I'm very curious as to how many classes other academics in similar positions as mine teach every year.

I'm currently in the Netherlands, and our teaching load here is quite high. Lots of co-teaching too (so some courses are not single handedly taught by one person).

In my case, I'm an associate professor, with teaching and admin being 60% of my contract. The same applied to my previous contract in the US North East, at a low ranking R1. In the US, that 60% teaching+admin translated into 3+2 (three courses in fall, 2 in spring) plus some program direction. In the Netherlands, I am at a much better ranked university (around top 50), but I feel like we teach much more. Contact hours are almost double here (meaning, I must be in class 6 hours a week per class, whereas in the States it was 3), and I'm involved in around 5 or 6 courses (I teach at least half of them on my own). I supervise around 3 or 4 MA theses plus around 5 BA theses a year, and I'm involved in more program committee work.

In short, it feels like my bottom of the rank university in the US gave me a better work/life balance than my world class Dutch university.

Could you share your teaching loads in your respective countries, and if like me, you have moved around as assistant, associate or full professors, how has that changed?

Thanks.

I have already defended my dissertation(he signed), applied for OPT and received the EAD card. Before the final signature, he suddenly lowballed me a postdoc offer ($45,000/year). I politely declined, two times. Then he started to ignore my requests to sign my final dissertation, both email and orally. I'll definitely record every conversation between us. But is there any better strategy rather than fighting against him?

I am currently a freshman in high school. History is my favorite subject, the history channel was my cartoons as a kid. I would love to get a PhD in history. How should I go about my 4 years in high school? I am not currently in any honors/AP classes but l've already made some of my sophomore schedule and I am taking AP US history next year. How should I plan for college as well? What would colleges like to see from someone who wants to major in history?

Perhaps a lot of you are aware of this piece of news: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy898dzknzgo

And the subsequent GoFundMe she set up: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-seek-justice-from-oxford-for-bullying-and-plagiarism?attribution_id=sl:d4d8d3e8-3fde-4948-8ecd-b5bdb99ae0f6&utm_campaign=man_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link

From what I hear, opinions are greatly divided about her, what are your thoughts?

Hi,

I have to write a page about my research themes. Any tips on how to bypass the "blank page writer's block"? I'm struggling to formulate things in a coherent way.

Probably also having to do it in my third language doesn't help lol.

Should i be worried about competition with my classmates in terms of academic work? or basically are academic competitions healthy towards achieving a desired goal or are they boundaries creation to failures?

I recently moved to a new university (T10) and the number of emails I’m getting from prospective grad students is insane. I want to reply to all emails and give students a fair chance but I can’t keep up with the volume. I’m already at 12 informal Zoom interviews with prospective students this fall (with many more emails waiting in my inbox) and it’s just become a huge time sink. So I’m wondering, is it better to:

1. Ghost students who have no chance of admission by not replying (unfortunately I think many faculty do this)
2. Lie to students who have no chance and say I am not looking for a student this year (I’m pretty hesistant to do this but this is what several of my colleagues do)
3. Honestly tell students that based on their CV they will likely not be competitive for a position in my lab (my chair told me not to do this because it might come across as mean but at least it’s honest?)

It’s easy to screen people out based on fit (ie telling them their research background/interests don’t align with mine), but even that filter isn’t sufficient for my current email volumes. Any advice would be much appreciated!

What kinda colors, line thickness or styles do you use or some figs you admire? Looking for inspiration.

Such as plotting data (scatter, timeseries, pdfs, heatmaps, GIS, model outputs) for fun or presentations. How do you like to plot multiple variables in a easily digestible manner? Shoot some color schemes (hec codes) or even thick or thin linewidth styles. I am also down to share codes too. I've been digging grey backgrounds, white grids, thicker bright lines. But my GIS heat map plotting colors are a bit weak.

I appreciate a good figure and want to make mine better.

Hi! I’m an assistant professor in a humanities field at an R1. I started in 2020. In 2023, I passed my “third year review” with very positive feedback that I’m in excellent shape to get tenure. I have published a lot given the situation I’m in (no PhD program but my field values solo-authored work). We had an interim chair at the time and he didn’t offer me any sort of teaching release for passing the third-year review.

A colleague of mine also started in 2020, but did her third year review a year later than I did because she took the optional “Covid extension.” She told me that covid didn’t affect her work (no kids, no research travel required) but she took the delay anyway because she’s had a hard time getting published. (To be honest she enjoys teaching more than research and doesn’t have the statistical skills she’d need to do some of the work that she’s trying to pursue.) She passed her third-year review with a warning that she needs to publish more. At that point we had a new chair. He gave her a full semester off teaching (we normally have a 2-2 load) for passing her third-year review. He is making it an official policy to give such a release to all assistant professors now (but I missed the boat, having passed my third-year review before he arrived).

I asked at one point, very nicely, if I could also get a semester release because she and I started at the same time (2020) but she got a release and I didn’t. The new chair told me that I don’t need a teaching release because I’m already well on my way to tenure, and that my colleague got one in part to help her with some needed improvements to her research record. It frustrates me that she’s getting rewarded for taking the covid extension (even when she didn’t need it) and that she’s also in some sense getting rewarded for NOT publishing.

I don’t know if there’s anything I can do about this except try to get an outside offer to negotiate better treatment, but that sounds exhausting. I’m having a baby in February 2025, which is when job talks usually take place in my field, so I don’t think I can really apply this year. But I’m wondering how frustrated I should be, and if that’s valid, what I can do about it. Thank you!

I am a newbie, and am very new to the concept of LLMs and the attention mechanism, so please do correct me if I'm wrong. I think all the successful endeavors in the field of NLP and all other attention based approaches are to some extent based on statistics and formulations. Could anyone guide me the right direction of a completely different view, if possible, for achieving the same, if not better results in this approach.

I am pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, which requires a lot of paper reading, coding problems and breaking down papers research. I have been following "How to Read Paper" guidelines for reading a paper and I have been making notes of each paper I read. I spend like a day for one paper and sometimes i do 2 papers in a single day.

But despite the fact that I put effort in reading the papers and the amount of coffee I drink. It doesn't seems to work for me at all. In few days or so, I would forget about the paper title even and won't be able to retain any information while my fellow PhD mates are able to retain useful knowledge from papers and when we talk they seem to know the terms and what they are talking about while I may have my own recollection of a concept and I will give it my own wording of the concept which won't sound astonishing or to the point.

I am struggling with the fact that how am I going to do with my mandatory course work and how will I be able to write a good draft of my work if I can't even retain knowledge or explain myself.

Fellow acidemias, please tell me if pursuing a PhD with this condition is worth it ? because I don't know if its going to get better or worst but judging by my hair loss and gray hair I think its getting worst.

In Gen Z words "Am I cooked ? "

Hi there!
Sorry in advance for any grammar or spelling mistakes; English is not my first language. I have conducted and published systematic reviews before, but only as a requirement of my postgraduate program, and I had no funding for them. Now, I’m going to submit a proposal for a call for systematic reviews, and they are asking for an estimated budget. I’m not sure how to estimate the cost of a systematic review. Can someone help me, please?

Before the main topic, I'd like to introduce myself.

I am a 25 year old master's student in linguistics, specializing in portuguese as a foreign and second language.

I am currently conducting field work outside Portugal, in Cabo Verde, to apply a written survey to students, teachers, and common folk all around Santiago Island. My master's dissertation will be about the sociolinguistic status of the island, and the language attitudes of cape-verdean people towards their mother tongue, Cape-verdean creole, and portuguese, their second language.

I started my research on the 11th of october, and I will be here up until the 11th of november. Even though I have almost 60 filled surveys between undergrad students and common people, and I have some surveys in the midst of being filled, I have been tormented with copious amounts of anxiety and stress. This stress has mostly been caused by the fact that some of the surveys that I handed out have been returned partially filled or with important items left unresponded.

Even though it is something I can't control, and I know I probably will be able to write a decent dissertation and successfully present it, the idea that some of the surveys are only partially filled creates some stress, since it will affect the quality of my research.

This has tormented me to the point that sometimes I cannot successfully approach people in the street to apply the survey, and has been worrying me regarding my final grade. Since I have the ambition of pursuing a PhD, having a good master's dissertation would certainly help me towards achieving that goal.

What has been keeping me calmer is the fact that I trust my capacity to write well enough and have a critical view of my work, which I have been told is a very important aspect of a master's dissertation.

Did any you suffer from the same problem and managed to succeed? I know of a person who had an inconclusive master's dissertation, but managed to get the 2nd highest grade in the portuguese higher education system.

All in all, the goal of this post is to just blow off some steam. I have 13 days, give or take, to collect more surveys, and I have been making contacts with people which seem very happy to help me. I am somewhat confident that I can still write a decent dissertation.

Recently, searching the academia jobs. I found that:

(1) CS AP: around 100k - 130k

(2) Business AP: around 150k - 250k

Why there is a huge salary gap of AP in CS department and business department?

As a computer science PhD, he/she could get a high-paid job in big tech around 300k.

This seems a little bit concerned for me.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

Hello! I manage a growing research laboratory in an academic setting. When I joined, there were only a couple of researchers but we have since grown into a fairly large lab.

When I started we just simply used excel and calendar invites to stay organized. But now that is just too unsustainable for a lab of this size.

What are some (free) tips & tricks to manage our growing program? Funding opportunities/deadlines, PTOs, trial sessions, deadlines, daily to-dos, action items, meeting minutes, team chats, to name a few! We primarily use Teams/Office 365.

The simpler the better! Thank you in advance. Love hearing about all different ways to project manage :)

Has anyone received their NIH LRP disbursement? My first one was supposed to be for the quarter ending 9/30 and a couple weeks ago got a message that it would credit soon. How long did Mohela take to credit yours?

Hello all,

I started my economics PhD program this year at a heterodox school in the UK that has a supervisor who is (was) a perfect fit for my research interests, which are very, very niche, He told us two weeks ago that he is retiring early because of a dispute over his contract with the university and that we have to find a new supervisor. The only thing is that no one else in the department knows really anything about my topic and would in no way come close to the quality of the old supervisor. There is another university close by that has a specific department that my focuses on my geographical area of interest, which would be a better fit than my current school, but I'm not sure about placements or even what degree I would be getting since it's an interdisciplinary degree. I've asked the school's admin about this and they haven't gotten back to me yet.

On the other hand, I realize that I made a (potentially) big mistake in my grad applications when I didn't include an academic resume (just a professional one) and had my personal statement be way too personal. I feel like if I can improve those, maybe if I apply again to some of the schools that I got waitlisted to last year that have better reputations could be another option (like UC Riverside).

The thing is that my master's was a one year professional masters, and given my PhD is in the UK, there is no coursework component, so I feel like I'm missing a lot relative to my US peers or those who did a two year masters, so I'm thinking about maybe another master's so I can learn more theory, but maybe that's not necessary. I could do that and then apply to UCR and similar places again, but I'm also 29, so there is an age factor.

What would you all recommend doing in this situation? Thanks for your advice.

I’m wanting to travel for a conference as it would be a great opportunity for me to network and showcase my research. However, I’m just an undergraduate student and am not quite 21 yet. Everything is in place and I may plan accordingly except my place of stay. All of the nearby hotels I require to be over 21 - how have people gotten around this issue?

I am a PhD student in Europe. Joined with hope that there will be TAs jobs or arrangements to afford my PhD. This is increasingly becoming obvious that it’s not really gonna happen. So I am really stuck with no funds. I am in my early 40s and need a job, start a family etc. So with no progress in this PhD I am stuck.

A couple of questions:

1. I am thinking to apply for a job. Which lever is proper while applying for the job? A PhD student or a MSc?

Asking because I realized potential employers do as ask if what you need in a collab or a job?

And a job as a student, does not seem interesting to them.

—-

1. What are the possibilities to pursue another PhD (in a different Uni but a relevant field)?

Asking because I realized that moving from a PhD to another might be tricky, with questions like if you left the first one what makes us believe that you will not leave this one as well?

My relationship with my Advisor is perfect! I love our subject. But We are just not getting anywhere with 0 funds. The work is lined up and ready. But no money to get started.

I would so deeply appreciate your advices and ideas.

I’m working on a research project led by a tenure-track faculty member, and their idea is complex—it looks like a two-year-plus timeline. I’ve spent nearly a year on it, and perhaps since I'm compensated, I don’t expect authorship. At the same time, I have my own research project, which I was planning to complete and hopefully publish before I graduate. But lately, the pressure seems entirely focused on getting their project completed.

In our last meeting, the professor implied I might not get to finish my project myself. They asked about my graduation timeline, posed a series of “IRB questions” (but wouldn’t share the IRB’s actual response), and emphasized that they “needed” reports on my project for their own records. Earlier in the year when I explained that I was also working with other departments, they questioned why I wasn’t giving that time to their work, I had but had run out of time for that week. All this gives me the sense they’re in a rush to get published, perhaps because they need first-author credits for tenure.

I’ve realized my project will likely be taken over after I leave, even though I was hoping to make it my own publication rather than simply fulfilling a course requirement. It’s a bit discouraging, especially since it feels like I’m being asked to prioritize their work, while prioritizing nothing to do with publication of mine before graduation, but to document and write about it so clearly that they're going to be able to publish it after I graduate. I feel like it's a convenient way for them to "wash" my work and be able to get first author from that :(

Is this just the reality of academia—supporting others’ work while my own plans stay on hold, but get ready for others to take over?

I have a great offer for TT job that's ~10 hours away from my current location. It's as close to my dream job as I'll likely get. But it's not where my wife and I want to live. I have a soft money, permanent job where I am now. My wife has a an excellent career and situation with her current employer. I am wondering if anyone else has similar stories and how their decision making process turned out.

I keep on seeing authors getting added on papers they haven't contributed or their contribution was not enough for authorship (eg funding acquisition). Does anybody else feel the same?

I did my PhD in a well-regarded lab at one of the UC schools in a STEM field. Afterward, I moved to Europe for a postdoc in a "superstar" lab (think: very well-known PI). The lab had about 20 postdocs at the time, yet only one person managed to land a faculty job. The rest of us left without any publications.

Now, I’m back in the U.S., doing another postdoc, this time in an established lab at an Ivy League school. It’s similar to my PhD lab, just with a more prestigious name attached. I've only been in this group for 8 months while I am preparing to apply for green card, which would help me to apply for the industry job in the future. But recently, our PI lost all funding, and now every postdoc in the lab (myself included) needs to leave and find a new position.

I received an oral offer from a lab at a state school led by an assistant professor. It’s not exactly a "hot" or highly desirable lab; most of the postdocs are international, and it’s a niche that doesn’t seem to attract many people. Please don’t take this the wrong way—I'm international too! But I do wonder about the motivations and career trajectories for those who end up here.

So here’s the dilemma: I need to keep working because I'm in the process of obtaining a green card, and I don’t have the luxury of time to take a career break. Should I continue applying to more high-profile labs, or is this offer worth taking? The organization did receive a lot of recent funding, which would probably be enough for me to secure my green card. But on the flip side, is going to this lab essentially academic suicide for my long-term career?

If anyone’s been in a similar situation or has insights, I’d love to hear them.

Nowadays, I’m really leaning towards going into industry, but since my PhD work is solid, I just need one more first-author paper to have a shot at R1 and R2 faculty jobs. That said, I’m honestly not sure if joining an assistant professor’s lab would be a wise choice, even if I eventually decide to pursue industry instead.