We’re excited to unveil the Solutions Lab, a place where you can submit your questions or dilemmas anonymously and receive thoughtful, experience-based advice from our panel of mentors and researchers. Whether you’re tackling career crossroads, ethical challenges, or research roadblocks, our panel is here to lend a listening ear and offer guidance.
Anonymous asks:
Dear Solutions Lab, I am part way through my PhD and starting to worry about publications. How many papers should I realistically aim for, and what should I do if my results are taking longer than expected?
Anonymous asks:
Dear Solutions Lab, my first paper from my PhD has now been rejected three times. My co-authors are really supportive, but I can’t help feeling embarrassed and a bit deflated. How do you deal with the feeling that maybe it’s you, not just the paper, when rejections pile up. I haven’t told them yet about the latest rejection, but I expect the last author has also got the same system notification, but they haven’t been in touch and it’s been a few days.
— Feeling a little flat!
Anonymous asks:
Dear Solutions Lab,
I’m in the first year of my PhD and I feel quite isolated because I’m the only person in my department working in dementia research. Most of my peers are in very different fields, and while they’re supportive, it’s not the same as having people who ‘get’ the challenges of dementia studies. I can’t really afford to attend lots of conferences or big networking events — the cost and time away are just too much. As a first-generation students, I sometimes feel like I’m already at a disadvantage compared to others who seem to have more contacts and resources. How can I build a useful network of people in dementia research without needing to travel all the time or spend money I don’t have?
Alaa Gouda asks:
Dear Solutions Lab,
My name is Alaa Gouda. I am a PhD researcher at Teesside University my project involves using bioinformatics techniques, particularly spatial transcriptomics, to enable early detection of neurodegenerative diseases, especially Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease.
I am currently struggling with data availability in this area. I am reaching out to ask if you have access to spatial transcriptomics datasets relevant to these diseases, or if you could guide me to resources, databases, or collaborators where I might obtain such data.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
Jisan Ahamed asks:
I am currently doing my masters thesis project, and I’m feeling very depressed and tired. I have been searching for a part-time research based job for four months and still no luck. I am from a lower class family and small village in India, and I took our a £50k pound loan to do my Masters. I like it very much but the cost of living here and the stress is too much. I have started a job in a restaurant where I work as a kitchen helper, I clean toilets, equipment, dishes, the kitchen and help chefs in food processing. I am exhausted but I have nowhere to go as I don’t have any money or support. I am feeling very drained and stuck, and have even now taken on extra work at festivals. As well as research jobs, I am also trying to get apply to PhD programmes, but they mainly seem to be for home students, and I am also not getting any leads. Please help me as I cry and miss my family. I wanted to change the world with my research, that’s why I came to this country but now I am doing nothing for it, and am just despondent.
Anonymous asks:
I’m six months into my PhD and constantly feel like I’m not good enough, even though I’ve done a Master’s and worked as a Research Assistant, and never had this issue before! I’ve moved institutions to start this PhD and while my supervisor is supportive and offers guidance, I still seem to keep getting things wrong. Feedback is kind, but I end up feeling like I’ve misunderstood or failed to meet expectations, again and again. It’s knocking my confidence and making me question whether I’m really cut out for this. Help!”
Anonymous asks:
I’m co-producing a study with people living with young onset dementia, some of whom want to help co-analyse qualitative data — including transcripts of interviews with other participants. Ethically and legally, can lived experience co-researchers be given access to anonymised transcripts if they might recognise people or situations in the data? How do I balance rigorous co-production with safeguarding privacy?
Anonymous asks:
I’m in the final year of my PhD and was really excited to find out that my abstract was accepted for AAIC last week. Unfortunately, I didn’t receive a Conference Fellowship or travel grant. Do you know of any other funding options I could look into? And if not, what arguments could I use to convince my supervisor to support my attendance—even though I’m pretty sure there isn’t any funding available?
Anonymous asks:
Dear Solutions Lab, I’m feeling lost and unsure about how to navigate my PhD supervision. I have two supervisors, but they’re rarely available, and when I do manage to meet them, they don’t seem to remember what we’re working on. Each time, they suggest completely different directions, leaving me confused about what I should actually be focusing on. I try to be independent, but I feel like I’m constantly shifting gears with no real progress.
I know there’s a postdoc in the lab who might be able to help, but they always seem so busy, and I don’t want to be a burden. How can I get some clarity and direction without feeling like I’m pestering people who already have too much on their plates?
— Feeling Adrift
Anonymous asks:
I really enjoyed listening to this weeks podcast. As a speech and language therapist, I often work with people living with aphasia, but I struggle to keep up with the latest dementia research to inform my practice. What are the best ways to bridge the gap between clinical work and research, and how can I contribute to research as a practitioner?”