Opportunity to comment:

Federal Register :: Establishing a Fixed Time Period of Admission and an Extension of Stay Procedure for Nonimmigrant Academic Students, Exchange Visitors, and Representatives of Foreign Information Media
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/08/28/2025-16554/establishing-a-fixed-time-period-of-admission-and-an-extension-of-stay-procedure-for-nonimmigrant#p-11

#InternationalStudent #Education #F1visa #J1visa #GraduateStudent #Postdoc

https://news-annakarolinaheinrich.com/eliotte-heinz-found-dead/ Missing Student Eliotte Heinz Found Dead Near Mississippi River

#EliotteHeinz #missingstudent #LaCrosseWI #MississippiRiver #GraduateStudent #TragicNews #WisconsinNews #SearchAndRescue #CommunityMourning #BreakingNews #TrueCrime #annakarolinaheinrich

Graduate Student Solves Classic Problem About the Limits of Addition

https://www.quantamagazine.org/graduate-student-solves-classic-problem-about-the-limits-of-addition-20250522/

#HackerNews #GraduateStudent #LimitsOfAddition #MathResearch #ProblemSolving #Innovation

Always a delight to hear about @Bibliothecaris journey to switch to #Mastodon

Today's workshop is at the Faculty of Science and Engineering @universityofgroningen , organised by the FSE PhD Council and @oscgroningen

#OpenScience #Library #PhD #Graduatestudent

Brilliant.
Congratulations.

#DivyaTyagi #GraduateStudent #AerospaceEngineering #PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
Has reworked a 100-year-old mathematical problem. Her innovative redesign simplifies the complex problem making it more accessible and easier to explore.
Originally developed by #BritishAerodynamicist #HermannGlauert
The problem has been a cornerstone of #aerodynamicsresearch for decades.

"...an immediate, blanket ban on travel is unusual, says one longtime researcher in #NIH's intramural program. 'I don't think we've ever had this and it's pretty devastating for a #postdoc or #graduatestudent' who needs to present their work and network to move ahead in their career, the researcher says."

https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-hits-nih-devastating-freezes-meetings-travel-communications-and-hiring

#science #ban #uspol #politics #aaas

Rough draft of research paper #1 is at 11 pages. Total needs to be 14-17 pages. My goal is 15-16.

Will be reading through the articles I listed in my annotated Bibliography to find about 3 more pages of things to say.

Rough draft due 10/30.

Then write first five pages of research paper (which I haven't started reading for yet) #2, due 11/4.

Presentation on paper #1 for 11/6.

If you don't see me around, that's why.

#ReligiousStudies #GraduateStudent

There has been a lot of comment on social media about a recent article in Nature about the mental health of graduate students and the numbers looking for treatment. There are many sources of stress that can have a negative effect on mental health, including financial pressures and poor accommodation to name but two. These aren’t really specific to graduate studies. One that is is the pressure to produce results. That actually continues throughout an academic career – burnout is a very real phenomenon – but it’s probably worse during the “apprenticeship” phase when one is inexperienced and still learning the trade.

“Productivity” is indeed important but should not be interpreted as having to work ridiculously long hours. I remember many years ago commenting on an article that claimed 80-100 hours a week was not unusual. There are people who can sit at their desks for 12 hours a day without producing anything very much at all. It’s not the hours that matter, but what you do with them. In no way will indulging your outside interests (sporting, cultural, political, or “other”…),  or simply relaxing, detract from your ability to do research. As a matter of fact, I think such diversions actually improve your work, as well as (of course) your general well-being.

I think it is fair to say that you have to work hard to do a PhD. I worked hard on mine back in the day. But don’t think that means it has to be a grim slog. I can only speak for myself, but I greatly enjoyed my time as a graduate student. I think this was at least in part because when I was doing my PhD I had plenty of outside interests (including music, sport and (ahem) “nightlife”)  and took time out regularly to indulge them. I did experience mental health problems later during my PhD, but these were not caused by being a research student.

I can think of many times during my graduate studies when I was completely stuck on a problem – to the extent that it was seriously bothering me. On such occasions I learned to take a break. I often found that going for a walk, doing a crossword, or just trying to think about something else for a while, allowed me to return to the problem fresher and with new ideas. I think the brain gets into a rut if you try to make it work in one mode all the time.

There were indeed many times during my time as a research student – and have been since – that I worked extremely long hours – all night sometimes. I wouldn’t say exactly that was because I “enjoyed” it, but that I wanted to know an answer and couldn’t get the problem out of my head.  I’ve stayed up into the early hours of the morning trying to finish a crossword too. Not because I had to, but because I couldn’t put it down unfinished. I know that makes me a saddo in many minds, but I think that’s the sort of obsessiveness and tenacity a researcher needs: becoming so absorbed by the task in hand that you don’t notice the passage of time.

I don’t think anyone should try to infer too much from these personal reflections, but I do think there’s one important point that I try to point to every graduate student I advise and that is to look after your mental health. Perhaps the Nature article has a positive side, in that at least graduate students are seeking help. Recognizing that you might have a problem is a very important first step.

https://telescoper.blog/2024/10/03/mental-health-and-graduate-studies/

#Burnout #education #graduateStudent #graduateStudies #graduateSchool #MentalHealth #PhD #research #stress