My anxiety has been through the roof since 2025 for obvious reasons. I was able to drown it out before with work but now that I'm waiting for my OPT EAD/job hunting/thesis writing it's back with a vengeance. How have you guys been managing your mental health?
I just had my defense today and while my presentation went really well, I feel like I let myself down in my closed session. I wish I had answered questions more sharply and been more careful about the way I thought things through. One of my advisors likes to take notes and give written feedback during these types of meetings and he said as much as well - while he told me I had given the best talk of my PhD he had a lot of feedback about the way I answered some of my questions.
I feel like I low-key failed :(((( I almost feel guilty and a little unworthy of the PhD and wish I could try the closed session again. They definitely wouldn't have failed me (I wouldn't have been allowed to defend if they didn't think I was ready) but I just feel like I didn't...do as well as I had hoped or what I think should be PhD worthy. And now I'm scared that maybe I'm coming across shitty in my interviews too lol.
Just....sad. :(
I just had my defense today and while my presentation went really well, I feel like I let myself down in my closed session. I wish I had answered questions more sharply and been more careful about the way I thought things through. One of my advisors likes to take notes and give written feedback during these types of meetings and he said as much as well - while he told me I had given the best talk of my PhD he had a lot of feedback about the way I answered some of my questions.
I feel like I low-key failed :(((( I almost feel guilty and a little unworthy of the PhD and wish I could try the closed session again. And now I'm scared that maybe I'm coming across shitty in my interviews too lol.
Just....sad. :(
I recently applied for a scientist position at Genentech and received a link to a video assessment today. Has anyone done these before? I'm not sure what they plan to ask or how fast they'll move from here. It def feels weird and impersonal.
I'll be wrapping up my PhD in mid August and traveling across the country to live with relatives and continue the job hunt while my OPT application is processing. Ofc I have the OPT I-20, and my F1 visa only expires in 2028. Should I be worried about being detained or something? What other documents should I take with me?
Out of curiosity has anyone heard back (in any form) from Lilly for the Advisor - Analytical Sciences (Orna associated)?
I've had two postdoc interviews so far, one of whom contacted me after seeing my talk at a conference, and both have ended with 'we're interviewing other candidates rn so we don't have an answer for you yet, but you should keep exploring your options in the meantime'. And both after having had (well, what I thought we had) excellent conversations. At this point idk if I am just very very bad at reading people, or if I'm giving off red flags somehow.
There is nothing I hate more than a soft reject, like if you don't want me, just tell me. It's ok!!!! I hate this process so much. Why are academics so non-committal???
I've had two postdoc interviews so far, one of whom contacted me after seeing my talk at a conference, and both have ended with 'we're interviewing other candidates rn so we don't have an answer for you yet and don't know when we will'. And both after having had (well, what I thought we had) excellent conversations. At this point idk if I am just very very bad at reading people, or if I'm giving off red flags somehow.
There is nothing I hate more than a soft reject, like if you don't want me, just tell me. It's ok!!!! I hate this process so much. Why are academics so non-committal???
I interviewed for a postdoc at a government agency a few weeks ago, and everything seemed to be going well. I even started my interview process with them well before the job was posted. They have a strict start date of 9/15, so (reluctantly) I was ready to file for premium processing of my OPT. They had me figure out the next steps with their immigration office so they could be aware of the process. I had my last interview with them this week, and informed them of what the immigration office said and the deadlines I have, and they said they needed a few weeks to confer with the other collaborators/interview other folks and would let me know. Now, as per the rules, I have to file my OPT before 6/29. 30 business days before 9/13 is 7/31, and ofc I would love to be able to file well before that.
My dilemma is that I don't know whether to go ahead and set the premium processing application in motion. I'm not sure if it makes sense to wait till the week of 7/20 (so 7/24 at the latest) to file, since that's two weeks from now, or whether I should go ahead anyway. I don't really have anything else in the pipeline that seems to be moving forward. If I file and they say no, I will be out ~$2500 and will also have lost the extra time I could have used to job hunt....
Any advice? I'm stressed and confused.
I'm a PhD candidate with a background in LNP-mRNA/cell therapy. I have an offer for an academic postdoc that would train me on GMP-scale manufacturing of cell therapies, closed-system platforms like Prodigy, other bioreactors, and IND submission/regulatory work.
However, now that the field seems to be moving toward in vivo delivery (like targeted LNP-mRNA), I'm a bit concerned that this postdoc is squarely in the ex vivo cell manufacturing space. The day-to-day hands-on skills probably won't transfer to LNP/in-vivo manufacturing (to my knowledge anyway, obv things could change as I make progress in my work).
I hope to transition to industry after a year or two and continue working in the cell therapy space. However, I'm nervous that losing touch with my delivery skills and focusing on ex vivo cell therapy will box me into that specific niche when industry might be looking for more specific in vivo delivery experience (maybe formulation or like RNA characterization or something like that idk)... Am I overthinking this, and does the CMC aspect carry enough weight to differentiate my skillset on its own?
Literally I have been sleeping 16h a day. I submitted my first author paper (I'm in life sciences) after revisions in early June and I defend in August. All I have been doing since then is sleeping or working on job apps/interviews. Idk what has suddenly happened, like I've always been able to sleep a lot but I wake up at 10am, eat breakfast, go back to sleep till 2, have a snack, take a nap till 4....it's kind of nuts 😶 I'm already on anti anxiety meds but has this happened to any of you? Not sure if I should be concerned or if this is a senioritis type thing!
What's dating in dc like for women in their early 30s?
Has anybody here on an F1 visa volunteered on OPT with a professor? If so, if you could let me know exactly what documentation you received from your department/professor, that would be amazing!
Has anyone interviewed with cellares lately? Trying to get a sense for anything specific they're looking for and their interview timeline.
For those of you who are non US citizens and are postdocs at the NIH, how were you affected during the government shutdown? Does this prevent postdocs from being paid or able to access healthcare or transport benefits? I am considering joining as a postdoc and I'm nervous about how the chaos will affect both my immigration status and ability to pay bills lol.
I have the opportunity to work at the NIH on cell therapies and it seems like a pretty cool opportunity. I'm also on a student visa. Given all the chaos at the NIH last year would y'all recommend it? Any current NIH postdocs with advice?
I have another postdoc opportunity that may or may not work out at a big university on the east coast where the commitment time is much longer, and an application at a company with a very solid reference and lab collabs (who knows where that is going to go lol). My goal is ultimately to end up in industry.
I'm a single 30yo woman moving to Philly soon for a postdoc. Hoping to finally date desi men after a stressful few years in a super white Midwest town - what is Philly like for my demographic?
