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How to Bounce Back from a PhD Project Failure

How to Bounce Back from a PhD Project Failure

Science is riddled with stories of getting scooped, data glitches and funding crises. Five researchers share stories of how they rallied.

Doctors and Postdocs in Political Science in Switzerland. A Study Conducted by the Swiss Political Science Association.

Doctors and Postdocs in Political Science in Switzerland. A Study Conducted by the Swiss Political Science Association.

This report shows the results of a survey conducted in spring 2019 among all people who received a PhD in political science from a Swiss university during the last eleven years (2008 to 2018) and among postdocs working in a Swiss university in June 2019. Thus, this survey sheds light on the experiences and career paths of both postdocs and doctors in political science who left academia. Moreover, it compares the results regarding postdocs with a similar study carried out in 2012.

How Academia Resembles a Drug Gang

Academic systems rely on the existence of a supply of "outsiders" ready to forgo wages and employment security in exchange for the prospect of uncertain security, prestige, freedom and reasonably high salaries that tenured positions entail.

A Doctoral Student Wore a Skirt Made of Rejection Letters to Defend Her Dissertation

A Doctoral Student Wore a Skirt Made of Rejection Letters to Defend Her Dissertation

In the spirit of acknowledging and normalizing failure in the process, a doctoral student defended her dissertation in a skirt made of rejection letters from the course of her PhD.

Ph.D. Students Resent Expectation That They Bring Food and Drinks to Their Thesis Defenses

Ph.D. Students Resent Expectation That They Bring Food and Drinks to Their Thesis Defenses

As it turns out, many Ph.D. students resent the expectation that they bring food and drinks to their thesis defenses. UCLA's psychology department just said they shouldn't do it.

A Wave of Graduate Programs Drops the GRE Application Requirement

A Wave of Graduate Programs Drops the GRE Application Requirement

The standardized test normally required for graduate school entrance in the US is being dropped by an increasing number of science PhD programs, amid concerns about diversity and the test's predictive value.

GRE Fails to Identify Successful Ph.D. Students

GRE Fails to Identify Successful Ph.D. Students

A team of researchers led by RIT Professor Casey Miller discovered that traditional admissions metrics for physics Ph.D. programs such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) do not predict completion and hurt the growth of diversity in physics.

Is It Publish or Perish for PhD Students?

Is It Publish or Perish for PhD Students?

Nature Human Behaviour and the Behavioural and Social Sciences Community invite researchers across all career stages and disciplines to share their thoughts on publishing while training for a PhD. A broad selection of submissions will be published as World Views in Nature Human Behaviour or will be posted on the Behavioural and Social Sciences community page. Send us a short presubmission enquiry now!

A PhD is Not Just a Degree - It is an Opportunity to Develop the Skills Needed to Deliver Impact

A PhD is Not Just a Degree - It is an Opportunity to Develop the Skills Needed to Deliver Impact

Hayley Teasdale argues that PhD studies are an ideal time for developing your research communication and impact skills and growing your entrepreneurial and organizational capabilities.