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Managing Your Adviser
The student/adviser dynamic can be one of the most rewarding or most fraught relationships in graduate school, and choosing the right mentor is one of the most important decisions you will make as a...
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Failing Forward in Graduate School
In life, failure is inevitable; in graduate school, it is guaranteed. The very nature of a graduate degree puts you into contact with failure on a regular basis, especially if you work in the lab...
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The Battle Between Perfectionism and Productivity
The authors at GradHacker have written about the struggle with perfectionism in graduate school before, but there is still much left to say about this issue. From all the hoops that we have to jump...
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Basic Negotiation Tactics for Grad Students
Graduate school is the final stage before entering professional employment; yet many graduates lack the negotiation skills necessary for the impending job search. As a result, many recent graduates...
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Using Project Management Approaches to Tame Your Dissertation
No one finishes a STEM dissertation by doing just 100% research all day every day; you have many other tasks including classes, writing manuscripts, attending journal clubs, teaching obligations,...
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The Perfect Workspace
What exactly is the perfect work space? For me, the answer is “many.” Since I’m not assigned to a cubicle for my PhD work I have some flexibility as to when and how I get my work done. It’s like that...
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Combating Shiny Object Syndrome
In graduate school it is extremely important to know when you are putting your time towards professional activities that are directly beneficial to your dissertation progress versus activities that are...
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Navigating the Academic Conference with Social Anxiety
Academic conferences can be one of the most enjoyable experiences that you can have during graduate school. A paid-for trip, usually somewhere at least semi-exotic, to allow you to talk about the kind...
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Goal-Setting vs. Goal-Achieving
This post was co-written by KD Shives and the excellent Emily Curtis Walters. Emily Curtis Walters is a PhD candidate in History at Northwestern University. You can find her on Twitter at @emilydcw or...
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Restarting a Stalled Project
It happens to every grad student in the sciences at some point: your project stops working and things don’t seem to come together. In some cases, projects don’t get enough momentum and early success to...
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Combating Cynicism in Graduate School
Almost every department has that person who has elevated cynicism to an art. You know the one. That person who is always unhappy with and verbally tearing down her project, his program, her advisor,...
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A Teetotaler’s Guide to Networking in Grad School
For students, graduate school presents many opportunities for professional networking and socialization. These events are usually held over beers at a conference or that one bar across the street from...
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The Importance of Asking for Help
One of the most important things that I’ve learned in graduate school is how to ask for help when I need it. Knowing when and how to ask for help can make navigating this unknown terrain much easier...
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Shutting Down Sexism in STEM
It seems like it is now impossible to go a week without hearing about sexism in STEM in the news. Last year provided too many examples, whether it was Nobel laureate Tim Hunt attempting to humorously...
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5 Tested Tips to Battle Burnout with Better Self-Care
Every grad student knows that getting an advanced degree can be extremely challenging and that, unfortunately, taking care of yourself often falls off the list of priorities. The long hours in the lab,...
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When It Comes to Dissertations, Done Is Best
As an ABD student bent on finishing up this summer my personal mantra has become “The best dissertation is a done dissertation.” While this may rankle some graduate students, I think this is some of...
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Blogging to Establish Your Digital Identity
With so many people pursuing PhDs today it can be hard to differentiate yourself from other students in your discipline. If you want to stand out professionally and improve your writing skills, try...
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Wrap up your dissertation with a writing plan
Anyone pursuing a graduate degree has experienced the feeling that a project will go on forever. Thankfully, pursuing a graduate degree does have an end date but to get there you have to write...
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