Linked Questions

25 votes
2 answers
10k views

Math Professors -- On average, how many hours per week do you think is required to gain tenure? [duplicate]

I have a question particularly for the math professors here. I just finished my second year as a PhD student at a top30 University, passed all my qualifying exams, and I've begun working with an ...
user85314's user avatar
  • 359
6 votes
2 answers
504 views

How do academics (faculty members, PhD students, etc.) balance their work and life? [duplicate]

How do academics (faculty members, PhD students, etc.) balance their work and life? I am a PhD student and I find myself spending at least 10-11 hours working everyday. Sometimes even 10 hours is not ...
vverdic's user avatar
  • 83
3 votes
0 answers
209 views

What hours do researchers work in the Unites States? [duplicate]

After staying in a US university (specifically MIT) as a visiting scholar, a colleague of mine says that most of research labs are still working at midnight. I suspect that he is exaggerating. Don't ...
user13854's user avatar
  • 2,966
101 votes
8 answers
69k views

Is it true that PhD students need to work 10-12 hours a day every day to be productive?

I hear a lot of people brag or complain about how many hours they have to work for their PhD. Is this the norm? And if so is this really a wise choice to make? Do students really 'work' during this ...
user2562609's user avatar
  • 6,940
83 votes
10 answers
15k views

Stay in academia or become professor without overworking, is it possible?

I am referring more to young scientists after the PhD than professors, although I am also wondering about people with a stable position. I see many people overworking themselves, burning-out, being ...
Herman Toothrot's user avatar
79 votes
7 answers
16k views

Can I be a good scientist if I only work in working hours? [duplicate]

I am doing postdoc in developmental biology. Recently I started to leave work at the lab, meaning that I don't work at home anymore. Before I spent many hours at night (at home) analyzing my data; now ...
Len Lab's user avatar
  • 775
44 votes
12 answers
16k views

Is it typical to work 60 hours per week as a PhD student?

I was wondering whether this was just a local phenomenon or it's the generally accepted status-quo around the globe. Preface: In my part of the world (German-speaking Europe), we have a terribly ...
Questionairee's user avatar
66 votes
5 answers
12k views

Is it normal for professors to not have families or not spend time with their families over the holidays, due to pressure of work?

My sister is a professor. I was visiting her over Thanksgiving break and my father (who is also a professor) told me not to hang out with her because she had a grant proposal due. Is this normal for ...
user45218's user avatar
  • 493
30 votes
10 answers
56k views

How much vacation time is typical during a PhD in the United States?

What is the typical amount of vacation time, per year, during a PhD program in the United States. I am particularly interested in 1. PhD programs in the physical sciences, and 2. PhD programs at ...
DieLuftDerFreiheit's user avatar
58 votes
2 answers
6k views

How do we end the culture of “endless hours at work”?

In many of the research groups I’ve worked at or visited, there is a culture that endless hours in the lab equal successful researcher. (I am in a theoretical field, so requirement of long-running ...
F'x's user avatar
  • 72.6k
12 votes
2 answers
6k views

How to arrange sabbatical leave?

Sabbatical leave is very common as it is nice to spend a year as a visiting professor in another university and experience a new environment. It is very beneficial for the host university to have ...
Googlebot's user avatar
  • 7,617
10 votes
2 answers
2k views

Do interviews require taking vacation days?

When interviewing for a new position, is it common practice to count the days spent on interviews as vacation days? It wouldn't seem unreasonable to count these as vacation days, except that I could ...
Abe's user avatar
  • 3,275
10 votes
1 answer
919 views

Do academics actually work "full-time"?

My current postdoc position requires that I work 41 hours per week during a 5-day work week. As my first post-graduate position, I decided to take this seriously and actually track my hours. (People ...
user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
420 views

Feeling pressured to work

I'm a first year PhD student and the last month has been nothing short of a crucible of stress. I had to do 2 exams, wrote a 3k approval thesis, finalise my research objectives, plan the project and ...
Roberto_1986's user avatar
  • 1,163