It's really easy to look at the success of your peers and feel like you are falling behind, but every lab, every project, and every student is different. In this episode, we discuss how we track our own progress and making sure we hit our PhD milestones.

S1 | Ep 4 - Am I Falling Behind?

In our first episode of our Drinking with Doctors series, we invited our own Dr. Anna Smallwood and our good friend Dr. Jonathan Kulwatno to talk about what it was like to graduate and apply for jobs during the pandemic.

S1 | Ep 5 - Drinking with Doctors: Dr. Kulwatno and Dr. Smallwood Part 1

In the second part of our Drinking With Doctors series, Dr. Kulwatno and Dr. Smallwood talk about what it was like getting ready to defend while balancing a job search.

S1 | Ep 6 - Drinking with Doctors: Dr. Kulwatno and Dr. Smallwood Part 2

In today's episode, we feature our own Colleen Smith, who is our Dean of Graduate Student Experience. She talks through the current issues with grad students face when dealing with in an academic setting and resources we should use to make sure we advocate for ourselves.

S1 | Ep 7 - Where to Find Support? Feat. Dean Colleen Smith

We welcome our three good friends, Tasnif Rahman, Haokang Zhang, and Bowen Wang to talk about their experiences as international students. In this episode, we discuss visa issues and how it affects grad school progress.

S1 | Ep 8 - The International Student Experience Part 1

Being an international student studying in a foreign country can be challenging and exhilarating at the same time. In this episode, our international students discuss what its like to study in the U.S., including hot takes on American cuisine, culture, and customs.

S1 | Ep 9 - The International Student Experience Part 2

Getting a Ph.D. can be hard enough without balancing a relationship on top of it all. In this episode, Dr. Anna Smallwood discusses her experiences with relationships during her Ph.D. and offers advice that she learned the hard way.

S1 | Ep 10 - Storytime: Relationships in Grad School

We're back with another story time episode! This time, Meghan, with some help from Nate and Micah, talks about her experience when her advisor moved universities last year. Tune in to hear about what that transition was like during a pandemic.

S1 | Ep 11 - Storytime: When Your Advisor Moves Universities

Is being co-advised a good idea? In this storytime episode, Nate shares his experience being co-advised and Meghan and Micah help him break down the pros and cons.

S1 | Ep 12 - Storytime: Co-Advisors

Back to storytime, this time we see what it is like getting “rich”? Micah, Nate, and Meghan discuss how the transition from paying for school to getting paid for school was for each of them!

S1 | Ep 13 - Storytime: Getting "Rich?!"

Our last story time episode for this season! This time, Ahmad, Meghan, Micah, and Nate share some of their recently developed hobbies in grad school and talk about the importance of having hobbies in grad school, and how they can turn into obsessions.

S1 | Ep 14 - Hobbies or Obsessions?

In the last episode of this season, Dr. Deepak Vashishth, the Director of the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies at RPI, talks about his experience as an international graduate student.

S1 | Ep 15 - Origins: Dr. Deepak Vashishth

We're back! Starting off the new season with some friendly advice with Rob Culibrk on how to prep for grad school applications.

S2 | Ep 1 - Grad School Applications

In this episode, we continue our discussion with Rob Culibrk about navigating and thriving in your first year of grad school.


opening/closing music:
Hot Coffee by Ghostrifter bit.ly/ghostrifter-sc
Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0
Free Download: hypeddit.com/track/qhwjph

S2 | Ep 2 - First Year Survival Guide

It's fellowship app season! We're bringing in our good friends and NSF Fellows, Jess Funnell and Sam Stephen, to talk about what their application process looked like (a little unconventional for some).

S2 | Ep 3 - Fellowship Applications - How to Apply

Meghan and Micah continue their discussion with Jess and Sam about what happens after you receive the NSF GRFP. How much do things change from your proposal, how much freedom do you have, where does McDonald’s fit into the mix, and how to be balanced!?

S2 | Ep 4 - Fellowship Applications - What Happens Next

Nate, Ahmad, Meghan, and Micah sit down with Dr. Eric Ledet to discuss the importance of cross disciplinary communication, entrepreneurship, the price you pay for poor communication, and how to keep track of your long-term goals.

S2 | Ep 5 - Origins: Dr. Eric Ledet

We're back with another series for you to get to know us better, but we're putting someone in the hot seat. Listen to learn about what makes Ahmad so roast-worthy: he's long-winded, he's homeless, and more!

S2 | Ep 6 - Roast: Ahmad

Happy New Year! We are back with our final roast of the season, our very own Micah Rambo! Well, it's not really much of a roast, but it's still a fun one!

S2 | Ep 10 - Roast: Micah

Season 2 Part 2 Trailer

Meet Dr. Genevieve Grivas, a recent grad from our department, to talk about which softwares were the most useful throughout her degree. We also compare and contrast wet lab and computational work and analysis techniques!

S2 | Ep 12 - Most Valuable Programs

Ah, we're finally back - but with a little change! But, we'll be back to regular scheduling this week :)

S2 | Ep 10.5 - April Fool's

S3  Ep 1   Who's That Pokemon... Frank And Sagan

S3  Ep 2  We Noah Guy In Biomedical Engineering

S3  Ep 3  Jenny - Rating PhD Expecations

S3 Ep4 Imposter Syndrome Ben There Done That

S3 Ep5 How To Become A Troy Nate - Ive

S3 Ep 6 DJ Drops Some Industrial Beats

S3 EP 7 No Particular Derek - Tion For This One

For PhD Cast Bingo use this link:

https://rpiexchange-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/machad_rpi_edu/Ee6eprJGkW9CtIeJwFTcsrABBVd1PrWL7gkodvD69GFPrQ?e=Lcjwjo

S3 Ep 8  Bingo Vs Would You Rather: A Scientific Showdown Of Voluntary Decision Making Skills

S3 Ep 9 I Kant Get Enough of Ethics!

In the second part of our recruitment series, we will be talking about the essential questions you should be asking faculty and grad students during the weekend. We also point out some red flags to be on the look out for when trying to pick a school and lab.

S1 | Ep 2 - Recruitment Red Flag Round-Up

Welcome to the PhDCast! We are a group of PhD students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that are here to discuss everything grad school, bringing in personal experiences to give unsolicited advice on issues that we face.

The PhDCast

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