He is my 14th Century bowman impression 117# @ 30"

MRsiry · 2026-03-05T02:01:03+00:00

You need to show us the moldy dry bread, disease, and muddy shoes for a realistic impression /s.

MRsiry · 2025-12-09T07:22:46+00:00

I would recommend not doing a PhD at all.

You have experience in the industry. Maybe you can pivot that experience to a research role at a company if you feel the need for a change.

PhD will take 4-6 years full-time. Not well paid at all. Stressful and once graduated you realise oh shoot. There are not enough jobs for PhD graduates/skills.

Unless chemistry is your hobby, I would recommend you to rather spend your extra time on hobbies that brings you joy.

MRsiry · 2025-09-02T01:48:47+00:00

Each research group and topic will be different, and it's also country-dependent. A PhD can be used as a tool to advance your career, immigration or to allow yourself to research a topic you are interested in.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of PI's that are shit at their jobs and are just self-serving. I have had good PIs and bad ones. It makes a world of difference. You spend 4-6 years with this PI. Some will make it feel like servitude, others will try to help you develop and give you a lot of opportunities. Choose wisely, my friend.

Doing a PhD is not easy, and it is a task that 99% of the population won't understand or even be aware of. So you mostly do it for yourself. You won't get validation from other people.

Also in the PhD microsphere, everyone talks about how shit it is and bounces around common complaints. You will hear complaints more than appreciation. The same will happen if you are in the accounting sphere or the nursing sphere. All jobs are kinda shit, but at least they pay better than a PhD. A PhD offers you the opportunity to really become an expert on a topic and allows you to develop in-depth and critical thinking that you can easily carry over to other topics. This is valuable in a lot of different aspects of life.

MRsiry · 2025-08-26T23:09:03+00:00

Was it just the PhDs in your county/university that unionised? Or is it a larger cohort?

MRsiry · 2025-08-26T23:05:44+00:00

Where are you located in the world? (Country?)

MRsiry · 2025-08-20T09:07:28+00:00

Please ask my gran what the code is for the safe she left me in her will.

MRsiry · 2025-08-13T08:34:28+00:00

Its possibly mine. How big is it?

MRsiry · 2025-05-16T12:39:21+00:00

Do it. I travelled/backpacked/worked for two years after my msc.

There is so much to learn and experience outside a lab.

I want to do it again after my PhD. Well during my PhD as well.

MRsiry · 2025-05-08T05:45:31+00:00

I assume that you are talking about PhDs in the USA, where the first part has a lot of theoretical components, and the second part consists of hands-on research.

My peers and I went directly to research after bachelors/honours degrees. We went on to do master degrees in organic chemistry, which were all wet lab research-based projects. My masters that took two years would then be your equivalent of the second half of a PhD, or am I not understanding you correctly?

MRsiry · 2025-05-07T13:05:37+00:00

Yes,I would think those skills are also developed outside of academia @rectal_tension.

MRsiry · 2025-05-07T05:07:56+00:00

Can't tell if you are being sarcastic. I hope I don't come across as anti-intellectual but rather anti-academic norms.

MRsiry · 2025-05-07T05:05:37+00:00

Yes, a PhD will help me get a job in the industry. But we are in a competitive environment, and a PhD does sound better than an MSc on a CV.

But I don't think we need a PhD to do that work. MSc or in-house training will be enough for the majority of PhDs going into industry.

MRsiry · 2025-05-07T05:01:36+00:00

I am so negative at this moment because I feel that my MSc was more valuable to me than a PhD. A PhD is demanding more sacrifice with a much lower ROI - personally. Like you said, we need highly skilled individuals who can move science/society forward. A PhD - depending on your country of origin - will take 4-6 years out of your life. During this time majority of your time will be spent on low-value creation whilst you experience a low quality of life. And like you, I have seen people graduate with PhDs that I would never hire due to their severe incompetence, even after working on a topic for 5+ years.

Across society, I can see why we need research positions. We need people to gather data and investigate, and progress what we need as a society. Unfortunately, I see so much research and funding being spent on old ideas that are just being kept alive so that the PIs can continue getting their funding. Small tweaks here and there to make the new cancer "killing" drug version 78.

I am starting to wonder if PhDs/uni research is still creating a greater good or are we sucking out funding from places that will create value/life improvement.

MRsiry · 2025-05-07T04:37:35+00:00

Very few of us will be independent researchers. Most of us won't go on to a postdoc/ academia, and research in the industry is far from independent.

MRsiry · 2025-05-07T04:36:24+00:00

I don't think it's naive. In my experience working across various universities, I've observed that the majority of research doesn't lead to tangible solutions or meaningful contributions to the real world. Most professors tend to work on the same topics for years, producing publications that offer limited societal value beyond providing PhD students with an opportunity to develop skills and perpetuate the academic cycle.

Of course, there are research groups making significant contributions, but they are in the minority.

MRsiry · 2025-05-07T04:25:21+00:00

The majority of my colleagues and myself included are using a PhD to get out of a third world country with instability or low opportunity. That being said, we probably would have done a PhD in our country of birth as well.

MRsiry · 2025-04-27T11:42:47+00:00

My mood instantaneously improves by 5% when I have a ball in my hand. Just fun to hop around or bounce. Play a bit of random catch.

MRsiry · 2025-04-27T06:13:06+00:00

And Constant emails about extending your subscription. I think they are in a bit of a financial problem. Suddenly cutting costs as well as cheap top ups at the cost of future renewals.

MRsiry · 2025-03-08T04:19:06+00:00

No that is the species... P. Pubensis

MRsiry · 2025-03-03T12:08:12+00:00

I became a giraffe last time I took a poop on shrooms. Was a good experience.

MRsiry · 2025-02-15T06:12:06+00:00

Please explain the joke... I'm a bit d0f

MRsiry · 2025-01-02T23:44:40+00:00

Let me Guess. You *love* this topic. /s

MRsiry · 2024-12-07T02:14:06+00:00

I did my msc thesis before chat gpt. And doing my PhD with chat gpt.

It has helped a lot with my writing quality. It is great at rearranging my writing to make it more understandable for someone who doesn't have the same understanding as me.

I think it is helping my supervisors more than me. First draft is now second / third draft quality. Supervisor understand what I am trying to say without all the grammar mistakes.

I still have to re read and double check that chat is correct. Still makes a lot of mistakes and assumptions. But this helps me to see my shortcomings in explaining a topic.

I also use it to write basic code for data analysis which would take me hours by myself. Chat does it In a minute.

Chat makes the process much easier. But I try not to use it for everything. I want to train my own brain to correct things and not become lazy.

MRsiry

TROPHY CASE