u/Middle-Coat-388

Hi everyone,

I defended my thesis on 18 may and joined the postdoc on 1st june. Right after my PhD I could not relax since I had to move to another city before joining my postdoc. The first two weeks of work were really fine, I was able to get so much work done but from the past two weeks, every time I open work I feel like throwing up. The work is still interesting but my mind is procrastinating a lot. I just stare at the screen, I can't write a single sentence. I read papers, but my mind is not absorbing the information.

I feel so guilty about that, I had a paper deadline from one of the papers I was working on during my PhD, and I could not submit it on time. I just gave up, my mind straightaway refused to work. I know what needs to be done, but I am being so lazy. I just don't feel like working.

Has anyone experienced something like this? I would really appreciate some guidance. I could be lazy here too I just don't know what is wrong with me.

Hi everyone, I have recently started a new research job. I shared my office with different people from masters to PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. I don't mind a bit of chit chat but sometimes, some people start throwing water, playing with toy guns, table tennis and what not. I have seen worse during my PhD, when I was sharing my office with 30 to 35 people. Why do some people make so much noise? It is not like that they don't realize that they are distracting others, because most of the times they say sorry I am distracting you, or you must hate me. Do they not work? Are they not worried about wasting their time? I don't understand, I have somehow gotten used to it, but sometimes I feel bad for other hardworking PhD students. Also, I have tried headphones, listening to podcasts, music without lyrics, music with lyrics in different language, and even noise cancelling. None of it worked for me, I just like to study in natural settings. Also, I have tried to work from other places like cafes, library silent rooms, and all but then I miss my big screen, or the convenience of the office. What do you guys do about it?

Hi everyone, I submitted a paper last year to a good journal in my field but it took about 4 months to hear back from them about a major revision outcome. At that time, I was finalizing my PhD thesis so I asked for an extension. Later, my PhD viva was organized very quickly, so I could not work on the revision and asked for another extension. This time I got a post doc offer in another country and I had to immediately relocate due to which I could not finish the revision of the paper. I feel terrible for not being able to do it, but my mind is so overwhelmed with everything and I would need another extension. How bad does it look if I send an email to the editor of the journal for the third extension. I take complete responsibility for it, I could have been better at time management, but even after having some time I cant really focus on work due to many things happening at the same time.

I am moving to a new city in France for a job. I booked a private residence in advance and have already paid the first month’s rent and the security deposit. Before booking my train tickets, I messaged the residence manager to confirm their availability to ensure a smooth check-in.

Now, just two days before my move, I received a message stating they aren't available on Thursday due to a family emergency and can only let me in on Friday. Unfortunately, I cannot reschedule my travel plans as I am moving out of my current residence on Thursday. I don't know anyone in the new city, and I’ve also booked a luggage transfer service that is scheduled to arrive on Thursday.

I understand this is a difficult personal situation for them, but it has put me in a very tough spot. Has anyone dealt with this before? What should I do?

Hi everyone, last week I defended my PhD in the UK and got the outcome passed subject to major corrections. I got 6 months to do them, during my viva my examiners said that these are minor corrections but we don't want to put pressure on you so we are giving you 6 months. The main reason I got these is because 2 of my chapters are in the process of publication and examiners want us to have them in the thesis as well.

I have been offered a postdoc position which starts next month. My employer has asked me to provide a certificate of passing my viva. When I asked my university for the certificate I got the one which says passed subject to major corrections. The postdoc position is not in the UK and generally major corrections are not that common here. I am so scared of what will happen now, what if they don't hire me anymore. I have been given 6 months to make the corrections, I feel so disappointed in myself. It is also very embarrassing. Most of the corrections are about expanding the description about how they can be implemented to other industries.

I have made all the arrangements to start my new job, booked an accomodation and all. My supervisor is also in a hurry to hire a candidate because the funding will be gone if they don't hire someone by the next month. I had to go through a very strict security process to get access to the lab. I am worried about what they will think about me now, they may have second thoughts about hiring me now.

Hi everyone, I am 28 years old, I have been living abroad for the past 4 years, and I just finished my doctorate. My elder sister also has a PhD and she will be 32 years this years. The problem is we both are unmarried, and as you how big of deal it is in our society. We both live independently, earn a good salary but unfortunately we have not been able to find a right partner so far.

My parents are well educated, they feel really proud on our achievements but whenever they see other people and their kids getting married they get so disappointed and start blaming us for wasting so much time in pursuing a PhD. Although, we never said no to getting married, its just we did not like the matches given to us. Also, my sister wants to meet the guy once before deciding anything. It is 2026, and most of the time the persons family has an objection whenever she proposes the idea of meeting the guy before marriage. I feel so frustrated. Today my father called me and said they are going to finalize the next guy they meet. There is no need to meet him in person since it creates a bad impression in the eyes of grooms family.

When I defended my thesis, my relatives called to congratulate me and then they only had one question: When are you getting married? As if I have no other purpose in this life. I am not dependent on anyone I don't understand this pressure. Now, they have allowed us to find partners as per our requirements, but there are so many conditions. Like religion, cast, good family and all. How in this world am I going to find a partner fulfilling all these stupid conditions. Its like I am an animal, who has done enough work in their parents farm and now have to find another place to work. I feel so frustrated, All my life my parents conditioned us to stay away from boys, always keep our eyes down, never give our number to any boy, otherwise we will bring shame to our family. And now, everytime we call our parents they show this sad face that we have already crossed the age of marriage.

We do we still suffer from this stupid mentality? What is wrong with our society? I don't even feel ready for marriage, and most importantly I don't want to get married just for the sake of it. They were so strict with us when we were in school and college, now I regret that I didn't have a boyfriend before, I should have explored my options.

I need to move from my city, and I have two big suitcases. I am taking a train but I need to make 2 changes and I think it will be difficult to take both of them on the train with me. I am also very short so it becomes very difficult to carry suitcases on the travel. I checked the SNCF luggage transfer service but the reviews are not good. Has anyone used any other service? Alternatively, if you have an advice for me about moving, please let me know.

Thanks

Hi everyone, I defended my thesis yesterday and received a passed with major revision outcome. Although the examiners said that the thesis does not require major amendments but to avoid putting the pressure on me they gave me 6 months to finish the corrections. They also wanted me to include the new versions of the chapters since they all are currently under review at different publication venues.

I have been offered a postdoc position at a CNRS lab, and my postdoc employer is asking me to provide a proof of PhD. I am worried if the passed with major corrections outcome will have an impact on my postdoc job. Will it be mentioned on the certificate or on the diploma that I got major revision?

Hi guys, I am going to defend my thesis in 5 mins. Let's see if I pass..

Hi everyone, I have my PhD viva on monday. It is going to be on zoom, and I will have two external examiners and one internal examiner. It starts early morning, I am not sure how long will it take. Just asking this to make up my mind. I am allowed to ask for breaks in between.

thanks

I have a postdoc position in CNRS France, which starts from 1st June. My PhD defense is on the 18th of May in the UK, and I am expecting minor corrections. I don't know what kind of document I will receive after my defense. I have to give a diploma to my french employer, as they are waiting for it. I don't know if they will accept anything else other than a diploma. Not sure what I should do in this situation.

I received a rejection decision on my manuscript today. It's not the first time my paper has been rejected. The other two rejections I received were really helpful and allowed me to understand how the papers can be improved. We followed the comments and the papers later got accepted to those same journals when we submitted them again as a new contribution. However, this time I received the comments from the reviewers which are straightaway AI generated. I can't prove it though but I feel very disappointed. The first reviewer has given 13 comments and all of them are just criticizing the paper. They have not referred to any sections, tables or figures . They have not evaluated a paper section by section instead all the comments are so difficult to understand because of added modifiers. It seems like they just uploaded the paper to an LLM and copied the points.

Before whenever I received comments from reviewers they would have equally good and bad feedback. This time all the comments are just very long sentences with modifiers and without actual evaluation on how paper can be improved. The second reviewer has paraphrased the comments of the first reviewer. I don't know how to deal with this rejection right now because I have my PhD defense next week. I feel so disappointed because the paper is the main contribution of my thesis, although it does not matter whether it should be published or not before the defense. I am afraid that they uploaded my paper to the LLM and now the original idea will be distributed to other people.

I am disappointed because the reviewers didn't even bother to read the paper and directly pasted the comments from an AI. Also, it is a big journal in my field. It is beyond frustrating at this point. When I submitted this paper, I was immediately reached out by the auditor to replace the abstract and highlights to the ones they suggested (those were also AI generated ) then I asked my supervisor and they suggested I should do what the editor is asking me to do. I feel like that AI generated abstract created high expectations of the paper while the original abstract was softly worded to show the content of the paper. I should have not ignored this red flag, but this is the first time I was submitting to an open access journal and I thought this must be the way. We didn't pay anything since our university had an agreement with the journal. Also, the comments are very rude, there is nothing constructive about them. After reading them, I have lost all my confidence in my defense. Just last night I was practicing the general PhD viva questions and saying that I was the most proud of this contribution. I don't know how I should deal with this now, and focus on my PhD defense.

Sorry, It may sound like I am whining too much about the rejection but I just feel it's very unfair.

I received a rejection decision on my manuscript today. It's not the first time my paper has been rejected. The other two rejections I received were really helpful and allowed me to understand how the papers can be improved. We followed the comments and the papers later got accepted to those same journals when we submitted them again as a new contribution. However, this time I received the comments from the reviewers which are straightaway AI generated. I can't prove it though but I feel very disappointed. The first reviewer has given 13 comments and all of them are just criticizing the paper. They have not referred to any sections, tables or figures . They have not evaluated a paper section by section instead all the comments are so difficult to understand because of added modifiers. It seems like they just uploaded the paper to an LLM and copied the points.

Before whenever I received comments from reviewers they would have equally good and bad feedback. This time all the comments are just very long sentences with modifiers and without actual evaluation on how paper can be improved. The second reviewer has paraphrased the comments of the first reviewer. I don't know how to deal with this rejection right now because I have my PhD defense next week. I feel so disappointed because the paper is the main contribution of my thesis, although it does not matter whether it should be published or not before the defense. I am afraid that they uploaded my paper to the LLM and now the original idea will be distributed to other people.

I am disappointed because the reviewers didn't even bother to read the paper and directly pasted the comments from an AI. Also, it is a big journal in my field. It is beyond frustrating at this point. When I submitted this paper, I was immediately reached out by the auditor to replace the abstract and highlights to the ones they suggested (those were also AI generated ) then I asked my supervisor and they suggested I should do what the editor is asking me to do. I feel like that AI generated abstract created high expectations of the paper while the original abstract was softly worded to show the content of the paper. I should have not ignored this red flag, but this is the first time I was submitting to an open access journal and I thought this must be the way. We didn't pay anything since our university had an agreement with the journal. Also, the comments are very rude, there is nothing constructive about them. After reading them, I have lost all my confidence in my defense. Just last night I was practicing the general PhD viva questions and saying that I was the most proud of this contribution. I don't know how I should deal with this now, and focus on my PhD defense.

Sorry, It may sound like I am whining too much about the rejection but I just feel it's very unfair.

I received a rejection decision on my manuscript today. It's not the first time my paper has been rejected. The other two rejections I received were really helpful and allowed me to understand how the paper can be improved. However, this time I received the comments from the reviewers which are straightaway AI generated. I can't prove it though but I feel very disappointed. The first reviewer has given 13 comments and all of them are just criticizing one point in the paper. They have not evaluated a paper section by section instead all the comments are so difficult to understand because of added modifiers.

Before whenever I received comments from reviewers they would have equally good and bad feedback. This time all the comments are just very long sentences with modifiers and without actual evaluation on how paper can be improved. The second reviewer has paraphrased the comments of the first reviewer. I don't know how to deal with this rejection right now because I have my PhD defense next week. I feel so disappointed because the paper is the main contribution of my thesis, although it does not matter whether it should be published or not before the defense.

I am disappointed because the reviewers didn't even bother to read the paper and directly pasted the comments from an AI. Also, it is a big journal in my field. It is beyond frustrating at this point.

I woke up in the night to use the toilet and made the mistake of checking my phone. I got an email from the journal about the decision of my paper. It is the main contribution of my thesis. Although it does not matter if it gets published or not before the defense, but I feel very disappointed in myself. Just last night I was practicing the general viva questions where I was saying that I am most proud of this contribution.

It was not the best paper I agree, but the timing of the decision is really bad. Also, the comments were all about the negative things of the paper which I already put in the limitations section. I have had 2 rejections before too, but the comments would always start from something positive about the paper or at least one good thing would be mentioned. This time however it is all negative. It must be a terrible paper then I guess. I should not take it personally. After reading the comments 3 times I feel like they have not provided any suggestions to improve. I don't understand what should I do now.

I don't feel confident enough to defend my thesis. I was going to buy an outfit tomorrow for my defense but I don't think I will be going anymore. My defense is online anyway.

PS: What pisses me off is that the comments are straight away AI generated. They do not help us to understand where the paper can be improved. They highlighted very abstract points. They didn't focus on any good things about the paper. The comments are all AI generated. That is really frustrating.

I am an Indian living in France, I ran out of ideas to prepare something quick tonight. Not getting good quality vegetables to prepare indian style recipes these days. I am thinking about preparing something western with an Indian twist. Please share your dinner recipe ideas. Would love to try them. Thanks