r/PhD is a subreddit with 280k members. The most common kinds of discussions are advice requests and pain & anger, and the community frequently discusses looking for, phd, job, tool, and software, and they frequently recommend/review tablet, ai tools, and coding language.
The goal of this community is to support PhD seekers and holders globally, fostering a thoughtful space for shared experiences, challenges, and growth. We aim to create a space for those navigating the journey of a PhD, offering support and insight from those who have been through it
Popular Themes in r/PhD
#1
Advice Requests
: "Finally Defended Thursday After 11 Years!"
32 posts
#2
Pain & Anger
: "PhD without a stipend to support living cost should be illegal, especially in STEM fields."
17 posts
#3
Solution Requests
: "A small open-source tool for managing thesis acronym lists"
3 posts
Popular Topics in r/PhD
#1
Looking For
54 posts
#2
Phd
24 posts
#3
Job
7 posts
#4
Tool
6 posts
#5
Software
5 posts
#6
Reference
5 posts
#7
Research
5 posts
#8
Supervisor
5 posts
#9
Struggling
5 posts
#10
Advice
4 posts
Products Discussed in r/PhD
Tablet
23 reviews
#1
Ipad
4.3★ from 4 reviews
#2
Samsung
5.0★ from 4 reviews
#3
Surface
4.0★ from 3 reviews
Ai Tools
17 reviews
#1
Afforai
5.0★ from 2 reviews
#2
Quillbot
4.0★ from 1 review
#3
Semantic Scholar
5.0★ from 1 review
Coding Language
12 reviews
#1
R
4.3★ from 6 reviews
#2
Python
4.4★ from 5 reviews
#3
Prism
5.0★ from 1 review
Flair Used in r/PhD
#1
Seeking advice-academic
: "Writing the acknowledgements when supervisors have been the main hinderance to the project?"
60 posts
#2
Seeking advice-personal
: "Professor thinks PhD students should stay 6-7 years because you get the “full” learning experience. She did that."
30 posts
#3
Vent (NO ADVICE)
: "My old program is letting students enter into their *12th* year of their PhD program."
17 posts
#4
Big Decision Energy
: "Anyone does not want to be in academia post PhD?"
11 posts
#5
Memes
: "Publish or perish is an option"
10 posts
#6
Getting Shit Done
: "Finally Defended Thursday After 11 Years!"
10 posts
#7
Publishing Woes
: "I'm crying for help while typing my results"
8 posts
#8
🐸 🎉FROG TIME🎉🐸
: "It’s my turn!"
8 posts
#9
Seeking advice-social
: "So sick of hearing “but that’s not like, a JOB” and all variations"
7 posts
#10
Money
: "PhD without a stipend to support living cost should be illegal, especially in STEM fields."
3 posts
Member Growth in r/PhD
Yearly
+67k members(31.4%)
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About
GummySearch helps people research Reddit communities by organizing activity, growth, themes, and post-level signals into one place.
This page gives a focused view of r/PhD, including current member size, discussion patterns, product reviews, and related communities to explore.
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Last updated: August 13, 2026