As an International PhD student in Australia, I would like to emphasize that "your supervisor will dictate the length of your PhD" is an understatement. YOUR SUPERVISOR *IS* YOUR PHD. No matter what you do, if your supervisor doesn't support/like/consider your idea (or that you are worth his time), you won't (1) graduate on time, (2) get proper research funds, (3) access to labs/materials, etc. So, pro-tip, CHOOSE WISELY.
I feel like that's anywhere (outside of maybe UK or wherever else people are acquiring PhDs in 3 years). That's why I shrunk away from applying. Now, I'm at the point where I may not mind it, aha!
1 @ 1:22 Supervisor 2 @ 2:54 Competitiveness 2.1 @ 4:40 h-index 3 @ 5:31 Peer review papers 4 @ 7:39 Funding 5 @ 10:04 Not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel
I rectified my PH.D. situation by not stressing myself out. I know..hard to do BUT I remind myself of my love of academics and I will not compete and stress myself out with people who, like you mention, are cheating the system or have this need to show off their resume. I do set goals, in chunks of times, for myself. The great thing with doing this in my 40's, I don't give a hoot whatever others think of me and I work towards my passion and that will lead to my PH.D., if that makes sense.
PHD here in USA. Overworked, low pay, debit accumulated, no weekends, advisor treated me like a slave labor. After coding bootcamp, I found a good paying job and enjoyed the work. Never do a PHD if you do not like it!
Even, before I left the United States to back to Togo in 2019. I would be on this platform and many others discuss or express the same things. That it may not even be worth it and not to put words into other peoples' mouth, but the impression that I got was that it was and is just as bogus as the college and university system.
Coding bootcamp can be a really bad idea in many markets because of saturation. It can be impossible to compete with people who have an actual degree and experience. Have seen this happen to family and friends in the U.S.
Should you quit the PhD if you don't like it? I'm just wondering how you would know you wouldn't like it if you hadn't done it yet or if you have no undergrad research experience.
@@thewhizkid3937 Sure. People are lining up to get a phd, but it is simply bogus, you are always taken advantage of, have debt, etc. This is a gross exaggeration. I am sure it does happen, but norm by and large is that it is rigorous, but worth it. I am very happy to finish a phd in biostatistics and it opened up doors that would not have been opened without it.
Great advice about the absolute importance of choosing the right PhD supervisor! Well done for putting this first. It truly makes all the difference. The PhD is an apprenticeship in research and you are going to be this person’s apprentice for several years. You need someone competent you can learn from, someone you admire and respect, but also someone you get along well, and who can bring out your best talents. I always tell my students that finding the right supervisor is one of the most important decisions for the success and happiness of their PhD, possibly more than the topic or university they pick. In Japanese martial arts we have a saying that you should invest at least three years just to find your true sensei...
Hi Frank. I couldn't agree with you more. Your PhD supervisor will absolutely determine so many of the most important aspects of your PhD that spending three years - like the Japanese martial artists - to find a suitable supervisor is time well spent!
@@DrAndyStapleton And it's true for the supervisor as well! From the viewpoint of the tenured academic, supervising the PhD of a student you get along well with is paradise, and an extremely productive and enriching endeavour; but supervising a PhD where there is a poor fit with the student on some of the fundamentals (objectives, work ethics, trust etc) is a lot of stress for both sides, not merely for the student.
I'm a 3rd-year Ph.D. student at Yale this year and I am definitely feeling the pressure of academia as I move into my dissertation. To be honest, I'd rather use my credentials to make a difference in my target population through social entrepreneurship. It seems a lot more beneficial than competing for grant money to publish papers only a few people will read.
I admire his honest perception. Getting a Ph.D. in Chemistry is not easy. Being advised by an advisor with a Ph. D. _in Chemical Education_ is quite different than being advised by a _Ph.D. in the proper experimental strategies and techniques to solve problems and explore theory_ .
Hi! I am currently in my 4th-year of Ph.D. studies in literature and I am already regretting it! I really had so many problems with my mentor. First I talked to a professor who never had time for me in months and was not interested the least in micromanaging me. Then I found a woman that agreed to mentor me but she didn't want to let my thesis proposal be accepted for a year and now before the university got shot down, she said she gives up on mentoring me! I am emailing to other professors, trying to find another mentor but some of them already turned down and some still haven't given me a clearer answer. It has cost me a lot of time and money and honestly, I just want to finish it and move on. I have no desire for any academic career whatsoever. I like the video and thank you for your insights!
Thanks for sharing your story, Vlada! It sounds like you have had a series of bad circumstances. Make sure that you make a decision that is best for you! Let me know how it all works out!
My sister is in fifth year .. doing PhD in literature ...his supervisor has made her circumstances from good to worst ..she depressed , has anxiety and can't change because he is hod...and no one to help ..
Thank you for posting this! I just got accepted to a PhD program in Genetics. I am from Romania and things are more complicated here. We are not payed during our PhD, you need published papers for admission (which is close to impossible if your supervisor didn't publish. I wrote a review with 3 colleagues and we were asked to add an author just because). Here almost no one has projects so we have to "make something out of nothing". But I also can't wait to start and see how this will turn out. Thank you again for the content you make!!
Stumbled upon this video some how, and I'm not even in grad school let alone PhD. But Andy's advice applies to any competitive field, and I'm strongly motivated by what he said about turning up day after day, set goals, and contribute in a timely basis. Now I'm motivated. Thanks Andy!
What better alternatives are there really though? If you go the engineering route, you have to go through the whole internship and can't get a job to gain experience when the job requires experience bullshit, and it is also more competitive at the undergrad level than science. If you start a business, you're basically just playing dice, and are at risk of ending up shaking your ass on social media to maximize revenue. Or you take a loss for a long time, and have to find a way to feed yourself in the interim so the business becomes a side hustle anyway. Good coding jobs are also tough to get, as you need to know the appropriate packages, and as more and more people are learning how to code, more companies are trying to take advantage of that fact and put up unpaid or minimum wage internship jobs to trap the desperate. Elite athletics? Good luck. You'll need to train at the level where you're consuming and burning thousands if not 10,000 Calories a day. Military? First responder? Construction worker? You'll be rough and dirty, and it will be hard to find a significant other who's okay with dealing with that after every workday. McDonalds? Starbucks? I've never tried it, but chances are those are also soul crushing jobs. I've worked at my mom's restaurant before and it was soul crushing, and the restaurants failed because of cockroaches and the facility rental was too much. That was over 10 years ago. Nowadays, brick and mortar shops are fucked in the ass.
@@cryora everything you said is true, even though I'm 29 with a masters, and I really don't want to spend the next 5-6 years in school, in my mind I'm thinking what better options are out there, in Nigeria my job doesn't pay shit so it's not going to be beneficial in the long run, but if I can go to the U.S. for a PhD, it will be 10X better than what I'm doing now, plus I'm living a better quality of life, I've been in school for most of my life anyway so if I can spend 4 more years for a PhD maybe it will be worth it
This is pretty saddening. A PhD seemed like the natural route for learning more and more about the field I'm interested in, but it sounds like all the posturing and pointless obstacles hinder your ability to gain knowledge and growth.
That's rightly said. But through this 'hindrance' you would surprise yourself with your ability. Afterall it's boring if everything goes according to a plan!
Well, one can learn just as much or more from reading (books, scientific papers, studies, etc.) or working in the field. The point is after acquiring a certain level of knowledge, one is expected to contribute new ideas to the body of knowledge. This will be analyzed and criticized in not so pleasant ways by peers.
From my experience, PhDs and PhD candidates lack the very important soft skills (creativity, imagination, innovation, vision, management, leadership, etc). I think this has to do with their training pipeline.
Universities graduate far more PhDs than there are positions available for them. As he said, jobs are unstable with not great pay. In this situation, one would expect these folks to start new businesses. This doesn't typically happen because they lack soft skills to succeed striking out on their own.
Hey, thanks for the video. Now I completely understand the mind set difference from doing undergrad, after 3 confusing years of PhD. I even am doubtful about the field I choose, now. I want to enjoy my life even when I am learning, because I got one life (for now). Anyway thanks for the video. It is true and great.
Thanks for this! I hate the sound of everything that you shared, so pretty sure PhD is not in the cards for me! Thank you so much, saved me loads of time out of my life! 👍🏼
I did a PhD in 1995 in Immunogenetics. I produced 3 papers as primary author and 1 as a secondary which at the time was considered very good. Spent 4-5 years as a postdoc but left science as I found I spent more time applying for grants and networking. Didn’t enjoy that at all and, at the time, with a heavy heart left the field of science. I liked research at university and enjoyed teaching undergraduates, tenureships were still widely available but unless your research was ‘sexy’ very difficult to get funding. Working in the pharmaceutical industry never appealed to me
@@bjj_9925 I now work in finance as a manager. The skills I learnt during my PhD were invaluable and very much transferable such as tailoring explanations of complex concepts from your peers to students. Presentation skills, logical mindset, focusing and recognising important key points from long dense technical documents, written communication skills, not distracted by failure as long as you’re still moving towards the end goal.
you should have tried industry research, its pretty wonderful. If you are listening to academics talk about industry research, dont because they have been misinformen
Recently found your channel and subbed. I got my Ph.D. in chemistry back in 2014 at Northwestern and I can say without a doubt everything you said is true. My channel is about personal finance and investing, but I've been thinking about sharing my own Ph.D. story. Today I sell scientific research equipment and have followed the path of the sales scientist. My hope is that I can show other Ph.D.s about this alternative career path,. and that they don't need to be bogged down by this academic...machine sort to say. Keep up the good work. What area of chemistry did you study? I'm more of a physical electroanalytical chemist.
Thanks for the info! I'm a theoretical math PhD student in the US and there are a couple things that are different, 1) In math, we are usually funded by our universities, not grant money, which gives us a lot more stability, and a choice between advisors and even the freedom to change advisors, and 2) Theoretical math papers just don't happen as frequently as in other fields, so there's not as much of an expectation to publish during grad school. Maybe a paper or two on the Arxiv but not necessarily published (This might be different in other schools)
I did an MS in Physics in Alaska and was supported by my department as a TA so no grant money needed. I think physics is similar to math where their isn't lots of cutting edge stuff transforming the field every few years. My adviser was a geneticist in the biology department and my thesis was bio-physics computational evolutionary dynamics stuff so the rest of my committee was physics and the stark contract in culture between the two departments stuck with me. I liked the more laid back physics culture and greater freedom I had with a well established field, but could really appreciate how the other students in my advisers lab (all biologists) actually made new never seen before type contributions and were constantly up grading techniques. They also had crazy hours in the lab, I work 6 days a week about 55 hours/week, but many of those bio students were in the lab 7 days for 70+hr/week and were grant supported so constantly worrying about funding on top of their crazy work loads.
Data Science to Social Sciences PhD student here. It so true what you just said. I knew about the funding to projects, but never expected to compete in this kind of level with my own lab mates. The joy of coming to the campus everyday and working with innovative thinking needs to be balanced everyday with these "bad" aspects you told.
I am forever thankful to a friend who told me "Choose your supervisor wisely". Getting along well with the supervisor was my top priority when applying for positions. Made the overall PhD much smoother compared to other peers who struggled a lot with their supervisors. And when you are stuck and also your supervisors cannot help you, reach out to other researchers and universities and try to colaborate with them. Saved my PhD.
yeah dont listen when your supervisor tells you not to talk to people or professors outside their lab. If you get results they wint care how you got them, so ignore them when they blow their top when you do something you thought of
I am a research assistant in Taiwan and planning to start a Ph.D. Really appreciate the crucial information. Giving me apparent guidelines to follow and definitely decrease my anxiety about the future.
In my first year of my PhD in Canada... I guess I knew all of this but it was nice to hear it from someone else. Thanks for this, looking forward to going through your other videos.
@@fouadmounchid9805 I would assume that it depends on the program that you are in, but I would generally say that it takes about 20 hours a week plus time spent on TA/RA positions
@@pac167 PhD is hard work and it can be very stressful and isolating. Few jobs and you will be competing with the smartest most hardworking people out there while others make much more doing a much easier job. This is if you pass in the first place. A lot of people fail and sometimes it is not even their fault. There are too many horror stories of awful supervisors around.
holy crap calm down.... But that being said yea, Academia is a racket from when you first enter in highschool, specifically because they won't tell you what the racket is doing just so that you get fleeced by this massive corporate machine.
I'm in my final semester after 6 years (evolutionary biology). I know all about the "wheeler dealer" aspects of research positions, and that lifestyle is not for me. My career goal is centered around teaching. My advisor has a small lab with only a couple of graduate students, which would be ideal for me. We're not in a highly funded area of research (spider behavior), so we have virtually no pressure to secure grants year after year. We're happy with our little enclave, and my hope is to land in a similar situation. In the end, not all folks pursue a PhD to attain a high H Index. I'm doing it because I love what I do. For me, it's a privilege to teach and mentor the next generation of scientists. My teaching evaluations are a far more honest "index" than the rigged publishing metrics that exist currently.
So glad to hear this. My Master’s degree chewed me up and spit me out. I wanted to love what I was studying, but I was so beat up. My Master’s left me feeling destroyed.
@@adrianadetrinidad901 I feel you, for me it was COVID-19 and the distance to the lab. It's just so lonely, noone helps you and you're completely on your own
I would also maybe add that it helps tremendously to know what you want to study before going in, and that there is NO shame in taking time to figure it out. You don't have to jump into a PhD immediately after undergrad, and you'll actually be more desirable a candidate with some other experiences under your belt. I am starting my PhD at 28, after 2 bachelor's degrees and 2 years at a government lab, so it took me a while to figure out my passion in life. It's lead me to find that doing the research for your graduate work is so much more rewarding when you care deeply about the material you're researching. I got lucky in that I sought out my dream research, which happens to currently be a well funded area, and ended up with an incredible advisor and labmates. Sometimes that doesn't line up, but I've found that if you love something, you'll generally get along with those who also love that thing! It took me a long time to feel ready for a PhD - just like any major life choice though, you'll never be totally ready, and at some point you just gotta buck up and jump in the deep end, BUT that doesn't mean you can't give yourself some of the space and time you need to make the right decisions first!
@@andso7068 Characterizing plastic degrading enzymes. Mastered out 6 months ago and haven't looked back. As much as I loved the research my advisor was a disorganized nightmare and my mental health suffered. Passed candidacy and then immediately quit. Even gave up a GRFP. Moral of the story is pick an advisor not a passion project 🤷♀️
@@ritac9769 Well, it sounds like your exit plan went smoothly at least. I'm happy for that at least. I'm still in my undergrad phase but I do work full time and one thing Ive noticed with many of the jobs that Ive experienced is that it isn't really the job that I'm leaving, but it's the management. It's very disheartening that even PhDs have to deal with poor leadership also.
@@andso7068 Exactly. Keep in mind that professors are not in their position because they are good at working with people and management. Some are great at it, but they end up tenured because they typically work 80-100 hours a week and are deep thinking overachievers. Academia is rife with abuse, manipulation, and burnout in addition to the low pay. Choosing the right program and advisor can be the difference between a successful PhD and total burnout from research entirely (although those things aren't mutually exclusive).
OMG! I've been around PhDs most of my life and have one myself. Really, it's not that big a deal. Outside their discipline, most PhDs are fairly pedestrian and average in many other areas. And a lot are damaged goods because they had to wrap themselves so tight to get the degree that they can't get the stick out of their AXX, lol! I've always said, Don't take yourself too seriously, realize there is a lot you just don't know and, most important of all, learn to laugh at yourself, your discipline and your Profs. If you can't? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!!
I’m on year 5 of my PhD and I have absolutely nothing positive to say about my experience.... Choose your advisor WISELY!!! And reeeaaally consider why you want to get a PhD...
Sorry to hear that! absolutely agree that choosing your adviser wisely is very important and you really need to consider what you're going to do after your PhD before getting into one!
Year 6 here. I have a fantastic advisor, I'm super lucky in that regard, and I still regret going to grad school every day. Massive waste of time. ROI in terms of time invested is terrible. Thought it'd advance my career faster, just delayed my career honestly.
@@ThatDrummerFrank Biology. Unfortunately we are a dime a dozen. Ensures only a tiny percentage of us will find high paying jobs, most people end up as permanent postdocs living on a meager salary being forever promised a position they'll likely never achieve. Starts to feel like a pyramid scheme. Better stop before I go off on a rant😅.
Honestly, it sounds to me like a PhD environment fundamentally is just like the industry environment. The stress comes from pretty much every aspect of the life, regardless in the academia or in the industry. If you think going into industry or going into academia is an escape from stress and competition, I guess in either way you will be disappointed. Also I feel like there is a difference between PhD experience in engineering vs PhD experience in science.
To me, it sounds more like the difference between being self-employed and working for someone else. I'm only into my 2nd year of undergrad, but the pressure of school vs. when I was working as a mechanic is much much less.
@@joelhurtado3652 Getting a PhD is merely to complete the degree requirement. The courses you study are just the requirement that you need to fulfill but to actually succeed as a PhD you have to design the products (engineering work), conduct the experience (engineering and technician work) and write grants to get money (entrepreneur work). (I am strictly talking about engineering PhD.)
For whoever sees this comment, whether or not agrees or disagrees, hear me out. I know we all at times don't know what to do and feel lost, especially for those who think they are underachieved so far in their career. But I would like to say this to you, a PhD is a name or a title; working for a job as employee is a name or a title. Maybe we need to change our mindset and start thinking about what I really want to do with my 60 years of life after college. Stop falling into this entitlement trap but rather use the opportunities to enrich yourself and take them as steps that lead you towards your success. I know sometimes we fear the unknown and we fear the failure. I do too. But let's not escape from it but rather engage them proactively to be a better version of ourselves. If you start thinking about the fastest way to finish PhD or the dim job outlook for PhDs (which is not always true), you will end up being underachieved. Who thinks about losing before going into a battlefield??? LOL !!!! Look at this way, if you decide to do a PhD or want to do a PhD, you have five or six years to achieve something that you are really passionate about. Make it happen!!! Even if you fail, you will learn so much along the way, and you will be so much prepared to face adversities in the rest of your life. Lastly I guess there is one thing that bothers every prospective PhD, that is money. Money to many of us is important. But let's think about this question since I assume most of you who watch this videos are probably intelligent thinkers: do you want to spend your whole life working for money, or do you want to actively create something that makes money for you AND for others? The trick is a PhD degree won't solve this question for you. YOU, have to solve this question by yourselves, with a PhD or not. Sincerely hope everyone here would be successful. There is always hope.
My thing was always "your supervisor can't help you if they don't know." This goes for problems with research but also problems with health or social problems. Supervisors don't see everything and they are just human so tell them and talk to them about issues.
One thing that surprised me about academic research was how ruthless people could get about authorship. I experienced professors who demanded to be first author while doing much less of the work. One advisor also gave away authorship on our papers and presentation to people who didn’t deserve it. On top of all of that, some of my fellow PhD students would also try to do minimal work in collaborative research. Of course, not everybody was like, but a depressingly large proportion were.
I am a high school student, It can look like that I am a try-hard but I really love physics and I want to do research and specialize in some field in academia. And this helps.
I did a Ph.D. in astronomy, and I loved it, to be honest. Stressful, yes, and my publishing rate wasn't what it should have been, but that was primarily the one weakness of my advisor. However, my research was quite successful, and I had no problem showing my contributions and getting the Ph.D. After years of postdocs, though, and never getting an offer for a permanent position that was the right fit, I'm leaving to go to industry. Or at least I'm attempting to, this wasn't the best year to attempt a career change, but the academic job market is far more dead right now than tech, so I still made the right choice. I don't regret the Ph.D., though.
That's interesting AF, and yeah, this year wasn't the best for lost of decisions to be enacted. Have you tried to change career directly? or is it that you planned out an equivalence or training program to enter into certain niche/industry?
@@TheGrmany69 I joined a very selective program that trains people with STEM Ph.D.s to go into Data Science or Data Engineering, and then helps them get jobs by connecting them to companies. They've taught me a lot and have helped quite a bit. Most people that joined the program at the same time as I did have a job now, and I'm still working on it. I was distracted by finishing up some postdoc work, but things are picking back up slowly.
@@jeffapellido1959 So cool! You could also look for small entrepreneurship and investment also. It's a relief t know there are programs like that, was it in a University?
@@TheGrmany69 This program is called Insight Data Science. It's worth a look. You have to apply and show some moderate experience in the specific skills in Data Science or Data Engineering, but if you get accepted, it's free. The program is a very intensive 7-week program, and then you start applying/interviewing and they keep helping you until you find a position. One of the best things about it is the network it helps you build, and the connections you more easily make with everyone else that has already gone through the program and have established themselves at companies around the US.
This is a great post! People need to hear this before making a decision for a doctorate. Universities also need to do a better job of talking to students and candidates before and during a program.
I'm on year 5 and I have a great supervisor and great labmates and it's still awful and I still don't like it, especially since the pandemic is preventing me from going in and doing the interesting parts. I think I would recommend getting some work experience in your field first before starting the PhD so you have a better idea of what you want to get out of it.
Thanks for that brutally honest revelatory video about PhD and Academia in general 👏 Actually, I have myself spent around 5 yrs and yet unsuccessfully quit a PhD programme with an MS, so I don't know why I am watching this (perhaps assessing the utility of another attempt). But, I felt perhaps there are a lot things which, either due to lack of my own initiative or lack of pointers/guidance from supervisor, I didn't know about. I think I could learn quite a bit from your video 👍
You told quietly great ideas. I have a bad experience with my PhD in History. 1-st thing. I went by program of change of students. In my PhD situation I want to write about Siberian shamanism. And that kind of specialists are in the university. It was 2016. They told me to write some theme about my country in History. When I almost graduated - in university told me and my colleagues that they can't give us doctorate in History but they will give to us diploma about we graduated all courses. If we want to graduate and to have Doctor of History - we need to talk with another university because we need to have be done all and our university wouldn't help us. And the funniest thing. In whole country no specialist doesn't exist specialist in my theme. That's why no one can't to help me for my public suspense of my theme. Right now I'm looking for university in Europe to start over for the beginning PhD what do you can advise in my situation?
Many young researchers from developing countries are falling in the trap of predatory journals, which not only have no academic recognition whatsoever, but also rob authors for publishing and for what they call "maintenance fees". It would be kind of you to explain these things in one of your coming videos. Thanks.
Just like how a lot of people fall or go into the college system or network and become trapped in the perpetual debt cycle. The same system that is suppose to help people, does the exact opposite. I was on this platform and reading from a person. That he or she learned more from working at McDonalds then they did at years at university. The medical world, who are suppose to be helping people in terms of services, such as an mri or x - ray are attempting to just profit from these services A magnetic resonance image or scanning is no more than $500 and cheaper. Just think about it. A basic scan. I can't stress that enough and two years has passed and a person can't get a basic scan in ?
Thank you for posting. I'm in the second year of a Biochemistry degree. Struggling to decide what is right for me: finish here or "Master out" with a thesis and move into Microbiology. My passion is origin of life and extremophiles for astrobiology, so Micro seems an easier/more obvious path, but that would mean starting over again. I wish I had seen this before I went straight to PhD from undergrad!
I also got so terrified by the number of publications required to get a job in Chinese academia. Usually each candidate may have got over 5 SSCI pubs. However, in the US here, even 1 pub may cost you half a leg. 1is already super hard and may be an indicator for a good job. 2 is rare. In terms of classes, we're required to take 17 core courses, which takes 2.5 years already. The PhD in our department usually takes at least 5 years as we're taking 8 classes per year while teaching 2 undergrad classes each semester in addition to our own research.
I loved your video, it gave me a realistic vision of doing a PhD. I am 22 now, finishing an MSc in Neurosciences and decided to stop for a year, to consider whether I should do a PhD or not... it has been a tough decision I haven't made yet. In my country PhD students don't have good working conditions and I still don't know if leaving could be an option for me. I really don't know what to do. Your video has given me more info to make a good decision. Thank you so much!
Similar situation here. At the beginning, I was like the most enthusiastic person ever. I tried, i researched, even without a scholarship. After some time, although starting to receive a scholarship, everything I did "was not good enough", despite other students recognizing the amazing work. At the end, I just have no incentive to write a single line more, to code anything related to the simulations n the research. It makes me feel terrible. Why am i working so much, if none of this seems to be remotless useful?
HKer here. It is really easy to game the system if you do simulations. Change a parameter a bit, assume a different energy function, you'll get "new results" that can be published to a different journal. "Collaboration" also helps. We have a professor who publishes one paper per week. There's a particular university here that's really renowned.... for gaming the system. Say, hiring some very famous "honorary professors" to give them an empty office, their lifetime citations will be counted towards said university in university rankings. They have a very high ratio of international students but like 90% are from a certain country I cannot name...
@6:39 I am from HK, and I can confirm that @13:21 I have learned that being persistent and consistent are really the key, that is also why I would argue that PhD needs to take weekend breaks so that they can keep coming back strong and remain as a high-performer!
I am also from HK. I know some of them are put in the middle of a long string of authors, but most of the time, they're really pushing for doing a great number of projects in a short time, in both a first author capacity or second author commitment. The stress I saw as a research assistant there was part of the reason I went somewhere else for my PhD. Glad to know the bar in HK is not the norm around the world.
This is really helpful. I'm just finishing my MSc degree in Biology and considering applying for a PhD in Genetics, however I really don't want to go down the academic route and don't want to specialise too much in one field, so there's a lot to consider before making a decision
It is about learning how to do something from beginning to the end too. A PhD does much better on something new than a master's graduate even with work experience. But all in all, it really depends on how you do it and how good your supervisor is.
I'm really only doing a PhD because it's essentially required for industry in the UK. Academia isn't for me, but I enjoy research, and if I could have an unhindered career in industry without doing a PhD that's what I'd do. However, you hit an employment ceiling quickly if you don't have a PhD. Luckily, from my experience, private companies don't give a damn about citations or papers being published. They just want competent people who can produce results.
On Competitiveness: I have to concur with you on US professors pitting students against each other. In my case, it was worse: he had me and another student on the same topic and misled me on the other student's topic; the other student consulted with me all the time (as he was moving from a completely different research area).
everyone: Follow your dreams, Study something in the pursuit of the knowledge it provides, not money. Run after excellence and money will run after you, begging and crying. follow your passion and live that fire of knowledge within you.
Really insightful ideas. I had a shaky start with my supervisor due to some unavoidable circumstances, but now things have seem to change for the better and currently working towards the registration process. Will keep these ideas in mind always. Thank you.
Thanks for your videos! Having been a PhD student and working in the HDR area, I found your videos to be very true and sage advice. Keep up the good work!
Great advice Andy. I have today subscribed to your channel. I'm just starting to compile my PhD Proposal for a UK university. Your tips and experiences are really invaluable. I'm looking forward to watching all your videos. Keep up the great content! Many thanks 🙏
It make sense though, often the successful PhD students are universally not motivated by finance, but by the element of learning and academic advancement instead which is investing in your own self someone else's set of objectives.
Being a PhD student and in my 50's is a tough place to be. I thoroughly enjoy these videos and though Andy is Chemistry, and I am military history, I have gotten so much out of his information.
Yes Dr, the last point about anxiety. I am doing master for 2 years, but I had approached my school counsellor to solve my mentality issue and through their simple questionnaire, they diagnosed me with severe anxiety, depression and stress. I had been undergone a burned up progress 2 or 3 times due to my supervisor that doesn't give me proper guidance when I first stepped into the research world. It is true that we student throughout the study years since young till bachelor, we often had goals or aims to fight for or reach over it. I often called this a Framework or Boundarywork where we can bounce around within this frame and we will finish our works. But in the research world, there is no framework and we have to set it by ourselves. Thus, with a framework mindset, I built my progress carefully day by day, night by night, but in the end, my supervisor just said, simply, to shift my working direction to something else without giving the actual reasons, just kept quiet or avoid conversations. My school counsellor asked me to go home and take a rest but , anxiety, burning money and times, really stopped me to rest and keep on heading in a direction that seem to have no end. Working so hard for 2 years and I'm tired.
Thanks for sharing ❤️, I'm just finished my masters and Intending to do a PhD in Engineering, hearing your experience makes me to reconsider and slow down things. I hope you the best success
I finished my PhD in education this June (2022). I still can’t believe it. I did it in 5 years because my mother got sick. I didn’t stop I slow down or it would have been finish in 4 years. I’m in NY and we say chair instead of supervisor. She was respectful, patient, and easy to work with. However, my 2nd member wanted to be the chair. She was very difficult up to the end.
I'm doing my PhD in material science and engineering, it's crazy the amount of time we spend in the lab, my lab mates stay in the lab from 9 am to 10 pm, 6 days a week..so sad how it's so competitive
Thank you for the informative video! I’m graduating with Mphys physics this year and I decided to slow down and do alot of research about PhDs, potential supervisors and researchers groups. Just hearing about how mentally draining a PhD is makes me rethink about applying even though I know for sure that I enjoy research :/
If you enjoy the research and do plenty of background work to find the perfect supervisor and group for you - there's no reason that you wouldn't have a brilliant time during a PhD. Although entering knowing that you will most likely be required to leave academia at the end is important to keep in mind.
The peer review is maybe little bit flawed? LOL you damn well know it is exploited to its maximum. Second, there is no rule that you have to publish and that mentality only pressures people to publish garbage and filling up the literature with un-reproducible results and decreasing the value that real publications should have. Also, you may dig everywhere and never find gold. Does it mean you don't deserve to graduate? What about when someone luckily finds a "publishable" result by accident? Is that person more worthy of a graduation than a hard working student? The game is not rigged. People are! As long as everyone keeps doing the same bulshit as before, things will never change.
Thank you for this video!! I am currently in undergrad physics in the US, considering a phD but all you mention in this video is what’s really making me not do a phD, I’ve been thinking about this for over a year, I guess that’s a clear sign it’s not for me.
You don't have to produce 3 papers during your phd. One publication are often the case. But if your goal is a competative lab for post doc, then yes, work like there is no tomorrow.
My supervisor asked me to publish 6 peer-reviewed papers in 3 years. It was a shock for me, but he said it so easily. I really want to share this video with my supervisor.
Great video as usual! Even if I am pretty late on this video I would like to add something on point about the supervisor: as you said it is very important to choose wisely the supervisor, therefore I think it is super important to try to contact actual, or even better former, Ph.D. students of said supervisors. It is usually pretty easy, it suffice to send an email or send a message on any social media, since most of the people are pretty happy to help. Please do not let shame or shyness stop you on that, it is the only reliable source available for a student to gauge the supervisor's capabilities to help you during your Ph.D. (I got a Ph.D. in Physics obtained in France for reference)
I’m British doing my PhD in Hong Kong. Can confirm that there are some labs here that are very competitive and push students very hard, and as a result finish their PhD with multiple papers including some high impact factor like Nature. It’s not like that in every lab though. My current supervisor is excellent and couldn’t be happier to complete my PhD here.
Thank you again. Lots of this resonates for me, and overall I think I’m on the right track so far… I like these videos because they work like a ‘check in’ with my own circumstances to see if I’m missing something important.
Many of your points are true of starting your first job after graduation without even a Masters or a PhD. How well you've done will have an enormous influence upon the rest of your career so choose the company and manager wisely. But to add to your list: no employer outside of academia cares about your PhD, only how you can be of benefit to the company; so think very carefully about why you want a PhD.
I think PhD in Australia for every program is very different. Like in some non engineering programs, in Australia, a student get a PhD with zero publication. But in some programs, even after 6 publications, you are still vulnerable and your thesis gets rigorous review and you may be required to redo few months extra work.
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Hi
Hi, thanks you appreciated but I'm not capable for it
I'll see later
Thanks
As an International PhD student in Australia, I would like to emphasize that "your supervisor will dictate the length of your PhD" is an understatement. YOUR SUPERVISOR *IS* YOUR PHD. No matter what you do, if your supervisor doesn't support/like/consider your idea (or that you are worth his time), you won't (1) graduate on time, (2) get proper research funds, (3) access to labs/materials, etc. So, pro-tip, CHOOSE WISELY.
How do you rate Australia compared to other countries you’ve studied?
I feel like that's anywhere (outside of maybe UK or wherever else people are acquiring PhDs in 3 years). That's why I shrunk away from applying. Now, I'm at the point where I may not mind it, aha!
+1000000
So getting a Phd is just about kissing a$$.
I cannot agree more with you. PHD is awarded by supervisor. if your are not ready to kiss your supervisor a$$ forget it, you will get your PHD.
This makes me so stressed and I’m not even a phd student
I am wondering if that is the next logical step or just get stressed out by starting a family with my masters.
same 🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣
1 @ 1:22 Supervisor
2 @ 2:54 Competitiveness
2.1 @ 4:40 h-index
3 @ 5:31 Peer review papers
4 @ 7:39 Funding
5 @ 10:04 Not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel
You are amazing..
@Andy Stapleton could you add it to the description? 🤔
God bless ur soul
I rectified my PH.D. situation by not stressing myself out. I know..hard to do BUT I remind myself of my love of academics and I will not compete and stress myself out with people who, like you mention, are cheating the system or have this need to show off their resume. I do set goals, in chunks of times, for myself. The great thing with doing this in my 40's, I don't give a hoot whatever others think of me and I work towards my passion and that will lead to my PH.D., if that makes sense.
A
You could work on sth you're passionate about and get compensated for your time and skills adequately in industry you know.
PHD here in USA. Overworked, low pay, debit accumulated, no weekends, advisor treated me like a slave labor. After coding bootcamp, I found a good paying job and enjoyed the work. Never do a PHD if you do not like it!
Even, before I left the United States to back to Togo in 2019. I would be on this platform and many others discuss or express the same things.
That it may not even be worth it and not to put words into other peoples' mouth, but the impression that I got was that it was and is just as bogus as the college and university system.
Coding bootcamp can be a really bad idea in many markets because of saturation. It can be impossible to compete with people who have an actual degree and experience. Have seen this happen to family and friends in the U.S.
Should you quit the PhD if you don't like it? I'm just wondering how you would know you wouldn't like it if you hadn't done it yet or if you have no undergrad research experience.
@@michaeldillman1660 no
Stop
Don't share lies as fact
@@thewhizkid3937 Sure. People are lining up to get a phd, but it is simply bogus, you are always taken advantage of, have debt, etc. This is a gross exaggeration. I am sure it does happen, but norm by and large is that it is rigorous, but worth it. I am very happy to finish a phd in biostatistics and it opened up doors that would not have been opened without it.
Great advice about the absolute importance of choosing the right PhD supervisor! Well done for putting this first. It truly makes all the difference. The PhD is an apprenticeship in research and you are going to be this person’s apprentice for several years. You need someone competent you can learn from, someone you admire and respect, but also someone you get along well, and who can bring out your best talents. I always tell my students that finding the right supervisor is one of the most important decisions for the success and happiness of their PhD, possibly more than the topic or university they pick.
In Japanese martial arts we have a saying that you should invest at least three years just to find your true sensei...
Hi Frank. I couldn't agree with you more. Your PhD supervisor will absolutely determine so many of the most important aspects of your PhD that spending three years - like the Japanese martial artists - to find a suitable supervisor is time well spent!
@@DrAndyStapleton And it's true for the supervisor as well! From the viewpoint of the tenured academic, supervising the PhD of a student you get along well with is paradise, and an extremely productive and enriching endeavour; but supervising a PhD where there is a poor fit with the student on some of the fundamentals (objectives, work ethics, trust etc) is a lot of stress for both sides, not merely for the student.
I'm a 3rd-year Ph.D. student at Yale this year and I am definitely feeling the pressure of academia as I move into my dissertation.
To be honest, I'd rather use my credentials to make a difference in my target population through social entrepreneurship. It seems a lot more beneficial than competing for grant money to publish papers only a few people will read.
Wow. Painful truth.
Yes
Innovative startups have lottery ticket like payoffs. The only real difference is funding comes from rich chumps rather than governments.
I hope you'll achieve your dream. 🙏🏼 Cheers from Brazil. 🇧🇷
Lol. My father got in PhD when I was born and graduated when I became 12.
😂
@Mohammad Jafar Yeah, I'm proud of him, his full story is inspiring.
I admire his honest perception. Getting a Ph.D. in Chemistry is not easy. Being advised by an advisor with a Ph. D. _in Chemical Education_ is quite different than being advised by a _Ph.D. in the proper experimental strategies and techniques to solve problems and explore theory_ .
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Most universities professors are not worth their salt to supervise PhD candidates unless it is precisely their area of expertise and research.
I quit my PhD due to my advisor. She is a big micromanager and I am the opposite. This video is so important.
My heart goes out to these students and the love they give to their profession in academia.
Hi! I am currently in my 4th-year of Ph.D. studies in literature and I am already regretting it! I really had so many problems with my mentor. First I talked to a professor who never had time for me in months and was not interested the least in micromanaging me. Then I found a woman that agreed to mentor me but she didn't want to let my thesis proposal be accepted for a year and now before the university got shot down, she said she gives up on mentoring me!
I am emailing to other professors, trying to find another mentor but some of them already turned down and some still haven't given me a clearer answer.
It has cost me a lot of time and money and honestly, I just want to finish it and move on. I have no desire for any academic career whatsoever.
I like the video and thank you for your insights!
Thanks for sharing your story, Vlada! It sounds like you have had a series of bad circumstances. Make sure that you make a decision that is best for you! Let me know how it all works out!
Why did she not want you to have your thesis proposal accepted ?
Was it not on an original topic ?
Did she read it prior ?
@@thewhizkid3937 she was a beech. Case closed.
How's it been now?
My sister is in fifth year .. doing PhD in literature ...his supervisor has made her circumstances from good to worst ..she depressed , has anxiety and can't change because he is hod...and no one to help ..
This is just a superb summary of what it means to undertake a PhD. Being a last year student myself, this resonated with me a lot.
Thank you for posting this! I just got accepted to a PhD program in Genetics. I am from Romania and things are more complicated here. We are not payed during our PhD, you need published papers for admission (which is close to impossible if your supervisor didn't publish. I wrote a review with 3 colleagues and we were asked to add an author just because). Here almost no one has projects so we have to "make something out of nothing". But I also can't wait to start and see how this will turn out. Thank you again for the content you make!!
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Stumbled upon this video some how, and I'm not even in grad school let alone PhD. But Andy's advice applies to any competitive field, and I'm strongly motivated by what he said about turning up day after day, set goals, and contribute in a timely basis. Now I'm motivated. Thanks Andy!
This is so very true!! I am at the end of my PhD and I recognize literally everything you said.
A good supervisor makes all the difference. Great video.
Thank you! It sure does make a huge difference!
everything ive heard about doing a phd just sounds so toxic and its just so soul crushing if you wanna go further into a science field.
What better alternatives are there really though? If you go the engineering route, you have to go through the whole internship and can't get a job to gain experience when the job requires experience bullshit, and it is also more competitive at the undergrad level than science.
If you start a business, you're basically just playing dice, and are at risk of ending up shaking your ass on social media to maximize revenue. Or you take a loss for a long time, and have to find a way to feed yourself in the interim so the business becomes a side hustle anyway.
Good coding jobs are also tough to get, as you need to know the appropriate packages, and as more and more people are learning how to code, more companies are trying to take advantage of that fact and put up unpaid or minimum wage internship jobs to trap the desperate.
Elite athletics? Good luck. You'll need to train at the level where you're consuming and burning thousands if not 10,000 Calories a day.
Military? First responder? Construction worker? You'll be rough and dirty, and it will be hard to find a significant other who's okay with dealing with that after every workday.
McDonalds? Starbucks? I've never tried it, but chances are those are also soul crushing jobs. I've worked at my mom's restaurant before and it was soul crushing, and the restaurants failed because of cockroaches and the facility rental was too much. That was over 10 years ago. Nowadays, brick and mortar shops are fucked in the ass.
That's completely true
@@cryora everything you said is true, even though I'm 29 with a masters, and I really don't want to spend the next 5-6 years in school, in my mind I'm thinking what better options are out there, in Nigeria my job doesn't pay shit so it's not going to be beneficial in the long run, but if I can go to the U.S. for a PhD, it will be 10X better than what I'm doing now, plus I'm living a better quality of life, I've been in school for most of my life anyway so if I can spend 4 more years for a PhD maybe it will be worth it
Everything you said are so true. I was a PhD student over 20 yrs ago. I wished someone had told me all this before I went.
This is pretty saddening. A PhD seemed like the natural route for learning more and more about the field I'm interested in, but it sounds like all the posturing and pointless obstacles hinder your ability to gain knowledge and growth.
That's rightly said. But through this 'hindrance' you would surprise yourself with your ability. Afterall it's boring if everything goes according to a plan!
Well, one can learn just as much or more from reading (books, scientific papers, studies, etc.) or working in the field. The point is after acquiring a certain level of knowledge, one is expected to contribute new ideas to the body of knowledge. This will be analyzed and criticized in not so pleasant ways by peers.
From my experience, PhDs and PhD candidates lack the very important soft skills (creativity, imagination, innovation, vision, management, leadership, etc). I think this has to do with their training pipeline.
Universities graduate far more PhDs than there are positions available for them. As he said, jobs are unstable with not great pay. In this situation, one would expect these folks to start new businesses. This doesn't typically happen because they lack soft skills to succeed striking out on their own.
Hey, thanks for the video. Now I completely understand the mind set difference from doing undergrad, after 3 confusing years of PhD. I even am doubtful about the field I choose, now.
I want to enjoy my life even when I am learning, because I got one life (for now).
Anyway thanks for the video. It is true and great.
Great to hear that the video helped you! A PhD is a confusing time, for sure! good luck moving forward!
Thanks for this! I hate the sound of everything that you shared, so pretty sure PhD is not in the cards for me! Thank you so much, saved me loads of time out of my life! 👍🏼
I did a PhD in 1995 in Immunogenetics. I produced 3 papers as primary author and 1 as a secondary which at the time was considered very good. Spent 4-5 years as a postdoc but left science as I found I spent more time applying for grants and networking. Didn’t enjoy that at all and, at the time, with a heavy heart left the field of science. I liked research at university and enjoyed teaching undergraduates, tenureships were still widely available but unless your research was ‘sexy’ very difficult to get funding. Working in the pharmaceutical industry never appealed to me
What are you doing now? What's your job today?
@@bjj_9925 I now work in finance as a manager. The skills I learnt during my PhD were invaluable and very much transferable such as tailoring explanations of complex concepts from your peers to students. Presentation skills, logical mindset, focusing and recognising important key points from long dense technical documents, written communication skills, not distracted by failure as long as you’re still moving towards the end goal.
you should have tried industry research, its pretty wonderful. If you are listening to academics talk about industry research, dont because they have been misinformen
Recently found your channel and subbed. I got my Ph.D. in chemistry back in 2014 at Northwestern and I can say without a doubt everything you said is true. My channel is about personal finance and investing, but I've been thinking about sharing my own Ph.D. story. Today I sell scientific research equipment and have followed the path of the sales scientist. My hope is that I can show other Ph.D.s about this alternative career path,. and that they don't need to be bogged down by this academic...machine sort to say. Keep up the good work. What area of chemistry did you study? I'm more of a physical electroanalytical chemist.
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Thanks for the info! I'm a theoretical math PhD student in the US and there are a couple things that are different, 1) In math, we are usually funded by our universities, not grant money, which gives us a lot more stability, and a choice between advisors and even the freedom to change advisors, and 2) Theoretical math papers just don't happen as frequently as in other fields, so there's not as much of an expectation to publish during grad school. Maybe a paper or two on the Arxiv but not necessarily published (This might be different in other schools)
What is theoretical math?
@@adamtaylor1739 I think they mean pure math.
I did an MS in Physics in Alaska and was supported by my department as a TA so no grant money needed. I think physics is similar to math where their isn't lots of cutting edge stuff transforming the field every few years. My adviser was a geneticist in the biology department and my thesis was bio-physics computational evolutionary dynamics stuff so the rest of my committee was physics and the stark contract in culture between the two departments stuck with me. I liked the more laid back physics culture and greater freedom I had with a well established field, but could really appreciate how the other students in my advisers lab (all biologists) actually made new never seen before type contributions and were constantly up grading techniques. They also had crazy hours in the lab, I work 6 days a week about 55 hours/week, but many of those bio students were in the lab 7 days for 70+hr/week and were grant supported so constantly worrying about funding on top of their crazy work loads.
Data Science to Social Sciences PhD student here.
It so true what you just said. I knew about the funding to projects, but never expected to compete in this kind of level with my own lab mates. The joy of coming to the campus everyday and working with innovative thinking needs to be balanced everyday with these "bad" aspects you told.
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You have such beautiful teeth!
Thank you!
Are you a dentist!!!
@@nepzdeepy 😂😂
@@adityalewis7515 My sister is a dentist.. Indeed dentists study smile and teeth even in non professional settings 😀
I have teeth gap looking at his teeth m really jealous..
I am forever thankful to a friend who told me "Choose your supervisor wisely". Getting along well with the supervisor was my top priority when applying for positions. Made the overall PhD much smoother compared to other peers who struggled a lot with their supervisors. And when you are stuck and also your supervisors cannot help you, reach out to other researchers and universities and try to colaborate with them. Saved my PhD.
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yeah dont listen when your supervisor tells you not to talk to people or professors outside their lab. If you get results they wint care how you got them, so ignore them when they blow their top when you do something you thought of
First time hearing about the h-index...absolutely terrifying. Cheers Andy! :D
I am a research assistant in Taiwan and planning to start a Ph.D.
Really appreciate the crucial information.
Giving me apparent guidelines to follow and definitely decrease my anxiety about the future.
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In my first year of my PhD in Canada... I guess I knew all of this but it was nice to hear it from someone else. Thanks for this, looking forward to going through your other videos.
Hey Stacey can you tell me about your experience I'm considering doing a Phd in Canada my main concern is how much time does it take from you daily
@@fouadmounchid9805 I would assume that it depends on the program that you are in, but I would generally say that it takes about 20 hours a week plus time spent on TA/RA positions
As a dentist who plans to start his PhD, after 5 min of video I realised that I've just been looking at your teeth and forgot to listen.
Underrated comment
As a PhD myself I can tell you that you are very likely to regret this decision
@@abdullahkhatib1464 I do not recall someone telling me otherwise
@@pac167 PhD is hard work and it can be very stressful and isolating. Few jobs and you will be competing with the smartest most hardworking people out there while others make much more doing a much easier job. This is if you pass in the first place. A lot of people fail and sometimes it is not even their fault. There are too many horror stories of awful supervisors around.
😂😂😂😂😂😂
PREACH IT!!!!!!! SPREAD THE FEAR!!!! SPREAD THE REALITY!!!
Nothing will change but it's good to be spread out.
holy crap calm down....
But that being said yea, Academia is a racket from when you first enter in highschool, specifically because they won't tell you what the racket is doing just so that you get fleeced by this massive corporate machine.
I'm in my final semester after 6 years (evolutionary biology). I know all about the "wheeler dealer" aspects of research positions, and that lifestyle is not for me. My career goal is centered around teaching. My advisor has a small lab with only a couple of graduate students, which would be ideal for me. We're not in a highly funded area of research (spider behavior), so we have virtually no pressure to secure grants year after year. We're happy with our little enclave, and my hope is to land in a similar situation. In the end, not all folks pursue a PhD to attain a high H Index. I'm doing it because I love what I do. For me, it's a privilege to teach and mentor the next generation of scientists. My teaching evaluations are a far more honest "index" than the rigged publishing metrics that exist currently.
So glad to hear this. My Master’s degree chewed me up and spit me out. I wanted to love what I was studying, but I was so beat up. My Master’s left me feeling destroyed.
@@adrianadetrinidad901 I am so sorry to hear that. I hope things get better for you.
@@adrianadetrinidad901 I feel you, for me it was COVID-19 and the distance to the lab. It's just so lonely, noone helps you and you're completely on your own
@@adrianadetrinidad901 so sorry to hear that. I am afraid that my masters project didnt go well either and affected my grade. What your subject was?
Hi. I'm a 2nd year Ph.D. student, and I'm very glad I watched this video to know that my feelings now during the Ph.D. are not weird or unnecessary !
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Wish TH-cam and Andy had been "things" when I started my (unfinished) PhD. Never would have wasted the time and money.
I would also maybe add that it helps tremendously to know what you want to study before going in, and that there is NO shame in taking time to figure it out. You don't have to jump into a PhD immediately after undergrad, and you'll actually be more desirable a candidate with some other experiences under your belt. I am starting my PhD at 28, after 2 bachelor's degrees and 2 years at a government lab, so it took me a while to figure out my passion in life. It's lead me to find that doing the research for your graduate work is so much more rewarding when you care deeply about the material you're researching. I got lucky in that I sought out my dream research, which happens to currently be a well funded area, and ended up with an incredible advisor and labmates. Sometimes that doesn't line up, but I've found that if you love something, you'll generally get along with those who also love that thing! It took me a long time to feel ready for a PhD - just like any major life choice though, you'll never be totally ready, and at some point you just gotta buck up and jump in the deep end, BUT that doesn't mean you can't give yourself some of the space and time you need to make the right decisions first!
I needed to read this, thank you very much.
I know it's been two years since you made this post and you probably won't even respond, but I'm curious as to what your topic was.
@@andso7068 Characterizing plastic degrading enzymes. Mastered out 6 months ago and haven't looked back. As much as I loved the research my advisor was a disorganized nightmare and my mental health suffered. Passed candidacy and then immediately quit. Even gave up a GRFP. Moral of the story is pick an advisor not a passion project 🤷♀️
@@ritac9769 Well, it sounds like your exit plan went smoothly at least. I'm happy for that at least. I'm still in my undergrad phase but I do work full time and one thing Ive noticed with many of the jobs that Ive experienced is that it isn't really the job that I'm leaving, but it's the management. It's very disheartening that even PhDs have to deal with poor leadership also.
@@andso7068 Exactly. Keep in mind that professors are not in their position because they are good at working with people and management. Some are great at it, but they end up tenured because they typically work 80-100 hours a week and are deep thinking overachievers. Academia is rife with abuse, manipulation, and burnout in addition to the low pay. Choosing the right program and advisor can be the difference between a successful PhD and total burnout from research entirely (although those things aren't mutually exclusive).
Thank you for the untold insights. Am about to complete the first semester of my PhD life in Chemistry. I will be glad to receive more tips from you.
Dude what we really need are inside tips about your beard.
Here is my Beard Channel: th-cam.com/channels/PnZJxZknXzGqK9t2-fnvKg.html
@@DrAndyStapleton wait-- I didn't expect that there would actually be a beard channel hahanha. This is legit!
Well he has a PhD, very organized individual@@sotirismaragos
OMG! I've been around PhDs most of my life and have one myself. Really, it's not that big a deal. Outside their discipline, most PhDs are fairly pedestrian and average in many other areas. And a lot are damaged goods because they had to wrap themselves so tight to get the degree that they can't get the stick out of their AXX, lol! I've always said, Don't take yourself too seriously, realize there is a lot you just don't know and, most important of all, learn to laugh at yourself, your discipline and your Profs. If you can't? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!!
Thank you for the reality check of a PhD! I needed this!
I’m on year 5 of my PhD and I have absolutely nothing positive to say about my experience....
Choose your advisor WISELY!!!
And reeeaaally consider why you want to get a PhD...
Sorry to hear that! absolutely agree that choosing your adviser wisely is very important and you really need to consider what you're going to do after your PhD before getting into one!
I agree 100%...
Year 6 here. I have a fantastic advisor, I'm super lucky in that regard, and I still regret going to grad school every day. Massive waste of time. ROI in terms of time invested is terrible. Thought it'd advance my career faster, just delayed my career honestly.
@@ericwright8592 what is your industry of choice?
@@ThatDrummerFrank Biology. Unfortunately we are a dime a dozen. Ensures only a tiny percentage of us will find high paying jobs, most people end up as permanent postdocs living on a meager salary being forever promised a position they'll likely never achieve. Starts to feel like a pyramid scheme. Better stop before I go off on a rant😅.
Honestly, it sounds to me like a PhD environment fundamentally is just like the industry environment. The stress comes from pretty much every aspect of the life, regardless in the academia or in the industry. If you think going into industry or going into academia is an escape from stress and competition, I guess in either way you will be disappointed. Also I feel like there is a difference between PhD experience in engineering vs PhD experience in science.
To me, it sounds more like the difference between being self-employed and working for someone else. I'm only into my 2nd year of undergrad, but the pressure of school vs. when I was working as a mechanic is much much less.
@@joelhurtado3652 PhD and undergrad are totally different. PhD I would say is more like working for a startup where your PI is the CEO.
@@joelhurtado3652 Getting a PhD is merely to complete the degree requirement. The courses you study are just the requirement that you need to fulfill but to actually succeed as a PhD you have to design the products (engineering work), conduct the experience (engineering and technician work) and write grants to get money (entrepreneur work). (I am strictly talking about engineering PhD.)
For whoever sees this comment, whether or not agrees or disagrees, hear me out. I know we all at times don't know what to do and feel lost, especially for those who think they are underachieved so far in their career. But I would like to say this to you, a PhD is a name or a title; working for a job as employee is a name or a title. Maybe we need to change our mindset and start thinking about what I really want to do with my 60 years of life after college. Stop falling into this entitlement trap but rather use the opportunities to enrich yourself and take them as steps that lead you towards your success. I know sometimes we fear the unknown and we fear the failure. I do too. But let's not escape from it but rather engage them proactively to be a better version of ourselves. If you start thinking about the fastest way to finish PhD or the dim job outlook for PhDs (which is not always true), you will end up being underachieved. Who thinks about losing before going into a battlefield??? LOL !!!! Look at this way, if you decide to do a PhD or want to do a PhD, you have five or six years to achieve something that you are really passionate about. Make it happen!!! Even if you fail, you will learn so much along the way, and you will be so much prepared to face adversities in the rest of your life. Lastly I guess there is one thing that bothers every prospective PhD, that is money. Money to many of us is important. But let's think about this question since I assume most of you who watch this videos are probably intelligent thinkers: do you want to spend your whole life working for money, or do you want to actively create something that makes money for you AND for others? The trick is a PhD degree won't solve this question for you. YOU, have to solve this question by yourselves, with a PhD or not. Sincerely hope everyone here would be successful. There is always hope.
it really isnt. industry is completely different from academia
My thing was always "your supervisor can't help you if they don't know." This goes for problems with research but also problems with health or social problems. Supervisors don't see everything and they are just human so tell them and talk to them about issues.
This is some awesome advice right here!
One thing that surprised me about academic research was how ruthless people could get about authorship. I experienced professors who demanded to be first author while doing much less of the work. One advisor also gave away authorship on our papers and presentation to people who didn’t deserve it. On top of all of that, some of my fellow PhD students would also try to do minimal work in collaborative research. Of course, not everybody was like, but a depressingly large proportion were.
Sir you're so right! I'm about to start my PhD and now getting a lot of anxieties!
Quit now, while you can.
I am a high school student, It can look like that I am a try-hard but I really love physics and I want to do research and specialize in some field in academia. And this helps.
hey, me too! im in 11th grade, what about you? which field of physics are you looking into?
@@nspaghettified I still haven't figured out that. but I want to be a theoretical physicist
We can, but I only have one social media acc. telegram.
@@eleonarcrimson858 not a problem. I have it too
@@nspaghettified so how do we do this
Got PhD in Chemistry and Looks Like Walter White.
GREAT!!!!!
I did a Ph.D. in astronomy, and I loved it, to be honest. Stressful, yes, and my publishing rate wasn't what it should have been, but that was primarily the one weakness of my advisor. However, my research was quite successful, and I had no problem showing my contributions and getting the Ph.D. After years of postdocs, though, and never getting an offer for a permanent position that was the right fit, I'm leaving to go to industry. Or at least I'm attempting to, this wasn't the best year to attempt a career change, but the academic job market is far more dead right now than tech, so I still made the right choice. I don't regret the Ph.D., though.
That's interesting AF, and yeah, this year wasn't the best for lost of decisions to be enacted. Have you tried to change career directly? or is it that you planned out an equivalence or training program to enter into certain niche/industry?
@@TheGrmany69 I joined a very selective program that trains people with STEM Ph.D.s to go into Data Science or Data Engineering, and then helps them get jobs by connecting them to companies. They've taught me a lot and have helped quite a bit. Most people that joined the program at the same time as I did have a job now, and I'm still working on it. I was distracted by finishing up some postdoc work, but things are picking back up slowly.
@@jeffapellido1959 So cool! You could also look for small entrepreneurship and investment also. It's a relief t know there are programs like that, was it in a University?
@@TheGrmany69 This program is called Insight Data Science. It's worth a look. You have to apply and show some moderate experience in the specific skills in Data Science or Data Engineering, but if you get accepted, it's free. The program is a very intensive 7-week program, and then you start applying/interviewing and they keep helping you until you find a position. One of the best things about it is the network it helps you build, and the connections you more easily make with everyone else that has already gone through the program and have established themselves at companies around the US.
@@jeffapellido1959 Fascinating, I'll check it up.
Please do more videos on PhD stuff. This is great
This is a great post! People need to hear this before making a decision for a doctorate. Universities also need to do a better job of talking to students and candidates before and during a program.
I'm on year 5 and I have a great supervisor and great labmates and it's still awful and I still don't like it, especially since the pandemic is preventing me from going in and doing the interesting parts. I think I would recommend getting some work experience in your field first before starting the PhD so you have a better idea of what you want to get out of it.
Thanks for that brutally honest revelatory video about PhD and Academia in general 👏
Actually, I have myself spent around 5 yrs and yet unsuccessfully quit a PhD programme with an MS, so I don't know why I am watching this (perhaps assessing the utility of another attempt). But, I felt perhaps there are a lot things which, either due to lack of my own initiative or lack of pointers/guidance from supervisor, I didn't know about.
I think I could learn quite a bit from your video 👍
The Physics Racket:
One 30-page paper in "Physical Review" metastasizes into ten 3-page papers in "Physics Letters".
Douglas, there are even worse options: you get one paper in Physical Review, than you repack the same thing into 10 papers in Physics Letters :-)
@@zeljkom.svedruzic8406 Agreed.
You told quietly great ideas. I have a bad experience with my PhD in History. 1-st thing. I went by program of change of students. In my PhD situation I want to write about Siberian shamanism. And that kind of specialists are in the university. It was 2016. They told me to write some theme about my country in History. When I almost graduated - in university told me and my colleagues that they can't give us doctorate in History but they will give to us diploma about we graduated all courses. If we want to graduate and to have Doctor of History - we need to talk with another university because we need to have be done all and our university wouldn't help us. And the funniest thing. In whole country no specialist doesn't exist specialist in my theme. That's why no one can't to help me for my public suspense of my theme. Right now I'm looking for university in Europe to start over for the beginning PhD what do you can advise in my situation?
Many young researchers from developing countries are falling in the trap of predatory journals, which not only have no academic recognition whatsoever, but also rob authors for publishing and for what they call "maintenance fees". It would be kind of you to explain these things in one of your coming videos. Thanks.
talking about MDPI? xD
Just like how a lot of people fall or go into the college system or network and become trapped in the perpetual debt cycle.
The same system that is suppose to help people, does the exact opposite. I was on this platform and reading from a person. That he or she learned more from working at McDonalds then they did at years at university.
The medical world, who are suppose to be helping people in terms of services, such as an mri or x - ray are attempting to just profit from these services
A magnetic resonance image or scanning is no more than $500 and cheaper. Just think about it. A basic scan. I can't stress that enough and two years has passed and a person can't get a basic scan in ?
Thank you for posting. I'm in the second year of a Biochemistry degree. Struggling to decide what is right for me: finish here or "Master out" with a thesis and move into Microbiology. My passion is origin of life and extremophiles for astrobiology, so Micro seems an easier/more obvious path, but that would mean starting over again. I wish I had seen this before I went straight to PhD from undergrad!
Astrobiology 😮damn is this even a subject. I didn't know that. I am in biotechnology.
Biochemistry has more open positions in industry than a microbiologist but then again that depends on your goals.
Can't imagine going straight from an undergrad to my PhD!
May you be at peace this Thanksgiving Day and receive great rewards for your work.
I also got so terrified by the number of publications required to get a job in Chinese academia. Usually each candidate may have got over 5 SSCI pubs. However, in the US here, even 1 pub may cost you half a leg. 1is already super hard and may be an indicator for a good job. 2 is rare. In terms of classes, we're required to take 17 core courses, which takes 2.5 years already. The PhD in our department usually takes at least 5 years as we're taking 8 classes per year while teaching 2 undergrad classes each semester in addition to our own research.
I am a doctoral student in Germany in biochemistry close to organic chemistry and I have never witnessed any pressure or competition.
I loved your video, it gave me a realistic vision of doing a PhD. I am 22 now, finishing an MSc in Neurosciences and decided to stop for a year, to consider whether I should do a PhD or not... it has been a tough decision I haven't made yet. In my country PhD students don't have good working conditions and I still don't know if leaving could be an option for me. I really don't know what to do. Your video has given me more info to make a good decision. Thank you so much!
Thanks for your kind words, Raquel. Best of luck with your decision and make sure that you make the best one for YOU at the time!
My gosh, 22 years old and going for a phD?? Jesus, Im 21 and a chemistry undergrad, what the hell is wrong with me
Similar situation here. At the beginning, I was like the most enthusiastic person ever. I tried, i researched, even without a scholarship. After some time, although starting to receive a scholarship, everything I did "was not good enough", despite other students recognizing the amazing work. At the end, I just have no incentive to write a single line more, to code anything related to the simulations n the research. It makes me feel terrible. Why am i working so much, if none of this seems to be remotless useful?
HKer here. It is really easy to game the system if you do simulations. Change a parameter a bit, assume a different energy function, you'll get "new results" that can be published to a different journal. "Collaboration" also helps. We have a professor who publishes one paper per week. There's a particular university here that's really renowned.... for gaming the system. Say, hiring some very famous "honorary professors" to give them an empty office, their lifetime citations will be counted towards said university in university rankings. They have a very high ratio of international students but like 90% are from a certain country I cannot name...
Thanks for the insight! I've heard of a load of tricks like this!
This is probably one of the videos summing it up the best. period.
@6:39 I am from HK, and I can confirm that
@13:21 I have learned that being persistent and consistent are really the key, that is also why I would argue that PhD needs to take weekend breaks so that they can keep coming back strong and remain as a high-performer!
Taking breaks is so important and that is the only way to remain persistent and performing well for a long time!
I am also from HK. I know some of them are put in the middle of a long string of authors, but most of the time, they're really pushing for doing a great number of projects in a short time, in both a first author capacity or second author commitment. The stress I saw as a research assistant there was part of the reason I went somewhere else for my PhD. Glad to know the bar in HK is not the norm around the world.
Here in China doing my master ，experience most of things u talk bout. That's how the academia works all over the world!!!
This is really helpful. I'm just finishing my MSc degree in Biology and considering applying for a PhD in Genetics, however I really don't want to go down the academic route and don't want to specialise too much in one field, so there's a lot to consider before making a decision
Best of luck with your decision. I'm pleased my video helped!
It is about learning how to do something from beginning to the end too. A PhD does much better on something new than a master's graduate even with work experience. But all in all, it really depends on how you do it and how good your supervisor is.
arian vc Interesting. I’m considering a PhD in AI and legal disruption, which is a very new field
its been a month how was it? Do you think u will do the phd?
@@VictoriaSobocki It actually sounds really interesting! Best of luck to you.
Can't wait to start this challenge, thank you for your sincere advice!
I'm really only doing a PhD because it's essentially required for industry in the UK. Academia isn't for me, but I enjoy research, and if I could have an unhindered career in industry without doing a PhD that's what I'd do. However, you hit an employment ceiling quickly if you don't have a PhD.
Luckily, from my experience, private companies don't give a damn about citations or papers being published. They just want competent people who can produce results.
From which University are you pursuing your PhD?
Piled Higher and Deeper . . . or for Chemistry, my favorite is H2SO4 . . .
On Competitiveness: I have to concur with you on US professors pitting students against each other. In my case, it was worse: he had me and another student on the same topic and misled me on the other student's topic; the other student consulted with me all the time (as he was moving from a completely different research area).
everyone: Follow your dreams, Study something in the pursuit of the knowledge it provides, not money. Run after excellence and money will run after you, begging and crying. follow your passion and live that fire of knowledge within you.
Really insightful ideas. I had a shaky start with my supervisor due to some unavoidable circumstances, but now things have seem to change for the better and currently working towards the registration process. Will keep these ideas in mind always. Thank you.
Thanks for your videos! Having been a PhD student and working in the HDR area, I found your videos to be very true and sage advice. Keep up the good work!
I’ve just found your videos and I’m so glad! You really inspire me to do a PhD, 100% subscribing!
Great advice Andy. I have today subscribed to your channel. I'm just starting to compile my PhD Proposal for a UK university. Your tips and experiences are really invaluable. I'm looking forward to watching all your videos. Keep up the great content! Many thanks 🙏
Learn Endnote in 7 minutes,
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This is so accurate description of PhD.
It make sense though, often the successful PhD students are universally not motivated by finance, but by the element of learning and academic advancement instead which is investing in your own self someone else's set of objectives.
Being a PhD student and in my 50's is a tough place to be. I thoroughly enjoy these videos and though Andy is Chemistry, and I am military history, I have gotten so much out of his information.
Thank you for sharing. I'm in my mind 40s and was worried I'm too old. This comment took a weight off my shoulders
Thank you Andrew for the wonderful content. You should do a video on Must reads books for PhD aspirants / student.
Thanks in advance 🙏
Yes Dr, the last point about anxiety. I am doing master for 2 years, but I had approached my school counsellor to solve my mentality issue and through their simple questionnaire, they diagnosed me with severe anxiety, depression and stress. I had been undergone a burned up progress 2 or 3 times due to my supervisor that doesn't give me proper guidance when I first stepped into the research world. It is true that we student throughout the study years since young till bachelor, we often had goals or aims to fight for or reach over it. I often called this a Framework or Boundarywork where we can bounce around within this frame and we will finish our works. But in the research world, there is no framework and we have to set it by ourselves. Thus, with a framework mindset, I built my progress carefully day by day, night by night, but in the end, my supervisor just said, simply, to shift my working direction to something else without giving the actual reasons, just kept quiet or avoid conversations. My school counsellor asked me to go home and take a rest but , anxiety, burning money and times, really stopped me to rest and keep on heading in a direction that seem to have no end. Working so hard for 2 years and I'm tired.
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Thanks for sharing ❤️, I'm just finished my masters and Intending to do a PhD in Engineering, hearing your experience makes me to reconsider and slow down things. I hope you the best success
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That last one is SOOOOO true and not just for the sciences either. Tenacity is the key.
I finished my PhD in education this June (2022). I still can’t believe it. I did it in 5 years because my mother got sick. I didn’t stop I slow down or it would have been finish in 4 years. I’m in NY and we say chair instead of supervisor. She was respectful, patient, and easy to work with. However, my 2nd member wanted to be the chair. She was very difficult up to the end.
I'm doing my PhD in material science and engineering, it's crazy the amount of time we spend in the lab, my lab mates stay in the lab from 9 am to 10 pm, 6 days a week..so sad how it's so competitive
From where?
@@zainbunga3002 KAUST university
@@mariamhakami856 I mean which country
What are you guys working on?
I really wish I knew this when I did my PhD! Great advice Andy! So glad I came across your channel!
I m doing MSc in Chemistry and will complete it on 2021, and I will go for PhD soon after that,..
Thank you for the informative video! I’m graduating with Mphys physics this year and I decided to slow down and do alot of research about PhDs, potential supervisors and researchers groups. Just hearing about how mentally draining a PhD is makes me rethink about applying even though I know for sure that I enjoy research :/
If you enjoy the research and do plenty of background work to find the perfect supervisor and group for you - there's no reason that you wouldn't have a brilliant time during a PhD. Although entering knowing that you will most likely be required to leave academia at the end is important to keep in mind.
The peer review is maybe little bit flawed? LOL you damn well know it is exploited to its maximum. Second, there is no rule that you have to publish and that mentality only pressures people to publish garbage and filling up the literature with un-reproducible results and decreasing the value that real publications should have.
Also, you may dig everywhere and never find gold. Does it mean you don't deserve to graduate? What about when someone luckily finds a "publishable" result by accident? Is that person more worthy of a graduation than a hard working student?
The game is not rigged. People are! As long as everyone keeps doing the same bulshit as before, things will never change.
Yeah. You can't do 3 papers a year as a first author. That is just impossible.
Thank you for this video!! I am currently in undergrad physics in the US, considering a phD but all you mention in this video is what’s really making me not do a phD, I’ve been thinking about this for over a year, I guess that’s a clear sign it’s not for me.
You don't have to produce 3 papers during your phd. One publication are often the case. But if your goal is a competative lab for post doc, then yes, work like there is no tomorrow.
My supervisor asked me to publish 6 peer-reviewed papers in 3 years. It was a shock for me, but he said it so easily.
I really want to share this video with my supervisor.
Great video as usual! Even if I am pretty late on this video I would like to add something on point about the supervisor: as you said it is very important to choose wisely the supervisor, therefore I think it is super important to try to contact actual, or even better former, Ph.D. students of said supervisors.
It is usually pretty easy, it suffice to send an email or send a message on any social media, since most of the people are pretty happy to help.
Please do not let shame or shyness stop you on that, it is the only reliable source available for a student to gauge the supervisor's capabilities to help you during your Ph.D. (I got a Ph.D. in Physics obtained in France for reference)
I’m British doing my PhD in Hong Kong. Can confirm that there are some labs here that are very competitive and push students very hard, and as a result finish their PhD with multiple papers including some high impact factor like Nature. It’s not like that in every lab though. My current supervisor is excellent and couldn’t be happier to complete my PhD here.
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Dude , this really helped me out. Thank you
An absolute pleasure! Good luck with your future!
Thank you again. Lots of this resonates for me, and overall I think I’m on the right track so far… I like these videos because they work like a ‘check in’ with my own circumstances to see if I’m missing something important.
Im waiting to do my PhD. Feel like this is a sign cause suddenly out of nowhere your video came up.
Many of your points are true of starting your first job after graduation without even a Masters or a PhD. How well you've done will have an enormous influence upon the rest of your career so choose the company and manager wisely. But to add to your list: no employer outside of academia cares about your PhD, only how you can be of benefit to the company; so think very carefully about why you want a PhD.
I think PhD in Australia for every program is very different. Like in some non engineering programs, in Australia, a student get a PhD with zero publication. But in some programs, even after 6 publications, you are still vulnerable and your thesis gets rigorous review and you may be required to redo few months extra work.