Questions tagged [emotional-responses]
On emotional issues such as guilt, discouragement, jealousy, anxiety or feelings of inadequacy affecting academics and researchers.
226
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How to deal with supervisor's contradictory comments
I'm a PhD student at the end of my 3rd year and I've been working with my supervisor since my BS.c degree. I was diagnosed with clinical anxiety when I turned 18, so when I started my PhD it was ...
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5
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Nerves and putting a lot of pressure on myself for meetings and talks with supervisors/professors present
I’m a second year PhD student experiencing a great deal of pressure for meetings and talks when supervisors/other professors are present. I want to find methods for relieving a bit of this tension as ...
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vote
0
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117
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Feeling hopeless immediately after starting my MSc
I recently started my Master's in Physics. My Bachelor's was not in Physics, but all of my research was. I worked with a very supportive supervisor who wanted me to do my Master's thesis with him. He ...
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22
votes
7
answers
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Getting over a bad PhD start
Backstory - I was accepted for a PhD at an excellent university in a new and exciting field I've been working towards for a long time. Due to a number of issues, I had to delay my start date for 6 ...
- 221
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1
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Feeling stressed and incapable at the beginning of my MSc, how can I handle that?
I just admitted and enrolled in a thesis-based master of applied science program in electrical engineering a month ago.
My supervisor sends me different papers sometime to read and I also schedule ...
5
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1
answer
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What does my experience from a master’s thesis tell me about whether research is for me?
I have just had my first experiences in research, namely six months of a master’s thesis. Along the way, especially starting out, I felt a mix of:
anxiety for not understanding the topic
internal ...
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1
vote
1
answer
207
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Professor is responding to research-related emails but not reference request
I realise this is a common question, but my situation is complicated by the work-related responses without a response to my reference request. I requested a reference letter from my professor a week ...
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32
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5
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Coworker hiding and stealing lab material
We found out that a graduate student coworker was hiding materials and even throwing them away when they realised they might get caught.
With this they were not only stealing but also actively ...
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43
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6
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How to deal with constant stress and uncertainty in academia?
I know there are a lot of similar questions but most of them are related to stress/pressure from their supervisor. I am doing my PhD and I am in my third year out of four. Everything is going very (or ...
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4
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How to manage stress during a PhD, when your research project involves working with lab animals?
I'm a first year PhD student in cognitive neuroscience, and I've been working/studying in this institution since my last year of master's degree.
My PhD project is the extension of my master's thesis ...
- 199
2
votes
2
answers
179
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Failed one class of my undergrad major
My mother is very sick with colon cancer and I am living with her and also doing online classes at a private university in California. I felt depressed and had a lot on my mind and ended up falling ...
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43
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11
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How do I continue work if I love my research but hate my peers?
I am an established researcher in my discipline, which is a sub-field of computer science. In the last years, I have successfully published papers and generally enjoyed doing research, as in ...
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1
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1
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Does a professor's lack of belief in you mean you're a bad researcher? [closed]
I have always struggled with confidence issues and impostor syndrome. Which means that I have never believed that I'm an extraordinary researcher, getting by at best.
But I have done some things that ...
- 611
0
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1
answer
353
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Sabbatical Abroad Without Family: How Did it Work
Hello: Following this previous thread: (Profs who have done a full year sabbatical overseas with a family: How did you make it work?), I am equally curious about whether any prof has done a full-year ...
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2
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1
answer
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Contempt on the part of students
At my university there is a program called "voluntary monitoring", where a student who has passed a certain subject can become the "monitor/tutor" of that discipline.
Among the ...
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1
answer
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How do you deal with grade deflation and with looking at grades?
I'm in upper years of physics and economics, as I've changed majors a few times and ultimately wound up coming back to physics, the subject that I love.
That said, back in my business school days (I ...
user167599
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12
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How to react to a student’s panic attack in an oral exam?
Suppose, I am an examiner in an oral exam. I have done my best to design and conduct the exam to reduce students’ anxiety, but it just didn’t work: The student has a panic attack that makes it ...
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2
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Dealing with imposter syndrome on the job market
My imposter syndrome is focused around the academic job market (which is different than other posted questions), and it comes in two parts:
(1)
My feelings of being an imposter have been exacerbated ...
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19
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9
answers
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I feel like I didn't deserve to pass an exam [duplicate]
Recently I did my retake exam for Advanced Maths in college. Compared to the ordinary exam, it was easier. My grade was 9/10. I worked very hard for it, non-stop for 5 months, dealing with anxiety and ...
user167039
4
votes
2
answers
602
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Not utilizing PhD research skills in industry and feeling useless?
I completed my PhD in 2020 and have been working in a science policy analyst position since 2021.
I enjoy the work that I am doing but it doesn't feel the same kind of challenging and intellectually ...
- 41
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4
answers
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My supervisor worked so hard to get a research opportunity for me, but now I want to quit. How to handle this situation?
It is about my friend (an undergraduate student in Australia), but I used first person pronoun "I" for convenience. My friend needs advice, and I tried my best to describe the situation. The ...
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8
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3
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How can I tackle self-doubt while writing my first paper?
I finished my Bachelor's degree this year. I worked on some research with my advisor and after a few months, we decided that there's enough interesting research to be able to write a paper. This will ...
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3
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5
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Should I give up on an assignment that I can't figure out?
I'm a sophomore CS Major, and I have a final programming project due on Monday for one of my classes, but right now, I've been stuck on it for the past two days. I've tried several different ...
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8
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4
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How should I deal with rejection from a place that, arguably, exploited me? [closed]
Long story short, in September 2021, I was hired as an associate lecturer at a British university. I was headhunted for the position. Since I was about to finish my PhD and I needed some experience, I ...
user165911
1
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2
answers
424
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Who to contact when my undergraduate thesis advisor doesn't return my e-mails?
I am an undergraduate working on my thesis. It is a difficult situation because my thesis advisor took a new job and has left the university, and I also work part-time. My advisor goes months without ...
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2
votes
1
answer
144
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How to deal with two bosses in academia?
I got a new position recently as a deputy lead of a research group (this position is at a level comparable to assistant/associate professor in my country) at a famous institute. This means that the ...
- 21
8
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6
answers
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Several mistakes in published work: Advice
I am a beginning scholar. I recently published my first article in my field in a very good journal. The peer review went incredibly smoothly with basically no need for revisions (one reviewer gave a ...
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0
answers
207
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Criticizing students (in an emotional way)?
My question is about interacting with students/colleagues, and criticizing them specifically, and to what extent a certain kind of criticism is productive. I hope this will not become about "...
user45103
4
votes
1
answer
293
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Any other PhD students getting time anxiety?
Let me explain. I’m a second year student and I’m sharing an office with about 10 other people. We all get on and it’s great now that everyone managed to make it back thanks to the easing of lockdown ...
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5
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3
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Crisis during PhD but pulling through - how happy are you with your decision? [closed]
Introduction
I know there are a lot of questions about quitting a PhD and I'm sorry for bringing this topic up another time but I really need some input and would appreciate every answer!
Background
I ...
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0
answers
106
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How to stay calm on days of no progress? [duplicate]
I'm a math PhD student working in Pure Mathematics. I guess, everybody is familiar with those days when you make very little progress or no progress at all. As the title suggests, I would like to know ...
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2
votes
3
answers
416
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Prolonging PhD to make up for low-productivity caused by poor mental health [closed]
There are several posts on this site about potentially leaving a PhD program due to mental health issues (e.g. 1, 2, 3), and these issues can impede productivity. Seeking help from a mental health ...
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4
votes
2
answers
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Advice for difficult first postdoc. What can I do? [closed]
Last year I took my phd in applied math. Now I am 5 months into my first postdoc (different subject from phd but still modeling and some numerics) which is 18 months in total. Both phd and postdoc are ...
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2
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Help with academic low self steem [duplicate]
I have an engineering degree and work in a giant business corporation. I am currently doing my MBA (in the last semester).
Sometimes the fear of not getting the degree bugs me (I have to present a ...
38
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9
answers
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Left academia for a job with a publishing company. Is it normal to feel guilty or "settled" about a decision? How to overcome the feeling?
After PhD and a year of postdoc in mechanical engineering, I accepted a position of a scientific editor with a publishing company. The pay is decent but not great. I have been working in the new role ...
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0
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2
answers
436
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How can I do my master thesis if I don't have an proposal and don't I like this research area?
My advisor invited me to do my master's thesis in his research area (of course I was happy about the invitation, but today I wish I had the discernment to choose an area based on my tastes). From the ...
user153022
32
votes
10
answers
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ls it wrong to not have any research ambitions after PhD and postdoc experience?
I did my PhD and 1 year postdoc in mechanical engineering from a top 20 world ranking school. Though it took me longer than others to get my PhD (5.5 years), I published 5 first authored papers there. ...
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11
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7
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How to deal with fear, anxiety and limiting beliefs while waiting for PhD admissions decisions?
So, it is January 2022 and like me, many are waiting to hear back from the universities to which we applied last month. This period feels like purgatory. Since I am an International student, I didn't ...
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3
answers
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How to stop feeling you aren’t good enough? [duplicate]
Is it normal to be put down in your first year of a PhD?
I won't lie, there's been a massive learning curve for me this year to get used to how things are done at this level. Even simple things like ...
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40
votes
9
answers
11k
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I feel bad about rejecting a paper during review
I'm must declare at the very beginning that I'm a PhD student that suffers from major impostor syndrome, and very much feel very unconfident about myself or my abilities.
That being said, I recently ...
- 611
4
votes
1
answer
135
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How to overcome mental block while learning that feeling that something is too tough and I won't understand it?
I am studying a subject where I failed twice. So, it is normal that I am really scared of this. And everytime sth difficult appears, i get mental block. I feel I might not be able to solve this. But ...
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Is it normal to have a bad feeling after asking questions?
I am a postdoc in math who defended his Ph.D. a year ago. I have 4 papers where three of them were written by me(only author). From time to time, when I don't understand some part of a paper, I send ...
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19
votes
4
answers
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Career impact of not earning your PhD degree (despite of trying till the end)
I am less than 2 months away from the end of my PhD (Europe, bioinformatics/machine learning in cancer research). My publication record is super bad so far, submitted my first paper 7 months ago and ...
- 193
5
votes
1
answer
616
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First year of PhD, I feel anxious all the time because of the coursework
I'm in my first year of a linguistic PhD program. I have courses to take, which is nice because I always think these would equip me with deeper knowledge about this field and prepare me to be a decent ...
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42
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11
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Thinking about leaving academia for good. I am feeling guilty and disappointed in myself. Any thoughts/advice?
I have a PhD in mechanical engineering and am currently a postdoc. I have been fairly productive in my research, published fair amount of papers during my 5 years PhD and 1.5 years of Postdoc ...
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2
votes
2
answers
657
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How to politely ask for at least acknowledgement when I help people?
In recent years, as a PhD student in West Africa, I have helped several undergraduate and PhD students who were stuck with some particular problems to the point where they were barely to leave (I can'...
user148016
12
votes
2
answers
465
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How to do research without being a star researcher?
After my PhD and postdoc in computer science I got a permanent position in a company's research lab. This is my first time to work without a supervisor nor colleagues (other members have there own, ...
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3
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How do you deal with doubt and fear of submission of your work for review?
I have a huge doubt about the work I am doing. Although the results have been reproduced many times, the idea is not really known or even explained. I have been struggling to write it in a way that ...
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0
votes
1
answer
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How to manage work permit stress along with research work? [closed]
Since academia especially in postdoctoral contracts requires researchers to move around, I suppose being in academia in the long-term would make most people think about the work permit/visa situation ...
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2
votes
1
answer
428
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How do I deal with an extremely difficult master thesis with poor basics? [closed]
I am a master physics student in a German univerisity. I started with my master thesis topic in May 2019 and at that time I had wrong evaluation about the pre-requisite and difficulty of the topic I ...
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