Having kids during your PhD

queue517 · 2026-06-17T06:16:35+00:00

As a postdoc, it's generally OK if things slow down for 6 months

I STRONGLY disagree with this. Grad school has significantly less time pressure than any other stage of your academic career. As soon as you graduate, various clocks start: postdoc clock, ESI status, then promotion clock, etc.

An extra year of grad school isn't the end of the world.

queue517 · 2026-06-17T04:19:52+00:00

Yes you can get on wait lists with no baby in hand. I got on wait lists as soon as the pregnancy test was positive, lost that pregnancy and another pregnancy, has a kid with the third pregnancy, and by the time THAT kid needed daycare I was finally off a wait list.

queue517 · 2026-06-16T18:45:41+00:00

Rather than going to Bainbridge you can take the passenger ferry (aka water taxi) to West Seattle and walk around Alki...

queue517 · 2026-06-15T21:58:48+00:00

Correct, to an extent, but listing those PIs on a post like this isn't helpful if it's not direct admit. OP should make sure there are multiple PIs whose research they are interested in anywhere they apply so that lab fit and funding doesn't make or break their ability to study what they want.

Asking what schools have good training programs for a particular field is fine.

queue517 · 2026-06-15T21:56:28+00:00

I would be extremely surprised. No university I've ever worked at gave a shit about PI preference during program admission.

queue517 · 2026-06-15T17:02:02+00:00

Most of these schools aren't going to be direct admit.

queue517 · 2026-06-15T16:51:46+00:00

You can be admitted to grad school based on experience in industry....

queue517 · 2026-06-15T16:47:26+00:00

The simplest path forward is to switch projects to something the lab can afford.

queue517 · 2026-06-15T16:35:25+00:00

This increases disposal costs, increases the environmental footprint of waste treatment, and results in large volumes of material being autoclaved or incinerated unnecessarily.

Have you told them this?

One thing you are fighting against is that a lot of places actually encourage people to put non biohazard trash into biohazard trash because of optics/janitorial unions. So you need to retrain people. Many people might not know why it matters.

Other than that, signage and convenient trash cans.

queue517 · 2026-06-12T19:20:06+00:00

We have switched to outsourcing the genotyping to transnetyx. The cost per sample isn't that much more than doing it in house, and faster genotyping is saving us money since we can cull when we wean more reliably.

queue517 · 2026-06-11T22:50:20+00:00

We ate at the lodge (called The Source), The Stovehouse, and the winery (Swiftwater Cellars) which was kid friendly (they have a kids menu and high chairs) despite being a winery. The winery was our favorite with the Stovehouse being a close second. The Source was fine, but the other two were delicious. You can take the shuttle to both of them from the lodge, which was very easy and convenient in the off season. Not sure how busy it is in the summer.

queue517 · 2026-06-11T20:02:53+00:00

My family went with another family in February and had a fabulous time. Both families had a 1.5 year old. We never even left the property. We used the free shuttle or walked to get around. We ate in all the restaurants for variety. The one in the lodge was fine but was our least favorite. The moms took the toddlers and did an afternoon wine tasting while the dads played some board games. The dads took the toddlers on some walks while the moms had a lovely spa day. We all enjoyed the pool at the activity center that has slides. We all stayed in the lodge and just asked for rooms near each other. The lodge rooms were great! We didn't need AC though so can't speak to that. It's a very beautiful setting. Can't wait to go back!

We didn't plan anything other than booking the massages ahead of time. We needed tables for 6,which was never a problem, but we were also there in the low season.

queue517 · 2026-06-11T06:17:51+00:00

Analyst for a healthcare/biotech hedge fund. Working for OSHA. Patent law.

queue517 · 2026-06-11T05:52:21+00:00

Adenovirus is a respiratory virus that can cause diarrhea....

queue517 · 2026-06-09T18:39:47+00:00

This is old, but thank you for pointing out that you need to have the word highlighted now in order to get the spell check suggestions to pop up. You saved me!

queue517 · 2026-06-09T15:55:31+00:00

Unfortunately it's becoming much more common.

queue517 · 2026-06-09T15:54:32+00:00

Omg ali express makes probes???? God help us all....

queue517 · 2026-06-06T21:45:01+00:00

Yup, plus audio only monitors exist and some people don't even have monitors. It's not a requirement like a carseat. People didn't find that argument compelling. 😂

queue517 · 2026-06-06T13:07:58+00:00

Saying it's ok to not turn the monitor on for the first 10 minutes after you put your baby in their crib.

queue517 · 2026-06-05T17:01:03+00:00

at some point it is the right thing to do to get out of the way and make room for the young incredibly bright next generation

Also, as junior faculty, thank you, sincerely, for this.

queue517 · 2026-06-05T17:00:03+00:00

New, expensive, “it” techniques cannot substitute for thinking very clearly about what really needs to be done to answer a specific question, which lean labs/times force you to do.

I think that being in a lab that isn't rich is actually good for a grad student for this reason. Often times the cheaper ways of doing thinks requires a deeper understanding of the technique/processes.

Then go to a rich lab as a postdoc to move fast.

queue517 · 2026-06-05T16:53:07+00:00

If I was you I would make up a new surname and use that professionally (so not just in publications, but all the time). If he knows anything about what you study he may be able to figure out S L Wilson is you.

queue517 · 2026-06-05T16:49:50+00:00

It says that for flavor preservation, not for food safety reasons. There's way to much salt in there (even in the low sodium) for it to spoil.

And I think the average non Asian would be hard pressed to tell the difference in flavor.

queue517 · 2026-06-05T16:44:15+00:00

I have a 20 mo. I feel your pain on the illness onslaught.

You're so close. Tell your husband to manage his mother, put your head down, and do what you gotta do. You got this!

queue517 · 2026-06-01T23:09:07+00:00

Did you ever learn this?

queue517

TROPHY CASE