u/lukiamagi

Hi everyone,

I know this mught be going to sound lame, but I al finishing a phd in physics, and deep down I know I should leave academia because:

-I would have to do an amazing postdoc to get back a competite resume

-even though I do like to do research, I am bad at handling the loneliness of autonomy, and I always ends up obsessed about my work in a non-healthy way

-even though I like mentoring, and presenting my work, I hate writing papers, and the idea of looking for grants and stuff to then hire people don't get me motivated

-I don't think I could mentally survive moving out multiple times for postdocs across the world

And so I think I have decided to leave academia after my phd ends, the only postdoc possibilities would be in european national labs, but not universities.

One thing that bothers me though when I picture myself moving into a big company, or a startup, is the loss of "prestige". Now I know this is very shallow, but everytime I picture many month into these works, I feel like in academia you "are someone recognized by others", or at least you feel like you are, where-as back then when I did an intership in a medium size company, I felt like no one cared that you were spending your day at your work. This is stupid, but my brain is stuck thinking like this.

Anyone has felt like this prior to leaving academia? How did you handle it?

Especially sometimes I feel that my career choices somehow try to include this prestige in the list of important criteria, so pushing me to work on what "society acknowledges as the big challenges of our time, like fusion, climate, space, deeptech and blablabla". Rationally I know it is shallow, but somehow it still feels like it matters to me, and I don't know what to do with these feelings in the career decision choices that have to be made at some point. I fear no one will care about me and what I do if its not prestigious (note here that I do have a loving family, gf, and several good friends in my life).

Tl;dr don't know how to handle the pursuit of prestige feelings in career making choices

Hi everyone,

One of my closest friends is visiting Okinawa soon, and he is in charge of the planification. I read often about temples located in seacaves in Okinawa, but I have no idea if it is true, does anyone knows of temples or altars that can be visited in seacaves of the region of Okinawa?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

Recently I have been concerned about sustainability in the space sector, and have come to know I am not alone about this, at least in Europe.

So as a profound enthusiast over space exploration, I was wondering how fellow fans might feel about the current sustainability of our beloved space industry (especially outside Europe).

Are there sustainability, or free access, issues you are worried about in the foresee-able future? Do you think passion is more important than sustainability (as in fast-pace low-sustainable better than slow-pace highly-sustainable)?

Looking forward to hearing everyone's opinion on what I feel is rarely discussed when talking about SpaceX, BlueOrigin, Nasa, ESA, JAXA etc...

Hi everyone,

I am posting this as I wish to understand a bit better the career possibilities in Europe as of 2026. My girlfriend has finished a MSc of Geology in Europe, and it has been more than a year now that she hasn't found a job, neither in academia or industry.

As someone who studied physics, I have a hard time understanding exactly the landscape of geology in Europe, and would be really glad if someone could share:

1° general information on the current oulook and prospect of phd and industrial career for geology as of 2026 - in Europe

2° any advice the might help find a job or a phd, even remotely related to geology if need be, as having being jobless for someone so passionate about geology seems to take a toll on her mental health and I wish to help anyhow I can

3° wether it is true that most geologist jobs are not located in big cities, but in remote regions

From what I understand, the main areas of focus during her studies were very broad and general, with some focus on "volcanology, metamorphic petrology, and geochemical analysis". Ideally she would love to do a phd, but after a year there are financial needs too.

tl-dr looking for advice and information about entry-level jobs/phd in geology in Europe