What's the PhDeal?: Recent Episodes
WhatsthePhDeal
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process. The "we" are four STEM PhD scientists from disparate backgrounds and degree routes that want to help: 1) folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, 2) folks thinking about getting a PhD or even 3) people just curious about what it’s all about! You can check out the website associated with us at RealPhDeal.com and we would love it if you email us at our group email: phdealmail@gmail.com.
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Dr. Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Dr. Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State), and Dr. Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez, the graphics (with additional edits from Pamela Gregg) and audio design and editing by Rajan Patel, and all rights are reserved to us and this show. Please send us your questions and comments at phdealmail@gmail.com and check our website: https://realphdeal.com
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast! We have gotten so much positive feedback and endorsements from peers and leaders from various fields and 1000+ downloads! Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
In this Episode, #16: The gang uncovers the mysterious good things that keep happening around the nation and even the world. Everyone thinks it's this spooky Frankenstein monster, but the gang captures the monster and when unmasked it turns out ... .... ... it was the government all along!
Friends of the show:
Lou has a startup! Check out your PhDeal host Luis Estevez as he navigates the entrepreneurial space!! (AKA: he fooled around in the lab and did some science that now he's trying to sell stuff with it :P ) His company, Advanced & Innovative Multifunctional Materials (AIMM) has a website:
https://www.aimmlabs.com/
Check out Enrica's Blog where she is: "Helping first-gen students along their PhD journey!" Rock on Enrica!
https://first-gen-guide.com/
Our buddy Andres De Los Reyes, Ph.D. has a book: "The Early Career Researcher's Toolbox" here:
https://jccapfuturedirectionsforum.weebly.com/Book.html
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Dr. Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Dr. Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State), and Dr. Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez, the graphics (with additional edits from Pamela Gregg) and audio design and editing by Rajan Patel, and all rights are reserved to us and this show. Please send us your questions and comments at phdealmail@gmail.com and check our website: https://realphdeal.com
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast! We have gotten so much positive feedback and endorsements from peers and leaders from various fields and 1000+ downloads! Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
In this Episode, #15: The Spooky Troll on Tenure Track Lane. The gang gets together to try and survive The very long, 5-6 hour arduous journey (METAPHOR!) through the spooky lane. Also The gang get some mail... woo hoo!
Friends of the show:
Check out Enrica's Blog where she is: "Helping first-gen students along their PhD journey!" Rock on Enrica!
https://first-gen-guide.com/
Our buddy Andres De Los Reyes, Ph.D. has a book: "The Early Career Researcher's Toolbox" here:
https://jccapfuturedirectionsforum.weebly.com/Book.html
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Dr. Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Dr. Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State), and Dr. Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez, the graphics (with additional edits from Pamela Gregg) and audio design and editing by Rajan Patel, and all rights are reserved to us and this show. Please send us your questions and comments at phdealmail@gmail.com and check our website: https://realphdeal.com
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast! We have gotten so much positive feedback and endorsements from peers and leaders from various fields and 1000+ downloads! Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
In this Episode, #14: The Haunting on Insurmountable Blvd., the gang has to team up with another mystery team to solve the case! They learn that one team has the peanut butter, while the other has the chocolate… which COMBINED TOGETHER helps solve the case!
Friends of the show:
Check out Enrica's Blog where she is: "Helping first-gen students along their PhD journey!" Rock on Enrica!
https://first-gen-guide.com/
Our buddy Andres De Los Reyes, Ph.D. has a book: "The Early Career Researcher's Toolbox" here:
https://jccapfuturedirectionsforum.weebly.com/Book.html
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Dr. Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Dr. Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State), and Dr. Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez, the graphics (with additional edits from Pamela Gregg) and audio design and edited by Rajan Patel, and all rights are reserved to us and this show. Please send us your questions and comments at phdealmail@gmail.com and check our website: https://realphdeal.com
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast! We have gotten so much positive feedback and endorsements from peers and leaders from various fields. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
This episode (#13), is part 2 of the spooky haunted amusement park on publication lane story... ooooo lucky number 13! After the gang unmasks Reviewer #3, the hauntings continue! The gang gets sleuthing and while Elias and Lou spend all their time making corny jokes, Rajan and Liz do some actual detective work and find out that the painful moaning sounds that have been scaring everyone are just a few grad students chained to the lab benches and forced to do "further experiments" by none other than REVIEWER #2! The real villain!
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Dr. Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Dr. Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (FSU), and Dr. Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez, the graphics (with additional edits from Pamela Gregg) and audio design and edited by Rajan Patel, and all rights are reserved to us and this show. Please send us your questions and comments at phdealmail@gmail.com and check our website: https://realphdeal.com
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast! We have gotten so much positive feedback and endorsements from peers and leaders from various fields. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
In this episode (#12), the gang takes a trip to the haunted amusement park in town. Elias decides the gang should split up; so Rajan and Lou (powered by Scooby-snacks) investigate the scary hall of mirrors. Elias and Liz meanwhile figure out that the "ghost" was really a prop that floated through the air with the help of hidden cables. The dastardly fiend behind all the chaos was found and unmasked... and turned out to be none other than Reviewer #3, who was trying to scare the gang from publishing so he could scoop them... Zoiks!
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Dr. Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Dr. Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (FSU), and Dr. Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez, the graphics and audio design and edited by Rajan Patel, and all rights are reserved to us and this show.
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast! We have gotten so much positive feedback and endorsements from peers and leaders from various fields. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
In this episode (#11), the gang get stranded near a spooky house when the Mystery Machine breaks down! The gang splits up along various paths and investigate the haunted house on Career Boulevard--encountering scary ghosts like academia, industry, national labs and Start-ups! The gang finds out that the scary ghosts were none other than Old Man CV, once unmasked.
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (FSU), and Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez, the graphics and audio design and edited by Rajan Patel, and rights reserved to us and this show.
Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We have got so many positive feedbacks and endorsements from peers and leaders from various fields. Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts.
Anxiety, depression, isolation, taking care of yourself, and seeking help.
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- What is stress, why it is important that we manage it, and what are some methods of how we can manage it. 1. Isolation, depression, anxiety are all things we can experience in graduate school and our lives. These can be somewhat magnified in a graduate school setting since this is (in general) a high-stress time where you are living a life that is generally accepted as unsustainable (low income, long hours, etc). 2. Stress is what the WHO is now calling the epidemic of the 21st century. It impacts much more than just our mental health - it impacts our physical well-being (including our digestion!), longevity, relationships, and more. Because of how widespread stress is in our lives, and how damaging it can be - we want to unpack what it looks like, how does it show up in our bodies...in our work… more generally - in our lives
- As a graduate student (or a professional of any age) there are a variety of external pressures in our lives. For example - deadlines for exams, papers, data your adviser wants, etc. It is a culture in many grad school programs that priority ONE is school and your research, and basic human needs like healthy food, relationships, and community are put on the back burner. While prioritizing research above all else may give some immediate success - let’s consider longevity and your overall health. If your goal is to become a strong researcher/scientist, then, school is the beginning of a long career filled with pressure, deadlines, deliverables and supervisers asking for more and more things. If you want to continue contributing to your field, learning, growing, then you need to look at the bigger picture - you need to first be healthy.
- Productivity begets productivity.
- Being ‘one dimensional’ can feel ‘hollow’ and meaningless, but hobbies can help us feel more ‘well-rounded’ and balanced so that our minds get exercise away from the text books and papers.
- Physical activity can impact our mental and emotional well-being significantly, which we can easily forget when our priorities are centered around our educational pursuits. However, physical activity can help us regulate emotions, get better sleep, feel better so that we can perform better in our studies/research.
- Community is something we all seek, but, in the face of stress we can lose connection to community. Why is community so important? How can social interaction be uplifting/positive for all of us?
- Hobbies
- Physical activity
- Social interaction
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (FSU), and Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez and rights reserved to the show.
The most important mentor/mentee relationship: your relationship with your advisor! o Every PhD student should know and expect that their advisor’s role is not just boss and getter of money for the lab’s projects, but also to mentor you as you tread down the path to PhD scientist o The best advisors realize their job is not just to crank out science through their students, but that is just the by-product of their real role: in churning out scientists! o I’ve seen varying abilities of Advisors in regards to mentorship and most fall into the bell curve of trying their best to mentor properly while still hitting deliverables, advancing their careers, obtaining money, etc. o Completely biased dynamic in advisor-student and a school’s hiring prerequisites for Profs (can they bring money, can they publish, can they teach) makes for an especially potent combination if you et an advisor that is just not good at the “leadership” part of their job and are poor mentors
Other non-advisor mentors o Senior level grad students o Post docs and visiting Profs o Folks from undergrad, previous Profs, intern supervisors, etc.
How to be a mentee from a mentor’s perspective Tips for finding good mentorship
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez, PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell), Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (RPI), Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (FSU), and Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri S&T).
All the music on the show is created by Luis Estevez and rights reserved to the show.
Mental Health - Mini Series Part 2
Managing relationships - your adviser, peers, seniors, personal relationships
- How do manage competing priorities and people?
- How to recognize a toxic relationship (work, personal)? How does this impact you and your well-being
- Not everyone is meant to get along without conflict, however, there are some behaviors and treatment that you should not accept.
What is the Qualifier exam? o Basically, it’s an early test to make sure the students they let into their PhD program know what their stuff—Academic hazing? o Much like the rest of PhD-dom it will vary from school to school and dept to dept
Our experiences and our dept’s Quals like?
o Various folks in the panel explain their version of quals and experiences they want to share o Stories and experiences: 1. Figuring I would fail out after my first year
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Weird day… sorta nodding at your fellow first years as you walk down the hallways into your next exam.
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Almost failed the subject I was supposed to be good at because I stupidly started almost arguing with the Prof.
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After the test—felt like the religious cult (Millerites) “the great disappointment” the end of the world came and went and then I had nothing to do
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Older grad student tapping me on the shoulder and saying: “you will never know as much as you do right now in materials science
Quals strategies, don’t panic, prepare!: o Your advisor should realize you need to prepare for this and give you some space here—you should realize this too, but don’t panic! o Talk to the older grad students, find out what their quals were like, what problems people had—story of grad student and curmudgeonly Prof o We had awesome older grad students that right after the quals they put everything they remembered about it into a big book of knowledge for the next students—we dd the same after ours—the even had shots and burgers after it for us. Try and initiate your own tradition—you’re in this together o Talk to the profs—we found some profs to be more willing to help that others… one even set up review sessions for us! o Band together with your fellow first years, study together and compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Set up a weekly time and date, book a room, set a schedule, assign tasks o Take senior level classes for the subject areas your weak at—it’ll be a shot to your ego possibly struggling with undergrads, but you’ll be better prepared for the Quals. Bonus points if the Prof teaching the class is giving the subject test
After quals o Relax and take off for a day or even two, you’ve been through a lot and it’s been stressful o Whatever happens is fine—if it delays you a year, that’s not the end of the world, probably for the best actually (Our connection to Dr. Steven Strogatz - a Connell rockstar professor and a Radiolab math guy!) o The tests from here on out get technically harder but in the later exams (A & B) you come with way more PhD skillz to handle it so it’s actually easier though the subject area testing is not o I found out later that some of the smartest and most impressive senior level grad students really felt they got rocked by their Quals—cut yourself some slack and if you need to retool or shore up something, do it and know you’re not alone
Join us each week (new podcasts drop Monday) as we try our best to handle various topics involved in pursuing a STEM PhD and try and give our best advice, stories, strategies and mutual commiseration of choosing this career path
Please subscribe to the podcast and check out our associated website:
http://realphdeal.com/
Also feel free to send an email and let us know what you liked or didn’t—or if you have any questions or potential show topics at:
phdealmail@gmail.com
All the music in our episodes are done by Luis Estevez, and copyrighted to our show.
A Mini Series on Mental Health
The concepts covered in this mini series are relevant to grad school, and several other positions or stages in your career or life (for example - post doc, early career, and beyond). Mental, emotional, and physical health are important for each of us throughout our life, however, in a graduate school setting many of us can put these on the back burner, so we will spend some time in a mini series discussing some of these topic areas.
Part 1: Introduction to mental health, why is it important and how to prioritize your health above other external pressures you may face during your graduate education (and beyond).
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Mental health is a very broad topic, so let’s first start with what we mean by health in this context, and why we believe it is important enough for an entire mini series. 2. Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being (mentalhealth.gov reference!). Mental health impacts our thoughts, feelings, actions, and even our physical health/well-being. How we handle stress, relationships, and the actions we choose all are impacted by our mental health. 3. What are the factors that contribute/influence our mental health?
- Family history/biology
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Experiences 4. What should we consider when entering into graduate school (related to mental health)?
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Why ‘seeking help’ is you prioritizing yourself and your health, and not something to be ashamed of or a weakness - in fact, it means you are strong, smart, and making healthy choices for yourself.
- How? What resources are available to you?
- Knowing yourself and your response to stressful or mentally taxing relationships, situations, etc.
- ‘Warning’ signs
- Seeking help
- ‘man’s search for meaning’ (title of a book by Victor Frenkel - the main ‘jist’ was that maintaining hope and believing in yourself and that you matter is essential to surviving) - it is easy to get lost in day-to-day struggles, and feel you are not contributing or have feelings of ‘what i am doing is meaningless’. Taking a step back to understand what each of us seeks at a basic human level can help place your ‘struggle’ in perspective.
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Thank you for being a listener to our podcast. You can check out the website associated with us at RealPhDeal.com and we would love it if you email us at our group email: phdealmail@gmail.com.
All the music on the show is performed by Luis Estevez (our host) and belongs to What's the PhDeal (this) podcast.
What is a STEM PhD and what’s so great about it? o Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics – These fields tend to make money, lead to patents, etc., so your PhD will probably be covered by the school if you’re in STEM field—and you will probably even get a minor, somewhat livable stipend o We stand on the shoulders of giants… and you get to be those giants… or maybe shoulder pads on some other giant, but still!
Why grad school life can be really cool as well o You can make your own schedule o As daunting as pursuing a PhD can be, remember you are in this together with other folks—lean on them, make friendships. o Being a crew of like minded and equally suffering grad students, reminds you that it’s rough for everyone at times and can really make grabbing a coffee break—forcing you to grab a coffee break—with a colleague a great step back from your work and provide each other with someone to lean on when you need it o It’s also good to make friends with your fellow grad students for your PhD career.
Realize that you are in a scientific playground! o First off—realize that you are CHEAP. You don’t cost much since you don’t get paid enough, but this is actually cool, as your boss/advisor will usually allow you more freedom to explore and experiment since you’re not tied to a large salary (again, results will vary from different advisors) o Even better, you are in a scientific and engineering playground. There are tons of vials and fume hood and glove boxes and clean rooms all around you and probably a bunch of whiz-bang toys for you to use. Overcome your fears and jump in (albeit safely) and start playing. Almost everyone wishes they could be back in grad school having this ability to “play” but while still being paid at their current rate o Most importantly realize it! Most students are so concerned with trying to survive (a very real concern) that they don’t realize they are in the most open-ended part of their scientific careers. Later you will get super specialized in something you work on during this time, but what that will be is determined now. Explore whatever seems cool and interesting to you. Robotics, catalysts that clean exhaust pipes, in situ whiz-bang tools, whatever drives you, get into it. o Collaborate with your fellow students to get into adjacent fields—HAVE FUN! I have published papers with my fellow grad students that started with just a simple conversation of “what are you working on”. And working on cool projects
Get to know the post docs, staff, Profs, etc. as well o Obviously, getting to know your fellow students is a must, but get to know the other folks in your program/school as well o Post docs are usually very helpful—were in your position a few years ago, they are also usually knowledgeable and driven and can help with your work, but also in the future as collaborators and friends to find at conference—also can help when trying to land a job o Get to know the Profs, they are just people too and the younger ones are very close to you in career and can remember the grind. Usually best place to find an advisor aunt/uncle. The older emeritus ones are fun to get to know as well! o Get to know the staff! They are usually working so hard to keep PhDs often disorganized lives in order as well as helping students. Get to know them because they are cool people, but you never know when some last-minute form or something like that will be needed, it’s good to have them on your side! o Facility managers are great people that usually like to interact with students as it’s a part of the job requirements, know them o Organize social events. Invite students, post docs, staff, even profs if you want. It’s important to bond together and remember you guys are fun as well and not just “hard working researchers”. Watch the world cup together, trash talk, have fun. Take over a conference room to play the big game on the big screen, video games too, scotch club—whatever!
To sum up two major points: 1. Realize you’re in a scientific playground of almost limitless possibilities 2. Get to know the people around you, especially your fellow grad students—form a crew!
Join us each week (new podcasts drop Monday) as we try our best to handle various topics involved in pursuing a STEM PhD and try and give our best advice, stories, strategies and mutual commiseration of choosing this career path
Please subscribe to the podcast and check out our associated website:
http://realphdeal.com/
Also feel free to send an email and let us know what you liked or didn’t—or if you have any questions or potential show topics at:
phdealmail@gmail.com
All the music in our episodes are done by Luis Estevez, and copyrighted to our show.
- What is an Imposter Syndrome?
- Imposter syndrome is basically feeling like you got this high achievement place (accepted to grad school, etc.) and it feels like it wasn’t through your achievements, but somehow through luck, chance or some other undeserving way. You feel like a fraud that doesn’t belong and worry about being “found out”
- Impostor syndrome is a completely common thing that happens at some point to almost everyone in grad school—apparently ~70% of people feel imposter syndrome at some point in their lives, but I’m sure in grad school is somewhere above 95%...weirdly mostly not talked about either
- Individual imposter syndrome stories from the hosts
- Why grad school is such a fertile breeding ground for imposter syndrome?
- How do you deal with imposter syndrome?
- Alternate tips for dealing with Imposter Syndrome?
- An Advisor “Aunt/Uncle” can be a valuable resource here—also older grad students or post docs if you feel close to them
- Remember we’ve all dealt with this and we all remember how much it sucked—if you ask a peer or someone further along in their career for help dealing with this, they will probably help—someday you’ll be helping someone else deal with this
Thank you for being a listener to our podcast. You can check out the website associated with us at RealPhDeal.com and we would love it if you email us at our group email: phdealmail@gmail.com.
All the music on the show is performed by Luis Estevez (our host) and belongs to What's the PhDeal podcast.
The year 2020 seems to be longer than anyone can remember due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic. In this episode, we tried to address the issues that we, as researchers, face and how to deal with them; as well as, how it is affecting current and future students?
Discussions on:
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From the stress of publishing in this times to getting grants
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From the rejections from grad schools to reduced or vanished research funding
We hope to shed some light and provide some ways to help our listeners.
Here are some of the cool resources for you to check out:
1) Skype a Scientist: With schools shut down, parents are turning to virtual learning options to keep their children busy. Consider signing up for platforms, like Skype A Scientist, where you’ll be matched with families who want to hear about your field of expertise.
2) Donate your computing power: Folding@Home is running simulations to better understand the COVID19 coronavirus, including its structure and how it folds.
3) Pre-print publications: Platforms such as the Outbreak Science Rapid PREreview, bioRxiv and medRxiv are currently receiving a massive influx of pre-prints related to COVID-19. Consider reading through submissions, providing feedback, and flagging any concerns.
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Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez - PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell University), Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State University), and Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri University of Science & Technology).
Join us each week (new podcasts drop Monday) as we try our best to handle various topics involved in pursuing a STEM PhD and try and give our best advice, stories, strategies and mutual commiseration of choosing this career path
Please subscribe to the podcast and check out our associated website:
http://realphdeal.com/
Also feel free to send an email and let us know what you liked or didn’t—or if you have any questions or potential show topics at:
phdealmail@gmail.com
All the music in our episodes are done by Luis Estevez, and copyrighted to our show.
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez - PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell University), Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State University), and Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri University of Science & Technology).
Join us each week (new podcasts drop Monday) as we try our best to handle various topics involved in pursuing a STEM PhD and try and give our best advice, stories, strategies and mutual commiseration of choosing this career path
Please subscribe to the podcast and check out our associated website:
http://realphdeal.com/
Also feel free to send an email and let us know what you liked or didn’t—or if you have any questions or potential show topics at:
phdealmail@gmail.com
All the music in our episodes is done by Luis Estevez.
- Topic: “How to choose your school, your department, and your Advisor for your PhD?”
- Which of the three do you think is most important?
- What type of research should you do on these before you choose?
- Choosing an advisor: New Assistant Professor Vs. Well-established Tenured Professor
- Hands-off Vs. Hand-on types; post doc heavy vs students/undergrads heavy
- Individual stories and advice about the panel’s path to their advisor and research group
- How to gauge an advisor and their research group for the non-science stuff (talk with current students, etc.)
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What happens if you and your advisor don’t get along?
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Choosing your school:
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Small school Vs. big school—will facilities play a role?
- Go to visitation weekend
- What’s the town like? This could be a chance to check out a town for a 5ish years
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What’s the cost of living? Can you actually buy a house for 5 years? Finding roommates?
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Choosing your Department:
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Can you survive in a department that wasn’t your major as an undergrad? Can you thrive?
- Unique systems of various schools
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There can be a lot fuzziness and overlap within certain departments—especially multi-disciplinary ones like materials science
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Alternate tips from the panel like having a “back-up advisor” once you choose your school/department
- An Advisor “Aunt/Uncle” can be a valuable resource if you can find one
Welcome to the “What’s the PhDeal?” podcast; the podcast where we attempt to demystify the scientific PhD process… for folks going through the rigors of pursuing a PhD, folks thinking about getting a PhD or even people just curious about what it’s all about!
Your intrepid hosts are four PhD scientists that have gotten their PhDs in different scientific fields and schools; and all come from varied and disparate backgrounds to get different points of view in order to best bring you “the real PhDeal”. Your hosts are Dr. Luis (Lou) Estevez - PhD in Materials Science and Engineering (Cornell University), Elizabeth Kautz - PhD in Materials Engineering (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute), Elias Nakouzi - PhD in Physical Chemistry (Florida State University), and Rajan Patel - PhD in Chemical Engineering (Missouri University of Science & Technology).
Join us each week (new podcasts drop Monday) as we try our best to handle various topics involved in pursuing a STEM PhD and try and give our best advice, stories, strategies and mutual commiseration of choosing this career path
Please subscribe to the podcast and check out our associated website: http://realphdeal.com/
Also feel free to send an email and let us know what you liked or didn’t—or if you have any questions or potential show topics at: phdealmail@gmail.com
In this Episode:
- What differentiates a career after a PhD Vs. Undergrad/Masters science/engineering degree—what career options close off and which ones open up?
- Why do a PhD?
- Why did we do a PhD?
- Who should or shouldn’t do a PhD?
- Leaving a PhD program—can you escape without the degree? Is it a black mark on you permanently?
- Taking a break from a PhD program—mental health can dictate you take a break, can be quite stressful
All the music on our episodes/show is by Luis Estevez (host), and copyrighted to our show, What's The PhDeal?.