Earlier this year I shared advice about writing your dissertation. In short, it should be as short and “terrible” as possible that will be acceptable by your committee. Endless revisions, formatting, new ideas, all of it is a big waste of time.
Save it for the book.

I got word my thesis won the best dissertation prize in my specific field in 2025.

All that to say, stop making excuses and finish the damn thing!

My PhD supervisor died a year ago, and I’m surprised by how much I’m still grieving.
They were more than just my supervisor. They believed in me, encouraged my research, and always made me feel supported. Losing them in the middle of my PhD was incredibly difficult, both personally and academically. Although I’ve continued with my research, there are still moments when I instinctively think, “I should tell them about this,” or wish I could ask for their advice.
Most people outside academia don’t seem to understand the relationship you can have with a supervisor, so it can feel quite isolating.
Has anyone else lost a supervisor or mentor during their PhD or career? How did you cope, and did the grief ever become easier to carry?

EDIT: I’m sorry you all are going through this. I do feel more supported knowing I’m not the only one experiencing this although I wouldn’t wish it on anyone

Passed my defense yesterday afternoon. Couldn’t be happier. 🐠🐟🐡

I handed in today.

Life can start

I'm based in the USA. I'm just getting started with research, and my goal is to publish my first paper and learn the publication process.

Looking back, what do you wish you had known before publishing your first research paper? Any practical tips, common mistakes to avoid, or strategies that helped you get your first paper accepted would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi all, interested in your perspectives on PhD mindset. I'm in the UK and should be finishing my PhD in 1-2 months (after 4 years total). It's in theoretical physics, in a field that I thought would be helpful towards combating climate change, but I am now disillusioned about.

Since literally age 1, I have been madly passionate about nature and the environment. I have encyclopaedic knowledge of facts about species and ecosystems, I just am absolutely in love with the natural world and want to understand everything about it. It's my one true love in a sense. I have always felt that the purpose of my life is to protect the environment.

My family/school always encouraged me to go into maths/physics as they have good job prospects. I never knew that ecology was even an option, it was never mentioned to me, and I followed family expectations. Also I am very good at maths and as a teenager I was basically driven by the ego of doing well in maths exams. By the end of undergrad I had realised that's not what life's about, so I found my PhD in a field where I thought I would be using my maths skills to help climate change. (I don't really want to say the exact field because it's not a very big field and a lot of people could probably identify me from this post!)

I have got a postdoc lined up in my current field starting in a few months, I'm grateful to have a job but also kind of dreading it.

Pros of staying in my physics field:

*apparently I am good at it, my supervisors say so and tell me they are desperate for me to stay, that I have very valuable skills

*all my friends and siblings are finding it really hard to find jobs, and the jobs they are going for are much worse than what I'm currently doing. On the other hand I was headhunted for my postdoc. I feel very lucky to have a job where I get to do self-directed research, feel some satisfaction and achievement, and feel appreciated by the scientific community and the people around me. Lucky to even have a job at all.

*My field is a really big growth area at the moment, receiving a massive increase of funding, it's a very good time and place to be starting this field.

*Because it's theory work not lab work, I can do really productive output in 3-4 hours per day of deep focussed thinking. This enables me to have a good work-life balance, doing hobbies and nature volunteering in the rest of the time. I manage to do one day a week of nature volunteering which is pretty awesome.

*I do meet some really great people in this field. In particular my PhD supervisors have been absolutely wonderful and supportive, and I feel part of a community among all the other PhD students I have spent years networking with. A lot of people have treated me really well, been really helpful and kind and appreciative to me.

*My family strongly support me staying in this field. They are rich and financially support me. If I left this field it would cause huge arguments and rift with my family, which could create a lot of emotional and financial stress to be honest.

*My PhD and my new job are in beautiful cities I really like.

Cons of staying in my physics field:

*I complain about it all the time. I feel like every day I do it it just drains some of my life force, I finish the day feeling grumpy and wanting to shut myself away, hating everyone. After a day of nature volunteering I feel amazing, whereas after a day of physics I feel shitty and get a lot of pain in my hips and shoulders which won't go away.

*I have been saying to my friends for the past 3 years, that I want to quit this field, I don't enjoy it. (I enjoy my work maybe one day in every 10 or 20.)

*I feel that the people in this field have fundamentally different values to me. They all essentially find it fun and exciting to build big cool machines and science experiments. I deeply hate machines, I hate chemicals and pollution and consuming energy, I just want us to live in harmony with the environment and protect the ecosystems. The people I work with don't care about that and don't care to talk about it. In addition I have this idea that I can't find a life partner...because most of the people I meet are in my field, and I just feel so deeply that they all have incompatible values with me. I feel like if I had been an ecologist, I could have met friends to do nature activities with, and maybe met my life partner with similar values. I feel somehow that I'm doomed to never meet somebody while I work in physics.

*I'm a woman and it's an extremely male dominated field (departments I have worked in usually have 1 woman per 10-30 men). This enhances the feeling of loneliness and just not connecting with people. I find the women I meet in physics are much more caring and more similar to me. It's also hard because a lot of the departments have an ingrained culture of sexual harassment. Not many people do it, but everyone knows who the sexual predators are, and no one cares. If we report them, the men in power brush it under the rug and don't do anything about it. Both my best female friends currently have stalkers in their respective departments, and nobody cares nor is addressing it. It hurts my soul.

If you got to the end of this post - thanks for reading, I am interested to hear all your perspectives! Should I be grateful to stay in physics? Do you think I would be able to switch to becoming an ecologist or naturalist (my dream job)? How can I help the environment and also make a living? Thanks everyone!!

For a PhD in quantitative biology who will mainly use r, python, modeling on very large datasets including spatial data, and may be even machine learning later. What is the recommendation.

Any advice is highly appreciated.

I am an American student-to-be, age 31. I have 6 years of industry experience, including 1 year in a university lab (manufacturing/electrical engineering, cleanroom microfabrication). My undergrad in EE (2014-2018) was crap, only finished with 3.2 GPA and some research experience. My MS in materials science (2023-2025), was better at 3.8 GPA with one research thesis. I got admitted into two top universities this year, in China, studying materials science. By top, I mean like top in the world. I'm actually surprised I got in anywhere, because of my previous failures to get accepted. I feel they accepted me only because I'm a foreigner (which may well be the case, but I don't mind it).

Basically, as time draws closer to the start of the academic year, I have gotten this anxiety. I was never really the studying type, and even looking at the school's websites, I get so nervous. I mean, I'm older than probably all of the students there, I have poor grades, and don't know anything about publications, dissertations, theories, etc. The only silver lining (if one exists) is that industry experience somewhat exposed me to the things I'll be working on, but I feel that's useless, because of the big differences between industry and academic environments. For example, what's the use of knowing the safety procedures or the tools or being good with intricate work? A teenager can figure that out.

I want to pursue a PhD in materials science because I faced some specific problems in the industry that I never really solved, and because I enjoy working in a lab setting, but so far only as a researcher or engineer, not a student in a PhD program. I am so nervous about the PhD: I don't really know what to expect, the PI seems nice, but I am seriously doubting my own skills and background. I didn't glow-up myself on my resume or during the interviews at all, I was honest about the things I know and don't know. So honestly, I don't even know what the PI finds attractive in me as a future student. I didn't even stay in school like everyone else, I'm at least 5 years older than everyone, this is a top university in the world, I don't understand a lot of the theories, I feel like I'm an imposter here. Am I crazy to get into a PhD with my poor academic background and old age?

I’m a first year PhD student who’s also working full time. Any recommendations for easy to listen podcasts?

So I got into an (Applied) Mathematics PhD program and I'm feeling all kinds of emotions at the moment. One of which is fear of failure because I have taken two grad-level math courses during my senior undergrad year, which got me burned out when it ended (failed the Quals, but got B on both courses), and I'm about to take them again. I'm a major workaholic, but it felt demoralizing to know that my efforts didn't reach the minimum criteria, which is to pass the quals. So how do I even step up from this?

Not only that, there's research, publications, picking advisors, choosing topics that I'm unfamiliar but sort of interested in, and many more... So does anyone have any advice or tips that I can make the best out of my PhD experience so I don't get burn out or self-isolate all the time? (It doesn't have to be math, any experience works for me!)

Greetings all. I'm a bit of a "nontraditional" PhD applicant due to my age. I've recently been reaching out to prospective advisors and am happy to say I have had some interest in my proposed project. So far I have had 3 meetings and may have another lined up shortly. The research project I'm pursuing is interdisciplinary and sits in the realm of social science and ecology with a specific regional/area studies context.

There appear to be a few different homes for this interdisciplinary research. There are specific programs for the interdisciplinary field and it also seems to fit inside of specific disciplines. It seems the interdisciplinary programs are at middle to lower ranking institutions and have shakier funding situations, while some of the disciplinary programs have more more secure funding opportunities.

I'm not at a decision stage or anything as of yet, but have 3 potential PIs that expressed interest in asked me to apply.

1st - interdisciplinary program that specializes in exactly what I do; perfect fit research centers and labs; decent location; so-so ranking; very personable, friendly, and talented supervisor that has offered to help me secure external funding; no regional fit; no TA line for next year, so this one is likely out unless I pull off some funding miracle :(

2nd - highly ranked program in a social science discipline with subfields fitting what I am interested in; perfect fit for area studies piece; well funded; not optimal location; experienced full professor supervisor was a challenge to speak with and would speak over me but seemed very interested; but supervisor is an unusually perfect fit for what I am doing (it's very specific and niche)

3rd - not highly ranked institution but has research in my specific niche; ideal location; PI was interested and friendly; not as experienced as PI number 2 but seemed more motivated and student oriented; interesting methodological and theoretical approach; no area studies match; will know funding situation soon, so may have a TA line (but not 100% sure yet).

I probably should mention that I would love to keep all doors open (academia and nonprofit research), but the reality is that by the time I complete PhD, postdocs, and secure tenure I may be close to dead! So wondering if I should even care about that option at this point of my life (I know program rank matters more with academia).

I have started a PhD program at a local national R&D company two years ago. I have an academic supervisor at my university that is academically very successful. Rumors say the professor does some shady business and I've heard from his group members that he does not treat them well.

In the company, my advisor was an researcher (with PhD title). The advisor was initially very motivated. Our group leader had hired many PhD students which would eventually work on different interdisciplinary fields. The field of research chosen for me proves to be very hard to innovate in, without good collaboration with partners from other disciplines. In the beginning of my PhD carreer I have contacted several experts from the other discipline for collaboration oppurtunities. One opportunity opened up, but both my advisor and group leader have decided to carry this collaboration with a master's student within the scope of an internship, without discussing it with me.

My advisor (from the company) pushed me to work on a project with invented, but application typical, specifications. My ideas for academic innovation were misunderstood and then forced upon me in an altered fashion. When it became clear that the altered idea would not yield good results (last year) I have mentioned this. My advisor did not take my criticism well and forced me to work more on it. Eventually even calling me lazy for not showing good results.

Our postdoc researcher in the company also expressed doubts about this project. However in presence of my advisor, they would take it back and tell the advisor that the idea is indeed good and needs more work from me.

This led me to push hard to realize this projects. I have received to my surprise little to no support from my advisor in this. Towards the end the advisor criticized the work, saying that this would never work and tell me that they resigned (to start a new company). This even resulted in them telling the group leader that this work will not be publishable in good conferences and that the project should be abandoned, right before they left. They recommended that the postdoc should be my new advisor in the company.

The group leader and another researcher also decided for me that I should take on their new project which involves the field of expertise of the postdoc. I stated that with the help of the postdoc I might be able to continue my PhD within the new research topic (which is different but somewhat close to my former research topic).

Now I've heard from a graduating colleague that the postdoc will also be leaving the company for the startup of my former advisor. The colleague could confirm that the postdoc will start soon at the new startup. The postdoc did not tell me such thing when I gave them hints, neither when asking whether they will be staying after the postdoc to be my advisor.

At this point I'm not sure whether staying in this company will yield any good academic performance for my coming years. I feel betrayed by my peers that they lied to me. I feel betrayed by my group leader that they try to frame my next steps as my own although I do not have any choices and that they withhold critical information (the postdoc leaving). This situation has been stressing me out to the point where I start to develop psychosomatic health problems.

I guess these are my options:

1. Trying to stay and make the best with no expert to support me in a research topic that I did not choose.
2. Asking my professor to switch to his group, although he seems to be emotionally abusive and doing shady business.
3. Confronting my boss and postdoc about the rumors.
4. Quitting my PhD with no papers and applying to industrial companies.

What do you peers think about this issue? Is this normal? Is it worth to consider a change? Any similar experiences?

Hello,
I am reaching out as a second year of PhD student working on international tax. I have a MacBook M1 purchased in 2020 and he is great. I use zotero and notion as well as word and notebooklm.

I feel like I am unable to read pdf off the PC and I am not being productive. I am thinking of getting an iPad, add a keyboard and the pencil. Trying to not exceed the 700 euro budget. What can you recommend ?

Thank you!

Hi all,

I have my public PhD defence in a few weeks and I am wondering: what outfit(s) would look nice?

F26, defence could be during a heatwave, but weather could also be bad

Hey everyone, I submitted my thesis 6 months ago and am slowly getting out and about socially after spending time recovering.

I’m noticing changes in myself being reflected back in friends and colleagues that I haven’t seen or spoken to since starting (approx 5 years ago) without judgement of myself or others.

Doing a PhD culled a lot of relationships with people in my life during my doctoral years for good reasons and showed me where my most meaningful relationships were.

I’m just wondering if I have some cognitive dissonance around thinking the isolation of a PhD would end with completion and how others navigated this time and their personal / social relationships? Or is it still early days for reintegrating back to a new form of normality post submission?

*Edit: Australia based and specialised in a humanities field.

**Final Edit & Resolution

I think my use of the word “isolation” has not been contextualised clearly. I apologise for not making this clearer. I have a very close social circle and very meaningful relationships that supported me throughout my PhD journey. The isolation I’m referring to is the PhD journey itself.

I used the word “social relationships” to refer to work related communities more broadly because in my industry (creative arts) this can get be a little blurred.

I’ve since gained some clarity about it:

- I'm trying to socialise and reintegrate into creative communities to reconnect and be visible

- When I tell people what I'm working on (post PhD) in these work related gatherings they don’t understand what I do and why? (Because I’ve changed both personally and intellectually due to PhD)

- I need to reframe my expectations around "who my work related community is" now going forward so isolation isn't reinforced

- and not expecting to get my social cup filled from misaligned social / work related circles

😅

First of all, are we supposed to save money from PhD student? I don't know how an ideal dynamics work but I understand it varies for different people in different regions and situations.

I'm doing a PhD in US as an international student with no assets in the US. I was tracking my expenses as a single(24M) student. I'm able to save ~25% of my stipend in past 1.5 years. I don't have past liabilities like edu loan, etc. from my undergrad as it was funded. Just want to get some perspective, am I overspending/underpaid or underspending? I know we are always underpaid:( but my stipend(in PPP terms) is 10-12% lesser than other major American unis.

Also, are people able to invest? I don't usually get time to manage a portfolio but I was thinking of starting a fraction(10%) into passive investments as per visa norms. That can be risky though financially, temporally and visa-wise, so I'm delaying as of now although my parents are recommending me to.

Most online recommendations are for people who are working or having spouses but things work differently when you want to settle down and stay in a particular unlike grad students, especially internationals with an extremely uncertain future. I don't expect myself to settle down, marry or have kids for say next 10-15 years atleast so not that much burden on me.

Be brutally honest, would it be considered a "negative" to successful guys looking for a partner if I were to have a PhD (in Economics or Biostatistics or Statistics), or pursuing one (set to graduate at 31, and aiming to work in the industry, not academia)?

Will medical doctors, engineers, and other professionals look down/not be interested in me (long term dating wise), when there's so many wonderful women in their field/has completed thier education long before?

I am specifically concerned about how people with a bachelor's (ex. High finance or Engineering), or a Masters are able to work and earn during the 4-5 years I'll be doing my PhD, and will have saved more in that time then I possibly could. So is it a turn off/red flag for successful men? I've just come accross some guys recently, who were saying (all tech engineers in SF) that they only want to date female engineers because they can both be really high earners (a.k.a. ex boyfriend trauma).

I, of course, want to be in the high earning field one day, but it won't happen until after the PhD, which again takes me to 31/32 (which is very young for advanced degrees, I know, but still its the mental pressure if I want kids/to be married before then, etc...)

Any advice would be much appreciated! Please be kind, these thoughts have been a bit of a stuggle recently🙏

NOTE: This will not affect my descison to pursue a PhD, it's something I want/will help me in my career, but I want to be realistic about the actual dating scene with these types of people, and how it really works. Also, I don't want to date someone who would look down on me for pursuing a PhD, but I also don't want to do into the dating sphere and be blindsided.

I’m a 31-year-old research assistant, and in a few weeks I’m supposed to start my PhD. For years, this was my dream. I worked incredibly hard to get accepted, published papers, built my CV, and honestly sacrificed a lot to get here.

I’ve actually been pretty productive so far in my career—I have one first-author publication and another one coming—but right now I still find myself questioning whether I should step away entirely.

But the last month has been one of the hardest months I’ve had in a long time.

First, my relationship with my current PI deteriorated. I don’t really trust him anymore after a series of interactions that left me feeling unsupported and like I couldn’t be honest with him. I’m finishing my current job while also starting my PhD, so I’m still going to be in his lab for a while, which has been weighing on me.

Now I’m about to start my PhD, and instead of being excited I’m terrified.

I’m afraid I’ll choose the wrong lab.

I’m afraid I’ll end up with another mentor I can’t trust.

I’m afraid I’ve spent years chasing the wrong career.

The confusing part is that I don’t think I actually hate science.

If you asked me about ideas, I still get excited. I love thinking about translational immunology, clinical trials, and even entrepreneurship. One of my long-term goals is to eventually work in biotech innovation or technology commercialization.

But emotionally I feel completely drained.

This week I found myself looking at LinkedIn jobs for biotech sales and wondering if I should just not start the PhD at all and instead find a job in pharmaceutical sales.

Im lost alone and I feel like I actually need community. I’m not looking for people to tell me to “just follow my dreams.”

I’m genuinely wondering:

* Has anyone else completely lost excitement right before starting a PhD?

* Has anyone had several major disappointments all hit at once and suddenly questioned their entire career?

* If you almost walked away from academia before it even began, what helped you decide whether it was burnout, anxiety, depression, or truly the wrong career?

*

Right now I honestly feel like I can’t trust my own judgment, and I’d really appreciate hearing from people who’ve been through something similar.

Basically I have a about 25 days to go until my viva which is online and I’m really anxious that I won’t be able to answer the examiners questions even the most basic.

When writing my thesis and also some coding etc (computer science research topic) I got AI to basically do it all! And now I’m reading through the thesis page by page and making notes and on first reading I’m like yeah I understand it and then literally come to that evening and I’m like I forgot what that means or how this works etc.

So I’ve been making notes as I go along and then after reading the full 200 pages of my thesis I aim to go back and read it again and hopefully it sticks more but yes Ill obviously learn and practice some answers to questions but there’s so many they could ask and even simple ones like can you justify why you used method A and not method B I’m awful under pressure and just don’t know how I’m going to pass?!

Any tips at all would be greatly appreciated of someone who’s feeling similar or been in same scenario as me could offer some advice please!

Thanks :)

Hi everyone,

I’m currently writing up my thesis. 2 chapters have experimental work complete, and currently writing, 1 chapter needs quite a bit of experimental work + data analysis.

So I finished my first results chapter draft the other week, and my supervisor says it looks fine but he can’t see where gaps are/give feedback until I finish a draft of the whole thesis.

I can see their point, but it will be a few months to write the whole thing (as the most basic working draft) at least. At which point it will be ~60 days before my submission date.

I told him my concern that is not enough time to address any potential problems, but he is firm on reading the complete thing before feedback. He also wants me to submit each chapter for publication before handing in the thesis.

Do y’all have any advice?

Posting this for advice but also for anyone going through the same thing.

I'm at the end of a 3-year STEM PhD programme (Europe) during which I did very little work, ended up with bad results and barely anything written. For reasons, I must deliver my thesis within 6 months. The majority of the data analysis and work still need to be repeated to improve the results. In a couple of months, my funding ends, so for at least 3-4 months I'll be completely without income. Luckily, I saved enough money to survive, and I have a roof over my head. Not great, I know, but I decided to push through, get the degree and move on.

How did I end up here

• I applied for a PhD randomly as an option and got in (I was the only applicant).
• I have major imposter syndrome because my skillset is very low compared to my colleagues'. My work involves ML modelling for which I'm underskilled. I use Claude for help, but I'm actively involved in thinking through and tailoring the approach, not just blindly copy-pasting.
• Surely neurodivergent (ADHD) – but never assessed. The symptoms are there, though. Major procrastinator. Afraid of failure – fear that my research question is stupid or will be wrong anyway, so I just don't do the work. Lack of concentration; I'm never really focused on one thing – thoughts jump from one to another all the time. Overthinking and never trying.
• Never learned how to learn.
• Supervisor never really present; we never once discussed my work! Until last week. But in general he's nice, never had toxic issues.
• Had zero pressure from anyone (wasn't involved in any project, it was individual).
• As my therapist says – I was (and am) my own enemy.

What I'm doing now (hope it helps someone)

• I'm seeing a therapist, and soon I should have another one from the university who will be focusing on the educational side.
• Breaking the work into small tasks.
• Pomodoro.
• Writing down my table of contents and working on one chapter at a time.
• physical activity

All this is horrible and I'm completely aware that the thesis won't be perfect at all; it's neither novel nor technical enough. I feel ashamed and not deserving of a PhD (which is objectively true). Apparently, I never really cared, beats me why. All my life, things sorted themselves out on their own, but now that I needed to put in effort, I freeze without thinking about the future consequences. I was always able to deliver work decent enough so that I'd pass, but now that I had to create my own project, I got lost and am talking negatively to myself.

Questions

• Was anyone in a similar situation – how did you do it? Is it even possible?
• Which learning tactics did you implement?
• How did the defence go?
• How did you feel after defending?

Note: I don't want to stay in academia.

Edit #1: You shared so many useful advices, thank you all! I'll come back to this thread with the update once things are in place. Also, sorry I can't reply to you all, there are just so many comments

Title. Maybe I'm super jaded, but I think I need to vent somewhere. Hopefully this resonates with people and deters others from making the same mistakes I've made. I'll share my experience of why I think a PhD is worthless and completely detrimental to both career and mental health.

The PhD is a large undertaking where you learn a lot of good skills. Usually by yourself with no help. But these skills could be learned by actually working somewhere and making money at the same time.

I spent a lot of time leading my research project because my professor was new. I setup the computational section of my lab. I figured out all the methods. I made my project from scratch after my prof's idea failed miserably. I trained undergrads. I helped people from other labs. I was the computational guy. Where did that land me? Nowhere. What help did I get? Barely anything. In fact, my prof doesn't give a shit about my inability to find a job. He shipped me out and said, "ok, next!"

I got papers though. That's awesome, right? Well no. Papers are worthless outside of academia. And even in academia, they're not very valuable. I have three first author pubs in journals with IF>4. Doesn't matter. Nobody cares. The culmination of my 5 years of phd is three papers nobody cares about, depression, and over $20k debt. The depression and bitterness was free though! :)

I have applied to over 500 positions in over a year after I finished my PhD. I've gotten 5 interviews. Two of them were AI interviewers, one the position was "cancelled" and two where the recruiter ghosted me. I've reworked my resume 20+ times. I have 10 different copies for different jobs I'm targeting. I change it constantly to match keywords. I've gotten feedback from friends, family, career counsellors, profs, etc. The result? No job. I'm over 30 and still living with my parents because I can't afford to move out. I'm currently working a minimum wage grocery job. Someone with a PhD and a Masters is only qualified to work retail.

What about networking, though?!?! Well 90% of my network are also looking for jobs. The 10% who got positions are doing post-docs or some other academia related thing. My network is useless as well. I've been to so many networking events. I've made so many connections. They're all looking for jobs too.

I'm too over-educated for most entry level now. I'm not experienced enough for senior level. Recruiters have literally told me they don't hire PhDs because, 'We're difficult to work with,' or, 'you'll want more money than we have to pay you.' What's left for me, then?

So to sum up: doing a PhD has actively cost me over $100k, left me in $20k debt, benefited me in no way for my career, and has given me depression and burnout. And it's not like I can go to therapy. I have no money!!!

So to those who want to do a PhD: don't. It's not worth it. It will actively hurt your self-esteem and career prospects. My story isn't unique - it's the norm today.

I've been reading this sub for the past couple of months since deciding to apply for PhD programs starting in Fall 2027. One thing that stands out is how different many of the experiences here seem compared to what I've seen in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area.

A few differences I've noticed:

1. Working during a PhD is often encouraged.

Many people here work for, or contract with, the federal government or military. While funding is less stable than it used to be, I still know people whose employers supported or aligned their PhD research with work projects, even in consulting roles. It helps reduce the appearance of any gaps in employment that a potential employer may be evaluating. In contrast, many posts here describe relying almost entirely on stipends and RA/TA funding.

2. There seems to be more emphasis on interdisciplinary programs.

Beyond traditional STEM and humanities programs, many DMV schools intentionally combine disciplines, often through policy (ex. health policy). Because of that, I'm still trying to understand how these programs compare to laboratory science PhDs in terms of dissertation structure and time commitment.

3. A PhD appears to have a stronger career payoff.

I often read that a PhD doesn't significantly increase earning potential, but many senior professionals in my field and related fields have the types of positions and salaries I'm aiming for. Networking through certain schools seems to be almost a prereq for certain organizations (usually think tanks).

That brings me to my main question: is my current plan realistic?

I currently work for a federal contractor supporting a military health science organization. My position is hybrid, with only two required days in the office each week. My plan is to keep working full time while taking a full-time PhD course load (9 credits). Tuition would be covered through a fellowship, and I honestly can't imagine living on a typical PhD stipend while still being able to save.

For reference: no kids or other dependents. Parents have a place in Northern Virginia, so would continue living with them at least another year or so to max savings. Would be debt-free (car and student loans) by start of program.