Looking for Links from Beleaguered PhD Students
April 17, 2012 4:34 PM Subscribe
Personal blogs/comics about being a grad student and the corresponding joys and sorrows?
I have an idea for a short story that involves a long-suffering PhD student. I don't know anything about being in grad school though, nothing about research, or all the related terminology like "advisor, PI, etc."
Could you please point me to a personal blog or website about being a PhD student...one that describes in detail what it's like?
Bonus points for lab/research related content, as well as content expounding upon the issues of a school's administration hierarchy.
Thank you!
I have an idea for a short story that involves a long-suffering PhD student. I don't know anything about being in grad school though, nothing about research, or all the related terminology like "advisor, PI, etc."
Could you please point me to a personal blog or website about being a PhD student...one that describes in detail what it's like?
Bonus points for lab/research related content, as well as content expounding upon the issues of a school's administration hierarchy.
Thank you!
Response by poster: Oh I've seen that, but thanks! Was hoping for something slightly more verbose.
posted by The ____ of Justice at 4:38 PM on April 17, 2012
posted by The ____ of Justice at 4:38 PM on April 17, 2012
Best answer: Ah good. It's a staple of, er... stapled-up comics around here. Make sure you catch this one and this one and these. They're popular, I think, because people identify with them.
The clichés of grad student life, as far as I can tell, are an absent advisor (except when something is due), furious scrabbling for trainee grant funds, poster presentations & chalk talks, ennui, and anxiety about academia as a career. A lot of it will depend on the field in which your PhD student works; i.e., the humanities are very different from hard sciences are very different from engineering.
I'm not a grad student myself, but I do essentially do all the administrative back-end for my lab (plus my own research on the back burner) and stuff that our PI wants to pawn off on underlings, including interfacing with administration (mostly our department's business office) and helping the newer students in the lab. Feel free to MeMail me if you have any specific questions.
posted by supercres at 5:05 PM on April 17, 2012
The clichés of grad student life, as far as I can tell, are an absent advisor (except when something is due), furious scrabbling for trainee grant funds, poster presentations & chalk talks, ennui, and anxiety about academia as a career. A lot of it will depend on the field in which your PhD student works; i.e., the humanities are very different from hard sciences are very different from engineering.
I'm not a grad student myself, but I do essentially do all the administrative back-end for my lab (plus my own research on the back burner) and stuff that our PI wants to pawn off on underlings, including interfacing with administration (mostly our department's business office) and helping the newer students in the lab. Feel free to MeMail me if you have any specific questions.
posted by supercres at 5:05 PM on April 17, 2012
Best answer: Depressing but amusing: 100 Reasons NOT to Go to Graduate School.
posted by madcaptenor at 5:40 PM on April 17, 2012
posted by madcaptenor at 5:40 PM on April 17, 2012
Best answer: If you're looking for science-related grad school perspectives, there are columns in Science magazine/Science Careers that might be what you're looking for, like Adam Ruben's articles, more in the humor category from what I've read. (Example, think he has a book out too, though I have not read it.)
Chronicle of Higher Ed. used to have some grad student blogs - it's been a long time since I've checked them out, but might be worth poking around there.
Ph.D. Comics is really awesome, as aforementioned. It's so awesome I'm mentioning it again. :)
posted by NikitaNikita at 6:26 PM on April 17, 2012
Chronicle of Higher Ed. used to have some grad student blogs - it's been a long time since I've checked them out, but might be worth poking around there.
Ph.D. Comics is really awesome, as aforementioned. It's so awesome I'm mentioning it again. :)
posted by NikitaNikita at 6:26 PM on April 17, 2012
Response by poster: These are really helpful guys (and funny), thank you!
posted by The ____ of Justice at 2:23 AM on April 18, 2012
posted by The ____ of Justice at 2:23 AM on April 18, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by supercres at 4:36 PM on April 17, 2012 [2 favorites]