PhD Students Get Little Guidance from Their Advisors
10 posts across 2 communities in the last 90 days; 80% from r/PhD.
“I am going through my 2nd year PhD in STEM and i started to notice that communication in Academia is complicated when compared to other work environments. I feel i never exactly know if i am being too direct, too indirect, may be offending someone, and that i dont understand…”
“I recently finished my PhD and continued my research as a postdoctoral researcher in the same lab. Part of my responsibility as a postdoc is to train and support students working in the same research area. One particular labmate I am currently supervising recently transitioned…”
“Working through materials characterization data lately (XRD, DSC/TGA, mechanical testing), and I have found that the hardest part often isn't running the analysis. It's confidently concluding what the results actually mean for the hypothesis. Most of the time, it gets difficult…”
Many PhD students express deep insecurity and self-doubt regarding their research, data analysis, and overall progress. They feel a lack of guidance from advisors and seniors, leading to feelings of isolation and anxiety about completing their degrees.
SOURCES (10)
“I recently finished my PhD and continued my research as a postdoctoral researcher in the same lab. Part of my responsibility as a postdoc is to train and support students working in the same research area. One particular labmate I am currently supervising recently transitioned…”
“I am going through my 2nd year PhD in STEM and i started to notice that communication in Academia is complicated when compared to other work environments. I feel i never exactly know if i am being too direct, too indirect, may be offending someone, and that i dont understand what they really mean by what someone says. Other times i feel someone communicates with me badly and rudely, but also that i cant tell them that without creating a scandal. All this in turn makes me feel like fertile ground”
“Working through materials characterization data lately (XRD, DSC/TGA, mechanical testing), and I have found that the hardest part often isn't running the analysis. It's confidently concluding what the results actually mean for the hypothesis. Most of the time, it gets difficult to clean up messy data, pick the appropriate method, and interpret the data on my own. Honestly speaking, neither the advisor nor the seniors have been very helpful in dealing with this situation. It got worse whe”
“I was ungovernable during my bachelors and hence only focused on skill building and not academics at all. My masters (2026) transcript is nearly perfect, I’m graduating close to a 3.9/4 CGPA. I have no teaching experience yet but trying to get some. Have 4/5 years of research experience (out of 9 years total) as well as over a dozen non-academic research publications (articles, reports). AND I’m clear on my phd interest. What do I need to do NOW to become a stronger PHD candidate? submitte”
“I’m a second year PhD student in a lab with a young advisor. There are three PhD students, A, E, and me. A started a year before E and I. A and E are international, with E being from China like my PI. My PI is a nice person but non confrontational and bad at emotional situations. E and A are good friends, but I am isolated from them. E is a people pleaser and generally seen as sweet and funny by most people in my department. He also struggles a lot with English, more than others, so he tends to”
“Tomorrow is the day. After five years of research, three journal publications, a research stay at TU Berlin, and another at the Public University of Navarre (UPNA), I will defend my PhD dissertation at Universidad del Norte, Colombia. It has been a challenging and rewarding journey, and I am grateful to everyone who has been part of it. submitted by /u/Exciting_Raisin882 [link] [comments]”
“Background: I’m an industrial PhD student where I’m based with a company‘s R&D team to finish work for a PhD project that is useful to them as well. Some context: Recently I’ve had to move companies which gave me a bit of a career break for a few months. In the old company I would simultaneously work on company projects and also complete academic work, so I ended up doing some academic work that I thought would be useful to my project. Now I realise that my academic supervisor is trying to s”
“It’s gone by so fast, to the point that I barely realize 2 years of it are behind me. Things are happening. My first, first authorship is in the works (and haunting my every waking moment). Comps are full steam ahead. Conference prep is looming. My anxiety is racing and my motivation/will…must be evaluated on a day by day basis. I’ve had more and more thoughts recently about if I can even do this. Ive day dreamed here and there about what my life would be like if I quit and just used my masters”
“Hi everyone. I have recently moved to a new country as part of my PhD journey. I come from a very friendly and warm place, where people actually seem to care about you and what you do. I finished my master's in one of the most challenging ways I can think of. A little context: my past supervisor had no idea of my research topic (the samples were on her possession and even though I knew she didn't really work with it, I chose to go through) but she let me use the samples and whichever ana”
“Presenting research can provide valuable feedback, but the quality of feedback can vary significantly between conferences. In your experience, have conference presentations genuinely improved your research or helped you identify new directions? submitted by /u/Embarrassed_Bat_2415 [link] [comments]”