Hello Phd

We’ve all met them – the unsung heroes of your Intro To (Biology, Psychology, History, etc.) class. Sure, they don’t give the lectures, but that’s about the only responsibility they dodge. Instead, they’re leading lab sessions, holding office hours, proctoring exams, and grading papers. They’re the Teaching Assistants, or TAs, and they’re a critical part […] The post 179. Teaching Opportunities for Grad Students w/ Dr. Alaina Talboy appeared first on Hello PhD.

For some students, graduate schools is a foregone conclusion. Perhaps they’ve wanted to ‘be a scientist’ since they were nine, and along the way, they learned that a PhD is a stepping stone on that path. Or perhaps they knew their career prospects with a Bachelor’s degree were thin, so they new an advanced degree […] The post 178. I Didn’t Even Know “Research” Was a Thing! appeared first on Hello PhD.

You send questions to podcast@hellophd.com, and we answer them on the show! Is research always this lonely? This week, we hear from “Foobar”, a computer science PhD student in Germany, who is wondering whether academia is always as lonely as she is feeling right now. She writes: Just like every other student, I had to […] The post 177. Mailbag: Is Academia Lonely? And, Lab Tech vs. Med Tech appeared first on Hello PhD.

Titles are a part of our identity. If you meet a school teacher, computer programmer, or rocket scientist, you will instantly form an impression of what kind of person they are without any additional information. The bias we impose upon hearing a title can be good or bad, of course. But we all invariably take […] The post 176. Stop Calling Yourself a ‘Grad Student’ w/ Dr. Alaina Talboy appeared first on Hello PhD.

The day-to-day reality of many graduate programs is that you’ll spend most of your time doing research. Even if you don’t end up working in a lab or doing experiments forever in your career (and most people don’t!), being able complete experiments is going to help you efficiently progress through your program and eventually GRADUATE. […] The post 175. Four Research Traps (And How to Avoid Them) appeared first on Hello PhD.

Ten weeks is not a long time. It feels even shorter when you’re tossed into the deep-end of a top-tier research lab. If you’re spending your summer as a Research Assistant between semesters, or you’ve graduated and want to get some summer experience before grad school, we have ideas to help you hit the ground […] The post 116. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Summer Students (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

Andrew felt like he was on top of the world when he finished his Master’s degree in History. He had excellent grades, experience teaching, and a willingness to explore new fields. But as he submitted resumes and job applications, he noticed a pattern. Either he didn’t hear back from the employer, or they turned him […] The post 174. I Have a Degree – Why Can’t I Find a Job? appeared first on Hello PhD.

There are many paths to a PhD. In the humanities, it’s common to earn a Master’s degree first (or so we’re told…) In the biomedical sciences, students regularly skip the Master’s degree entirely, enrolling in a PhD program that includes coursework. This week, we hear from two aspiring scientists who used the Master’s degree as […] The post 173. Mailbag: I Have a Master’s Degree – Now I Want a PhD appeared first on Hello PhD.

If you work in a lab, you’re collecting data. And as the volume of data increases, many researchers find they can’t process or analyze that data in a spreadsheet or stats program anymore. Instead, they’re writing code in Python, R, or C++ to do that processing for them. But this creates a new challenge: what […] The post 172. Research Software Engineer appeared first on Hello PhD.

Sometimes, your humble HelloPhD hosts forget how narrow our experience has been in graduate education. We’re both biomedical PhDs, and while we trained in different departments, there was a significant amount of overlap. For us, a PhD meant classes, comprehensive exams, rotations, lab meetings, experiments, seminars, and so on. While those experiences were common across […] The post 171. The Life and Times of a Humanities PhD Candidate appeared first on Hello PhD.

Sarah had achieved her dream. With a PhD in Physics, she had accepted a new position as a Theoretical Physicist. But as the months wore on, she started to feel overwhelmed and depressed. She’d done well in school and enjoyed her classes – why couldn’t she focus on her work? Sean graduated with honors from […] The post 144. Finding a Career that Fits with Marlys Hanson (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

If you’re a grad student who hasn’t thought about leaving your PhD program at least once, you might not have a pulse. When experiments fail, grants are rejected, or you get reprimanded by the PI, it’s often comforting to remember that all of this suffering is self-imposed and you could simply leave the University and […] The post 170. Mailbag: Should I Quit Grad School? appeared first on Hello PhD.

Even as a child, Alexandra wanted to study space. She had a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Cambridge University, so she seemed like the perfect candidate to for a PhD program. But after graduation, she didn’t feel ready. She’d need a Master’s degree first, but money was tight and her student visa had run out. […] The post 168. Change Your Plans, Not Your Goals appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s no secret that a lot of scientific conversation happens on Twitter. It’s a great place to share your research, keep up with trends, and connect with collaborators. But many grad students and postdocs have questions. Is it okay to promote my own work? Can I just retweet other scientists, or do I have to […] The post 168. Academic Twitter: Step-By-Step appeared first on Hello PhD.

Turning over the last page of the calendar seems to naturally invite some reflection on the previous 365 days. When you look back at 2021, what went well? And what do you wish you could change in the coming year? This week, we take the opportunity to reflect back much farther – to our days […] The post 086. Five Resolutions for Happier, Healthier Scientists (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

This week, we dive head-first into the mailbag to answer listener questions about grad school readiness, teaching experience, and more! Just Finished! Our first missive comes from Kaylee, who recently graduated! I just wanted to send an email to thank you for all of the hard work you have put into creating Hello PhD over […] The post 167. Mailbag – Am I Ready For Grad School? appeared first on Hello PhD.

It’s inevitable.  At some point in your research career, you’re going to get that sinking feeling. Your experiments will all fail, your PI will get on your case about finishing that paper, and your graduation date will drift maddeningly out of reach. So what can you do when your research starts to drag you down? […] The post 075. When Research Sucks (R) appeared first on Hello PhD.

The CACTUS Global Mental Health Survey asked valuable questions about stress, performance, and career goals for scientists. The data revealed plenty of room for improvement, as researchers struggle with harassment, work-life balance, and limited pay. But the study’s authors also asked more open-ended questions: Do you have any suggestions for organizations within academia or other […] The post 166. Want to Improve Research Careers? Scientists Have 5,434 Suggestions. appeared first on Hello PhD.

Most academics are overwhelmed, even the ones who are successful in terms of being productive researchers, busy teachers and efficient administrators. But, they seem like the norm and everyone who struggles is not, and this needs to be disrupted and changed. Research fellow/post-doctoral researcher, Africa. I’m worried about sexism in academia in general and this […] The post 165: A Survey Asked Researchers About Their Mental Health. Here’s What They Said. appeared first on Hello PhD.

Do you hear it? It’s the sound of hopeful scientists frantically typing out their grad school applications! They’re pondering the best format for a CV, scouring University websites to learn more about each graduate program, and begging their research advisors to PLEASE make the time to write that letter of recommendation! The silence you hear […] The post 164. The Essential Guide to Grad School Applications appeared first on Hello PhD.