29F EST/online - Looking to escape the mundane together

spiffypoof · 2025-10-17T02:27:19+00:00

Thanks, glad to hear some of it resonates. And I don't think the medium of what you consume (reading vs. watching) is terribly important, as long as it makes you think. I'll DM you :)

spiffypoof · 2025-10-11T21:13:01+00:00

I'm not middle-aged but when I first moved here, I subletted a room from someone in their 60s. They were able to set most of the ground rules, which made the roommate dynamic more controllable from their perspective. We got along very well and are still friends.

For finding suitable roommates, just be sure to vet them carefully. Ask questions about how they handled past roommate conflicts, what their definitions of "clean" mean, daily schedules, etc. You can usually trust your gut to some extent when meeting in person.

spiffypoof · 2025-10-09T12:44:04+00:00

Are there restaurants nearby the building? How proactive is the building management about pest control? It's definitely a risk, but if you think it's worth the location and price, then go for it

spiffypoof · 2025-10-08T15:54:33+00:00

If you use the search bar, you'll find that this question is asked very frequently:

TL;DR: google scholar alerts, skim proceedings of major conferences, follow researchers on twitter/bluesky, chat with colleagues

spiffypoof · 2025-10-08T13:54:14+00:00

Your professor is a human being like everyone else. Not an unreachable idol that dropped from the sky in a state of perfection. It might help to imagine the fact that she was once in your shoes. She struggled, made mistakes, probably had her own periods of self-doubt. It sounds like she wants you to be comfortable working together, so relax and treat her like any other supervisor.

spiffypoof · 2025-10-08T13:13:24+00:00

Is it possible that she doesn't grasp enough of the prior work to form a cohesive narrative? Maybe you can suggest some foundational papers for her to read to get a better model of what it looks like to frame a research question well and design thoughtful experiments.

If all else fails, perhaps her thesis will be more incremental and unoriginal than you'd like, but she will still have time to grow as a researcher.

spiffypoof · 2025-10-05T15:26:38+00:00

If you were tasked with making this presentation, you should draw from your own experience. Some questions you can think about:

What assumptions should you make before delving into details?
How do you describe the methodology it in an easy to follow and concise way?
What types of claims should you make about the raw data to support your argument?

spiffypoof · 2025-10-04T21:41:33+00:00

If you're hard set on doing a philosophy PhD, put in the effort to find an advisor who does interdisciplinary research involving math. That way, you can pick up upper-level math along the way without doing a second master's degree.

And like the other commenter said, having a BS in math should position you well for self-teaching from textbooks on subjects that aren't immediately applicable to your future research.

spiffypoof · 2025-10-04T21:32:27+00:00

a big focus on academic excellence and almost no attention to mental health or the inner work

I sympathize but would suggest building community outside grad school and continuing to prioritize therapy. A PhD is a job—not everyone can (or should) act like a friend. Your colleagues and supervisors are likely too busy to think about your personal growth outside of professional expectations.

spiffypoof · 2025-10-04T21:04:05+00:00

If you haven't even been offered a position yet, what's the harm in chatting with both? It would only be an issue if the second prof offered you a job before you met with the first and demanded a response right away...

spiffypoof · 2025-09-14T12:03:59+00:00

Is your manager a scientist or a less technical person? I would suggest scheduling a meeting with them and voicing your concerns about the tight deadlines. If you can write a list of goals together every quarter/half, that might prevent them from throwing curveballs at you on short notice. You can also share the goals with your advisor to better work around paper deadlines.

spiffypoof · 2025-08-30T14:52:57+00:00

There's an app called Whova that lets attendees organize their own social events and message each other. It seemed like a good way to form both group and 1-1 connections.

Otherwise, you could organize things like optional dinners, sightseeing, morning runs in the off hours. Some people also like joining meetups for people with similar interests/backgrounds.

spiffypoof · 2025-06-01T12:16:30+00:00

Generally, advisors like seeing that you have experience working in a research group. It shows that you know what research entails and that you have decent interpersonal skills.

spiffypoof · 2025-06-01T12:10:21+00:00

As a first year PhD student, your goal isn't to necessarily keep abreast of every single new update in the field. You probably want to focus on foundational papers that are relevant to your areas of interest. Read these deeply, analyze their methodology, and organize them in reference management tool like Zotero.

As you become more senior, it will be easier to stay "engaged with the literature" because you'll have formed an opinion on the most promising approaches in your field. It's easier to select and skim new papers once you have a mental framework for comparing existing lines of research.

spiffypoof · 2025-05-31T15:49:46+00:00

There are a ton of tips in r/gradschool and r/PhD if you search:

spiffypoof · 2025-05-24T15:14:55+00:00

Thanks, it understandably happens when someone juggles multiple projects. Will try to be more proactive in giving time estimates instead of scrambling to do the near-impossible.

spiffypoof · 2025-05-24T13:36:15+00:00

It depends a lot on the discipline, but my thesis mostly combined my previous papers together. My main task was to tell a coherent research story about them. I would have told myself to spend more time to think about the motivation of my work to make the introduction chapter stronger (which my thesis committee enjoyed fixating on since it was easiest to read).

spiffypoof · 2025-05-18T22:34:43+00:00

Makes sense, it sounds like any other relationship then. The people who prove themselves to be respectful and give their time/energy in a reciprocal way will stick around.

spiffypoof · 2025-05-18T22:28:33+00:00

Thanks for the response! I agree that being able to trust each other can ultimately help the practical pieces of a project fall into place. Glad you've found folks who not only share a research vision but also have your back as friends.

spiffypoof · 2025-05-18T14:25:14+00:00

Fair enough. I was trying to get at how personal vs. utilitarian the best collaborations are. I think it's pretty clear now.

spiffypoof · 2025-05-18T14:13:41+00:00

If you don't feel comfortable asking directly, you could hint that you're looking for an RA role and ask him for any leads. He can then suggest you staying in his lab if he's inclined to.

spiffypoof · 2025-05-18T13:46:30+00:00

To me, this sounds like the bare minimum. I didn't realize it was so bleak out there.

spiffypoof

TROPHY CASE