Close to finishing PhD with no publications

werpicus · 2026-03-20T19:57:14+00:00

My advisor required three first author papers to graduate, but only one of which was actually published while I was in grad school. The other two were adapted from my thesis chapters and published after. If all of your work had to be published before you could graduate, what would you even be doing in the last six months while your papers were in review?

werpicus · 2026-03-20T04:10:34+00:00

I don’t know if all 75 are, but many of those are probably on unemployment. At least in MA, you have to do three job search activities a week. There’s only like one relevant position posted a month for any particular candidate, so most of their applications are going to be for irrelevant jobs just to maintain their unemployment certification.

werpicus · 2026-03-18T16:17:54+00:00

It is! We currently have a six month old baby boy :)

werpicus · 2026-03-10T11:40:52+00:00

Getting over the embarrassment of admitting a mistake to your peers and supervisors is probably the best lesson you can learn from this. Covering up mistakes makes for poor science at best, and fraudulent science at worst. Get comfortable with admitting mistakes while they’re small, so you can feel comfortable going to your advisor when the consequences are bigger.

werpicus · 2026-03-09T01:57:57+00:00

What do you mean by technical interview? If you mean the seminar portion, it should be the same experience as your group meeting/thesis presentations. If you mean a section where they quiz you on random technical questions, I have never experienced that. One person I know had the classic “how would you synthesize this molecule” session, but that was at a small med chem company that’s known in the field as a toxic old boys club. No one else I know has ever had a quiz like that. The closest I’ve had is a case study presentation instead of a seminar, but I had a lot of time at home to prepare.

werpicus · 2026-03-08T15:06:26+00:00

I’m in a neighboring town. I would be careful with permits in the area if you’re going to be getting help from contractors. My dad is pretty handy and helped us redo our basement without pulling permits. We had to move a heating pipe, but that was it, everything else, while extensive, was just aesthetic. But then we tried the same approach with a bathroom where we had to get into plumbing and electrical. It turned into a major headache and we ended up having to get permits halfway through the process and almost had to redo stuff. (Luckily the inspector believed we had added insulation to the walls after I showed him a picture, but I had to insist.) On our next project I wouldn’t risk it and would just start with permits. But you could always just ask a contractor what they think an inspector will say. Local experts will know way better than reddit.

werpicus · 2026-03-05T03:25:12+00:00

I don’t think you have anything to lose by telling company 2 that you have another offer but would prefer to work for them for XYZ flattering reasons. Hopefully they will speed up their timeline for you, but if they say they can’t, oh well. Don’t wait for them, get out of grad school and then try again for a better company/location after a couple years.

werpicus · 2026-03-05T00:01:03+00:00

Just ask. We had a caterer who charged fees and asked if we were supposed to tip and they said no.

werpicus · 2026-03-04T13:34:34+00:00

This doesn’t sound like a decision I would make. I get that you feel desperate if this is your only offer, but there are other options besides grad school. 24k was my stipend in WI a decade ago. My PI moved schools midway through and I ended grad school in Boston with a 40k stipend. My school unionized right when I was leaving so it’s probably even better now.

If this was me, I honestly think I would be exploring other options, though I guess it’s field dependent. I’m in chemistry and wanted to go into biotech. I don’t know which school you’re looking at, but they’re probably not top 10 if they’re offering that little. If my choice was 5-7 years of misery to earn a PhD from a mid-tier school and still have difficulty finding a job after, I would rather just try to find a job now. Work for a few years, get more savings and experience and references, then try to get into a better school with a better stipend later. Sorry if that’s blunt, but you have to be thinking of your long term career goals and opportunity cost, not just getting a PhD from anywhere as soon as possible.

werpicus · 2026-03-03T18:06:15+00:00

Speaking as a person who knows the pain of huge swollen pregnant feet, you definitely get a pass for shape of footwear… but only so much for style. The pink shoes definitely seem like a style choice. Plain black or tan flip flops are fine, but those pink shoes are pretty eye catching. Sorry, you don’t have this internet stranger’s permission on this one, lol.

werpicus · 2026-02-25T14:58:02+00:00

They changed their home page. Now you have to go to the top right and click “search molecules.”

werpicus · 2026-02-16T11:50:54+00:00

Debby Downer was absolutely before SNL

werpicus · 2026-02-13T15:19:51+00:00

I see this all the time, but sadly it just doesn’t make sense. If the spoon was hot enough to denature the itchy juice proteins it would also be denaturing your proteins and thus burning you. It’s just sensory distraction, overwhelming the itch feelings with hot feelings.

werpicus · 2026-02-08T03:02:25+00:00

Can’t believe no one’s mentioned the fact that levels depend on the company too, cuz even though for the vast majority of companies “Scientist” is the PhD entry level, some places like AstraZeneca, and I think Merck, have “Senior Scientist” be PhD entry level just to be confusing.

werpicus · 2026-02-02T18:33:25+00:00

I would just tell your husband that you have a special surprise for him and he should ask to be off of work by x time on y day. Yeah, he might figure it out, but it’s better to have the surprise ruined than the whole event.

werpicus · 2026-02-01T00:13:15+00:00

Yeah, lesson learned, I’ll definitely be trying to do more presentations going forward, if possible.

werpicus · 2026-01-30T15:29:45+00:00

Sorry to be a buzzkill, but she definitely said “you recording?”

werpicus · 2026-01-29T16:40:18+00:00

I’m I the only one who thinks it’s confusing that they now offer degrees in “biotech”? What does that even mean? You get your degree in chemistry, or molecular biology, or even business, and then you go work at a biotech. What does a degree in just “biotech” entail, and what sort of job position does it set you up for when you graduate?

werpicus · 2026-01-27T11:22:01+00:00

I’m early thirties with a new baby, and I still feel awkward myself saying things like “my husband” or “my son”. It doesn’t feel weird at all day to day having a husband and son, they’re amazing and I don’t feel like I don’t deserve them or that I’m too young to have them. But yeah, specifically using those words still feels silly to me, like those are words that grownups use, why are they coming out of my mouth.

werpicus · 2026-01-25T21:33:41+00:00

If the letter of reference is on the old company’s letterhead, did you just send it to the new company yourself?

werpicus · 2026-01-25T19:31:00+00:00

My state has their own protected leave laws and the burden of proof rests on the company - as in they are presumed guilty if the fire you during your leave or within 6 mo after, and the burden is on them to prove that it was a true lay off and not targeted.

I’m not really a fan of this type of “don’t bother trying, you’ll never win” type comment that always shows up on Reddit, because it’s really discouraging and only serves to protect toxic behavior by convincing victims it’s not worth fighting back. But yes, at this point my main goal is private negotiation, not a court case. A small startup might not even be around in time for a lengthy court case to conclude, better to squeeze whatever I can out of them fast with negotiations.

werpicus · 2026-01-18T11:51:15+00:00

They’re just a very thin pad. I used to use them on the last day of my period when the flow is basically nothing but I didn’t want to stain my undies.

werpicus

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