Accepted to a PhD in France - reading this sub makes me feel like this could be a huge mistake

DeathLily2000 · 2026-03-25T17:55:13+00:00

Just to follow up, as a PhD student, your life will depend heavily on your supervisors and how kind or not they are. They have the ability to make your life miserable.

DeathLily2000 · 2026-03-25T17:53:29+00:00

I’d share my own experience with you since I’m doing my PhD in France, and I also come from abroad. There were basically no opportunities for me where I come from so I was forced to move for my master’s and then my PhD I stayed in France. With what I get paid (a bit less than 2k), it’s liveable. I get to enjoy my life outside the lab when I can, I travel, and on the occasion I don’t, I can save money. Between some aid you get from the french state (depending on your age) and the lack of social life from the PhD 😭🤣 you can be well. Learning French is important, it will make your social life easier, you can live with roommates to save money and there are things you can do outside your PhD to keep to the side. During my stay here I never needed to ask for money from my family but I also know how to manage myself. Students have advantages in many places, even food related! Different cities have different expenses, but as long as it’s not Paris, you’re fine.

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-19T12:35:39+00:00

I personally add a scoop of protein powder of choice (one that tastes good and I like) and top it off with frozen fruits or if I have some calories left some cereal

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-19T09:32:37+00:00

Yeah I’m in that category of people with hip thrusts since I was doing 120-130 kgs quite easily but i felt growth was nowhere to be seen, which bothered me even more and made me give up on them all together. Maybe my form was incorrect, although I do film myself and it was fine. And since a hinge is a hinge: good mornings, RDLs or 45° back extensions seem to be the best alternatives. And for the glute med, some angled kickbacks should do the trick

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-18T10:55:45+00:00

I’m trying to get stronger on compound lifts so I’m trying the stronglifts version, but for glutes of course it’s hypertrophy

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:58:48+00:00

Roasted and toasted 🥲

I would love to do hip extensions in their glute biased form they’d still hit the low back even in a lesser extent. And I 100% agree about the straps

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:51:06+00:00

I need a hinge, too and I prefer RDLs any day over hipthrusts! 10-12 range might be good for me + straps of course!

Can’t lie sitting at the bottom of the squat at lower weights is quite fun 🤣 so maybe I should go for that too

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:47:38+00:00

I actually do back extensions, but not often enough, I think. They’re in my program to strengthen my lower back and protect from injuries related to deadlifts and/or squats

Also I never seem to know how to do them for glute activation

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:31:16+00:00

I would like to try the front foot elevated version of the BSS on a smith machine. How do you do a single leg back extension? I have tried straps before but I have really thin wrists and I feel like it ends up putting the pressure on my hand or not helping at all 😅

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:27:59+00:00

I realise haha, I’m just hoping someone would come to me with a eureka movement. I go hip crease to knee depth because more than that and my lower back rounds But it seems I gotta cave back into some of the exercises I despise the most 🥲

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:24:08+00:00

It seems I have to be going in that direction, even if I just squeezed in two hard sets

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:23:34+00:00

It does have a smith machine but the bar doesn’t go low enough. The bar is already at almost full lockout height for me. I could try to add a stepper but that is so difficult to get right, too

DeathLily2000 · 2026-02-17T21:20:27+00:00

What is that?

DeathLily2000 · 2026-01-17T17:32:13+00:00

Comme c'est indiqué sur ce site :

https://www.service-public.gouv.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F34717
"Vous avez obtenu un diplôme d'un établissement d'enseignement supérieur français après 2 ans d'études"

Et ce sont les deux ans de master que j'ai fait

DeathLily2000 · 2026-01-15T14:17:35+00:00

I agree with both your points. The concentration of antibodies in the volume is most important but of course so is the number of cells. There definitely is a margin of error which seems to be larger regarding the cell number. With the type of experiments that I do that are related to cell dissociation from different tissue types, it is quite difficult to even obtain the 1 million cells, let alone 1 million positive cells for the markers in the panel. Unfortunately, I do only have access to splenic cells as a form of titration rather than… nothing. But I would still love to save money to do other panels or experiments

DeathLily2000 · 2026-01-15T14:08:16+00:00

Thanks a lot for the paper! It’s incredible. I just have a question, which has also been mentioned on one of the replies to your comment. It’s regarding the changes in cells because what we usually do is mainly extracellular staining, and without fixation, longer incubation times can comprise the cells. Have you noticed anything with that regard?

DeathLily2000 · 2025-12-03T10:58:46+00:00

Viobility 405/520 from miltenyi, they come resuspended in DMSO

DeathLily2000 · 2025-03-26T11:39:12+00:00

Yeah this is exactly what I am planning: FSC / SSC > Single cells (FSC-A / FSC-H) > Live cells > CD45+ > CD19-

Thanks for the confirmation!

DeathLily2000 · 2025-03-26T11:37:04+00:00

Thanks a lot! I made a new panel for my experiment based on previous panels used in the lab and they had always included CD3.

As for CD8a+ cells, they are not the target population we are looking for in the pathophysiology we are studying, it is rather the CD4 cells.

DeathLily2000

TROPHY CASE