifying exams: you can do it!!! We are our own worst enemies, but believe me when I tell you that you know a lot more than you think you do! You’re going to kill it! Assistant: I really really needed to read this. I have my preliminary exam the first week of May and my imposter syndrome is really getting the best of me even though my advisor is the most encouraging person ever and says that he wouldn’t send me into this without knowing that I’m ready. I have a group meeting practice next week and I think I’ll feel better once that happens...

Human: "40% of Ph.D. students in the UK at high risk of suicide". I knew Ph.D. life can be really testing, but not to this level!! How can we make the process more emotionally sustainable? https://thetab.com/uk/2021/10/14/40-per-cent-of-phd-students-are-at-high-risk-of-suicide-study-says-226001 Speaking from experience, I honestly felt I had it worse than anyone. I wouldn't say I was ever suicidal, but I honestly didn't know how I was supposed to cope if I didn't pass. Thankfully, despite having an incredibly bumpy Ph.D. journey, it was all worth it in the end, the viva went incredibly well, and so did the post viva (minor) corrections. Although I was the primary architect of my misery, I thought I'd share some admin/program level fails that made the whole process much more of a mental torment than it should've been: 1) Supervisors do not give back feedback until the final year, or the final few months prior to the (initial) submission deadline. I've sent them quite a lot of work throughout the years, which they've never responded to. The first real feedback they gave me was on my first thesis draft, which they absolutely tore apart. And that was a horrible blow because right up to that point (very close to the original submission date), I had no clue my written work was so bad. We had fairly regular meetings, but at no point did they even hint my progress, as far as written work goes, was not up to the par of doctoral level. This was perhaps the biggest psychological blow, especially when you're close to finishing. I needed 6 more months to re-write the whole thing from scratch. 2) Don't allow students to veer too much off the main aim of the project. You're encouraged to have a divergent mindset at the beginning of your Ph.D. But sometimes, particularly inexperienced researchers can easily fall into hopeless cul-de-sacs that waste a lot of time. I look back at my early work and cringe. I veered off so much initially, that it made my research scope inplausibly vast. I wish my supervisors would've at least hinted much earlier that some of those routes were complete dead ends, that ended up wasting almost a year of my time. This is a tricky one to critique, one should be encouraged to think expansively in the beginning. But less experienced researchers (as I was) can truly find themselves lost. And the intervention often comes too late 3) Admin f\*ckups. There have been so many admin failures, like delays to my compulsory international research visit (part of our Ph.D. training program) until the final few months of the year, or the time when they accidentally SENT THE WRONG DOCUMENTS TO me MY VIVA EXAMINERS INSTEAD OF MY ACTUAL THESIS. Our examination process consists of a 1-hour presentation + Q/A, and then a full classical British style Ph.D. viva. It's literally two viva examinations in one. I did the first part well. And then the chair of my viva told me "we're so sorry, but your examiners didn't receive your actual thesis, they got a minor document by accident". So I had to go through the psychological terror of viva anticipation all over again! 4) Have all the necessary facilities easily available for the student to cope with such pressure. This is a two-way street, the student must be prepared to also ask for help. Which I never did tbh, though looking back, I really should have. Encourage students to attend conferences, and events, and network as much as possible. Don't make them fall into the isolation trap as I had done. Please share some of your ideas! I know a Ph.D. isn't supposed to be easy. Stress is just the reality of life, and a Ph.D. is no different. But it shouldn't get to this level bad! Share your thoughts and experiences! Assistant: I can't give advice considering I broke down in tears during a lab meeting today...

Human: "40% of Ph.D. students in the UK at high risk of suicide". I knew Ph.D. life can be really testing, but not to this level!! How can we make the process more emotionally sustainable? https://thetab.com/uk/2021/10/14/40-per-cent-of-phd-students-are-at-high-risk-of-suicide-study-says-226001 Speaking from experience, I honestly felt I had it worse than anyone. I wouldn't say I was ever suicidal, but I honestly didn't know how I was supposed to cope if I didn't pass. Thankfully, despite having an incredibly bumpy Ph.D. journey, it was all worth it in the end, the viva went incredibly well, and so did the post viva (minor) corrections. Although I was the primary architect of my misery, I thought I'd share some admin/program level fails that made the whole process much more of a mental torment than it should've been: 1) Supervisors do not give back feedback until the final year, or the final few months prior to the (initial) submission deadline. I've sent them quite a lot of work throughout the years, which they've never responded to. The first real feedback they gave me was on my first thesis draft, which they absolutely tore apart. And that was a horrible blow because right up to that point (very close to the original submission date), I had no clue my written work was so bad. We had fairly regular meetings, but at no point did they even hint my progress, as far as written work goes, was not up to the par of doctoral level. This was perhaps the biggest psychological blow, especially when you're close to finishing. I needed 6 more months to re-write the whole thing from scratch. 2) Don't allow students to veer too much off the main aim of the project. You're encouraged to have a divergent mindset at the beginning of your Ph.D. But sometimes, particularly inexperienced researchers can easily fall into hopeless cul-de-sacs that waste a lot of time. I look back at my early work and cringe. I veered off so much initially, that it made my research scope inplausibly vast. I wish my supervisors would've at least hinted much earlier that some of those routes were complete dead ends, that ended up wasting almost a year of my time. This is a tricky one to critique, one should be encouraged to think expansively in the beginning. But less experienced researchers (as I was) can truly find themselves lost. And the intervention often comes too late 3) Admin f\*ckups. There have been so many admin failures, like delays to my compulsory international research visit (part of our Ph.D. training program) until the final few months of the year, or the time when they accidentally SENT THE WRONG DOCUMENTS TO me MY VIVA EXAMINERS INSTEAD OF MY ACTUAL THESIS. Our examination process consists of a 1-hour presentation + Q/A, and then a full classical British style Ph.D. viva. It's literally two viva examinations in one. I did the first part well. And then the chair of my viva told me "we're so sorry, but your examiners didn't receive your actual thesis, they got a minor document by accident". So I had to go through the psychological terror of viva anticipation all over again! 4) Have all the necessary facilities easily available for the student to cope with such pressure. This is a two-way street, the student must be prepared to also ask for help. Which I never did tbh, though looking back, I really should have. Encourage students to attend conferences, and events, and network as much as possible. Don't make them fall into the isolation trap as I had done. Please share some of your ideas! I know a Ph.D. isn't supposed to be easy. Stress is just the reality of life, and a Ph.D. is no different. But it shouldn't get to this level bad! Share your thoughts and experiences! Assistant: LOL.........decrease the wealth gap. But that is not gonna happen.

Human: Do you think that life would be easier if there was just one universally accepted citation style? I know it sounds a rhetorical question. But as a TA, I have noticed that students in my institution often have a very difficult time with correct citation style. My class follows APA. Somehow, even with widely available internet sources (and even citation generators) many still do not seem to get it. Sometimes I wonder if a universally accepted, standardized citation style, across disciplines would make more sense. Perhaps this is more of a rant out of frustration. But I figured I would extend this question to the crowd to see what others think. Assistant: The answer is Chicago. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Human: Do you think that life would be easier if there was just one universally accepted citation style? I know it sounds a rhetorical question. But as a TA, I have noticed that students in my institution often have a very difficult time with correct citation style. My class follows APA. Somehow, even with widely available internet sources (and even citation generators) many still do not seem to get it. Sometimes I wonder if a universally accepted, standardized citation style, across disciplines would make more sense. Perhaps this is more of a rant out of frustration. But I figured I would extend this question to the crowd to see what others think. Assistant: Depending on the level of the course I try not to be too strict on citation. As long as the name/author/date are in there somewhere I don’t really care. I’ve noticed that my students focus on little things like citations and waste time that could’ve been spent writing a better argument.

Human: Postdocs under pressure: long hours and a lack of job security, combined with workplace bullying and discrimination, are forcing many to consider leaving science, finds Nature’s inaugural survey of postdoctoral researchers. There is a lot of relevant information here for people in various stages of their academic career, so I wanted to share it with the community: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03235-y Assistant: I was so looking forward to postdocing — more money! No teaching! No classes! — but the reality is so much harder than I imagined. Being on a 2-yr contract and constantly looking for jobs while also trying to write the best papers of my career is exhausting. Coupled with a miserable job market I just feel a deep hopelessness.

Human: Postdocs under pressure: long hours and a lack of job security, combined with workplace bullying and discrimination, are forcing many to consider leaving science, finds Nature’s inaugural survey of postdoctoral researchers. There is a lot of relevant information here for people in various stages of their academic career, so I wanted to share it with the community: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03235-y Assistant: it is true. Job security is essential. 2 years here 2 years there buy if you suck well or can eat your ego you maybe can be assistant professor

Human: Do you think universities are becoming too "business-minded"? I'm referring to a growing trend where universities are churning graduates without any regard for jobs or educational achievement. Equally frightening is this over-reliance on International students, solely for the money they can charge them. It feels thats universities have stopped becoming higher education centres and are profit generating businesses. Do you agree and if so which country are you referencing? Assistant: In a capitalist society, it would be foolish to think that universities would not eventually be decoded by flows of capital.

Human: Do you think universities are becoming too "business-minded"? I'm referring to a growing trend where universities are churning graduates without any regard for jobs or educational achievement. Equally frightening is this over-reliance on International students, solely for the money they can charge them. It feels thats universities have stopped becoming higher education centres and are profit generating businesses. Do you agree and if so which country are you referencing? Assistant: All the admins sitting on the board of my university (40,000 undergrads in a big city) all are CEOs or executives for large companies in my province.

Human: What are the wildest hijinks you never though you’d have to write a syllabus disclaimer about (and yet here we are)? This morning I woke up to an email from a top journal in my field confirming my submission. I definitely did not submit anything there. Eventually I realized that instead of submitting their term paper to Canvas, one of my students had somehow managed to submit it as a manuscript to a journal, under my name and identity. I can’t believe I have to put “do not submit your class papers as journal manuscripts under my name” in my syllabi. I just keep thinking about it and bursting into laughter. So, what are some of your “I can’t believe that just happened” teaching stories? This is not a thread for student bashing - just some good natured, end of the semester stress relief! Assistant: > Eventually I realized that instead of submitting their term paper to Canvas, one of my students had somehow managed to submit it as a manuscript to a journal, under my name and identity. Not going to lie, I'm genuinely impressed - submitting a paper correctly in some journals' portals is hard enough when you're actually _intending_ to submit a paper. Ask them who they suggested as reviewers!

Human: What are the wildest hijinks you never though you’d have to write a syllabus disclaimer about (and yet here we are)? This morning I woke up to an email from a top journal in my field confirming my submission. I definitely did not submit anything there. Eventually I realized that instead of submitting their term paper to Canvas, one of my students had somehow managed to submit it as a manuscript to a journal, under my name and identity. I can’t believe I have to put “do not submit your class papers as journal manuscripts under my name” in my syllabi. I just keep thinking about it and bursting into laughter. So, what are some of your “I can’t believe that just happened” teaching stories? This is not a thread for student bashing - just some good natured, end of the semester stress relief! Assistant: Not the craziest by any means, but I remember the exact student that led me to write: “You will receive a zero if I or a member of the instructional even thinks you are playing video games in class.” Before that semester, I thought video game addiction was a joke. I now think otherwise after seeing too many students fail out of college bc literally all they do is play video games and sleep.

Human: Why is academia so TOXIC? As title. Assistant: The system of grants, publish or perish and the amount of time and effort it takes to succeed can attract a certain type of personality. Unfortunately, that personality is more likely to have the side effect of being an asshole. Not all researchers are toxic some of them are lovely and driven by a desire to make the world a better place. But the unique and insular environment of academia does attract toxic people. It sucks and is an unpleasant shock when you see it for the first time.

Human: Why is academia so TOXIC? As title. Assistant: Because the stakes are so small.

Human: How do I cite a transgender author's name Hi, everyone! I am trying to cite an old article by an author who has since come out as transgender and changed their name. Do I cite the text using the name which appears on it (essentially deadnaming them), or do I use their new name? I feel like this is kind of a tricky situation because, on the one hand, I want to respect the author's new name, but I also want my citations to be "correct" for plagiarism's sake. Assistant: This is such a good question very informative thank you

Human: How do I cite a transgender author's name Hi, everyone! I am trying to cite an old article by an author who has since come out as transgender and changed their name. Do I cite the text using the name which appears on it (essentially deadnaming them), or do I use their new name? I feel like this is kind of a tricky situation because, on the one hand, I want to respect the author's new name, but I also want my citations to be "correct" for plagiarism's sake. Assistant: Whatever work you cited should be the name. If this person wanted they can reach to out to said journal and have them change the name.

Human: What obscure skill have you picked up as a grad student/academic? I'm doing a biology PhD, and know exactly how to empty a mortar of powdered plant material suspended in liquid nitrogen into a tiny vial without it exploding (easier said than done), an obscure "skill" I've picked up doing hundreds of DNA extractions. Purely our of curiousity, what's your obscure skill? Assistant: I wrote my dissertation in LaTeX. Doesn't seem obscure? Trust me: it is in the humanities.

Human: What obscure skill have you picked up as a grad student/academic? I'm doing a biology PhD, and know exactly how to empty a mortar of powdered plant material suspended in liquid nitrogen into a tiny vial without it exploding (easier said than done), an obscure "skill" I've picked up doing hundreds of DNA extractions. Purely our of curiousity, what's your obscure skill? Assistant: Swallowing repressed anger and frustration, and putting on a smile.

Human: Stock phrases to answer talk questions Just met with a graduate student who was concerned that a recent talk had been derailed by a persistent questioner. I told them that question management is a skill that develops over time, but also provided a few stock phrases that can be used to deflect questions when you don't have a good answer. Here are some of mine - any suggestions? * For interrupters: "I might address that later in the talk - could you ask me again at the end if I haven't answered the question by then?" * For repeated questioners who won't stop: "This is a really interesting exchange but just because we're short on time and I want to give others a chance to ask questions, can we talk about it afterwards?" * For people who offer dumb criticisms of your methods: "That's an interesting point, what would you have done differently?" * For questions that are nonsensical: "That's an interesting point, what are your thoughts?" * For questions that point out limitations: "That's something I've thought a lot. Although this study wasn't set up to address that comprehensively, it's something we're going to look at in future studies." For context, I'm in social psychology and do quantitative research. Assistant: Some advice I got early on as a grad student was the following. When someone asks you a completely stupid question, find some way to "misunderstand" it as a good question and answer that instead.

Human: Stock phrases to answer talk questions Just met with a graduate student who was concerned that a recent talk had been derailed by a persistent questioner. I told them that question management is a skill that develops over time, but also provided a few stock phrases that can be used to deflect questions when you don't have a good answer. Here are some of mine - any suggestions? * For interrupters: "I might address that later in the talk - could you ask me again at the end if I haven't answered the question by then?" * For repeated questioners who won't stop: "This is a really interesting exchange but just because we're short on time and I want to give others a chance to ask questions, can we talk about it afterwards?" * For people who offer dumb criticisms of your methods: "That's an interesting point, what would you have done differently?" * For questions that are nonsensical: "That's an interesting point, what are your thoughts?" * For questions that point out limitations: "That's something I've thought a lot. Although this study wasn't set up to address that comprehensively, it's something we're going to look at in future studies." For context, I'm in social psychology and do quantitative research. Assistant: "that's a good question, here is a better one: " then say something that will lead on to your next point. 'how does this affect the energy spectrum? which is shown here in the next figure'.

Human: Conducted my first lecture today. It did not go well I’m a TA and this term I am conducting classes for one of the intro lectures for first years. It’s like a general knowledge module on my country (so we cover history, econ, politics etc). I had my first independent lecture today on a topic I’m not familiar with at all. And it was so bad. I couldn’t pronounce a few names (it was on the origin of our language), my explanations were all over the place and I couldn’t answer a question a student had (I did answer it later though). I found out the topic yesterday so I didn’t have enough time to prepare. I’m not sure how to deal with this. This was their first impression of me and I’m a little worried that I’ll make things worse for them. Was anyone ever in a similar situation? How do I recover from this? Assistant: Hopefully this is reassuring. I remember being a student when what you described happened to an T.A. (I'm sure everyone else forgot it, but it was a field I was thinking of going into and I wanted to know what the heck a first job looked like.) I thought "Wow, I feel kinda bad for them." And then two days later they got up again, did fine, and they became one of my favorite people to learn from. So the first impression doesn't stick. Students'll remember how well you went on to do.

Human: Conducted my first lecture today. It did not go well I’m a TA and this term I am conducting classes for one of the intro lectures for first years. It’s like a general knowledge module on my country (so we cover history, econ, politics etc). I had my first independent lecture today on a topic I’m not familiar with at all. And it was so bad. I couldn’t pronounce a few names (it was on the origin of our language), my explanations were all over the place and I couldn’t answer a question a student had (I did answer it later though). I found out the topic yesterday so I didn’t have enough time to prepare. I’m not sure how to deal with this. This was their first impression of me and I’m a little worried that I’ll make things worse for them. Was anyone ever in a similar situation? How do I recover from this? Assistant: It happens. Reflect on what you could do differently or something that would have helped given the circumstances. Remember that and do a little better next time. Your first lecture is a starting point, not representative of your ability as a lecturer.

Human: Do you ever feel "reviewer's guilt"? Recently reviewed a paper and couldn't help but give it a very critical review with a recommendation to the editor to reject. I gave a very detailed review with both specific and general comments, and tried to write something constructive. I can't help but empathize with the writer. Probably a PhD student trying to get published, worked hard and did what his advisor suggested and likely poured his guts in to it. I couldn't suggest to accept it but I can't help feeling guilty for "being mean" to the authors and ruining their day/week/month. Anyone else feel this? How do you deal with it? Assistant: My favorite review I got as a grad student: "this result is almost certainly false, but if it is valid, I already published it 30 years ago" yours was certainly more useful than that.

Human: Do you ever feel "reviewer's guilt"? Recently reviewed a paper and couldn't help but give it a very critical review with a recommendation to the editor to reject. I gave a very detailed review with both specific and general comments, and tried to write something constructive. I can't help but empathize with the writer. Probably a PhD student trying to get published, worked hard and did what his advisor suggested and likely poured his guts in to it. I couldn't suggest to accept it but I can't help feeling guilty for "being mean" to the authors and ruining their day/week/month. Anyone else feel this? How do you deal with it? Assistant: If you have valid reasons for why you rejected a paper, then I don't see the problem. If you give genuinely useful feedback, then you're using your time in a way that's productive for the writer. However, I can tell you I've had stuff rejected for absolutely absurd reasons. Like, REALLY absurd. "this isn't intersectional enough". "You don't have any trans participants" "you didn't put a trigger warning". If you're making those kind of decisions, then yeah, I can see why you feel guilt.

Human: Anyone Else Sick of Shitty Online Applications? So many of these are either poorly designed, mildly abusive, or flat out broken. Why do you need me to tell you everything that is in my CV that I just uploaded on your site? Why can’t I put international phone numbers in my application without triggering errors? Why do you want my high school address, gpa, and number of credits? No you may not have my social security number to check my background and credit before I’m selected to interview. These things are designed by sociopaths. Assistant: Old Days: Send all materials by snail mail. Sucked moderately. Transitional Days: Send all materials as email attachments. Wonderful Today: Figure out and use a different site to submit each application. Sucks big time.

Human: Anyone Else Sick of Shitty Online Applications? So many of these are either poorly designed, mildly abusive, or flat out broken. Why do you need me to tell you everything that is in my CV that I just uploaded on your site? Why can’t I put international phone numbers in my application without triggering errors? Why do you want my high school address, gpa, and number of credits? No you may not have my social security number to check my background and credit before I’m selected to interview. These things are designed by sociopaths. Assistant: It is exhausting to type out every detail over and over. THIS IS WHERE I WENT TO COLLEGE AND THE ADDRESS FOR THE 10TH TIME! I applied for one recently that just wanted you to email the usual documents (CV, teaching philosophy, cover letter) and it was a huge relief.

Human: Can't say it enough, publishing in journals is very frustrating. I just got contradictory reviews. This is just a rant. I just received the first round of review for this paper that I submitted to a journal. My paper is about delinquency and the first time around when I submitted it, I got rejected but one of the reviews said that I should include this theory that would enhance my argument. Then, I resubmitted it, and this time, the review said, please get rid of the theory as it is pointless. I am this close to stating in my "Response to Reviewers" that I do not want to listen to you (i.e., the current reviewer) because I took my time to write a thoughtful part of my paper to include the theory BECAUSE of a review from the past and now I need to delete it? Obviously I won't write that in my response. I think I'll just delete it. Hope this paper is published this time around. Assistant: It’s such a crapshoot. I find it impossible to get in the head of the people writing these reviews sometimes. We submitted a paper earlier this year to a mid-high journal, a really comprehensive work we were super proud of. The reviews were really positive, complimentary etc, but noted a minor inconsistency in an argument that was unimportant... they offered some helpful constructive feedback alongside straight reject recommendations. Great...

Human: Can't say it enough, publishing in journals is very frustrating. I just got contradictory reviews. This is just a rant. I just received the first round of review for this paper that I submitted to a journal. My paper is about delinquency and the first time around when I submitted it, I got rejected but one of the reviews said that I should include this theory that would enhance my argument. Then, I resubmitted it, and this time, the review said, please get rid of the theory as it is pointless. I am this close to stating in my "Response to Reviewers" that I do not want to listen to you (i.e., the current reviewer) because I took my time to write a thoughtful part of my paper to include the theory BECAUSE of a review from the past and now I need to delete it? Obviously I won't write that in my response. I think I'll just delete it. Hope this paper is published this time around. Assistant: That happens fairly often. Maybe just copy and paste the previous version of that section into the manuscript, sounds like an easy fix. One of my papers was submitted in Feb this year, it's still in review.. so annoying

Human: Am I the only one who can't see how physical distancing is feasible in classrooms? I recently read two great articles from Inside Higher Ed. " At his small, teaching-focused institution, Clark and a facilities colleague spent half a day measuring and "experiencing" every classroom and lab, all of which were designed for active learning. They looked at every space "from the perspectives of cleaning, scheduling, room capacities, HVAC systems, pedagogical practices, student and faculty behaviors, student conduct issues, and more," he wrote to the POD Network. "It's one thing to draw six-foot circles, talk about reduced classroom capacities, and propose wearing masks in class -- it's a whole other thing to actually experience it." Link This article links to Clark's amazing article: The Physically Distanced Classroom: A Day in the Life I spent the morning going through my syllabus and I have a ton of small group discussion that simply isn't going to work in these new socially-distanced classrooms. Our university is telling us to plan for hybrid, which means there's another layer of unnecessary complexity to this. Despite all the complaining about online education, being able to use breakout rooms in Zoom for synchronous small group discussion is actually a huge benefit pedagogically. Except everyone seems to be desperate to get back on campus without really thinking about what it will look like. Do you have any ideas to share about how you're planning to adapt your courses for the fall? Assistant: I just don’t see how classrooms are anywhere near the biggest problem. No matter how much we distance in there these kids are still going back to their cramped dorms and apartments.

Human: Am I the only one who can't see how physical distancing is feasible in classrooms? I recently read two great articles from Inside Higher Ed. " At his small, teaching-focused institution, Clark and a facilities colleague spent half a day measuring and "experiencing" every classroom and lab, all of which were designed for active learning. They looked at every space "from the perspectives of cleaning, scheduling, room capacities, HVAC systems, pedagogical practices, student and faculty behaviors, student conduct issues, and more," he wrote to the POD Network. "It's one thing to draw six-foot circles, talk about reduced classroom capacities, and propose wearing masks in class -- it's a whole other thing to actually experience it." Link This article links to Clark's amazing article: The Physically Distanced Classroom: A Day in the Life I spent the morning going through my syllabus and I have a ton of small group discussion that simply isn't going to work in these new socially-distanced classrooms. Our university is telling us to plan for hybrid, which means there's another layer of unnecessary complexity to this. Despite all the complaining about online education, being able to use breakout rooms in Zoom for synchronous small group discussion is actually a huge benefit pedagogically. Except everyone seems to be desperate to get back on campus without really thinking about what it will look like. Do you have any ideas to share about how you're planning to adapt your courses for the fall? Assistant: each class needs a continual air filter at the top of the room, kind of like the old smoke-eaters they had to put in bars for awhile

Human: How do you... Do it all? I've been at a crossroads with academia for more than a year now. I'm a post doc right now (courting industry jobs because my current environment has been toxic for my mental health). I love my topic, I love the IDEA of what academia could be for me, but I've seen very little of it materialize for me (I'm also tired of a post doc that looks good on paper but in practice has been unsupportive, and often hostile). I think I'm at a point where I'm tired of the weird facade academia makes everyone put on like they're at peak productivity and continuously improving (when my experience has been that a lot of it is hand waving). Tonight I was thinking about all the things I have to tackle this coming week and I wondered... Is this it forever if I choose to stay? Presentations/teaching, re-hauling analyses / manuscripts, meetings that go no where or at least feel that way, and all the other things that come with academia. Honestly writing it out doesn't make it seem so bad, but then there's the conflict of all the projects and things feel like they are ALL urgent or a priority, juggling deadlines, and unexpected things that come up, PLUS trying to have a life outside of work. How do you (honestly) deal with it all? I don't even have courses to teach besides occasional guest lectures and I constantly feel like I'm drowning with just my research commitments. I try not to compare my progress/pace with others but some days it's hard not to. But right now I actually do want to know how others manage to handle all these things successfully. Assistant: There are many things I am required to do. Not to do to the best of my ability, just to complete. You have to prioritise your standards.

Human: How do you... Do it all? I've been at a crossroads with academia for more than a year now. I'm a post doc right now (courting industry jobs because my current environment has been toxic for my mental health). I love my topic, I love the IDEA of what academia could be for me, but I've seen very little of it materialize for me (I'm also tired of a post doc that looks good on paper but in practice has been unsupportive, and often hostile). I think I'm at a point where I'm tired of the weird facade academia makes everyone put on like they're at peak productivity and continuously improving (when my experience has been that a lot of it is hand waving). Tonight I was thinking about all the things I have to tackle this coming week and I wondered... Is this it forever if I choose to stay? Presentations/teaching, re-hauling analyses / manuscripts, meetings that go no where or at least feel that way, and all the other things that come with academia. Honestly writing it out doesn't make it seem so bad, but then there's the conflict of all the projects and things feel like they are ALL urgent or a priority, juggling deadlines, and unexpected things that come up, PLUS trying to have a life outside of work. How do you (honestly) deal with it all? I don't even have courses to teach besides occasional guest lectures and I constantly feel like I'm drowning with just my research commitments. I try not to compare my progress/pace with others but some days it's hard not to. But right now I actually do want to know how others manage to handle all these things successfully. Assistant: I feel the same way you do!

Human: Fired? Hi All. Sorry for the long text in advance, but I reaaaaally need help. I need help understanding what's happening because I am completely lost. Here is what has happened. I started my PhD in another country about a month and a half ago. My two supervisors got a grant and I was able to get the position after the interviews. An important thing to know is that they work in different universities and is a multidisciplinary project, so the science they do is completely different and I was told I would have to go from one place to the other regularly. My first month was completely in my first supervisor university and everything went super well. We really got along, I was getting super positive feedback, I really connected with my coworkers, ... This supervisor measures our performance with a KPI thing on an excel and he told me he was super happy and that he was really surprised with how well I was doing. After that meeting, I was told I had to go 5 days to the lab of my other supervisor. This is when things started to get weird. I arrived there and I was getting a weird vibe from my supervisor but it was the first time we met in real life so I didn't think too much about it. She starts to show me the place and tells me that she wants to show me some IT stuff. I told her that I didn't bring my work laptop from the other place but that I had brought my personal laptop (I know this is my bad, I just assume she was going to give me one, but again completely my bad). She told me something like "don't worry, I will send you the manuals and you can let me know if you have an issue when you go back". After that, we started doing some work that day and everything was ok. The next day, we had to prepare to do some experiments with animals to extract their organs while there were still alive. Just to be clear during the interviews I was only told "you will have to work with organs and biological samples". So during that experiment, I felt pretty bad, told her that I was going out for a while and then came back and told her that I was sorry that I felt very uncomfortable with that. She told me to go home and to contact my other supervisor because she thought that he should know. I did that and went to sleep. The next day, I was able to that experiments but I was starting to receive a lot of random negative comments from this woman like "I feel you are absolutely not interested in this project" out of nowhere. She also told me things like "you are not taking notes" that at the time she told me that I was not taking notes but at other moments I was taking notes, she also said things like "you can use your time to read papers" that is something that I was also doing but not exactly at the moment she told me that. Days went by and, honestly, our relationship kind of went to this place of not really talking that much. Now I know it was a super stupid move from me. I did everything that she told me to do but I recognise that I didn't do more than what she told me to. The last day I was there she told me to meet her at her office. There she started saying things to me like "I don't think you are a good student", "I don't think you will be able to find collaborators", "This PhD is going to get harder and harder", ... To those things, I didn't really answer a lot of things other than "sorry, the next time I come here I will try to improve". The next day I had a holiday but the "nice supervisor" called me to go to his office. So I went and he was there waiting for me with the other supervisor on zoom. I go in and he tells me "For legal reasons we have to record this" (I knew things were not going well at that point). They started to accuse me of multiple things. Some things were true, for example, the fact that I left that day at the experiment. Other things were half-trues, for example, that I didn't take my work laptop (which is true but she didn't tell me it was a problem). Some things were lies, for example, the "nice supervisor" told me that he received very negative feedback from my coworkers. I later checked with them and they promised me that they gave very positive feedback in fact. And some things were absolute bullsh\*t, for instance, they were questioning why I was living in a town and not in the city. After that, they told me that I was fired. They told me that if I resigned they would write me a "somewhat good" recommendation letter for another place but that if they had to fire me they would not do that. After a couple of minutes of discussion, I told them to give me a couple of weeks to prove to them that I can work better. They talked about it and that I had a week and a half to do it. They told me that they were going to write a list of things they want me to do, but that they were not going to give that list, I had to figure it out. After that, I talked with my coworkers and they presented a letter to the "nice" supervisor telling them that they don't agree with that decision and that they never gave negative feedback and that this letter is there to prove that they want to give positive feedback about me. Something else that I discovered while talking with my colleagues is that this supervisor started to ask them HR questions (like "do you think he is reliable?) the day after I left the experiment with the animals. The next day (today), my supervisor told me to go to his office. We sat down and gave a list of very general and broad stuff like "don´t assume, ask first", "think before you act", "recognise your mistakes", ... He also told me that I should try to focus on impressing the other supervisor not him. I thanked him for that list (even though it was not the list they wrote the day before and it was more like "tips"). I also told him that I don't know what I am going to be able to do in just one week and a half, he agreed to that. He also told me that he thinks that their decision to fire me was not the best way to handle it, but that if they don't fire me now they cannot fire me for the next 9 months. He told me that he thought I had a chance of doing it. This supervisor has money for hiring more students without the other supervisor. I asked him if he saw changing me to another project as an option (so basically me not working with the other supervisor). He told me that he does not see it as an option because "that is too easy and you have to learn to work with different kind of people", which is kind of true (i guess). I have been doing my work, reading papers and sending very nice emails to show that I care. I am going to go next week to the other university to show that I care (I cannot go more because of COVID). I have apologized to both of them for not being able to prove how much I like this position. But, honestly, there are not that many things one can achieve (at least in my field) in a week and a half. I am very worried. I came from another country, I have contracts here now for two years (apartment, phone, health insurance, ...), I really like the project that I am doing, the coworkers are really nice, .... I would like to know your opinion. Do you think I have options of keeping the position? Do you think they just gave me this week and a half to "show that they tried to let me improve but I didn't"? Thank you so much for reading my story. Please don't hesitate to comment!! I really can use all the help and tips I can get!! PS: I know I have not given a lot of specific details, but I would also like to stay as anonymous as possible just to avoid potential problems. But if you think that there is something important that could be missing please let me know! Thanks again Assistant: I know people who get unlucky and have one dick as a supervisor, but you managed to be unlucky and have two... I'm sorry about that.

Human: Fired? Hi All. Sorry for the long text in advance, but I reaaaaally need help. I need help understanding what's happening because I am completely lost. Here is what has happened. I started my PhD in another country about a month and a half ago. My two supervisors got a grant and I was able to get the position after the interviews. An important thing to know is that they work in different universities and is a multidisciplinary project, so the science they do is completely different and I was told I would have to go from one place to the other regularly. My first month was completely in my first supervisor university and everything went super well. We really got along, I was getting super positive feedback, I really connected with my coworkers, ... This supervisor measures our performance with a KPI thing on an excel and he told me he was super happy and that he was really surprised with how well I was doing. After that meeting, I was told I had to go 5 days to the lab of my other supervisor. This is when things started to get weird. I arrived there and I was getting a weird vibe from my supervisor but it was the first time we met in real life so I didn't think too much about it. She starts to show me the place and tells me that she wants to show me some IT stuff. I told her that I didn't bring my work laptop from the other place but that I had brought my personal laptop (I know this is my bad, I just assume she was going to give me one, but again completely my bad). She told me something like "don't worry, I will send you the manuals and you can let me know if you have an issue when you go back". After that, we started doing some work that day and everything was ok. The next day, we had to prepare to do some experiments with animals to extract their organs while there were still alive. Just to be clear during the interviews I was only told "you will have to work with organs and biological samples". So during that experiment, I felt pretty bad, told her that I was going out for a while and then came back and told her that I was sorry that I felt very uncomfortable with that. She told me to go home and to contact my other supervisor because she thought that he should know. I did that and went to sleep. The next day, I was able to that experiments but I was starting to receive a lot of random negative comments from this woman like "I feel you are absolutely not interested in this project" out of nowhere. She also told me things like "you are not taking notes" that at the time she told me that I was not taking notes but at other moments I was taking notes, she also said things like "you can use your time to read papers" that is something that I was also doing but not exactly at the moment she told me that. Days went by and, honestly, our relationship kind of went to this place of not really talking that much. Now I know it was a super stupid move from me. I did everything that she told me to do but I recognise that I didn't do more than what she told me to. The last day I was there she told me to meet her at her office. There she started saying things to me like "I don't think you are a good student", "I don't think you will be able to find collaborators", "This PhD is going to get harder and harder", ... To those things, I didn't really answer a lot of things other than "sorry, the next time I come here I will try to improve". The next day I had a holiday but the "nice supervisor" called me to go to his office. So I went and he was there waiting for me with the other supervisor on zoom. I go in and he tells me "For legal reasons we have to record this" (I knew things were not going well at that point). They started to accuse me of multiple things. Some things were true, for example, the fact that I left that day at the experiment. Other things were half-trues, for example, that I didn't take my work laptop (which is true but she didn't tell me it was a problem). Some things were lies, for example, the "nice supervisor" told me that he received very negative feedback from my coworkers. I later checked with them and they promised me that they gave very positive feedback in fact. And some things were absolute bullsh\*t, for instance, they were questioning why I was living in a town and not in the city. After that, they told me that I was fired. They told me that if I resigned they would write me a "somewhat good" recommendation letter for another place but that if they had to fire me they would not do that. After a couple of minutes of discussion, I told them to give me a couple of weeks to prove to them that I can work better. They talked about it and that I had a week and a half to do it. They told me that they were going to write a list of things they want me to do, but that they were not going to give that list, I had to figure it out. After that, I talked with my coworkers and they presented a letter to the "nice" supervisor telling them that they don't agree with that decision and that they never gave negative feedback and that this letter is there to prove that they want to give positive feedback about me. Something else that I discovered while talking with my colleagues is that this supervisor started to ask them HR questions (like "do you think he is reliable?) the day after I left the experiment with the animals. The next day (today), my supervisor told me to go to his office. We sat down and gave a list of very general and broad stuff like "don´t assume, ask first", "think before you act", "recognise your mistakes", ... He also told me that I should try to focus on impressing the other supervisor not him. I thanked him for that list (even though it was not the list they wrote the day before and it was more like "tips"). I also told him that I don't know what I am going to be able to do in just one week and a half, he agreed to that. He also told me that he thinks that their decision to fire me was not the best way to handle it, but that if they don't fire me now they cannot fire me for the next 9 months. He told me that he thought I had a chance of doing it. This supervisor has money for hiring more students without the other supervisor. I asked him if he saw changing me to another project as an option (so basically me not working with the other supervisor). He told me that he does not see it as an option because "that is too easy and you have to learn to work with different kind of people", which is kind of true (i guess). I have been doing my work, reading papers and sending very nice emails to show that I care. I am going to go next week to the other university to show that I care (I cannot go more because of COVID). I have apologized to both of them for not being able to prove how much I like this position. But, honestly, there are not that many things one can achieve (at least in my field) in a week and a half. I am very worried. I came from another country, I have contracts here now for two years (apartment, phone, health insurance, ...), I really like the project that I am doing, the coworkers are really nice, .... I would like to know your opinion. Do you think I have options of keeping the position? Do you think they just gave me this week and a half to "show that they tried to let me improve but I didn't"? Thank you so much for reading my story. Please don't hesitate to comment!! I really can use all the help and tips I can get!! PS: I know I have not given a lot of specific details, but I would also like to stay as anonymous as possible just to avoid potential problems. But if you think that there is something important that could be missing please let me know! Thanks again Assistant: The grass is always greener, these supervisors are dicks.

Human: Pregnant during PhD program Hi everyone! I just found out that I’m pregnant. My husband and I are over the moon, but the anxiety is starting to creep up on me. I am finishing up my second year of my PhD program in biology and the baby will be due in the beginning/middle of my third year. Quals are at the end of the third year. I am really lucky and I have a really supportive PI who cares about his students, but I’m still scared about how he is going to handle it. I’m also scared about how I will handle being a mom and a grad student. I guess I’m just asking anyone who has gone through something like this for advice. What can I expect? And a bit of reassurance that you all made it through. Thanks! Assistant: Thanks everyone. This thread has made me feel better like I don’t have to choose between a family and a career path PhD

Human: Pregnant during PhD program Hi everyone! I just found out that I’m pregnant. My husband and I are over the moon, but the anxiety is starting to creep up on me. I am finishing up my second year of my PhD program in biology and the baby will be due in the beginning/middle of my third year. Quals are at the end of the third year. I am really lucky and I have a really supportive PI who cares about his students, but I’m still scared about how he is going to handle it. I’m also scared about how I will handle being a mom and a grad student. I guess I’m just asking anyone who has gone through something like this for advice. What can I expect? And a bit of reassurance that you all made it through. Thanks! Assistant: I started my PhD with an 18 month old. Graduated in five years, which is pretty standard in my field. Got a TT and now as I work to tenure my son is old enough to take care of a lot. It’s not the worst.

Human: Advice to your younger academic self If you could go back and tell your younger self one thing about academia or the PhD process, what would you say? What did you wish you had known early on? I’ve been asked to speak at an induction day for new PhD students and would love to hear your experiences/advice (as students and/or supervisors) - and to share them with my group and others on here. Apologies if there’s a recent thread on this. Assistant: Cliche, but you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Apply for that fellowship. Nominate yourself for that award. Submit to that top tier journal. Someone will get it and they are made out of DNA and insecurity just like you.

Human: Advice to your younger academic self If you could go back and tell your younger self one thing about academia or the PhD process, what would you say? What did you wish you had known early on? I’ve been asked to speak at an induction day for new PhD students and would love to hear your experiences/advice (as students and/or supervisors) - and to share them with my group and others on here. Apologies if there’s a recent thread on this. Assistant: Stay out of the department politics and toxicity. Put your head down, work hard, while also leaving time for yourself and your family. Learn to negotiate and occasionally say no to requests.

Human: Those who discovered they had ADHD during their PhD, what is your story ? Hi ! I started listening to the "How to ADHD" podcast on youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvq9Tp5JZ8oDV3SIpSJX25Twp9FHKqi\_l ) and honestly, it has brought me to tears... I'm not sure if I'm just exhausted or realize that I've been struggling with this for such a long time. I'm now a PhD student and have been having great grades in school most of my life, even if I didn't study a lot (excepts for math... where I have to study a lot and have meh grades...) Anyways, I'm interested in how you discovered that you had it, what caused you to get diagnosed and what you are doing now with it. Assistant: Got diagnosed during my master's! Pretty mind blowing, i wish i knew earlier than i might have studied at one point.

Human: Those who discovered they had ADHD during their PhD, what is your story ? Hi ! I started listening to the "How to ADHD" podcast on youtube ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvq9Tp5JZ8oDV3SIpSJX25Twp9FHKqi\_l ) and honestly, it has brought me to tears... I'm not sure if I'm just exhausted or realize that I've been struggling with this for such a long time. I'm now a PhD student and have been having great grades in school most of my life, even if I didn't study a lot (excepts for math... where I have to study a lot and have meh grades...) Anyways, I'm interested in how you discovered that you had it, what caused you to get diagnosed and what you are doing now with it. Assistant: I don't know if I do or not, but this paper is really bringing it out of me

Human: Social scientists and philosophers, what have you learned professionally about human nature that you still have trouble applying to your own life? For me, while I've learned plenty of useful, empirically validated things about how people process information, I still incorrectly think I can write perfect communications everyone will understand. Assistant: The marketing psychology stuff about pricing and deals. I KNOW it’s not a good deal, I know the language is making me more eager to but, but I just can’t help myself. It’s super ingrained into the American psyche, even for public goods like national parks.

Human: Social scientists and philosophers, what have you learned professionally about human nature that you still have trouble applying to your own life? For me, while I've learned plenty of useful, empirically validated things about how people process information, I still incorrectly think I can write perfect communications everyone will understand. Assistant: Cognitive biases shape every decision in an organization or for a person. Deconstructing that is a never ending process.

Human: Enjoyable PhD/academia success stories I hear so many graduate school horror stories and I feel like those are the majority. Are there people who enjoyed their PhD experience? Had a good work life balance ? Did not overwork themselves to exhaustion? Took most weekends off ? Had good, supportive PIs ? I started a PhD in 2014 but quit after 2 years and left with my masters because of mental health problems. I’ve been working in industry/ government since then, and I love it but I realized that my true passion is research and I am happiest doing experiments, and want to get back to grad school and apply to PhD programs. I sorely miss being in the lab doing experiments. I’ll be quite a bit older (30-31 when I start) but I’m not too concerned about that, in fact I think my experiences and perspective will help. My scientific skills are better than they were too so I feel ready. However, I’m concerned about the transition to life back in academia, in terms of the lifestyle. Also long term, I’m more inclined to an academic career although most don’t recommend it - I have an open mind for sure but I’ve realised in the 4 years of working in industry that it’s not my thing. I’m in USA and my field is biophysics/biochemistry. Many of my friends in Europe enjoyed their PhD experience but I know it’s different in USA. I’d love to hear about some good experiences! TLDR: looking to go back to get my PhD after 4 years in industry, want to hear about positive PhD experiences. Assistant: If the experiments and benchwork are what you enjoy, have you considered being a staff scientist? Whether Research Associate with your masters or Research Scientist after the PhD (or equivalent position in industry)? Most tenured professors don't do hands-on science.

Human: Enjoyable PhD/academia success stories I hear so many graduate school horror stories and I feel like those are the majority. Are there people who enjoyed their PhD experience? Had a good work life balance ? Did not overwork themselves to exhaustion? Took most weekends off ? Had good, supportive PIs ? I started a PhD in 2014 but quit after 2 years and left with my masters because of mental health problems. I’ve been working in industry/ government since then, and I love it but I realized that my true passion is research and I am happiest doing experiments, and want to get back to grad school and apply to PhD programs. I sorely miss being in the lab doing experiments. I’ll be quite a bit older (30-31 when I start) but I’m not too concerned about that, in fact I think my experiences and perspective will help. My scientific skills are better than they were too so I feel ready. However, I’m concerned about the transition to life back in academia, in terms of the lifestyle. Also long term, I’m more inclined to an academic career although most don’t recommend it - I have an open mind for sure but I’ve realised in the 4 years of working in industry that it’s not my thing. I’m in USA and my field is biophysics/biochemistry. Many of my friends in Europe enjoyed their PhD experience but I know it’s different in USA. I’d love to hear about some good experiences! TLDR: looking to go back to get my PhD after 4 years in industry, want to hear about positive PhD experiences. Assistant: I'm in my last year and it has been a blast!

Human: Does anyone else have anxiety attacks when you see a dense textbook chapter or research paper? For example yesterday I had to read and write a summary of two chapters of Janeway's Immunology and I am freaking out and can't force myself to get started. This has sometimes happened in the past, but it got so much worse Assistant: Formal scholarly papers have built-in advantages. They are arranged in well-worn sections, discussions go where they are supposed to go and summaries are usually provided. I think that all of these things and more make reading scholarly papers easier. Harder are the ones with streams of consciousness writing prevalent in some disciplines. Historical works can be even more difficult to read.

Human: Does anyone else have anxiety attacks when you see a dense textbook chapter or research paper? For example yesterday I had to read and write a summary of two chapters of Janeway's Immunology and I am freaking out and can't force myself to get started. This has sometimes happened in the past, but it got so much worse Assistant: That's me! The scary equations intimidate me as well. There are times when I have to read the same paper again and again for days.

Human: Is it worth sacrificing your early 20s for a PhD when you can get a Masters? I’m currently 21 (22 early next year) and a Biomed graduate, further planning to continue my studies so I can spend more time researching prognostic biomarkers in cardiovascular disease. So I was considering between taking a PhD or masters; while I would have more creative freedom regarding my research with a PhD, its a long commitment, around 3-4 years, so I’ll have spent nearly all of my early 20s in school without the typical vacations that someone taking a masters would get. Now that wouldn’t be a huge problem since this is something I really enjoy, except that I have a personal philosophy that my early 20s are supposed to be for doing as many adventurous things (e.g. travelling) as I can, so I won’t come to regret not doing those things sooner by the time I have greater responsibilities like a full time job and a family. Now I don’t plan on getting into academia, but I do want to get into an R&D role in industry, where PhD holders are highly sought after, although masters holders are also considered. Looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts! Assistant: That's cute that you think you'll only have to give up your early 20s on the PhD path. I'm in my early to mid 30s and I just now landed my first faculty position.

Human: Is it worth sacrificing your early 20s for a PhD when you can get a Masters? I’m currently 21 (22 early next year) and a Biomed graduate, further planning to continue my studies so I can spend more time researching prognostic biomarkers in cardiovascular disease. So I was considering between taking a PhD or masters; while I would have more creative freedom regarding my research with a PhD, its a long commitment, around 3-4 years, so I’ll have spent nearly all of my early 20s in school without the typical vacations that someone taking a masters would get. Now that wouldn’t be a huge problem since this is something I really enjoy, except that I have a personal philosophy that my early 20s are supposed to be for doing as many adventurous things (e.g. travelling) as I can, so I won’t come to regret not doing those things sooner by the time I have greater responsibilities like a full time job and a family. Now I don’t plan on getting into academia, but I do want to get into an R&D role in industry, where PhD holders are highly sought after, although masters holders are also considered. Looking forward to hearing all of your thoughts! Assistant: I have a personal philosophy to do bad ass shit bro

Human: How to tell my PhD advisor that I don't want to be a professor anymore? In the beginning of my PhD program (Materials Science, R1) I told my PI of my ambition to be a faculty. I'm the first PhD student of my PI, so I know that they put lots of effort and resources for my research training. As a young PI, having a mentee who goes on becoming a faculty seems like a big achievement and a legacy to be proud of for the rest of their career. Now I'm nearing the end of my PhD and, after contemplating, I want to have a comfortable and stable life after PhD. I don't see doing postdoc(s) and looking for non-existent tenure-track faculty jobs as a comfortable/stable life. Although this may not be true if I decide to move elsewhere out of state. With all the sacrifice my PI has given to me (resulting in my super productive outputs, a number of first-authored papers, as well as several fellowships in my belt), how should I respectfully tell my PI that I changed my mind about my future career? What is the best way to explain that I may no longer want to be a professor? I'm not really good at speaking and choosing the right words to say, so your suggestions are highly appreciated. Assistant: I faced this same thing in grad school. Basically I never told my advisor outright that I wasn’t going to pursue academia, but I did let her know I was applying to a variety of job types, including post docs and industry. I think your advisor will be supportive no matter what. But you by no means have to tell them what specific jobs you’re aiming for.

Human: How to tell my PhD advisor that I don't want to be a professor anymore? In the beginning of my PhD program (Materials Science, R1) I told my PI of my ambition to be a faculty. I'm the first PhD student of my PI, so I know that they put lots of effort and resources for my research training. As a young PI, having a mentee who goes on becoming a faculty seems like a big achievement and a legacy to be proud of for the rest of their career. Now I'm nearing the end of my PhD and, after contemplating, I want to have a comfortable and stable life after PhD. I don't see doing postdoc(s) and looking for non-existent tenure-track faculty jobs as a comfortable/stable life. Although this may not be true if I decide to move elsewhere out of state. With all the sacrifice my PI has given to me (resulting in my super productive outputs, a number of first-authored papers, as well as several fellowships in my belt), how should I respectfully tell my PI that I changed my mind about my future career? What is the best way to explain that I may no longer want to be a professor? I'm not really good at speaking and choosing the right words to say, so your suggestions are highly appreciated. Assistant: you think they put all that effort into you because you want to be faculty, NO they did it cuz it was their job and they want publications.

Human: Male profs/students always referring to female scientists (profs & students) as “girls” or “ladies” I (F 25) am a doctoral student at a large American research university. Something that has been bugging me (and all of the other female students in my department) is that most of the male professors exhibit some sexist behaviors. What’s really disheartening and offensive, however, is that one of the younger PIs (early 30s) and his male students appear to go out of their way to always call attention to our gender. For example, they constantly refer to us as “girls” or “ladies,” express actual surprise that the female students are able complete work by deadlines and meet/exceed expectations, remark that it’s so unfair that a female TT “will get tenure only because she’s female”—I could go on but you get the idea. I don’t understand why our gender always has to be mentioned in every conversation. I voiced my reaction (“it makes me feel uncomfortable when male students and faculty members constantly remind me that I’m female. I don’t understand why every sentence has to end with “girls” or “ladies.”) to one of the students in a graduate student seminar when we were discussing inclusivity in the classroom, and he didn’t even try to understand where we were coming from (“But if you’re talking to a group of girls, what’s the problem with stating that?”) and it has only gotten worse since then. There isn’t a female professor that I can go talk to for advice, so I came to you, R/AskAcademia. These are good people with good intentions, but they don’t realize how the words they choose on a daily basis reinforce the “boys’ club” feeling of our department. What can we do to encourage them to think about it from our perspective? Assistant: A few people here are missing the point. The fact that they say things like "women will get tenure just because they're women" is incredibly off. There's a blatant disregard for/dehumanisation of a person based on gender at play here. It rings starkingly similar to the way people denigrate race inclusivity programs. The "ladies" and "girls" remarks seem innocuous if taken as just that but if it's coming from people who partake in and condone that kind of discussion, there is a problem.

Human: Male profs/students always referring to female scientists (profs & students) as “girls” or “ladies” I (F 25) am a doctoral student at a large American research university. Something that has been bugging me (and all of the other female students in my department) is that most of the male professors exhibit some sexist behaviors. What’s really disheartening and offensive, however, is that one of the younger PIs (early 30s) and his male students appear to go out of their way to always call attention to our gender. For example, they constantly refer to us as “girls” or “ladies,” express actual surprise that the female students are able complete work by deadlines and meet/exceed expectations, remark that it’s so unfair that a female TT “will get tenure only because she’s female”—I could go on but you get the idea. I don’t understand why our gender always has to be mentioned in every conversation. I voiced my reaction (“it makes me feel uncomfortable when male students and faculty members constantly remind me that I’m female. I don’t understand why every sentence has to end with “girls” or “ladies.”) to one of the students in a graduate student seminar when we were discussing inclusivity in the classroom, and he didn’t even try to understand where we were coming from (“But if you’re talking to a group of girls, what’s the problem with stating that?”) and it has only gotten worse since then. There isn’t a female professor that I can go talk to for advice, so I came to you, R/AskAcademia. These are good people with good intentions, but they don’t realize how the words they choose on a daily basis reinforce the “boys’ club” feeling of our department. What can we do to encourage them to think about it from our perspective? Assistant: Try adding 'boys' to the end of your sentences addressing them. When they finally ask why you're doing that, point out they've been doing the same to you. But yeah, they don't notice these things, even when pointed out, and don't see the problem. Make sure you use 'boys' and not 'men' or 'guys'; it needs to be fairly insulting for them to notice.

Human: Those who got their PhD in hopes of becoming professors, but couldn't find a job, what are you doing now? I know this is a broad question as certain fields have better opportunities than others do. Still the academic job market is tough and not everybody will succeed in landing the coveted tenure-track position. Assistant: Did a postdoc, and when I realized it's a losing game (about 7% chance on a tenure position), I just sod off, and joined the civil service. Did some nuclear surveillance policy work, some policy word in healthcare. Now I'm a senior science officer, finally earning some money, and I'm hoping to get a position in pharma. (It seems like there is a position they want me in on.) In short: weird track, considering I was expecting to have my own little lab in some university since I was 15...

Human: Those who got their PhD in hopes of becoming professors, but couldn't find a job, what are you doing now? I know this is a broad question as certain fields have better opportunities than others do. Still the academic job market is tough and not everybody will succeed in landing the coveted tenure-track position. Assistant: Post doc and biotech recruiting consultant

Human: What's the WORST career advice you've ever received? Something that, years later, makes you say, "what the hell were they thinking??" Assistant: I have 2 pieces of bad advice given to me. 1) Don't start writing your thesis at all until you've finished your lab work/data collection 2) Don't apply for a job until you've actually submitted your thesis (giving yourself about 2 weeks to apply, be interviewed and move before your funding runs out)

Human: What's the WORST career advice you've ever received? Something that, years later, makes you say, "what the hell were they thinking??" Assistant: The worst one: go to reddit to ask for career advise.

Human: Advice: professor listed as first author despite I did most of the work Hi, I am junior researcher within social science. I have been working on a paper for one and a half year with two professors, A and B. We are currently in the process of preparing the final draft before submission. Prof. A just sent out a draft listing herself as first author, me as second and prof. B as third. The paper is based on my idea, I have spent most of the time on the project and written 75 percent of the current draft. I cannot fathom why prof. A took the decision to put herself as first author. I have a meeting tomorrow with prof. A and wanted to discuss this issue. However, I do not know whether I have a case or not and how to approach the issue in a professional manner. Perhaps you could provide some insight or feedback? Best Assistant: If you were/should be first author, why would Professor A be sending out a draft? I'm confused because that's the job of the first author.

Human: Advice: professor listed as first author despite I did most of the work Hi, I am junior researcher within social science. I have been working on a paper for one and a half year with two professors, A and B. We are currently in the process of preparing the final draft before submission. Prof. A just sent out a draft listing herself as first author, me as second and prof. B as third. The paper is based on my idea, I have spent most of the time on the project and written 75 percent of the current draft. I cannot fathom why prof. A took the decision to put herself as first author. I have a meeting tomorrow with prof. A and wanted to discuss this issue. However, I do not know whether I have a case or not and how to approach the issue in a professional manner. Perhaps you could provide some insight or feedback? Best Assistant: > I am junior researcher within social science. At what level? Are you a masters student? PhD student? Postdoc?

Human: Trolls IRL: Dealing with anti-intellectualism and misinformation as an academic Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? I’m wondering because (a) it’s somewhat of a fear of mine as someone interested in academia, (b) anti-intellectualism and misinformation seem abound right now (at least in the United States), and (c) such stories could be entertaining :) Assistant: My own family. I have stopped talking about my academic research and interests for the sake of not having to hear their anti intellectualism / ignorant opinions.

Human: Trolls IRL: Dealing with anti-intellectualism and misinformation as an academic Does anyone have any stories about students or non-academics trying to argue against your academic work (or subject) but clearly have no clue what they are talking about? I’m wondering because (a) it’s somewhat of a fear of mine as someone interested in academia, (b) anti-intellectualism and misinformation seem abound right now (at least in the United States), and (c) such stories could be entertaining :) Assistant: I’m in Economics. So, everyone (including other academics) think they have an opinion that holds the same weight as mine.

Human: PSA: Academic Twitter In another thread I mentioned academic Twitter and someone asked me to explain it. The response ran long so I thought it would be worth posting: A huge number of professors and grad students use Twitter as public-facing academic profile rather than a more casual social media account. They talk about their research, opportunities, their progress through graduate programs, and keep in contact with labs and collaborators all over the world. Their bios usually focus on their professional life rather than their personal life (typically their program, career stage, and their research interest). Getting involved isn't too hard. First step is to make a (new) Twitter account of course, lol, with minimal personal stuff of anything you wouldn't want colleagues and advisors to see. Keep all that separate. And of course the second bug step is finding who to follow. When I started looking, I was able to get a good start by brute-forcing my way through the presenter list from a recent conference. For each presenter that was remotely close to my research interest, I'd throw their name into Twitter search and see if they have an account. Sometimes it's an individual account, sometimes there's an account for the lab as a whole. And of course you could do the same by using Google scholar topic searches and checking out the author's from recent publications. Once you get over like 30 or so follows, Twitter's algorithm gets pretty good at showing you other people worth following. The bios for these accounts will make the choice to follow or not to follow super easy. I stopped when I got around 200 follows. About 80 followed me back! Then just spend a little bit each day or a couple times a week checking out your feed like a quick little work chore. Retweet job opportunities, congratulate other people's progress, ask research and career questions where you can squeeze them in, etc. It makes networking a lot more streamlined. Hope that helps! Assistant: I actually do not recommend operating a stringently professional Twitter profile. Many of my best relationships that have begun with peers or potential mentors on Twitter began by discussing Normal Life Things. We're all human beings with more than just a professional life. As long as you aren't detailing your drug use, sexcapades, or most controversial opinions constantly, it is fine to share extra-professional information.

Human: PSA: Academic Twitter In another thread I mentioned academic Twitter and someone asked me to explain it. The response ran long so I thought it would be worth posting: A huge number of professors and grad students use Twitter as public-facing academic profile rather than a more casual social media account. They talk about their research, opportunities, their progress through graduate programs, and keep in contact with labs and collaborators all over the world. Their bios usually focus on their professional life rather than their personal life (typically their program, career stage, and their research interest). Getting involved isn't too hard. First step is to make a (new) Twitter account of course, lol, with minimal personal stuff of anything you wouldn't want colleagues and advisors to see. Keep all that separate. And of course the second bug step is finding who to follow. When I started looking, I was able to get a good start by brute-forcing my way through the presenter list from a recent conference. For each presenter that was remotely close to my research interest, I'd throw their name into Twitter search and see if they have an account. Sometimes it's an individual account, sometimes there's an account for the lab as a whole. And of course you could do the same by using Google scholar topic searches and checking out the author's from recent publications. Once you get over like 30 or so follows, Twitter's algorithm gets pretty good at showing you other people worth following. The bios for these accounts will make the choice to follow or not to follow super easy. I stopped when I got around 200 follows. About 80 followed me back! Then just spend a little bit each day or a couple times a week checking out your feed like a quick little work chore. Retweet job opportunities, congratulate other people's progress, ask research and career questions where you can squeeze them in, etc. It makes networking a lot more streamlined. Hope that helps! Assistant: IMO, the first rule of academic twitter is... avoid academic twitter.

Human: Do humanities / social science academics ever get wealthy? Is it consulting? Speaking fees? Books? What earns you money when the academic salary isn’t glamorous? Yes, I know, academics aren’t necessarily in it for money... But I’m not saying that! Assistant: I can only speak for Economics, which is I think considered a social science, but the top professors regularly will make in the mid six figures. Raj Chetty, for example, I am pretty sure is paid upwards of 800k+ by Harvard.

Human: Do humanities / social science academics ever get wealthy? Is it consulting? Speaking fees? Books? What earns you money when the academic salary isn’t glamorous? Yes, I know, academics aren’t necessarily in it for money... But I’m not saying that! Assistant: If the landscape is so terrible for making a living, why do people chose this career path?

Human: What do faculty members expect when meeting with a potential graduate student? I'm an undergraduate senior currently applying to PhD programs. In my field (Theoretical Ecology), it is common (and for some schools required) to reach out to potential advisors before applying so that they can support your application and accept you into the program as a student in their lab. So lately I've been reaching out to potential advisors and doing zoom meetings with them. However, I feel a little intimidated and confused by this process of basically committing to an advisor and *then* getting in to the program/starting a PhD. For one, while I've written up a strong research proposal (for NSF GRFP) and reflected on potential research questions, I'm definitely not 100% sure of the exact project I would want to pursue in my PhD. Also, while I have a general idea of the subfield I'm interested in, I'm eager to learn more about the other subfields and understand how various subfields relate to one another before becoming specialized in a single area. So my question: what are these faculty members expecting when I reach out as a prospective student? Are they expecting me to have a clear, specific research question and be able to explain how it relates to their current projects? Or are these meetings usually more about generally discussing backgrounds/interests, getting a feel for the prospective student's curiosity and intellect, and seeing if the prospective student/potential advisor get along and communicate well. Assistant: Don't worry. It will be fine. Just show and ask questions about their work, prospects and qualities they are looking for. In the meanwhile do share your skills and experiences. Good luck fella.

Human: What do faculty members expect when meeting with a potential graduate student? I'm an undergraduate senior currently applying to PhD programs. In my field (Theoretical Ecology), it is common (and for some schools required) to reach out to potential advisors before applying so that they can support your application and accept you into the program as a student in their lab. So lately I've been reaching out to potential advisors and doing zoom meetings with them. However, I feel a little intimidated and confused by this process of basically committing to an advisor and *then* getting in to the program/starting a PhD. For one, while I've written up a strong research proposal (for NSF GRFP) and reflected on potential research questions, I'm definitely not 100% sure of the exact project I would want to pursue in my PhD. Also, while I have a general idea of the subfield I'm interested in, I'm eager to learn more about the other subfields and understand how various subfields relate to one another before becoming specialized in a single area. So my question: what are these faculty members expecting when I reach out as a prospective student? Are they expecting me to have a clear, specific research question and be able to explain how it relates to their current projects? Or are these meetings usually more about generally discussing backgrounds/interests, getting a feel for the prospective student's curiosity and intellect, and seeing if the prospective student/potential advisor get along and communicate well. Assistant: RemindMe! 10 Days "Check Answers"

Human: [STEM] What's the most exciting research being done in your field? I just received my bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, and I'm thinking about going back to pursue a PhD at some point. I'm curious to hear from you: what are the most exciting areas of research in your field right now, and what technologies could it enable in the future? How could someone learn more about this research if they were interested? Thanks! Assistant: Social/Political Sciences Fake news. Who's into them? How does the spread of false and manipulative information through social media influence democratic systems, political processes, stability and our health? How can we prevent damaging propaganda like that from spreading?

Human: [STEM] What's the most exciting research being done in your field? I just received my bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, and I'm thinking about going back to pursue a PhD at some point. I'm curious to hear from you: what are the most exciting areas of research in your field right now, and what technologies could it enable in the future? How could someone learn more about this research if they were interested? Thanks! Assistant: Wheat Gene Editing. The main bottle neck for wheat is its difficult regeneration. One recent paper has introduced two gene chimera that substantially increase regeneration of wheat from callus.

Human: Has anyone here NOT had significant issues completing their PhD? Genuinely curious how many individuals here didn't face significant issues with advisors, cohorts, labs, course failures, mental health, etc. I've noticed the majority of posts speaking negatively about all facets of pursuing a PhD and honestly, I want to hear the positive parts for once. Assistant: PhD in criminal justice, full stipend and tuition waiver throughout. Finished in 5 years, immediately got a tenure-track job after. No major problems, am lifelong friends with several folks from grad school, didn’t get divorced in grad school, didn’t contemplate suicide, had a hell of a good time surrounded by the smartest people I’ll ever meet. Don’t get me wrong. It was hard. But grad school was a fun job.

Human: Has anyone here NOT had significant issues completing their PhD? Genuinely curious how many individuals here didn't face significant issues with advisors, cohorts, labs, course failures, mental health, etc. I've noticed the majority of posts speaking negatively about all facets of pursuing a PhD and honestly, I want to hear the positive parts for once. Assistant: Also did anyone complete with a family or similar additional responsibilities or as a single parent with minimal setbacks?

Human: First offer Folks, I had posted this a few weeks ago about rejections in academia. I just received my first offer for a TT position and I still cannot believe it. Thank you for all of your suggestions/advice/motivational comments. r/AskAcademia has truly been a godsend for navigating the crazy labyrinth of the academic job search process. For those of you on the market, please keep persevering! Assistant: Congrats. It’s a hell of a process. I know bc I’m applying as well.

Human: First offer Folks, I had posted this a few weeks ago about rejections in academia. I just received my first offer for a TT position and I still cannot believe it. Thank you for all of your suggestions/advice/motivational comments. r/AskAcademia has truly been a godsend for navigating the crazy labyrinth of the academic job search process. For those of you on the market, please keep persevering! Assistant: Huzzah! Congrats, and welcome to the professoriate!

Human: PhD Supervisor missed a deadline, now candidate has to pay $15,000 and wait months before graduating Hello all. I'm asking this for a co-worker. He has been working a full time job and writing to finish his dissertation in Linguistics. He completed and submitted well in advance of the deadline. However, his supervisor was supposed to submit it to the doctoral committee before the deadline, BUT DIDN'T! Now, the school is telling him that he needs to wait until the next semester to graduate, and he needs to pay an additional $15k for that semester since he's no longer in the country (I don't know how that part works). So, because his supervisor screwed up, it's going to cost him thousands of dollars and waste a significant amount of time. Is there anything he can do? Assistant: I delayed mine by a semester. Our gradschool has an "exam-only" registration that costs $400 which comes with an earlier deadline to deposit the thesis.

Human: PhD Supervisor missed a deadline, now candidate has to pay $15,000 and wait months before graduating Hello all. I'm asking this for a co-worker. He has been working a full time job and writing to finish his dissertation in Linguistics. He completed and submitted well in advance of the deadline. However, his supervisor was supposed to submit it to the doctoral committee before the deadline, BUT DIDN'T! Now, the school is telling him that he needs to wait until the next semester to graduate, and he needs to pay an additional $15k for that semester since he's no longer in the country (I don't know how that part works). So, because his supervisor screwed up, it's going to cost him thousands of dollars and waste a significant amount of time. Is there anything he can do? Assistant: Why 15k tho? Doesn't compute.

Human: Give me your lit review secrets Hi all, what are your tips and tricks for doing a lit review? I'm especially having issues coming up with a good annotation system for all the papers I read. It's my first time handling such a large chunk of info and the mental mapping is extreme, what are your strategies for keeping track of papers? Assistant: I use zotero and put my notes in the "extras" category, you can make a custom citation format which includes the extras and you have an automatic annotated bibliography! I also heavily use the tags system for general topics and methods (for me I have quant, qual, meta, social network analysis, etc)

Human: Give me your lit review secrets Hi all, what are your tips and tricks for doing a lit review? I'm especially having issues coming up with a good annotation system for all the papers I read. It's my first time handling such a large chunk of info and the mental mapping is extreme, what are your strategies for keeping track of papers? Assistant: 1. https://www.connectedpapers.com/ 2. Lit review conceptual spreadsheets e.g. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/organizing-your-literature-spreadsheet-style but I focus mine on themes, I have three main themes for each paper, and I color code the themes, and include important quotes.

Human: Professor I am interested in working with has only ever worked with Chinese students and researchers. Is this a red flag? There is a professor who is doing research in an area that I am very interested in but when looking at all his research I became a bit concerned. He has only worked with Chinese students and various Chinese researchers from industry and other universities. Looking through all his work, it doesn't seem that he has ever worked with a non Chinese person. Also, every summer he invites 5 students from various Chinese universities to work with him fully funded. As a non-Chinese student I feel like I may just be wasting my time contacting him. Assistant: It might be a red flag with yellow stars? 🇨🇳

Human: Professor I am interested in working with has only ever worked with Chinese students and researchers. Is this a red flag? There is a professor who is doing research in an area that I am very interested in but when looking at all his research I became a bit concerned. He has only worked with Chinese students and various Chinese researchers from industry and other universities. Looking through all his work, it doesn't seem that he has ever worked with a non Chinese person. Also, every summer he invites 5 students from various Chinese universities to work with him fully funded. As a non-Chinese student I feel like I may just be wasting my time contacting him. Assistant: Just contact him

Human: How do.i go about with dealing with a senile professor? Hello, perhaps you all could help with this problem that I am having. Currently I am a junior in college, and I'm taking a class with a professor who I am sure incompetent. The semester has started in January, and as of March we still have not received a syllabus. I do not know what we're supposed to be doing in this class, other than its is a statistics course. For instance, we have had no tests, no homework assigned, and regularly he mixes us up with his combintorics class before us. Besides that, this semester he thought that it was an extension of last semester, so he gave us other students tests to take home and think about because he thought that it was us. Moreover, sometimes he forgets that we are even in class, and last week he went to get in the couch that is in the class room, but before he did he took his pants off. I think he has alzheimers or something, but I'm afraid that this is going to be like the last time I had him and hes going to just give me a B- without ever giving homework, tests, or a finale.. I dont know what to do. I've been to the head of my department to tell them about this, but they havent done a thing about it. The only advice inwas offered, was this is what graduate school is like and to just get over it. Assistant: You say you're a junior but also graduate school? This + the rest of the story sound like you're trolling.

Human: How do.i go about with dealing with a senile professor? Hello, perhaps you all could help with this problem that I am having. Currently I am a junior in college, and I'm taking a class with a professor who I am sure incompetent. The semester has started in January, and as of March we still have not received a syllabus. I do not know what we're supposed to be doing in this class, other than its is a statistics course. For instance, we have had no tests, no homework assigned, and regularly he mixes us up with his combintorics class before us. Besides that, this semester he thought that it was an extension of last semester, so he gave us other students tests to take home and think about because he thought that it was us. Moreover, sometimes he forgets that we are even in class, and last week he went to get in the couch that is in the class room, but before he did he took his pants off. I think he has alzheimers or something, but I'm afraid that this is going to be like the last time I had him and hes going to just give me a B- without ever giving homework, tests, or a finale.. I dont know what to do. I've been to the head of my department to tell them about this, but they havent done a thing about it. The only advice inwas offered, was this is what graduate school is like and to just get over it. Assistant: >...I'm afraid that this is going to be like the last time I had him and hes going to just give me a B-... Wait, you took him for a second course? Or am I misunderstanding?

Human: What are some of the unexpected tasks you do as an academic? I went into my supervisor's office the other day and he was ordering books for the university's library. He told me that this is just one of the many random jobs he didn't expect he'd have to do as an academic (in the humanities) when he first thought of becoming an academic. I'm curious what other seemingly random tasks academics have found themselves doing that they didn't otherwise expect. Assistant: Pointless meetings just to say that we've met. 'Consultation'

Human: What are some of the unexpected tasks you do as an academic? I went into my supervisor's office the other day and he was ordering books for the university's library. He told me that this is just one of the many random jobs he didn't expect he'd have to do as an academic (in the humanities) when he first thought of becoming an academic. I'm curious what other seemingly random tasks academics have found themselves doing that they didn't otherwise expect. Assistant: Feeding fish. I guess this would be true for people who work with animal and plants.

Human: Academics on twitter, has social media benefited or damaged your writing in any way? I used to read a lot of books, but I seem to spend a lot more time on twitter these days. Consequently, I'm now used to digesting information in small bites. And sometimes without context. So, I'd like to know if social media has impacted your focus or writing in any way. I ask because I feel as though my attention span is suffering, and I'm very concerned it's because of my time spent online. Assistant: Academia has damaged my writing.

Human: Academics on twitter, has social media benefited or damaged your writing in any way? I used to read a lot of books, but I seem to spend a lot more time on twitter these days. Consequently, I'm now used to digesting information in small bites. And sometimes without context. So, I'd like to know if social media has impacted your focus or writing in any way. I ask because I feel as though my attention span is suffering, and I'm very concerned it's because of my time spent online. Assistant: I'm not on Twitter. However, as a non-native speaker, my heavy redditing has certainly improved my academic writing in English.

Human: Professors and PhD supervisors, what do you look for in "cold emails" and supervision enquiries from potential students? Im in the biology field, but I think this question applies to every field. Im currently looking at cold emailing a few professors on some phd grad programs I love the look of or enquiring about supervision on their uni websites, but I suffer bad with imposter syndrome and have absolutely no clue what is expected from me in these "cold emails". im very worried about annoying any potential supervisors and ruining my chances, and also coming across as being full of my self and overconfident of my abilities. But I also dont want to downplay myself. Questions like "what makes you an outstanding applicant" scare me. Im sure a lot of potential grad students feel like this and any advice would be helpful!! I know im overthinking hahaha Assistant: i usually dont judge people by their first email, and its not that costly to give a polite reply and give everyone a second chance to present themselves....

Human: Professors and PhD supervisors, what do you look for in "cold emails" and supervision enquiries from potential students? Im in the biology field, but I think this question applies to every field. Im currently looking at cold emailing a few professors on some phd grad programs I love the look of or enquiring about supervision on their uni websites, but I suffer bad with imposter syndrome and have absolutely no clue what is expected from me in these "cold emails". im very worried about annoying any potential supervisors and ruining my chances, and also coming across as being full of my self and overconfident of my abilities. But I also dont want to downplay myself. Questions like "what makes you an outstanding applicant" scare me. Im sure a lot of potential grad students feel like this and any advice would be helpful!! I know im overthinking hahaha Assistant: I’ve always thought Jacquelyn Gill’s piece on this was good: https://contemplativemammoth.com/2013/04/08/so-you-want-to-go-to-grad-school-nail-the-inquiry-email/

Human: Is it acceptable to email an author asking for the full version of their article for free? Anthropology. Obviously I wouldn't word it exactly like that. I guess I was just wondering if the idea itself is considered taboo or unacceptable in the academic world. I read how in hard science, the authors usually don't get any of the funds from people using money to access their articles so if you email them they'll often send them for free. I was wondering if a similar dynamic exists in lib arts/anthropology world, and also if this works when there's more than one author Assistant: Absolutely. Remember the author doesn’t get any cut from the Academic publishers. I’m sure they would be very happy to send you a PDF. After all we all love being read and cited!

Human: Is it acceptable to email an author asking for the full version of their article for free? Anthropology. Obviously I wouldn't word it exactly like that. I guess I was just wondering if the idea itself is considered taboo or unacceptable in the academic world. I read how in hard science, the authors usually don't get any of the funds from people using money to access their articles so if you email them they'll often send them for free. I was wondering if a similar dynamic exists in lib arts/anthropology world, and also if this works when there's more than one author Assistant: Just use scihub

Human: I reported my partner for plagiarism Was taking a graduate level math programming course where the final project was a 15 page research paper where you could partner up. The dude I partnered with seemed alright for the first couple weeks. We met up a couple times, I drafted an outline, and we split up sections that we'd work on and reconvene as we progressed. He decides he wants to write the introduction and outline the use cases of the mathematical formulation we're working on. From here, the partnership got sketchy and turned south. He lets me know that he's finished his portion of the paper. I start reading it and am immediately suspicious. The writing style is abruptly changing and basically vacillates from quite complex sentence structure, to more simplistic language within the same thought. The sentences by themselves look ok, but overall there is no cohesion. I Google the first sentence I suspect of plagiarism and sure enough, I get a hit. I then run his entire portion through a plagiarism detector and it detects 33% plagiarized. So this looks pretty bad and I confront him about it. He looks somewhat embarrassed, but smiles it off and says he just needs to add citations. He says he has fixed his portions but when I check them, the plagiarized sections are mostly intact, and all he has really added are inaccurate citations. i.e., he found a passage from a website, but then attributed it to a wholly different paper. I talk to him about it again, this time being much more explicit about the fact that he was plagiarizing. No real mea culpa or "please explain to me what I'm doing wrong," just that he'll go 'fix it'. After his second round of edits it seems like he's removed most of the plagiarism but some parts still exist. I'm pretty flabbergasted at this point. I talk to my professor and agree to outline all the portions he had plagiarized. It just seemed like my partner was completely clueless about the seriousness of this, or didn't care. School administration wants me to testify about this and my partner has been blowing up my phone trying to talk to me, because I think he has a disciplinary hearing tomorrow. He's texting me telling me he only put copied parts in there as a kind of placeholder until he filled it in with his own words. He never once said this to me and that practice in and of itself sounds rather suspect. Seems like he's freaking and really wants to talk to me. This whole episode is making me feel ill wondering if I did the right thing. I'm even considering returning his call telling him my side of the story, but my gut tells me I should probably not speak to him. Did I do the right thing? And what would you have done differently? Assistant: I almost thought you meant your SO by the title....that would be really dramatic

Human: I reported my partner for plagiarism Was taking a graduate level math programming course where the final project was a 15 page research paper where you could partner up. The dude I partnered with seemed alright for the first couple weeks. We met up a couple times, I drafted an outline, and we split up sections that we'd work on and reconvene as we progressed. He decides he wants to write the introduction and outline the use cases of the mathematical formulation we're working on. From here, the partnership got sketchy and turned south. He lets me know that he's finished his portion of the paper. I start reading it and am immediately suspicious. The writing style is abruptly changing and basically vacillates from quite complex sentence structure, to more simplistic language within the same thought. The sentences by themselves look ok, but overall there is no cohesion. I Google the first sentence I suspect of plagiarism and sure enough, I get a hit. I then run his entire portion through a plagiarism detector and it detects 33% plagiarized. So this looks pretty bad and I confront him about it. He looks somewhat embarrassed, but smiles it off and says he just needs to add citations. He says he has fixed his portions but when I check them, the plagiarized sections are mostly intact, and all he has really added are inaccurate citations. i.e., he found a passage from a website, but then attributed it to a wholly different paper. I talk to him about it again, this time being much more explicit about the fact that he was plagiarizing. No real mea culpa or "please explain to me what I'm doing wrong," just that he'll go 'fix it'. After his second round of edits it seems like he's removed most of the plagiarism but some parts still exist. I'm pretty flabbergasted at this point. I talk to my professor and agree to outline all the portions he had plagiarized. It just seemed like my partner was completely clueless about the seriousness of this, or didn't care. School administration wants me to testify about this and my partner has been blowing up my phone trying to talk to me, because I think he has a disciplinary hearing tomorrow. He's texting me telling me he only put copied parts in there as a kind of placeholder until he filled it in with his own words. He never once said this to me and that practice in and of itself sounds rather suspect. Seems like he's freaking and really wants to talk to me. This whole episode is making me feel ill wondering if I did the right thing. I'm even considering returning his call telling him my side of the story, but my gut tells me I should probably not speak to him. Did I do the right thing? And what would you have done differently? Assistant: I'm an English professor. You absolutely and without question did the right thing. You warned him more than once, and he was jeopardizing your performance by cheating. Rest easy. I wish you better partners in the future.

Human: Do You Expect PhD Stipends to Increase in the Near Future? I am a first-year Masters student (social sciences), interested in pursuing a PhD after a few years in the field. Every time I research stipends, I am ... scared. At my university (R1, U.S. Northeast), the Grad Student Union is working hard to rally around increased stipends. Given current inflation and workers' rights entering the public discourse (?), do you expect stipends to raise in the coming years? (Asking both for selfish reasons, and genuine curiosity.) For clarity: Not just increasing to meet inflation, but a general increase which surpasses that. Interested in any thoughts!! Assistant: Because Academia is international, I thought that I should share some info from Norway. Here a PhD-student is regarded as an employee and current yearly salary is 49k in Usd, minimum, regardless off field. An academic career is not usually in demand, and particular in the field of engineering we have very many international phds. However, the public finance is under increasing pressure so the next 5 years will be a bit harder, but the salary will not drop, it will only be fewer posistions.

Human: Do You Expect PhD Stipends to Increase in the Near Future? I am a first-year Masters student (social sciences), interested in pursuing a PhD after a few years in the field. Every time I research stipends, I am ... scared. At my university (R1, U.S. Northeast), the Grad Student Union is working hard to rally around increased stipends. Given current inflation and workers' rights entering the public discourse (?), do you expect stipends to raise in the coming years? (Asking both for selfish reasons, and genuine curiosity.) For clarity: Not just increasing to meet inflation, but a general increase which surpasses that. Interested in any thoughts!! Assistant: Unless the US moves forward into the 20th Century when it comes to collective bargaining rights, very unlikely.

Human: Have I made a big mistake by not applying to a PhD at 26 (it keeps me up at night)? **Abstract**: *I am 26, finishing a master's degree, and I have no plans now and have never considered a phd. My professors and colleagues say i'm ideal, my parents are against it, all deadlines have passed, and I have an existential crisis now.* I am about to finish my 2 year master's in International Relations at the age of 26 (in my country we graduate at 19 and I did a year of travel). It was such a big deal to me to even get into this program, because I originally have a B.Sc. in psychology and I'm the first one in my direct family line to even see a college from the inside anyhow. The hybris I accused myself of to even attempt a master's! I was so nervous whether I'd even survive the IR program that I spent exactly no time thinking about any further degrees afterwards. Now that the end approaches, professors and my friends at grad school keep asking me why I don't do a PhD. One senior professor even approached me in a pub and said I was an ideal candidate, as I love academic discussions and research. My GPA is good and my supervisor really liked my master's thesis. But I was so focused to even survive the past two years, driven by constant impostor syndrome, that I never spent a second thinking I'd do anything else but "a job" afterwards, however vaguely defined. I made no plans for later at all. My professors' and colleagues' comments have seriously thrown me in doubt whether I didn't do a huge mistake. My parents (both worked themselves up from poor backgrounds, without a college degree) painted an image of PhD studies as a dead-end into poverty and unemployability with short-term contracts only, so I never really considered it. Obviously all deadlines have passed now by a long shot, and as all my friends move on to jobs (mostly non-related office jobs). I wonder if I didn't make a huge mistake by not applying, and whether that window of opportunity isn't closed now for good... or whether I made the right call. Assistant: A bit cynical, but let me translate what your professors mean when they say you're ideal for a Ph.D.: *I'm running this machine that takes human labor and turns it into publications and grant money, and you would be an ideal cogwheel for that machine.*

Human: Have I made a big mistake by not applying to a PhD at 26 (it keeps me up at night)? **Abstract**: *I am 26, finishing a master's degree, and I have no plans now and have never considered a phd. My professors and colleagues say i'm ideal, my parents are against it, all deadlines have passed, and I have an existential crisis now.* I am about to finish my 2 year master's in International Relations at the age of 26 (in my country we graduate at 19 and I did a year of travel). It was such a big deal to me to even get into this program, because I originally have a B.Sc. in psychology and I'm the first one in my direct family line to even see a college from the inside anyhow. The hybris I accused myself of to even attempt a master's! I was so nervous whether I'd even survive the IR program that I spent exactly no time thinking about any further degrees afterwards. Now that the end approaches, professors and my friends at grad school keep asking me why I don't do a PhD. One senior professor even approached me in a pub and said I was an ideal candidate, as I love academic discussions and research. My GPA is good and my supervisor really liked my master's thesis. But I was so focused to even survive the past two years, driven by constant impostor syndrome, that I never spent a second thinking I'd do anything else but "a job" afterwards, however vaguely defined. I made no plans for later at all. My professors' and colleagues' comments have seriously thrown me in doubt whether I didn't do a huge mistake. My parents (both worked themselves up from poor backgrounds, without a college degree) painted an image of PhD studies as a dead-end into poverty and unemployability with short-term contracts only, so I never really considered it. Obviously all deadlines have passed now by a long shot, and as all my friends move on to jobs (mostly non-related office jobs). I wonder if I didn't make a huge mistake by not applying, and whether that window of opportunity isn't closed now for good... or whether I made the right call. Assistant: Your parents are right! Don’t feel bad. Profs are just trying to get you to do underpaid labor to keep the system going.. (wish I was joking)

Human: What does the salary at each rung of the academic career ladder look like in your country? Non-native English speaker here. I was wondering, how the salary structure looks like in your country. That is, what is the typical/median/average salary for a Post Doc, Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor etc. I am not sure what are all the titles/rungs in the academic ladder of your country. So please provide the title of the rung, the salary in each and the amount of time needed to get yourself to the next rung. Assistant: United States, and my figures are based on big research state universities (because their salaries are searchable on the web), not small liberal arts colleges. Postdoc: ~$45k Assistant professor: ~$65-80k Associate professor: ~$80-110k Professor: ~$100-150k Grant-winning master: ~$150-300k Grant-winning superstar: ~$300k-1000k Nobel laureate: ~$600k-? (Steven Weinberg's salary at UT Austin)

Human: What does the salary at each rung of the academic career ladder look like in your country? Non-native English speaker here. I was wondering, how the salary structure looks like in your country. That is, what is the typical/median/average salary for a Post Doc, Lecturer, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor etc. I am not sure what are all the titles/rungs in the academic ladder of your country. So please provide the title of the rung, the salary in each and the amount of time needed to get yourself to the next rung. Assistant: In the USA this varies sooooo much depending on type of school: CC (community college), state college/university, public R1 research university, SLAC (small liberal arts college), private R1 research university, Ivy League school. It can also vary by region of the US, with cost of living. You can browse a lot of the pay info via the Chronicle of Higher Ed. https://data.chronicle.com

Human: Want to be a professor but worried about actual impact I might be able to have Hello, so I’m about to start my master’s in literature and culture studies and genuinely love my subject. The post might seem ridiculous and I have a long way to go so there will be changes, but I find this subreddit really helpful and would like to get some opinions, hear of experiences, know of other options, etc. For a while now, I’ve been considering whether I want to be a professor. I work as an undergraduate assistant currently and I always knew academia has a lot of problems (I’ve been fortunate enough to be around people who’ve had jobs there so I have some idea of the unsavoury aspects) but recently, while checking student copies, I felt extremely disillusioned. I was asked to just “classify” papers and the teacher said I don’t need to correct the mistakes. It left me feeling horrible because I knew the students wouldn’t really get information on where they made mistakes even though there were some clear patterns, both in the papers of individual students and entire sections. I know academia has been commercialised but can professors even give time to students? Or even just the students who are struggling? Can they actually mentor students in a way that benefits the student’s lives? Are they allowed to share their works with the general public or do they even have the time to do that? I’ve seen prominent scholars offering lectures accessible to the public but they charge exorbitant prices like $300 for them and the academics may not decide the fee but I personally want no part of that. I know the answers to these questions might vary based on place but a general idea would be great. The other issue I guess is more complex. I keep hearing statements like academics are detached from reality, etc. But that always struck me as strange because fields like psychology and sociology involve so much research based on interviewing people? And I sometimes feel like that is something people say because they don’t like what some academics say. I don’t know. I’ve met some professors who are out of touch and honestly they just left a bad taste in my mouth. A part of me wants to just get an okay paying less stressful job and make educational videos on youtube, both somewhat diluted but entertaining ones (I think some dilution is bound to happen if entertainment is an aim) and also in depth somewhat dry and more academic ones. I have always enjoyed fiction but thankfully in my undergrad I came across amazing novels, literary theory, etc and a lot of the material really seem like they would be able to change people’s perspectives or at the least increase their empathy toward certain groups. I’m not idealistic but I do believe that exposing people to new texts and ideas can help them live better lives and someone somewhere might be helped even the slightest bit. And the whole wave of people with degrees making these insanely good quality videos that reach hundreds of thousands of people for free is really inspiring despite the chances of very few actually being picked up by the algorithm. However, I also feel tempted by the idea of maybe one day getting tenure and having some form of stability (I am aware that the opportunities are shrinking and it’s very difficult but still). The problem is I don’t want to be in a place where I can’t actually have some form of a positive impact or am highly restricted. I’ve had some great teachers but their influence on me has been restricted to studies. I have no idea if the same teachers could help students who for eg could not devote most of their time to studies like me or struggled in uni because of a range of reasons (I’ve been lucky in that I found what gets me to study and I really like my subject so even if I did bad initially I picked up my grades by the time finals and assignments were due. Also thankfully faced no severe emergencies in my undergrad years). TLDR-Is being a professor worth it if I want to reach a lot of people and have a positive impact? Or should I go for a job that pays well or takes up less time and try being an educator (somehow) on the side? Assistant: It doesn't sound like you really want to be college faculty. You sound like you want to work more broadly in education or communication. What we do is a very specific kind of work and is attractive only to a narrow range of people.

Human: Want to be a professor but worried about actual impact I might be able to have Hello, so I’m about to start my master’s in literature and culture studies and genuinely love my subject. The post might seem ridiculous and I have a long way to go so there will be changes, but I find this subreddit really helpful and would like to get some opinions, hear of experiences, know of other options, etc. For a while now, I’ve been considering whether I want to be a professor. I work as an undergraduate assistant currently and I always knew academia has a lot of problems (I’ve been fortunate enough to be around people who’ve had jobs there so I have some idea of the unsavoury aspects) but recently, while checking student copies, I felt extremely disillusioned. I was asked to just “classify” papers and the teacher said I don’t need to correct the mistakes. It left me feeling horrible because I knew the students wouldn’t really get information on where they made mistakes even though there were some clear patterns, both in the papers of individual students and entire sections. I know academia has been commercialised but can professors even give time to students? Or even just the students who are struggling? Can they actually mentor students in a way that benefits the student’s lives? Are they allowed to share their works with the general public or do they even have the time to do that? I’ve seen prominent scholars offering lectures accessible to the public but they charge exorbitant prices like $300 for them and the academics may not decide the fee but I personally want no part of that. I know the answers to these questions might vary based on place but a general idea would be great. The other issue I guess is more complex. I keep hearing statements like academics are detached from reality, etc. But that always struck me as strange because fields like psychology and sociology involve so much research based on interviewing people? And I sometimes feel like that is something people say because they don’t like what some academics say. I don’t know. I’ve met some professors who are out of touch and honestly they just left a bad taste in my mouth. A part of me wants to just get an okay paying less stressful job and make educational videos on youtube, both somewhat diluted but entertaining ones (I think some dilution is bound to happen if entertainment is an aim) and also in depth somewhat dry and more academic ones. I have always enjoyed fiction but thankfully in my undergrad I came across amazing novels, literary theory, etc and a lot of the material really seem like they would be able to change people’s perspectives or at the least increase their empathy toward certain groups. I’m not idealistic but I do believe that exposing people to new texts and ideas can help them live better lives and someone somewhere might be helped even the slightest bit. And the whole wave of people with degrees making these insanely good quality videos that reach hundreds of thousands of people for free is really inspiring despite the chances of very few actually being picked up by the algorithm. However, I also feel tempted by the idea of maybe one day getting tenure and having some form of stability (I am aware that the opportunities are shrinking and it’s very difficult but still). The problem is I don’t want to be in a place where I can’t actually have some form of a positive impact or am highly restricted. I’ve had some great teachers but their influence on me has been restricted to studies. I have no idea if the same teachers could help students who for eg could not devote most of their time to studies like me or struggled in uni because of a range of reasons (I’ve been lucky in that I found what gets me to study and I really like my subject so even if I did bad initially I picked up my grades by the time finals and assignments were due. Also thankfully faced no severe emergencies in my undergrad years). TLDR-Is being a professor worth it if I want to reach a lot of people and have a positive impact? Or should I go for a job that pays well or takes up less time and try being an educator (somehow) on the side? Assistant: Hopefully teaching will suck less when you get to the point of starting to teach.

Human: Is it possible to get research experience before grad school but after undergrad? Hi there, the title is pretty self-explanatory. I have already graduated from undergrad and am working a field position this summer. I would like to go to grad school but I didn't do any research during my time as an undergrad. Would it be possible for me to get experience working on any research, even though I'm no longer a student anywhere? Assistant: Absolutely. As an undergrad, I worked with another research assistant in my lab who was in his 40s. He had a long-completed Bachelor’s, and a very successful career, but was targeting a PhD. After two years, including a few publications, he was admitted.

Human: Is it possible to get research experience before grad school but after undergrad? Hi there, the title is pretty self-explanatory. I have already graduated from undergrad and am working a field position this summer. I would like to go to grad school but I didn't do any research during my time as an undergrad. Would it be possible for me to get experience working on any research, even though I'm no longer a student anywhere? Assistant: Just look up all of the various subsets of the US government and find out which ones offer post-baccalaureate research positions (DOE, NIH, NASA, etc.).

Human: Does submitting journal articles for review give anyone else massive anxiety? I feel like I should be relieved. I've spent over 4 months on this paper(Start preliminary research in september did the bulk of writing in october then gave myself time to edit until now), and now I'm finally done. But I can't get rid of the sneaking suspicion I am going to get rejected. I've been told my writing is good by my professors but I'm not sure it is to the level of being published, especially as an undergrad, and the subject matter of the essay is so specialized I can't submit it to any other journal. Assistant: A tip for a happy academic life: publication is beyond your control, so celebrate submitting.

Human: Does submitting journal articles for review give anyone else massive anxiety? I feel like I should be relieved. I've spent over 4 months on this paper(Start preliminary research in september did the bulk of writing in october then gave myself time to edit until now), and now I'm finally done. But I can't get rid of the sneaking suspicion I am going to get rejected. I've been told my writing is good by my professors but I'm not sure it is to the level of being published, especially as an undergrad, and the subject matter of the essay is so specialized I can't submit it to any other journal. Assistant: My first paper got rejected 3 times before being accepted in a 4th venue. Whatever happens, you'll get there eventually :) Also, there is the thing in the field of mathematics (don't know if it is a thing in other fields) where people's best paper is often rejected at least once, because often those papers do things in a new way that reviewers just can't appreciate yet. So to repeat the other posters, rejection happens to everyone.

Human: I sent a PhD fellowship application 4 months ago, and now I am awaiting the interview. In the meantime, my perspective about the project I presented shifted. How to go about it? Hello! So, as I said in the title, I presented a fellowship application that included a quite defined research aims and questions. The problem is I have been working as a research assistant in a project on a similar topic and I feel like many of my research questions have been answered and other problems emerged. I also read more on the topic, and my views are more nuanced now. On one hand, I have a feeling that it would look better if I explain that I have been working on the topic and my ideas developed. On the other hand, 1. I do not have a crystal clear idea how to go about it, and I am afraid it is a bad thing. It seems to me a bit irresponsible to go to a serious fellowship interview and tell them: "Look, what is actually interesting is X and I could do A or B...." instead of being confident of a particular way of going about it. 2. They evaluated positively the project I presented, so maybe it would be safer to just stick to exactly what I said there? I will be free to make modifications when I am awarded the fellowship, as far as the topic does not shift too much. Assistant: I wouldn’t fret too much about it. Most of the time these fellowships aren’t funding a project, but funding you as a scientist. Having you propose research aims is just an exercise to see how you think as a scientist/the work you plan to do. So you changing your project based on new information isn’t breaking any “contract,” and might actually strengthen your position.

Human: I sent a PhD fellowship application 4 months ago, and now I am awaiting the interview. In the meantime, my perspective about the project I presented shifted. How to go about it? Hello! So, as I said in the title, I presented a fellowship application that included a quite defined research aims and questions. The problem is I have been working as a research assistant in a project on a similar topic and I feel like many of my research questions have been answered and other problems emerged. I also read more on the topic, and my views are more nuanced now. On one hand, I have a feeling that it would look better if I explain that I have been working on the topic and my ideas developed. On the other hand, 1. I do not have a crystal clear idea how to go about it, and I am afraid it is a bad thing. It seems to me a bit irresponsible to go to a serious fellowship interview and tell them: "Look, what is actually interesting is X and I could do A or B...." instead of being confident of a particular way of going about it. 2. They evaluated positively the project I presented, so maybe it would be safer to just stick to exactly what I said there? I will be free to make modifications when I am awarded the fellowship, as far as the topic does not shift too much. Assistant: Tell them this

Human: Have you ever cried in front of your advisor or supervisor? If so, why? How did they receive it? Assistant: As someone who cries a lot and is headed to grad school in the fall, I find this thread very comforting; I'm almost 99% positive I'll start crying in front of someone, somewhere, sometime in the program.

Human: Have you ever cried in front of your advisor or supervisor? If so, why? How did they receive it? Assistant: This is pretty bad... I cried during the oral part of my PhD qualifying exam. It was just very overwhelming.... so my advisor was there, along with two other professors. Luckily, I did well enough on the written parts that they figured I knew what I was doing, and I still passed. Ugh, it was kind of a disaster.

Human: Foreign postdoc, difficulty with PI, not sure what to do next TL;DR: PI aggressive, yells at me, hits tables, other, worried to go to HR or her boss, as I depend on this job for my visa. Have tried several different ways of dealing with her directly, always ends with her raising her voice, interrupting me, and sometimes calling me names. I have heard that this power dynamic happens sometimes, are there things that I can do? I am not trying to be vague, I am wanting to be careful about the information that I put out into the world right now. Please let me know if I have left out important information that might help answer my question, and I will try to answer it. Thank you. I will not add too much to my TL;DR. She becomes aggressive with me quickly, raising her voice, hitting the table, she sometimes calls me names or tells me to tell the truth, suggesting that I'm lying to her. I have a history where I am very much not ok with being yelled at like this or with people hitting things or behaving aggressively around me. I have told her this and she continues and says that I'm being dramatic. I have tried to solve the issue by talking with her many times, and then by email so that I would have a record of the conversations and so that she would not interrupt me or be able to yell at me so easily. She has responded to this by telling me that I am causing problems, and telling me that we'll talk about it in person, where she starts to get aggressive with me again. I am not perfect. I realize that I have my difficulties working with other people sometimes too, but never like this, and I can usually fix the problem by talking with the person and trying to understand where they are coming from and what they want. This is not working with this person. I don't want to create any problems, and I don't want to lose my visa, I just want to survive this time with this person, and hopefully not lose my career with her bad recommendation. Does anyone have any advice or has faced a situation like this? Does any part of this sound like a cultural difference that I am not understanding? My PI is also a foreigner. Please ask any questions, I will try to answers. She has never physically touched me when she was acting aggressively like this except to move me out of her way a little one time. She has not called me terrible names, but ones that I think do not fit my behavior and are maybe not appropriate for the workplace. I do not know her boss well, but they are very close and I worry about bringing this to her. Thank you very much. EDIT: I am working as a postdoc at a large, private research university Assistant: I wanted to write I am sorry. And with all kindness, if she behaves like this now, I doubt she will write a good rec even if you stay. You may stay, but still get bad rec. It is better to cut losses early on.

Human: Foreign postdoc, difficulty with PI, not sure what to do next TL;DR: PI aggressive, yells at me, hits tables, other, worried to go to HR or her boss, as I depend on this job for my visa. Have tried several different ways of dealing with her directly, always ends with her raising her voice, interrupting me, and sometimes calling me names. I have heard that this power dynamic happens sometimes, are there things that I can do? I am not trying to be vague, I am wanting to be careful about the information that I put out into the world right now. Please let me know if I have left out important information that might help answer my question, and I will try to answer it. Thank you. I will not add too much to my TL;DR. She becomes aggressive with me quickly, raising her voice, hitting the table, she sometimes calls me names or tells me to tell the truth, suggesting that I'm lying to her. I have a history where I am very much not ok with being yelled at like this or with people hitting things or behaving aggressively around me. I have told her this and she continues and says that I'm being dramatic. I have tried to solve the issue by talking with her many times, and then by email so that I would have a record of the conversations and so that she would not interrupt me or be able to yell at me so easily. She has responded to this by telling me that I am causing problems, and telling me that we'll talk about it in person, where she starts to get aggressive with me again. I am not perfect. I realize that I have my difficulties working with other people sometimes too, but never like this, and I can usually fix the problem by talking with the person and trying to understand where they are coming from and what they want. This is not working with this person. I don't want to create any problems, and I don't want to lose my visa, I just want to survive this time with this person, and hopefully not lose my career with her bad recommendation. Does anyone have any advice or has faced a situation like this? Does any part of this sound like a cultural difference that I am not understanding? My PI is also a foreigner. Please ask any questions, I will try to answers. She has never physically touched me when she was acting aggressively like this except to move me out of her way a little one time. She has not called me terrible names, but ones that I think do not fit my behavior and are maybe not appropriate for the workplace. I do not know her boss well, but they are very close and I worry about bringing this to her. Thank you very much. EDIT: I am working as a postdoc at a large, private research university Assistant: Talk to your ombudsman asap

Human: Maybe this is US specific, but how much are we expected to work over the holidays ? I have a toddler and his daycare is out for the holidays. His dad, the usual caretaker when daycare are closed, has a lot of work to do for his own business. This year, due to covid, our university technically has a few days where everyone is taking off unpaid in order to I guess help with the financial strain of covid, so in theory we should have dec 24-Jan 1 off. In practice though, meetings are scheduled in this time. I’m not going to not participate if meetings are scheduled, but I’m definitely a bit unhappy about it. It’s been a hard year and I would’ve liked the time to unwind, instead of this very unclear , unspoken expectation that we do work during this time. Is there a ...better way to handle this than just keep my head down and work as much as I feel like I could? Assistant: "Just a reminder that I am taking unpaid leave next week so will not be available for meetings. See you in January!"

Human: Maybe this is US specific, but how much are we expected to work over the holidays ? I have a toddler and his daycare is out for the holidays. His dad, the usual caretaker when daycare are closed, has a lot of work to do for his own business. This year, due to covid, our university technically has a few days where everyone is taking off unpaid in order to I guess help with the financial strain of covid, so in theory we should have dec 24-Jan 1 off. In practice though, meetings are scheduled in this time. I’m not going to not participate if meetings are scheduled, but I’m definitely a bit unhappy about it. It’s been a hard year and I would’ve liked the time to unwind, instead of this very unclear , unspoken expectation that we do work during this time. Is there a ...better way to handle this than just keep my head down and work as much as I feel like I could? Assistant: It depends on your PI. You need to ask them. Some are cool, some are assholes and make you use your vacation time.

Human: Transitioning (female to male) as a grad student (neuroscience, USA) I'm a trans man in a biomedical science (neuroscience) PhD program. I've socially transitioned and am out personally to my friends (but not family) and professionally in my grad school, in the sense that I am not hiding that I am trans, but did not broadcast it/make a big announcement to everyone when I came out. I'll be starting testosterone hormone therapy in April. Are there any trans academics here, especially in the sciences, who can share their experiences transitioning in academia? I'm lucky that my PI, labmates, and grad school friends are all supportive, but am concerned about how I will be treated in the broader scientific community if people find out I'm trans. I'm in my second year so am optimistic I will pass by the time I finish my PhD, but while in grad school I'll still be going to conferences and networking outside my immediate academic circle. I'm submitting a grant in the next couple of months. I can't change my legal name so my submissions/transcripts being under \[feminine birth name\] but me being referred to with male pronouns in letters will be a dead giveaway. How likely am I to be discriminated against? Academia is generally liberal, but I've heard from multiple PIs who've sat on study section that people can be petty for all sorts of reasons, and I don't want to paint a target on my back. Should I pretend to be a woman for the time being and have my letter writers refer to me as such just to be safe? In terms of publishing, I have a first author paper from undergrad under my birth name. I now go by my nickname which is a shortened version that's gender neutral (think Alexandra --> Alex), so my initials are the same. Assistant: You should read some articles by Ben Barres. He was a prominent neuroscientist at Stanford who transitioned early in his career. Unfortunately he passed away a few years ago, but he wrote many articles on his experiences.

Human: Transitioning (female to male) as a grad student (neuroscience, USA) I'm a trans man in a biomedical science (neuroscience) PhD program. I've socially transitioned and am out personally to my friends (but not family) and professionally in my grad school, in the sense that I am not hiding that I am trans, but did not broadcast it/make a big announcement to everyone when I came out. I'll be starting testosterone hormone therapy in April. Are there any trans academics here, especially in the sciences, who can share their experiences transitioning in academia? I'm lucky that my PI, labmates, and grad school friends are all supportive, but am concerned about how I will be treated in the broader scientific community if people find out I'm trans. I'm in my second year so am optimistic I will pass by the time I finish my PhD, but while in grad school I'll still be going to conferences and networking outside my immediate academic circle. I'm submitting a grant in the next couple of months. I can't change my legal name so my submissions/transcripts being under \[feminine birth name\] but me being referred to with male pronouns in letters will be a dead giveaway. How likely am I to be discriminated against? Academia is generally liberal, but I've heard from multiple PIs who've sat on study section that people can be petty for all sorts of reasons, and I don't want to paint a target on my back. Should I pretend to be a woman for the time being and have my letter writers refer to me as such just to be safe? In terms of publishing, I have a first author paper from undergrad under my birth name. I now go by my nickname which is a shortened version that's gender neutral (think Alexandra --> Alex), so my initials are the same. Assistant: I'm an FTM grad student too. I was already out as trans when I started undergrad; I'm in humanities and haven't experienced overt transphobia for the most part. I've always gone by a gender-neutral nickname (which I plan to publish under) but my legal name is on transcripts, so I'm well aware that I've got a target painted on my back for discrimination, but I think it just is what it is.

Human: Should I get a Masters / PhD just to teach at a university? Please allow me to start off saying that I'm not totally certain if this is the correct sub reddit to be making a post like this, but I thought I'd at least give it a try. I'm a junior undergraduate majoring in biology in a North Eastern research university. When I initially applied to college, I pretty much had my heart set on majoring in biology, going to med school, and becoming a physician practicing some specialty or another. Over the course of the past two semesters, however, I've been getting the idea that teaching may be an enjoyable career pathway for me. I am most interested in teaching at the undergraduate level, since it would allow me to cover topic more in-depth than if I were to teach primary/secondary ed levels, and I've found that undergraduate education seems to be very fulfilling since one would be able to work with very diverse student populations and be able to inspire people with the subject material. I've become friendly with several teaching faculty members in my major's department and they all seem extremely happy with their careers, and encouraged me to explore teaching further if it really interests me. I know that to teach at the university level I would at least need a masters degree in the field I want to teach, and that most colleges/universities prefer teaching staff to have a PhD/terminal degree just to be considered for the position. The question at the root of my post is: is it worth is to try to pursue a PhD when what I would like to focus on at this point is teaching, rather than research work? Also; if there's any teaching faculty out there, or research faculty who like the teaching requirement of their job, what is something in particular that you like about your teaching requirements, and what is one thing in particular that you dislike? Thanks in advance to anyone who'd take the time to throw in your two cents! Assistant: Also consider teaching at a community college. Most require a Master's with PhD preferred. Lots of opportunity to engage with students in small class sizes, with little or no research.

Human: Should I get a Masters / PhD just to teach at a university? Please allow me to start off saying that I'm not totally certain if this is the correct sub reddit to be making a post like this, but I thought I'd at least give it a try. I'm a junior undergraduate majoring in biology in a North Eastern research university. When I initially applied to college, I pretty much had my heart set on majoring in biology, going to med school, and becoming a physician practicing some specialty or another. Over the course of the past two semesters, however, I've been getting the idea that teaching may be an enjoyable career pathway for me. I am most interested in teaching at the undergraduate level, since it would allow me to cover topic more in-depth than if I were to teach primary/secondary ed levels, and I've found that undergraduate education seems to be very fulfilling since one would be able to work with very diverse student populations and be able to inspire people with the subject material. I've become friendly with several teaching faculty members in my major's department and they all seem extremely happy with their careers, and encouraged me to explore teaching further if it really interests me. I know that to teach at the university level I would at least need a masters degree in the field I want to teach, and that most colleges/universities prefer teaching staff to have a PhD/terminal degree just to be considered for the position. The question at the root of my post is: is it worth is to try to pursue a PhD when what I would like to focus on at this point is teaching, rather than research work? Also; if there's any teaching faculty out there, or research faculty who like the teaching requirement of their job, what is something in particular that you like about your teaching requirements, and what is one thing in particular that you dislike? Thanks in advance to anyone who'd take the time to throw in your two cents! Assistant: You would be able to teach community college with a masters.

Human: Would I have a hard time finding a tenure track position in computer science(machine learning in particular) due to my age if I finish my PhD at 38 in the United States? I have heard in machine learning, most people get their PhD at the age of 30\~32. So I would be at least 6 years late or even 10 years older than my peers. Would this put me at a serious disadvantage when I am looking for a tenure track position? Assistant: I think your scientific age, the years passed after PhD, is way more important than your actual age. Most universities seem prefer to hire candidates who are within a few years after their PhD. I don't think they would care about the age if you have competitive CV.

Human: Would I have a hard time finding a tenure track position in computer science(machine learning in particular) due to my age if I finish my PhD at 38 in the United States? I have heard in machine learning, most people get their PhD at the age of 30\~32. So I would be at least 6 years late or even 10 years older than my peers. Would this put me at a serious disadvantage when I am looking for a tenure track position? Assistant: 38 isn’t old and no one will care. A PhD in CS is ask one of the few degrees that have a better time on the market. Besides CS depts schools of Ed hire CS people, as do schools of information. It all depends on your focus snd how productive our are. Moreover if that doesn’t work you can easily find jobs in the private sector that pay well.

Human: I'm looking for ideas to foster a sense of community in my disparate PhD research lab. I'm looking for ideas to foster a sense of community in my disparate PhD research lab. What do your institutions do? Any other ideas? I work in an office of researchers. I'm looking for lightweight ideas that we can implement to improve working conditions and friendliness in our lab. At the moment, we're not unfriendly, it just we don't talk much. We are in our own little worlds of work. I know the names of maybe 10% of my colleges, and that makes me pretty good. This isn't a problem as such, but it can feel like an uncaring place - that no one would notice if you didn't come in for two weeks. We'd like to make it a more friendly environment. We also think there our researchers could learn from each other and develop beneficial habits, if they'd only talk to one another! Our office is long and thin, one edge is flanked with windows, the other edge is a line of offices that the supervisors/lecturers work. The lab is divided up into bays of about 10 people. There are about 10 bays, so 100 researchers at capacity. There is an open space, about 6 feet wide that serves as a corridor between the bays and the offices. We're computer science types, most studying for PhDs and we work in a wide variety of fields. I'm a learning technologist, sitting next to an algorithms guy, who is opposite someone doing dynamic compiler techniques. We've nothing in common in terms of research. We don't participate in taught courses like the US students do. We're soley research. Our community includes a lot of non-native English speakers, some from cultures that are far more retiring and less outgoing than your typical Brit or American. This makes them less confident to engage with clever word games or political discussions that might serve to bring the rest of us together. How can we foster some community here? I'm particularly looking for long running ideas, rather than team-building away days etc. My ideas so far: * Bay Maps - each bay produces a map of who sits where, and these are stuck prominently on the opposite wall or somewhere. That way, people can match a name to a face to a desk. * Food - We had a mini claw machine for grabbing sweets. People would wander into our bay to play for a sweet. It broke after heavy use. We're also wondering about periodically ordering a fruit or dessert platter in to one of the bays for everyone to share. * Caption Competition - Each week a picture is put up, and people invent funny captions for it. Last weeks winner picks next weeks picture. I did this in a lab with lots of English students and it was great. I don't think this will work for our lab, where language will get in the way. Any variations you can think of? Weekly opinion polls stuck to the wall perhaps, or open questions: "What is your favourite diagramming tool?" Do you have any other ideas your could share? Thanks! Assistant: I'm in a group of ~10 right now and we like to have lunch at the same time (bring or buy, everyone who's available that day just goes and sits in the cafeteria), just talking about whatever. Maybe you could start with a small group and once you get a nucleus rolling then more people will join.

Human: I'm looking for ideas to foster a sense of community in my disparate PhD research lab. I'm looking for ideas to foster a sense of community in my disparate PhD research lab. What do your institutions do? Any other ideas? I work in an office of researchers. I'm looking for lightweight ideas that we can implement to improve working conditions and friendliness in our lab. At the moment, we're not unfriendly, it just we don't talk much. We are in our own little worlds of work. I know the names of maybe 10% of my colleges, and that makes me pretty good. This isn't a problem as such, but it can feel like an uncaring place - that no one would notice if you didn't come in for two weeks. We'd like to make it a more friendly environment. We also think there our researchers could learn from each other and develop beneficial habits, if they'd only talk to one another! Our office is long and thin, one edge is flanked with windows, the other edge is a line of offices that the supervisors/lecturers work. The lab is divided up into bays of about 10 people. There are about 10 bays, so 100 researchers at capacity. There is an open space, about 6 feet wide that serves as a corridor between the bays and the offices. We're computer science types, most studying for PhDs and we work in a wide variety of fields. I'm a learning technologist, sitting next to an algorithms guy, who is opposite someone doing dynamic compiler techniques. We've nothing in common in terms of research. We don't participate in taught courses like the US students do. We're soley research. Our community includes a lot of non-native English speakers, some from cultures that are far more retiring and less outgoing than your typical Brit or American. This makes them less confident to engage with clever word games or political discussions that might serve to bring the rest of us together. How can we foster some community here? I'm particularly looking for long running ideas, rather than team-building away days etc. My ideas so far: * Bay Maps - each bay produces a map of who sits where, and these are stuck prominently on the opposite wall or somewhere. That way, people can match a name to a face to a desk. * Food - We had a mini claw machine for grabbing sweets. People would wander into our bay to play for a sweet. It broke after heavy use. We're also wondering about periodically ordering a fruit or dessert platter in to one of the bays for everyone to share. * Caption Competition - Each week a picture is put up, and people invent funny captions for it. Last weeks winner picks next weeks picture. I did this in a lab with lots of English students and it was great. I don't think this will work for our lab, where language will get in the way. Any variations you can think of? Weekly opinion polls stuck to the wall perhaps, or open questions: "What is your favourite diagramming tool?" Do you have any other ideas your could share? Thanks! Assistant: Some ideas I implemented at Maryland to try to build community: * Weekly happy hours * Movie nights * Paper clinics near deadlines * Lab t-shirts

Human: Article is stuck at the 'With editor' stage. What to do? We submitted a manuscript to a PolSci journal about 2.5 months ago. It is still 'with editor'. What would you do at this stage? Does it make sense to drop a message through EditorialManager system to the editor asking about the status or it's better to wait? The article is short (it's kind of a research note) and a bit 'time sensitive': I believe it would make more sense to publish it sooner while the phenomenon that it describes is still in the stage of active development. I would rather prefer an immediate desk rejection rather than just to sit and wait for a response for almost three months, knowing that it even hasn't reached reviewers yet. Assistant: I’m an Editorial Assistant at a medical journal and have processed hundreds of manuscripts, many of them at the “Editor Assigned” stage for two months or more. More often than not, Editors have incredible difficulty finding reviewers. One paper had six reviewers decline to review. Other reasons for the delay is that the Editors are juggling a number of different duties e.g., clinical practice, lectureship etc. I always have to write back saying that the Editor will render a decision as soon as they can.

Human: Article is stuck at the 'With editor' stage. What to do? We submitted a manuscript to a PolSci journal about 2.5 months ago. It is still 'with editor'. What would you do at this stage? Does it make sense to drop a message through EditorialManager system to the editor asking about the status or it's better to wait? The article is short (it's kind of a research note) and a bit 'time sensitive': I believe it would make more sense to publish it sooner while the phenomenon that it describes is still in the stage of active development. I would rather prefer an immediate desk rejection rather than just to sit and wait for a response for almost three months, knowing that it even hasn't reached reviewers yet. Assistant: Yeah just send the journal a message. Sometimes the handling administrator or editor are on holiday or busy. You can usually get things moving by sending a friendly follow up — I got one pushed through this way a month ago after it was “awaiting editor assignment” for 2 months.

Human: First PI grant accepted! I just found out today that a huge project I'm PI on got picked up - I officially have a grant history! It's a gigantic "win" for my institute, with a 5-year funding opportunity that covers half of my salary the entire time. We're all soft-money here, so having 50% of my salary locked-in for the next 5 years is more security than I've had since I started the money-game. It comes with all of the "oh my God now I have to do all of this stuff I promised" feelings, but I'm incredibly excited to do this work. It's more modeling/theoretical work than the operational work I'm usually doing here, which makes me happy. Score! But it comes right on the heels of some pretty bad news in my family - my brother just lost his job in an ugly way, not six months after he and his wife bought a house. They're terrified that they won't be able to keep the place. So I can't exactly parade my success around them at the moment, other than to let them know that they can rely on my for financial support through the down-time. So I came here to celebrate instead! Who has two thumbs and a 5-year grant: this guy! Booya! Assistant: Congrats! Now start churning out that data!

Human: First PI grant accepted! I just found out today that a huge project I'm PI on got picked up - I officially have a grant history! It's a gigantic "win" for my institute, with a 5-year funding opportunity that covers half of my salary the entire time. We're all soft-money here, so having 50% of my salary locked-in for the next 5 years is more security than I've had since I started the money-game. It comes with all of the "oh my God now I have to do all of this stuff I promised" feelings, but I'm incredibly excited to do this work. It's more modeling/theoretical work than the operational work I'm usually doing here, which makes me happy. Score! But it comes right on the heels of some pretty bad news in my family - my brother just lost his job in an ugly way, not six months after he and his wife bought a house. They're terrified that they won't be able to keep the place. So I can't exactly parade my success around them at the moment, other than to let them know that they can rely on my for financial support through the down-time. So I came here to celebrate instead! Who has two thumbs and a 5-year grant: this guy! Booya! Assistant: Congratulations! I hope that this will happen to me soon too!

Human: What is the most obscure PhD thesis or area of expertise that you have encountered? As information becomes more available, it seems that finding an original subject of interest or expertise becomes more difficult. It would be great if you could discuss the best obscure thesis that you know of or have encountered. Assistant: I met a guy (a tenured professor) who did his Political Science dissertation on politics in the world of Frank Herbert's *Dune* novels.

Human: What is the most obscure PhD thesis or area of expertise that you have encountered? As information becomes more available, it seems that finding an original subject of interest or expertise becomes more difficult. It would be great if you could discuss the best obscure thesis that you know of or have encountered. Assistant: I've chaired quite a few search committees in history. Last time around we had a lot of applicants with dissertations on pirates, some of which seemed really interesting and all of which were on quite obscure figures.

Human: Some faculty at my school are moving to formally prevent hiring of anyone who obtained degrees at the school into a TT position at that school. Thoughts? **TLDR**: I am an observer to an interesting development at my school. My engineering department at my school is going to hire someone into a TT position who obtained all of their degrees - B.S.and PhD. - at that school (albeit in a different engineering department), who (in my opinion from interviewing them) has a decently strong record. A group of faculty are highly against the decision on principle and lodged a protest in the academic senate, and they are moving to gain support from faculty in other departments to add a clause to the academic policy and procedures manual that anyone who obtained any of their degrees at the school is ineligible to be hired into any position in a tenure-track series at the school. Curious what people's thoughts are on this. **Long version**: My department had a call for a TT position last fall, which was a repost of a position which had a failed search in the previous cycle. A bunch of good candidates were interviewed - I was involved in interviewing them since I'm kind of a mainstay in the department although I'm not formally on the hiring committee since I'm not on the academic senate. The hiring committee's first choice (who was also my recommended first choice) declined, and the second candidate is someone who obtained both their B.S. and PhD. at this school and has been around as an adjunct professor for 5 years in the same department they graduated from, but has staked out their own research niche separate from their doctoral advisor. My department (where they are being hired) is different from the department they graduated from and are in currently. In my recommendation to the hiring committee after interviewing the candidates, I recommended this candidate as a tie for second choice with one other candidate. The hiring committee decided to go with them. I honestly don't think it's controversial based on my assessment from interviewing them and looking at their CV - they've been publishing a lot even though they don't have their own students, have brought in a bunch of grant money, and their focus area seems to be one that the department wants to inherit. There's the additional pressure to not have a second failed search in a row as well. However, the department vote to hire this person passed but just barely. The candidate's case was then approved by the chair and the provost, so the offer was made. The faculty who voted against them didn't accept the decision, however, so they lodged a protest with the academic senate. Further, they are trying to get support from other departments for preventing something like this from happening again by trying to get it formally written into the academic policy and procedures manual that applicants who obtained any of their degrees at the school are ineligible for consideration for any tenure-track position at the school. It's a lot of drama. I can see that some might not like it on principle and it'd be bad if their record was bad and they were hired anyway, but in this case their record was pretty strong relative to the other candidates. Fortunately I'm not internally involved (I'm non-TT and therefore not on the senate) but it's interesting to observe the magnitude of faculty reaction to this. I feel like if the candidate takes the offer, they'll have the deck stacked against them when going for tenure from the get-go. What do think about this? Assistant: Sounds like a bad rule to me. I like the idea that external candidates are strongly preferred, but codifying it as a requirement just seems wrong. There are always exceptions, even for PhDs. And for bachelors who return to their alma mater to teach, - I think it's actually extremely refreshing, and great for the students, as it provides some super-cool continuity of experiences.

Human: Some faculty at my school are moving to formally prevent hiring of anyone who obtained degrees at the school into a TT position at that school. Thoughts? **TLDR**: I am an observer to an interesting development at my school. My engineering department at my school is going to hire someone into a TT position who obtained all of their degrees - B.S.and PhD. - at that school (albeit in a different engineering department), who (in my opinion from interviewing them) has a decently strong record. A group of faculty are highly against the decision on principle and lodged a protest in the academic senate, and they are moving to gain support from faculty in other departments to add a clause to the academic policy and procedures manual that anyone who obtained any of their degrees at the school is ineligible to be hired into any position in a tenure-track series at the school. Curious what people's thoughts are on this. **Long version**: My department had a call for a TT position last fall, which was a repost of a position which had a failed search in the previous cycle. A bunch of good candidates were interviewed - I was involved in interviewing them since I'm kind of a mainstay in the department although I'm not formally on the hiring committee since I'm not on the academic senate. The hiring committee's first choice (who was also my recommended first choice) declined, and the second candidate is someone who obtained both their B.S. and PhD. at this school and has been around as an adjunct professor for 5 years in the same department they graduated from, but has staked out their own research niche separate from their doctoral advisor. My department (where they are being hired) is different from the department they graduated from and are in currently. In my recommendation to the hiring committee after interviewing the candidates, I recommended this candidate as a tie for second choice with one other candidate. The hiring committee decided to go with them. I honestly don't think it's controversial based on my assessment from interviewing them and looking at their CV - they've been publishing a lot even though they don't have their own students, have brought in a bunch of grant money, and their focus area seems to be one that the department wants to inherit. There's the additional pressure to not have a second failed search in a row as well. However, the department vote to hire this person passed but just barely. The candidate's case was then approved by the chair and the provost, so the offer was made. The faculty who voted against them didn't accept the decision, however, so they lodged a protest with the academic senate. Further, they are trying to get support from other departments for preventing something like this from happening again by trying to get it formally written into the academic policy and procedures manual that applicants who obtained any of their degrees at the school are ineligible for consideration for any tenure-track position at the school. It's a lot of drama. I can see that some might not like it on principle and it'd be bad if their record was bad and they were hired anyway, but in this case their record was pretty strong relative to the other candidates. Fortunately I'm not internally involved (I'm non-TT and therefore not on the senate) but it's interesting to observe the magnitude of faculty reaction to this. I feel like if the candidate takes the offer, they'll have the deck stacked against them when going for tenure from the get-go. What do think about this? Assistant: Here in the Netherlands, it used to be that there was no such thing as internal candidates - you had to go someplace else for tenure after your PhD. I think academic mobility makes a lot of sense. Is the candidate aware of these sentiments?

Human: Those who did PhD in your 30's, did it go faster than it otherwise would have? I know PhD lengths vary by field and other factors. I'm wondering if being in your 30's, and presumably being more organized as a result of having completed larger projects, would make the PhD go faster than it otherwise would have? Assistant: Bold of you to assume that all 30-somethings have gotten tons of experience being organized and doing big projects.

Human: Those who did PhD in your 30's, did it go faster than it otherwise would have? I know PhD lengths vary by field and other factors. I'm wondering if being in your 30's, and presumably being more organized as a result of having completed larger projects, would make the PhD go faster than it otherwise would have? Assistant: Yep, mine took exactly 4 years.