r/academia

So I was doing a research on architecture and out of no where he started talking how some people are selfish and only focus on their pleasures during sex and he connected it to how architects should design for the humans and not their ego. I mean, it is a smart example but I didn’t find it appropriate especially that he could’ve used many other examples to make the same argument. He then started saying that it is the same as masturbation and some stuff on how sex should be for the pleasure of both etc. he was also telling me not to be shy about this topic. I nodded my head and waited for him to finish this topic so that we can move to other topics that are less embarrassing. I am not sure if this is normal in academia or if I should’ve reported it.

I’m an early-career mathematician currently based in North America and I recently received a tenure-track offer from a university in my home country. The offer itself is very reasonable and I really liked the department on my campus visit.

My spouse is also a mathematician, and while we currently work in different countries anyway, accepting this position would basically mean deciding where we try to build a more permanent long-term life. So naturally, whether there are realistic academic opportunities for him matters a lot in the decision.

After receiving the written offer, I raised the possibility of dual-career considerations with the Assistant Provost for Faculty Affairs. The response I received was something like: “ no restrictions regarding family members applying for positions at the university. But all candidates are required to apply through the regular recruitment process for any available openings.”

The response is fair and institutionally understandable, but also not especially reassuring when trying to make a permanent relocation decision.

Obviously, I didn't want to talk about this dual hire until I have a written offer because I didn't even know if it was going to be a good offer (financial compensations aren't put into ads in my home country) but maybe bringing this up with assistant provost for Faculty Affairs wasn't a good idea? Should I contact the chair of the department?

My spouse had actually applied to the same position I eventually received the offer for, although I was the candidate selected to move forward in the later stages. At the same time, I don’t know how much to read into that because his area is pure math while the department’s current openings more for statistics/data science teaching needs. But also given the department has openings, the issue wouldn't be funding but more of a fit.

I have been told on the campus visit that the department has been consistently understaffed and they've been struggling to get good candidates for the positions open in maths. And that previous searches for the position I got selected for had failed for long time.

So now I don’t know what to do. The response I got seemed like the university isn't willing to even consider a temporary position as a start, which is something my partner may consider.

But I also don't know if I am maybe discussing this with the wrong person.

For people who have dealt with academic two-body problems, especially internationally: how much uncertainty is “normal” here?

I knew academia can be brutal but i didn’t know how completely it would shatter me till this cycle. I applied to 7 places for history. Got 3 interviews. 6 rejections. And one interview is coming up so I don’t know the outcome yet. It is thoroughly devastating and has left me completely broken as i never had any other plans since i was 15. My grades are fine, great even in undergrad as I received gold medal. Upper second(69%) in masters. I’ve never recieved anything but appreciation and sincere critical feedback from my profs, who were all convinced of my potential for phd, some even took it for granted. I have never had great self esteem but it convinced me that at least some uni will take me. Apparently not! I am unemployed, without any skills other than intellectual if that even counts and I’m stuck in a conservative family which constantly reminds me everyday about my lack of worth and curses me for taking humanities. At this point, i believe they’re right to do so. My mental health is in pieces. It’s the worst I’ve ever been and i have completely isolated myself with no support. I moved away from here to study and after five years elsewhere i really don’t know anyone in my family place to even talk to. U don’t know what to do. I genuinely don’t.

Hi, I'm researching (independently) on library book borrowing habits and its correlation with academic performance. Mainly to study whether too much pleasure reading affects academic performance and other questions like that. I need some data from universities and their library

1. List of books issued student wise, better if it is classified genre wise, date of issuing and date of returning

2. Students GPAs semester wise

How do I go about asking/gathering that dataset. If any university library is willing to collaborate it is more than appreciated.

Hi all, I’m looking for advice. I have recently finished my PhD focused on engineering simulations with AI and I’ve worked really hard on it for the past 4 years, and have developed some habits along the way. The first habit I’ve noticed is that I really enjoy diving deep into a research/technology project topic when it is exciting and thrilling. This is especially so when I feel like I can run experiments/proof of concepts on my laptop and want to tackle it immediately. However, I do find myself getting overly consumed by it which affects my state-of-mind during the day and night. One particularly issue is that the thought of work stays in my head which keeps me from falling asleep (as I’m typing this Reddit message now lmao). This leads to me staying up and sometimes sleeping any time between 2am and 6am. I also think that the peace and quiet at night allows me to think clearly and reflect on the day’s work which keeps my mind active… Since I sleep late, I get up pretty late the next day, usually around 12pm and I feel like I’ve wasted my morning and get suck into the feeling of needing to be productive in the afternoon where research/work is the main priority and everything else isn’t. I do feel like living a life this way isn’t healthy in the long-run. This had been my routine for the most of phd and I’m currently working as a full-time researcher now but I felt that I have not moved on to better habits. Does anyone have similar experiences and have any suggestions to improve my lifestyle?

Has anyone successfully returned to academia after leaving to pursue a career in industry? If so, how did you pull it off? What advice do you have?

Less than 1 year ago I moved to a new city to embark in a PhD (hybrid company-university) after having worked as a technician for some years. I was pretty motivated

Things started to go downhill quickly. The new company wasn't as I imagined and I kept comparing to my previous job which I loved and had an amazing and friendly atmosphere. That plus the fact that I haven't quite adapted to the new place and I'm finding it hard to make friends

My supervisor told me short after I joined she was 8 months old pregnant and left 6 months ago. She was supposed to come back on Juny where I would talk face to face with her but I just received a msg this morning she ain't coming back until September

I was hoping to schedule a regular meeting and tell her I was leaving, but my only chance rn is only via Zoom call or asking her to meet in person which would be odd

any suggestions on how to approach this?

PD: there is obv more stuff that happened to me personally and that "helped" things go wrong (breakup etc) but I really like the scientific project I'm in which is a shame. Also my room rent expires in 3 weeks I was hoping to match that date and leave at the same time

Hi all,

I've been browsing previous posts on this and seeing mixed thoughts, most of them from some time ago. Where are we now when it comes to Frontiers journals? As I eyeball it, I see it as objectively better than MDPI, but having a worse reputation than high-acceptance, high fee journals run by professional associations (i.e. Socius) that do the same thing. It was never on my radar to publish there, but I don't necessarily Frontiers articles in my Google Scholar Alerts if they seem interesting.

Anyway, I was asked to submit to a special issue by a reputable scholar I have worked with before and would enjoy working with again. I have some near complete research that probably wasn't going to land in a journal that I would normally submit to. If I don't have to pay, is there any reason I shouldn't put this out there?

I am at a SLAC now, where research is evaluated generously and I won't struggle at all for tenure. I was thinking worst case scenario, I could do this as a professional gesture to keep me in good standing with a researcher I respect, and if I ever went back to the R1s, reconsider listing the study on my CV.

What do you think?

I just want to vent after a series of unfortunate and heartbreaking events. Hopefully my negative feelings do not ruin anyone’s wonderful night.

I am an international PhD in mechanical engineering. I graduated two years ago and have been working since then at a small “startup” company. Honestly, it was a fun experience. I got to do academic research, but also turn research projects into actual products. I also got to work with two talented PhDs who graduated from top universities (MIT-level). So for a while, I really thought things were going somewhere. But good things never last long, do they? Two months ago, my company basically shut down, and our entire department was given 8 weeks to find a new place. What’s worse, I got laid off before getting H1B, and this year would have been my last H1B lottery chance. So I basically had no choice but to start looking for academia jobs, because with my visa constraints, it feels like companies automatically deny me the moment they realize what sponsorship would involve.

At first, I was still fairly confident. The search was brutal, but I thought, okay, maybe I still have a chance. I aimed at national labs or TT positions at RCU/R2 schools, mainly because I don’t have postdoc experience. I am by no means an accomplished PhD, but I do have 10 journal papers and over 200 citations. I know citation count is a bad metric, but hey, at least I don’t self-cite.

A few weeks ago, I got an interview at Lawrence Berkeley for a staff scientist position. I honestly have no idea how my profile got past the search committee. I was nervous during the interview, and to be fair, my background did not fully align with the division at LBNL. I was not selected, which was not exactly a huge surprise. But still, I got interviewed by arguably one of the most prolific researchers in my field at a top institution. I actually felt honored just being recognized by people at that level. Not getting into a top institution as a PI is certainly not failure in my dictionary. So the search continued.

Because I only started applying for TT positions in late February, most application windows had already closed, and my CV probably was not even reviewed by most schools I applied to. But then one RCU school, in a blue city in a blue state, had an emergency opening in late March that fit my background really well. Even better, I had very credible insider information about the search committee from a close friend. Two weeks ago, the search committee selected five candidates, and I was ranked first on their candidate list.

Then a week ago, their provost suddenly told them that they would not sponsor H1B unless the candidate who did not require sponsorship was utterly unqualified for the position. Today I learned that, after the interview, the search committee decided that the only candidate out of five who does not require H1B seems to be okay for the position. So they are going to move forward with that person, despite having interviewed only one candidate. So I do not even get the chance to interview, despite being ranked as the top candidate.

I have also been in talks with some companies that need my skills. The technical talks always go well until they realize the only realistic way they can hire me is to sponsor an O1 visa. Then everything changes.

At this point, I cannot even go back to my own school as a postdoc because it is in Florida. My mentor also passed away from a sudden heart attack in my fourth year of PhD, and I still mourn him. He was incredibly supportive to me. My NIW was submitted two years ago and I still have not heard anything. My EB1A application, despite being deemed qualified by my lawyer (a very credible one) is still hanging there and certainly is not going to save me in time.

Now the only possible way forward seems to be becoming an academic slave and working 24/7 as a postdoc. Not only would that cripple my salary, but I am not even sure any professor would take me, because they would need to spend extra money on H1B for me.

Seriously, why is everything against me. I worked so hard. I got the PhD. I published. I worked in industry. I built things. I tried to do everything right. And now I feel like none of it matters. I feel so hopeless and utterly heartbroken at this point.

I'm currently doing an Access to Biomedical Science course in preparation for applying to university later this year. One of the tasks in this assignment is to write a 600-word article examining a use of stem cells in medicine/research. For reference, I'm looking at mesenchymal stem cell-derived exosome therapy to treat long-term damage from chlamydia infection (I had norovirus recently and had a fever dream that I set up a chlamydia treatment centre).

I have used ChatGPT to summarise an article and explain some topics I didn't know or understand, such as CpG methylation. I will write my assignment by my own work, but does using AI as part of research count as academic dishonesty? Or if it is fine to use as part of research, how do I reference it in final submission?

Edit: thank you all for the perspective. It appears, like most things in academia, it varies wildly from institution. This was helpful!

I’m set to give a research talk at the start of my full day campus visit. I’ve never attended one myself and this will be my first campus visit. Who actually attends these things? How many people typically attend?

I’ve been teaching for about 15 years, across different roles and different universities. Students change over time, that’s normal. I don’t think students are becoming less intelligent as many colleagues say. That’s not really what I’m seeing. What I am seeing is constant indifference. Everything is too hard. Everything needs to be simplified. Then simplified yet more, then explained in a different format, then reduced again because someone is overwhelmed. But then if I reduce the effort too much, they get bored and disengage anyway.

They also have alarmingly increasing "special" needs. I’m not against helping and supporting students with difficulties, they should all feel welcome and supported, that's what uni should be about. At the same time I feel that the number of needs that I need to cater to has become impossible to manage. An alarming percentage of students has some kind of learning-related difficulty, attention issue, anxiety concern, or other need that requires special handling. They can’t sit for too long, can’t stand for too long, get overloaded if they have to study a bit too much. Concentrating is becoming harder and harder. Don't take a break after 40 minutes (which if I recall 45 is the official max for a teaching "hour"), and they immediately zone out, many times flipping out their phones, even during practicals. They are becoming increasingly spoiled, sensitive and fragile but then also complain if they don't get max grades, even though they don't put in the required effort.

I honestly don’t know how to approach this anymore. There are only so many needs I can take into account. There is only so much I can simplify before a course stops being a course and turns into a kindergarten playtime. At this point we are basically handing out free ECTS and pretending learning happened. This is where I would normally insert my "back in my day" statement, but I don't want my students to suffer what I went through. I still need some guidance though, because I'm really frustrated.

Its an age of technology and universities are now integrating AI into learning platforms, grading systems, student support tools and admin workflow

But i am curious how many schools are actually thinking about accessibility while doing this.

if a student using a screen reader or key board nevigation struggles to access AI-powered dashboards, forms or course tools, then the technology may end up creatign problems instead of makeing learnign easier. so accessibility should be part of this.

Universities and higher authorities must discuss this as a part of their internal policies.

I worked in Admissions for the past year, and I loved my job. It was fun being around students, doing events, being collaborative, etc. Everyone I worked with was so friendly and positive, and it felt like coming to work with friends every day. But my dream job was to teach history. History was my undergraduate degree, and I wanted to eventually go on to be a professor.

I got a new job as the Administrative Assistant in the same History Department where I earned my B.A. degree. I now work directly with the Department Chair, who is lovely. But the snobbery of the faculty has completely turned me off from what I wanted to do. My first week on the job, two professors whose classes I took, told me that this job is "beneath me." I hate this attitude. None of us are "too good" to take any job, whether it be office work, a grocery store, or flipping burgers. I'm thankful (especially in this job market) to have any job at all with benefits and a retirement plan. But more than that, I have friends and family that work similar jobs. It's insulting to them to speak that way.

My coworker who has worked in this department for five years said she's been yelled at by faculty on more than one occasion, just for trying to help them and doing her job. She said many of them are rude and look down on us. As I've been working here, I've heard professors talk poorly about each other, about students, about other staff members. Our department isn't doing well at the moment, and I understand faculty are stressed about a lot of things, but the nasty behavior and egos are completely out of line. If this is what working in a department is like, I want no part of it.

I took the university jobs because if I work for the university, I get three free classes a year. I wanted to use those classes to complete my MA in History, but now I'm considering Student Affairs and Higher Education instead, so I can go back to working closely with students and university events. I loved doing that, and everyone was so much kinder to each other. I'm also looking for a new job at the university to preserve my mental health.

​is it normal for the first feedback on an undergraduate research project to come back as a red sea? my advisor basically ripped me a new one and was extremely rude in the corrections, is the academic world really like this? i'm feeling stupid... i've never done research before, so i have absolutely no problem with being corrected, but he accused me of using AI even for data from reliable articles that i spent hours reading and typing (i didn't use AI at any point...), plus my idea for the project was one thing and he put a thousand caveats, insisting on making me look stupid/naive and pushing his lab's methodology (which doesn't align with the ethics i wanted for my project...) ​anyway, i just wanted to know if this is the norm in academia, i confess it really demotivated me regarding the academic environment :(

No, the universities name will not be changing

Hello everyone, new member here,

I'd like to discuss something that has been bugging me for about a year now: Academic metrics inflation and specifically, the inflation of citations.

It's always been a simple rule of thumb that an article, author or even journal with a ton of citations, is more reliable than others. Therefore, citation count matters a lot in academic institutions and research grants.

Journals care about their IF, some journals (top tier of Q1), have no issue with that since it's naturally very high, others however (talking about some Q2 and especially Q3), artificially boost theirs by encouraging submissions to cite their own articles, hence artificially inflating or keeping their IF. I've been asked to cite specific articles from a Q2 journal.

I've also seen very well-respected authors in my department utilizing arXiv to self-cite without any check to inflate their stats on google scholar. When I confronted one they said "Sadly, this is the game now, everyone does it and the honest ones mostly get left behind". I believe that some self-citing is okay, especially when building on published ideas but I've seen authors retroactively add citations on arXiv (e.g. for a 2025 pre-print, they add a 2026 article in the reviewed v2 while not sufficiently improving the article)

I've seen that arXiv is now trying to push back on some of the AI slop plaguing it, could something be done about citation inflation? I am still new in academia, just starting my PhD, I don't want to play this game.

I just finished my first year in a History MA programme at a fairly prestigious university with all As after studying my ass off, reading at least three books a week, and writing multiple papers that I'm really quite proud of. A year of rigorous study has only confirmed for me that academia is the right path for me, and I plan to apply for PhD programmes in the fall. I love being in academia (problems with it aside) and can't imagine myself doing anything else with my life.

The only problem is that my family does not understand my situation at all. They basically treat me like I'm a deadbeat and act like I just sit around all day doing nothing, and it really hurts. I'll spend an entire day, from nine in the morning to nine at night, reading, writing, and studying, and they'll still have the nerve to ask me why I "sat on my ass all day when I could have been working." They just don't get it, at all -- even though I am working, not just on my schoolwork, but also as a TA, and getting paid pretty decent money for it, too.

Does anybody else have this problem with their family? How do you deal with it? It's just a soul-crushing situation, where I feel so passionate about my work and my parents look down on it as if it were the biggest waste of time in the world. I know History is not a lucrative career path by any means, but they aren't even proud of me at all for the work I'm doing. How should I go about this?