Questions tagged [phd]
Questions about the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree, including requirements such as dissertations and university programs leading to a Ph.D.
7,585 questions
343
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12
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I don't want to kill any more mice, but my advisor insists that I must in order to get my PhD
When my supervisor pitched the PhD to me, it was all about analyzing "big data". I had BSc/MSc experience in wet-lab biology (mainly culturing cells), however I wanted to branch out into ...
274
votes
20
answers
37k
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How to avoid procrastination during the research phase of my PhD?
I just finished all of my coursework for my PhD program, and am entering the research phase of my degree with a topic already in mind. I've already started the research, but I'm already finding that ...
177
votes
11
answers
30k
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My research paper filed as a patent in China by my Chinese supervisor without me as inventor
I completed my PhD 3 years ago from a university in the UK. Today I was looking for some papers in google scholar. I found a patent in China. The patent was written in Chinese however, all diagrams/...
167
votes
8
answers
37k
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Grant fraud, should I bust my PhD advisor?
tl;dr: Should I report this large grant fraud, and what consequences could it have for me?
For obvious reasons, I will try to maintain some anonymity here.
So I defended my thesis. Which was funded ...
161
votes
3
answers
102k
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How are Ph.D. applications evaluated in the US, particularly for weak or borderline students? Am I likely to get into school X?
This is a special community wiki 'canonical' question that aggregates advice on a frequently-asked question. See this meta discussion. Please feel free to edit this question to improve it.
When ...
142
votes
10
answers
46k
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I slept with my advisor's daughter and she is blackmailing me now. What can I do?
I am doing a PhD in the US. I am in my mid-twenties and will graduate next spring. My advisor was very good and nice to me. He invited me to have dinner at his home many times and then I met his ...
142
votes
13
answers
15k
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Why is my mood dictated so much by how well my research is going?
I'm a senior PhD student at an American university. I have found over the course of my degree that my mood has largely been influenced by how well my research is going. If I make a small break-through ...
140
votes
18
answers
68k
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What's the point of PhD theses if nobody reads them?
At best, the PhD thesis is read by:
The author
The examiners
The supervisor
The author's parents
The author's roommate / spouse / fellow students in research group
Or less than 10 people in total. ...
140
votes
9
answers
26k
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Will ISIS attacks hurt my PhD application as a Muslim?
I'm a dedicated person, very passionate about physics and pursuing my PhD at a good school is crucial to my life. I've been preparing my application documents for a while now. GPA is almost 4 and ...
139
votes
16
answers
27k
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Two years into my PhD program, and Mom is dying of cancer. Should I tell my advisor about it?
I just finished my 2nd year of PhD, and my mom has been dying of cancer since the end of my 1st year. She nearly died in January but thankfully pulled through. She was just diagnosed again a few weeks ...
135
votes
14
answers
32k
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How to build healthy working relationships with my male colleagues as a young-ish, attractive-ish woman?
I'm a PhD candidate from Asia currently visiting a prestigious university in Europe. Recently I've noticed quite some "strange" behaviours of male "colleagues" around me (by "colleagues", I don't mean ...
135
votes
11
answers
62k
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Can leaked nude pictures damage one's academic career?
I have an ex who has posted nude photos of me online in the past, linked to my online social media, and posted my full name and where I live. I am concerned he may do so again once he finds out I'm ...
126
votes
19
answers
44k
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Should I quit my PhD - workload, self-esteem and social life [closed]
I don't really want a degree. I just want to get married, and have weekends and evenings off, and chill out and play board games, and have nice conversations with friends, and have time to exercise ...
125
votes
13
answers
56k
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Why do students go for a PhD even when chances of getting academic jobs on its completion are slim?
This is in reference to my question: How to do a PhD to equip myself for a job as assistant professor.
I was told in the answer of the above linked question that chances of landing a job as an ...
125
votes
11
answers
23k
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Should I have doubts if the organizers of a workshop ask me to sign a behavior agreement upfront?
Recently, I applied to attend a workshop of 14 days. I came to know about this workshop from colleague of mine. After a few days, I received an email saying I got accepted, along with that, some ...