r/PhD

I'm 10 months into my PhD (STEM) and everything is going great, supervisors are really happy with my progress. But recently I started writing my confirmation report which is due in 2 months, and I'm using AI to synthesise my literature review section of my Introduction chapter. To be clear I don't ask AI to provide me a written literature review from scratch, I always make summary notes while reading a paper, now I'm feeding all those notes to AI and asking it to synthesise and connect all those papers, because I'm really bad at connecting and synthesising those papers together. I can write whole chapters about my work but when it's someone else's, I struggle. And also I don't use AI to write other things as I am a STEM PhD student and I love writing about my methodology, results etc.

I just wanted some opinions if I'm being dishonest by taking AI's help to write a lit review.

I know the thesis is meant to change over the course of the PhD and that it might end up drastically different from the initial proposal. That is the process.

But do you ever feel, based on the feedback you receive from supervisor(s), that you are end up writing something you never really wanted to write in the first place? How do you balance taking the feedback from a knowledgeable scholar with staying true to the project you want to write/create?

Edit: I should add that I’m doing a literature PhD so I’m not in a lab environment with PIs and other PhD students. The project is meant to be my own.

So some context.

I started my PhD in Feb 2024. Bright eyes and really excited. However in the intervening years I've been struggling with a currently undiagnosed illness affecting my eyes and skin. It's caused me to lose a lot of sleep and a lot of time to work, and has resulted in me being so behind that I've been forced to Masters out.

The decision has basically destroyed me and any interest in my work. I feel depressed and have begun to hate the work I've done. I didn't even manage to get the part of the project that I signed onto it for initially, I've been mired in the runup work to that.

I hate being in my own PhD office as my lab mate keeps talking to my supervisors about the work they're doing and how cool it all is. Makes me feel like I don't belong here and that I've failed.

Does anyone else have experience with this? Any advice for how to keep going with this? I've already got a Masters, a second one just feels superfluous, and I feel so close to just throwing the towel in.

On the other hand, ive applied for so many jobs since funding was cut and heard nothing back from any. I'm running out of time to find a job and also get this work submitted as my stipend has been cut. I'm stressed about having no job, and stressed about having wasted the last 2+ years of my life.

When attending larger conferences, there’s often talks that are technically in the same field or in an adjacent field to your research. How much effort do you guys put into attending those talks and actually listening? I find myself really struggling with both staying focused and just generally following when it’s not related to the topics or methods of my research.

Context: US-based 5-year phd in social sciences/humanities, I’m going into my third year this fall; living in HCOL area

does anyone have budgeting tips or advice for someone looking to maintain a sufficient emergency/savings fund while also not completely running myself ragged?

my first year i had my contracted work through the university and an outside part time job that i would get roughly 48-50 hours every paycheck (biweekly) but ended up leaving due to scheduling and sustainability. since then i’ve solely relied on my income from school and savings, but i don’t want to rely too heavily on savings.

checks are biweekly second and last week of the month. after taxes and such my take home is roughly 3k a month, which basically just covers rent. (i know this is not the best financial option but due to multiple circumstances it’s the safest option for me to live alone)

aside from rent i also have the usual utilities, phone, internet, car insurance (car is paid off), groceries and goods (think toilet paper, etc). i’ve been trying to get into more budget meal planning but i still find myself worrying about stretching my money. i virtually never eat out or go out for drinks, don’t really eat a lot of meat mostly vegetables, grains, fish. are there other areas i can cut back on without compromising my quality of life/phd experience?

any realistic advice or feedback is welcome! i can also provide a rough budget breakdown if needed for more info.

thanks :)

Is the Thinkbook laptop (16 gb ram, amd ryzen 7, 512 ssd win 11) a good choice for phd with heavy bioinformatics nad stat (R studio) work? Not too heavy but will use autodock, biovia, graphpad prism, spss and R. May use other open software too. Or any other? In or within the budget? Like ho victus?

It should be long-term (10 plus years) and upgradable. I have a hp pavilion (old model) but battery issue were there and after changing it started hanging a lot. Also i was told there is aproblem in ssd and the system may shut down anytime. So I am thinking of upgrading the laptop. I am from India. Field is biotech and bioinformatics

I have applied for a PhD (and it is one that I would really like to do) but I was kind of surprised to see that the stipend was considerably lower than other stipends of PhD's I have seen (which are largely now €25,000). I searched around on here and maybe 7 years ago a stipend of €16,000 was *barely* enough to get by in Ireland, however, with the cost of living and extortionate renting prices, trying to live with this stipend seems pretty difficult. I do have a part time barista job that I plan to keep if I am successful in my application, and I would supplement myself through teaching/demonstrating. My main concern is that when I look for accommodation surrounding the university, the rental prices are similar to Dublin (which is insane for a small town in the midlands). Does anyone else have experience with this, and if so, what advice do you have ?

Has anyone here successfully transitioned from an IT/Data Science background into environmental, marine, or forensic research? If so, what challenges did you face?

Hey everyone,I constantly feel a nagging sense of guilt whenever I am not actively working on my dissertation or research. Even when I take a Sunday off, I can't fully relax because I'm thinking about everything sitting on my desk.I'm trying to treat this like a standard job to protect my mental health, but the academic culture makes it feel like you should be working 24/7.Honestly speaking, how many focused hours a week do you actually put in? And what boundaries have you set to completely switch off your "PhD brain" during weekends without feeling guilty?

I am a double degree PhD candidate based in Finland (and my second university is in Australia) and my contract ends end of September. The PhD is in management and it has been so hard to find a job. I have behavioural science, psychology, sustainability, technology, marketing - a lil bit of everything under my belt but has been super hard to land an interview. Need to find any kind of job also to get my PR in Finland. Only getting sponsorship issues in Australia and the UK (have been looking at English speaking countries). I know everyone says networking but it doesn’t quite help. Also don’t want to be in academia anymore at all, but industry is really rejecting me left, right, centre. Quite exhausted, any advice?

I’m 22F and started my PhD at the start of this year My ex boyfriend (23M) of 2+ years was very upset, and had discouraged me from applying. He said I shouldn’t do a PhD because I’ll be broke and it’s dumb and that he “feels behind” and i will leave him ? Last year when I was studying hard in honours he told me that men don’t like intelligent/ambitious women and that women don’t contribute to the workforce, they just take coffee breaks. He said if he had a daughter he wouldn’t let her do a PhD and that’s it’s a dumb financial decision.

He joined the airforce himself and became awful and didn’t seem happy / supportive about my PhD. He said I should drop my PhD offer and move wherever the military posted him and do my PhD there (like it’s so easy to get accepted?). I felt really hurt because I worked hard and he said my PhD was dumb and it was the problem between us. I was supposed to support his career and follow him around, while he disrespected my ambitions. I ended up saying goodbye and ghosting him because I felt so emotionally neglected and he was being avoidant. We were dating to marry and I was heartbroken and struggled to feel excited for my PhD.

Has anyone had similar issues when starting their PhD ?

I am 28 F from a country in Africa. I work for a company in Germany for an easy job (not related to my studies)
In 2025 i had a breakdown that had me think that i was useless and dumb, i was kind of lost with ly life. So i challenged myself that if i could succeed a PhD i could prove myself that i am not useless and not dumb. So i enrolled and my idea of research interested my university and i got an admission.
When my boss heard it, he wanted to know more about my phd insight. So i told him. He is willing to help me and even told me that he could see if i could integrate his research group in Germany and in parallel continue my work for them in Germany. Which is such a great opportunity.
I am really motivated. However, i don’t feel confident as much.
I don’t feel like i am an excellent person, neither a very intelligent one. And i am afraid in case i disappoint them.
Now, the PhD becomes a great matter. I gotta ask some questions
If master thesis is a beginning from doing a research, what’s the real difference of making a master thesis and a phD?
In mu first year, what should i prioritize doing? What can i alreadyy start to do and on which purpose?
If I am in STEM, how can i survive with this AI fast progress and do i contribute to a technological progress and avoid having an idea that already existed ?
Do i really have to be smart to have a PhD?
Thank you guys

I am applying to PhD studies in America, and I would really like to get accepted. I studied in English in Slovakia for both my bachelor's and master's degrees. I do not believe in my writing; to say this clearly, I am very insecure about it and would like to improve. This is my finished SOP, which I am planning to apply with any criticism and changes are welcome. I would really appreciate the help.

The cinematography scene has been a long-term fascination of mine. This spiraled into my fascination taking a different direction, which was observing a variety of texts and films and noticing the differences in adaptations. The specific instance my fixation grew was when I was introduced to the 1990 miniseries IT written by Stephen King. This occurred in my youth, and from an early age I noticed the differences between novels and adaptations, compelling me to research the topic further for my bachelor’s thesis on why these alterations were made. Comparing certain issues, arguments, topics, stories, and adaptations has become a strong suit of mine. Stephen King has explored recurring themes across literature, such as morality, racism, sexism, and domestic abuse, which led me to analyze these themes and the alterations that are essential within the novel but omitted in film form. Upon reflection, this inspired my bachelor’s topic, which is titled “A comparative study of Stephen King’s novel “It” and its various adaptations”. An important aspect within the comparative realm that I have noticed is that it can be compared to translation studies. The manner in which certain words cannot be directly translated into one language, simply because there is no equivalent in each language of translation. This furthered my research to observe why certain aspects cannot be translated correctly from written form to on-screen.

The theoretical framework orbited the mere exposure effect, which aligned perfectly with the main aims and arguments, which I strived to achieve in the bachelor’s thesis. Moreover, this meant arguing the fact that what the audience experiences first is ultimately the piece they shall favor due to being exposed to it first. This is a common issue when analyzing novel-to-film adaptations, since an audience usually experiences reading the written form first. Coincidentally, this argument was vital in my thesis, along with the translation argument concerning cinematography and how it can be analyzed from the translation perspective. The bachelor’s thesis attempts to argue the facts of time constraints, monetization, differences in perspectives, advancement of technology, and cultural time shifts, among others. Additionally, another crucial aspect that needs to be taken into consideration is the themes and symbolism that were necessary in the novel, which did not have the same effect on screen. The investigation on this topic closely relates to the source Linda Constanzo Cahir (2006) and her views on adaptation from her theory piece titled “Theory and Practical Approaches”. The arguments aided the bachelor’s thesis to thrive in the direction of proving the arguments put forward and the details that were important in the novels.  Along this journey, I have gained immense knowledge in this field and a plethora of information in adaptation studies, as well as comparative analysis and fundamental facts needed to further research any topics similar to my bachelor’s thesis.

I have grown to admire these topics and themes. Moreover, this inspired me to further immerse myself in similar themes for further research, since the comparative realm is so vast. To make my dissertation thrive, I believe it is essential to be guided by renowned scholars with profound knowledge in this field who can point me toward an advantageous trajectory. Professors such as David Greven, Mark Minett, and Susan Courtney have also inspired me in the past when I was writing my bachelor’s and master’s theses. Their topics align with my past research, especially since the focus of my master’s thesis was on the role of Nen (power system) in the well-known anime Hunter x Hunter. My curiosity grew while writing about this topic, observing it through the lens of narrative complexity, character identity, and worldbuilding. The challenges I faced while writing my master's thesis proved that conducting research is both demanding and rewarding; however, the experience also made me realize that my strengths lie in research and that I enjoy the process of writing and refining academic work.  The thirst for knowledge and improvement is essential in an academic setting, and I have realized that early; due to this fact, I always strive to improve.

My research direction incorporates themes of horror, narrative shift, the differences in writing and improvement in Stephen King’s It and The Shining, and the effects this had on the adaptation. Both pieces of literature are very different; however, similar in certain aspects. Additionally, my research plans consist of intermedial transposition, authorial intent vs. director autonomy, and cultural reception longevity. The main issue I have noticed and would like to argue is Stephen King’s writing and why there is a shift between The Shining and It, and why one piece stands out over time and receives multiple adaptations while The Shining is noticeably left in the shadow.  Highlighting the importance of the written piece when it concerns adaptations. Adding knowledge of different perspectives when it concerns a specific literary piece and the outcomes due to clashes in artistic view. Given that this is an emerging field with limited existing research, I would appreciate the opportunity for this dissertation to serve as a foundation for further scholarly investigation in this area, under the guidance of faculty at the University of South Carolina. I strongly believe that, if admitted to the University of South Carolina, I would have the opportunity to further develop my research under the guidance of distinguished faculty members, which would elevate my academic career and enable me to contribute meaningfully to the field of adaptation studies and comparative literature.

Information has never ever been more readily accessible.

If you want a textbook on any topic, a few click and you will find the bible of the field.

If you want someone to teach you something, a few click and there's a video from MIT, Stanford, or Princeton.

This has unfortunately created an information overload situation for people doing multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary research or people who are just intrinsically curious or has "scanner personality" (Jack of all trades, master of none).

The most innovative research ideas combine insights from many fields, and it seems that the trend is towards these innovative or even unusual ideas.

Also, if you are thinking out of switching outside of academia later on, read the job requirements. It's almost like a laundry list of topics, typically outside of your immediate area.

How do you find focus in a time like this?