PhD students feel relief after finishing their theses
34 posts across 5 communities in the last 30 days; 85% from r/PhD.
“hello ! my path was perhaps a bit different from some of yours as i had to complete a year long predoctoral internship after having defending in 2025. but as of today, i officially have my phd ! i can't use the title "doctor" professionally until my license comes through and i'm…”
“Folks! I defended my PhD today (internally) and got minor revisions. I can't express enough how this sub made me feel seen/supported/stay afloat emotionally 😩 Thank y'all. Now the job hunt begins!”
“Glad to share that my PhD degree has been approved a month ago. I couldn't attend the graduation rn so not a doctor yet. But I'm finally free from all thesis corrections It was both a fulfilling and painful journey for me. I got quite depressed during my thesis writing and lost…”
Several PhD candidates expressed a sense of overwhelming relief and joy upon completing their thesis defenses. One user celebrated with a 'huzzah' and a drawing, while another simply stated they were glad it was over after a long process.
SOURCES (60)
“Please send me positive and passing thoughts! Let’s get this over with!!!!!!! submitted by /u/Glittering_Finish372 [link] [comments]”
“5 years of work and more work and feeling so far away from this moment... Thanks to this sub for being there! submitted by /u/LtSmash5 [link] [comments]”
“Dam! Great job. I’m impressed [re: I’m finally at the point where i get to post my results…. Before and after]”
“Not only last thursday I successfully defended my thesis, but today a paper of mine which I have been working on for four years, which I have hated and cried so much over during the PhD; the manuscript proof-reading which always made me think I was not cut for accademia, has been accepted on the first round of review with only some suggestions ti improve the clarity🥹 It does get better, sometimes Hugs submitted by /u/Vacharol [link] [comments]”
“So this post was very long, and then the page crashed, and now what started as a procrastination activity has become a mission lol. Hopefully it's less long this time. I officially finished my PhD last month (!!) and had a genuinely great time right up until the end! I kind of thought this was how most people experience their PhD for a while, but many people have told me that is not in fact true. Meanwhile, I feel like my job for the past 7 years was to research, teach, and write, which are”
“https://preview.redd.it/axblslc524vh1.png?width=270&format=png&auto=webp&s=088ab604dd22f63e20cf55182738cdbf9a242371 I am delighted to announce that I successfully defended my dissertation today. Its over submitted by /u/Upbeat-Star-3883 [link] [comments]”
“Posted here eight months ago about my PhD defence, the weird, not-so-wonderful experience, and the major corrections received. So relieved to say, I submitted corrections 2.5 months ago, and they have now been approved. So my PhD is done, and I can truly and officially say I am a Doctor now! I received the email this morning as my workday began, and my first reaction was to burst into tears. Relief, maybe closure, maybe a successful ending to a long chapter of my life. Maybe this is what retirem”
“hello ! my path was perhaps a bit different from some of yours as i had to complete a year long predoctoral internship after having defending in 2025. but as of today, i officially have my phd ! i can't use the title "doctor" professionally until my license comes through and i'm currently studying for an exam to make that official. in fact, i should probably get back to studying immediately. anyway, all that to say - there is hope. you can do it !!!! submitted by /u”
“Dear Community, I've been a long-time reader, but this is my first time posting here. I successfully defended my dissertation two days ago and wanted to take this opportunity to thank this community. Over the years, like many of us, I've faced my fair share of ups and downs throughout this journey. This community has repeatedly reminded me that I'm not alone and that many others have gone through the same, or at least similar, experiences. No matter how unique or overwhelming some ch”
“After too many years, countless times doubting it would happen for me, I can finally say to people that I passed my thesis defence and subject to minor corrections will be getting my PhD. Honoured to join this prestigious frog meme club (truly the only thing that kept me going at times was posting this in the end). submitted by /u/eVelectonvolt [link] [comments]”
“Seven years nearly to the day after I started my PhD contract, I submitted on Sunday night, fifteen minutes before the deadline (thank you, LaTeX compilation that ran for 35 minutes!). Feeling equal parts elated and drained atm. It was such a rush to finish there are so many things I didn't have time to do, both scientific and editorial. I hope I'm not getting too hung up on them though. I should have me pre-reports in about a month so I'll have some ideas. Good luck to anyone who”
“I’ve loved seeing this frog pop up here and now I can finally post it myself 🥺 Lots of ups and downs along the way, but last Friday I successfully defended my PhD. Somehow the defense came and went and life just continues, and every now and then it hits me like wait .. I’m actually done. 🍾🎓 submitted by /u/Isliaa [link] [comments]”
“To be honest, I’m just looking for a bit of reassurance and to hear about other people’s experiences. At the beginning of September, I submitted my PhD in the humanities, having completed it within the three-year period. I honestly find it difficult to put into words how I feel about it all. When I started my PhD, I imagined the day I submitted would feel incredible and this huge sense of relief and achievement after years of work. And, in some ways, I am relieved, but… I submitted it to admin a”
“Long time lurker and sometimes active member of this sub, and fellow frog enthusiast, I got my degree two days ago in a small but very good European university. I had a lot of up and downs, or better, a lot of downs in the first couple years and then managed to turn it around. My project was flawed from the beginning (something I realized only a few months in) and I had to pivot halfway through the PhD to more methodological stuff to be able to publish something, which I eventually did; I am pro”
“I have submitted my thesis so the final push to viva begins... #NoAIFrogs so Im gonna credit my frog - Source submitted by /u/kieranr277 [link] [comments]”
“Estimated it's my pleasure to announce that I defended my thesis proposal and passed on the qualification exam submitted by /u/maxedar [link] [comments]”
“4.5 years, 1 paper and lots of passion to move to Industry😆 I was absolutely nonchalant and calm throughout my whole public defence + viva 😂. I mean, what else would they do? I am glad it ended this way :) submitted by /u/that_mango_girl [link] [comments]”
“I passed my PhD candidacy exam today. I’m in my fourth year, so I definitely took it later than most people. My first couple of years were spent working on additional Extension research projects, so it took me a while to really focus on my own dissertation research and get to this point. The candidacy process itself was pretty intense. I had a full set of written exams followed by my oral exam today, and I passed everything. Everyone keeps asking me how I feel and telling me I must be so excited”
“Esteemed scholars, it is my pleasure to announce that I successfully defended my dissertation! submitted by /u/Erpelstolz [link] [comments]”
“Passed my PhD oral dissertation defense on Wednesday. Got four of four passing votes, but of course one committee member asked all the hard theoretical questions I couldn't answer, so I'll be meeting him on Tuesday to go over the revisions he's going to ask for. Hope they won't be too bad! The other committee members are only asking for minor editorial changes. Next steps: I accepted a job offer in the defense sector a couple of weeks ago, so I'm waiting on an interim clearan”
“https://preview.redd.it/urzlyy0nknrh1.png?width=763&format=png&auto=webp&s=ca48e01059f2f91a16a60b83c4152758fa0a3011 kind of a short search, just 9 days. not without frustrating moments of course. happy to answer whatever :) good luck everyone submitted by /u/Careless-Act-6592 [link] [comments]”
“Esteemed scholars, I am proud to announce that I finally feel more pride than shame after finishing my PhD. Successfully defended in December 2025. Environmental Health. Stepping away from academia and immersing myself in nature and pottery got me there. submitted by /u/Glum-Ad-6116 [link] [comments]”
With minor corrections submitted by /u/sxixsxtxexr [link] [comments]
“Yesterday, I passed my viva. Thank you, r/PhD . Throughout my PhD, I came to this subreddit to read, de-stress, seek advice and, sometimes, distract myself. Hearing about everyone’s different experiences brought me inspiration and comfort in equal measure. For context, my PhD was in microbiology. I studied whether secretions from Lucilia sericata (the medical maggot) could break down wound biofilms and help treat chronic wounds (spoiler: they can!). I was usually here when something had gone wro”
“So last year I defended my PhD thesis exactly today. 4 months from the same I got my publication (which got a citation in May this year). Cool you feel top of the world and my journey was a tricky one, with false starts, failed studies and genuine disdain in getting published (as many of us here have faced) But holy hell, the job market makes doing a PhD look easy. I have applied to academic positions thus far (its will be 9 months next month, I started in February 2026 was working on my paper t”
“Please enjoy my handmade frog! Now I'm off to pack for my postdoc. submitted by /u/ecb-neuro [link] [comments]”
“I finally turned in my PhD dissertation (Engineering UIUC). 123 pages and over 33,000 words in 608 days. I am a completely different person from when I started a year and a half ago. Over that time I've gone through grief, battled the worst depression of my life, got married and had my first anniversary, cutoff a toxic family member, adopted a dog, and put literal blood, sweat, and tears into my project. All of which resulted in deep growing pains as my personality, beliefs, and values were”
This one figure is the centerpiece of my entire PhD. Like this is it. You could skip my whole dissertation, it ultimately just all arrives at this one figure. I really like…
“Yesterday I defended my PhD thesis in biomolecular archaeology and sheep husbandry. And honestly, it has been some of the best 3-4 years of my life and the defence one of the best experiences I’ve had in academia. submitted by /u/Worsaae [link] [comments]”
“After almost four years, uncountable late nights, blood, sweat, tears, an autoimmune disease diagnosis and so much stress and drama, I can finally say that I did it! To everyone doing a PhD in an extremely toxic lab, hang in there, it is possible! Not only that, I got unanimous positive feedback from all the jury members, the thesis accepted as is (no revisions), and a nomination for the best thesis award in my university! It feels like a dream to be honest. I did it, and I did so in spite of th”
“She is finally a PhD. Was it hard? Oh yeah! Was it worth it? Oh yeah! submitted by /u/WrongPrimary2456 [link] [comments]”
“social science PhD student here. just had my thesis proposal defence and I am officially a candidate! I think it went as well as I could have hoped, I have some revisions to do and things to figure out, but overall it was very useful feedback and I have a very supportive committee. But I always feel kind of deflated after these milestones! maybe it’s the buildup and then release of it being done. I had a similar feeling after passing my comps in the spring. Just wondering if others feel the same”
“I have about 9ish months left to defend and I'm honestly excited to move tf on from my garbage thesis while still being thankful about everything it has taught me. My university is in a predominantly college town in the US and the dating pool is absolute trash when it comes to grad students, I've been seeing the same 3 grad students on the dating apps for years now I've had two long term relationships in the duration of my PhD, one with another PhD student and another with a non P”
“After 4.5 years of panicking sweating and thinking I wasn't near good enough I had an incredible viva and passed my thesis defense with only minor corrections 🥳 please enjoy this frog and let it lend you strength in all your post-graduate endeavors!!! submitted by /u/LynndianaJones [link] [comments]”
“My fears were completely unfounded, my committee loved my work and had no revision requests. She. Is. FINISHED 🙌😭 submitted by /u/Cyn-cerely_Me [link] [comments]”
“https://preview.redd.it/zi2cjlgndqoh1.png?width=360&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b6c62b54299e5c48f9c0f857115971b35871a30 After 3 hours of my paper in theoretical computer science being grilled, I can say I passed the viva with minor corrections. What an amazing 3.5 years it's been submitted by /u/Sorry_Vermicelli6874 [link] [comments]”
“Esteemed colleagues, I am happy to share that my thesis revisions have been approved! I was uneasy about reviewer #2, as I disagreed with his main suggestion- to change the chapter partitioning of the data. I complied as best I could, by renaming sub-sections more informatively, and ammending chapter intros. submitted by /u/Dry_Security8480 [link] [comments]”
“Folks! I defended my PhD today (internally) and got minor revisions. I can't express enough how this sub made me feel seen/supported/stay afloat emotionally 😩 Thank y'all. Now the job hunt begins! submitted by /u/AllantheDietitian [link] [comments]”
“Yippee I’m done! Waiting is now the hardest part which SUCKS, but at least no more writing! Also I know I wrote complete crap, everyone has been going over their stuff multiple times and spending many hours on a single application while I just spedrun through them with no prewriting 🥲 at least it’s over now. Good luck future doctors! submitted by /u/SatisfactionOk6367 [link] [comments]”
“I had a mock rehearsal with my team a few days ago and it helped with my nerves a lot. Luckily, my examiners were great and were eager to hear about my research. When the Chairman announced Congratulations, I think my PI was happier than I was! I'm writing this after two copious glasses of rose but I am so thankful for everyone in the community, particularly in my final year when I didn't even realised how stressed I was. I think this PhD was the best thing I could do for myself and I co”
“As the title says, I got my PhD degree today and I felt absolutely nothing. No excitement, happiness, or joy. I did my PhD in STEM, published four first-author papers, and have one co-authored paper in the works. My latest paper was accepted for publication today, and yet I still feel nothing. I also got my dream postdoc, and somehow even that hasn’t made me feel excited. I think I am just completely burnt out and exhausted. For the past five years, I regularly worked 10-hour days. I was always”
“I have been preparing for the past year. I am so happy and relieved. Onward! Shoutout to my most amazing research mentor and my fantastic chair! submitted by /u/Deep-Ad4351 [link] [comments]”
“I finished my viva yesterday. It was actually a really interesting discussion rather than an information challenge. I had worried far too much about the viva. I wrote so many explanatory notes all over my thesis because, even though I know my work very well, I keep forgetting little things here and there. Sometimes I genuinely questioned whether I would be able to answer even a single question correctly. Guess what? Four hours of discussion without reading a single note. It wasn’t really a Q&”
“https://preview.redd.it/fifesj24e6mh1.png?width=2304&format=png&auto=webp&s=731a749a5ae6c3285821a347c7141840ff1975c2 I know the "frog posts" are polarizing, but I've always found them to be motivating. It's finally my turn. Quick background: I had untreated anxiety and depression in undergrad and left with a 2.8 GPA -- but my very last semester I interned with a PhD student and really enjoyed the research. I left the state to get a master's degree and managed to”
“I hope everyone enjoys a frog with the lovely PhD hat. Feeling very relieved and now looking forward to starting my postdoc - I was stressed before the viva and seeing people’s success reassured me, so I hope this will reassure others too that it’ll be alright! submitted by /u/indigobeagle [link] [comments]”
“I just needed somewhere to share this because I’m honestly overwhelmed (in a good way) right now. Since the beginning of 2026, I’ve: Published 3 papers (with a couple live preprints in review as well). Reached double-digit citations, including a citation from one of the leading researchers in my field. Earned an internship at a highly prestigious national laboratory, where I now work alongside people at the very top of my field. Received two verbal PhD offers, including one from my top-choice PI”
“I'm so relieved it finally went through! submitted by /u/Any-Award-5150 [link] [comments]”
“Still haven’t realized that I have a PhD now after 6 years of emotional rollercoaster but just wanted to share my happiness. submitted by /u/PersoenlicherBaer [link] [comments]”
“Yesterday I received the first citation on my first paper ever! I know it's nothing big but it excites me soo much, since I am currently a masters student and planning to start my PhD next year, and this somehow gave me some sort of self-approval :) submitted by /u/Total_Calendar_7438 [link] [comments]”