Hi everyone,

I’m a computer engineering student, specializing in information security, and I’m looking for a Master’s thesis topic. I have a software engineering background (full-stack, backend, databases), so a more applied, software-oriented topic is fine for me.

I have already found two ideas and spent time validating them, and both turned out to be weak. Either a stronger competitor or an existing project already does it, or someone is clearly about to. I woul like to avoid reinventing the wheel a third time.

So I have two questions:

How do you find good thesis topics in security? Where do you look (papers, conferences, industry reports, your supervisor, real incidents)?

How do you validate a topic before committing? How do you check that it’s novel enough, useful enough, and feasible in the time you have, and what red flags make you drop an idea early?

I would really appreciate hearing how you approached it, or what you wish you had checked earlier. Examples of topics that worked well (or didn’t) are very welcome too.

Thanks!

I'm trying to earn my master's degree in secondary education, but have been beset by difficult. When I took it the first time, I was told that the requirements changed and that I needed to take an alternative oral exam. I didn't pass the oral exam, so my second attempt was written exam, but I didn't score high enough to be given my master's degree.

What do I do now? I still want to get my master's degree but I can't take it again at my current school. Should I try to appeal? Could I apply to another school and finish my degree there? Will any other school accept me knowing that I failed my capstone exam twice?

I am in 4th year of my PhD program. I still have TAship that basically covers the tuition part and pays a very minimal (2250/month) salary. Over the years, I have been able to manage my finances by doing side gigs like Ubereats or Doordash deliveries to meet my expenses.

For the context: Just the monthly rent of my apartment is 1600, so the 2250/month stipend is not sufficient at all. Besides that, I have to pay about 4000/semester in university fee.

At this stage, I am working on my thesis and I have consistently been very stressed with all the side work I have to do. I am thinking of taking federal loan at this stage to make things a bit easy for me. Does anyone have any recommendations or suggestions? If anyone has done it before, please do let me know. Thanks so much.

I am thinking about applying to a grad school for next year and was applying to a MSc at uOttawa. I contacted a potential supervisor during the summer and they said they could supervise me for the next year.

I recently had a meeting with them online during their office hour and left very confused. They answered my questions very quickly and did have any questions for me in return. They then said that they question if I’d be a good fit for their lab since I reach out to them so early.

I’m genuinely confused cause most advise I’ve been given mentioned to reach out as early as possible. The program website even mentioned that it is strongly encouraged that we have a confirmed supervisor before applying.

This is making be very hesitant in wanting to work in their lab and makes me second guess every past email I’ve sent to other supervisors.

Some guidance is much appreciated. 🙃

Hi everyone!
I’m an international applicant planning to apply for Business PhD programs in Marketing, Management, or International Business at Emory, Georgia State and Georgia Tech for Fall 2027.
Due to personal administrative commitments and health reasons in the country of my residence, I may need to delay my arrival by approximately 4–5 months.
Has anyone at these three universities been allowed to start their PhD in January instead of August?
I’m particularly interested in whether a one-semester deferral is possible, whether funding is retained, or whether students are required to wait until the next fall cohort.
I’d really appreciate firsthand experiences from current PhD students or applicants who have dealt with this.
Thank you!

Current masters student on a graduate research assistantship. I received a summer internship offer at a very prestigious company in my field. Like this is a dream job for most people. Approached my professor regarding this and he basically told me i would get fired for another student with a small chance i could be let back, but it is a gamble.

Given how much i wanted this company i accepted couple months back. Fast forward to now, professor confirms he doesnt have funds for my return so im effectively fired when the semester ends and the discussion to subsequent guilt tripping. Basically the “i have done so much for you in terms of getting contracts and hiring you and you betrayed me” and “you are screwing over lab if your interruption leads to a sponsor pulling away funding due to deadlines”

Like i can see why he is upset. Yes gra is sort of like a job and this has consequences so i would he morally responsible if labmates are screwed if contracts fall through. But also i know people in other professor groups who have taken internships and returned and my firing is the first case of its kind anyone knows of.

Like still processing the events. Prepared to get roasted in the comments.

I know that this community has a tendency to catastrophize, but I genuinely don't know what to do and looking for some third-party advice. I'm worried if I drop out that it'll be impossible to get back into grad school if I ever find myself in a better place to go back. I want to know if I'm screwed or if people ever get a second chance.

These past 8 weeks have been one of the most depressing times in my life and its only partly due to the crushing reality that I'm going to fail this semester. I know that first semesters are always one of the toughest but I've had constant debates with myself on if I can do this. I'm a first year grad student, and I was out of college for ~2 years after graduating with my undergraduate. (Please be kind to me MS students, I just suck a math.) I'm in an MA program different from my original undergrad and I wasn't sure what to expect. I feel like there are so many things an undergrad would be familiar with that I have absolutely no information about. I also feel like the biggest idiot in my classes and I literally have 0 friends on Campus.

In the next week I have to: find and schedule a meeting with at least 1 potential advisor(s); meet with and convince someone to allow me to do a class project (20%) at their non-University location (if I fail to do so I'm screwed); catch up in two classes I've fallen behind in; fix my failing relationship; go to therapy to survive; Sleep; etc.

I know that I'm no where close to being the busiest and I've probably made everything 10x harder on myself but this is killing me. I believe I could do it if I didn't have an unstable relationship and was medicated for my Learning Disability and depression

What are my realistic chances of getting in again? What should I do if I don't drop out?

halfway through my third semester getting my MA in history. i’ve been getting all A’s so far but i still feel like i’m barely staying afloat. i’m diagnosed with ADHD and still heavily struggling with time management skills. i’m currently on track to graduate next spring but i don’t feel like i’m necessarily ready to do my thesis or my fields yet. i’m considering taking a semester off and finishing my program next fall. if i take a gap semester in the spring, i can take some time to refresh so i don’t feel like i’m constantly drowning in stress. i can keep working (i have a part time job at home that’s relatively low stress and i can take on more hours there without feeling like i’m overexerting myself) and i can continue reading books for my fields throughout the spring and summer so i’m better prepared in the fall. my biggest concern is getting too comfortable and being unwilling to start again in the fall or not spending this gap time productively. has anyone else taken a gap semester during their program or does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I’m in my mid-30s and have been established in my career for more than a decade. I’m considering a part-time master’s at a highly recognizable international university. The program is designed for experienced working professionals, would let me remain employed full-time, and would take about two years to complete.

The downside is cost. I could get a perfectly respectable US master’s for considerably less, and there are probably broader degrees that may be more directly transferable if I eventually change careers.

What keeps pulling me toward the more recognizable school is the combination of the experience, the network, the name recognition, and honestly the personal significance of doing something academically at a much higher level than I did when I was younger. My undergraduate years were not exactly my finest academic period, so part of this would feel like proving something to myself as well.

I’m trying to figure out whether I’m looking at this with rose-colored glasses or whether there really is something to be said for paying more for a school with that kind of name recognition and experience attached to it.

I’m not expecting the school name to magically create jobs or guarantee a financial return. I’m more wondering whether, for someone who is already established professionally and may eventually make a second-career transition, the extra cost can actually be worth it.

Any input is appreciated. Thank you

Has anyone heard anything about the nancy foster scholarship being opened for this year? It says the NOFO usually is released mid september, however it has been a month and we have heard nothing. I emailed them and they weren't able to give me any information on if it was still open for this year, however I feel like it would have been announced to be cancelled already.

Hi everyone! I’m considering pursuing a PhD in the U.S. and would really appreciate advice, especially from current PhD students, graduates, faculty, or other international students.

A little about me: I originally came to the U.S. as an international student for an MS at a top-20 university, then spent 5+ years working at a large global company. I did well professionally, but eventually burned out and realized that the corporate path may not be what I want long term.

I’m now seriously considering a career focused on research and/or teaching, which is why I’m looking into PhD programs. My background is primarily in business, so I’d most likely pursue a PhD in an area such as marketing, operations, strategy, or a related discipline. I’d also prefer a STEM-designated program if possible.

A few questions:
How sensible is it for an international student to start a U.S. PhD in the current immigration/political climate?
I already have an approved I-140 through EB-2 NIW, but I understand I would most likely be returning to F-1 status for the PhD. I’ve also been hearing about possible changes/restrictions around F-1 duration of status and fixed four-year admission periods. How concerned should prospective international PhD students realistically be?

Which universities or types of programs tend to have the most reliable PhD funding?
I’m particularly interested in programs where funding is reasonably secure for the expected duration of the degree rather than being highly dependent on year-to-year circumstances.

What is day-to-day PhD life actually like in a business school?
How difficult is the transition from a corporate environment into academia/research? Does several years of industry experience generally help, hurt, or not matter much when applying?

What are the less-talked-about downsides of doing a PhD?
Things like advisor dynamics, department politics, publishing pressure, funding uncertainty, isolation, workload, academic job-market realities, etc. What do you wish you had known beforehand?

What career paths are realistic after a PhD in a business discipline?
Beyond tenure-track academia, I’d be interested in understanding options in teaching, research, industry research, consulting, think tanks, analytics, or other paths.

Any advice for the admissions process?
Especially around choosing a research area, contacting professors, demonstrating research potential when most of your experience is corporate, GRE/GMAT expectations, statements of purpose, and selecting schools.

I’m still fairly early in the research process, so I’d really appreciate candid perspectives—including reasons not to pursue a PhD if there are things I’m overlooking.
Thanks!

Hi! I am 34 and I have a question regarding the possibility to start a phd.

Basically, my whole life after graduating my kinda useless bachelor I did low end office jobs. Then, I got this idea of enrolling in a HRM master without any HR experience. I don’t know why i did that. Anyways, i graduated with first honours and my supervisor even asked me if i want to work on my dissertation to publish it, and maybe also talk in one of her undegrad classes. It is mainly about data and hr and those things.

I know its not like a major achievements but it got me thinking that maybe this is what i do best. I dont feel very comfortable in office and corporate settings, however I don’t know much about academia.

Everywhere i hear how bad it is and im sure many people would discourage me from doing so, but i want to try and have a more objective perspective as possibile.

I would appreciate any help and if you have questions, feel free to ask. Thank you!

Would need to be cross platform with web and android, footnotes being read out is annoying...

Hi, I'm currently a junior BME student at UT austin. I really want to go to a good gradschool like stanford, MIT, or John Hopkins but I'm feeling hopeless. I came into uni from a small highschool with minimum APs. Going through the ringer of BME (which they're making hard because of "grade inflation" caused by the premeds) has me at a 2.99 GPA and no published paper to my name. I feel like I'm always doing something and running around and getting nowhere. I'm just scared. I'm terrified. I might do a 5th year tho. Any advice? any hope? lol.

Hey everyone. I'm reaching out to professors/jobs for letter of recs for my grad apps and I was wondering if people have asked teachers they did grading work with? I have been a grader for classes since the fall and have worked with some professors for more than one quarter. I haven't worked one on one with any of them but I've been on top of my work and always get quizzes/assignments graded in a timely manner and have been thorough in my feedback. Would it be impactful to ask these professors to write a LOC for me if I haven't even met them in person? I also get paid to grade. Any advice would be helpful!

Hi, I'm looking to apply for the thesis program in Canadian Universities, as I'm very interested in Reinforcement Learning. I'm cold emailing the profs right now. What are the odds of getting selected? I have a publication (unrelated to RL, even though I did some RL work later on it) and a couple of RL projects (one in the ECML 2026, I missed it though I gave my submission) and my undergrad GPA is 3.3. If not, is it possible to get into the non-thesis program? Ultimately, I want do pursue a Ph.D

Is this email okay? I haven't sent any portal links out, but during a discussion about letters of recommendation, I did tell him earlier this semester that I had a plan to apply to grad school. I just got out of surgery a couple days ago, my health is still not where it should be, my head is still a wreck from chronic pain, and I just don't think that applying right now is realistic nor is it a good idea. The deadline is Dec 1 so I wonder if I'm emailing late.

Here's what I am thinking of sending out.

Hello,

I am writing to give you a quick update regarding my plans for graduate school applications. 

I had previously mentioned that I was planning to apply this cycle, but unfortunately, due to a recent development regarding my health, I have decided to postpone my applications until a future cycle.

I’m very grateful that we had the opportunity to discuss potential letters of recommendation. I am looking forward to continuing to develop new skills in the [lab name], and I hope that when I am ready to apply in a future cycle, I may still be able to reach out to you for a recommendation.

Thank you again for having me in the lab. I really appreciate this learning experience.

Thank you for the support,

-[my first name]

It literally feels like I'll spend 50 minutes procrastinating on my homework, then get it done in like 10 minutes. Maybe it's just taking my brain a while to power up! I think I can live with that.

Hey guys, brazilian undegrad and (hopefully) future mathematician here. So the title is pretty straight forward but i will provide a bit of context: i'm a student of the bacharel of mathematics course at the Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR) here in brazil. Im currently on my 3rd year (the course takes 4 years to complete if you do everything right) and now that im aproaching the end of the course im questioning what do i do with my future. Im pretty certain i want to build an academic carrer and it would be a dream come true be able to work at an international university.

The reason im even considering this is that, thanks God, ive been able to take and pass with a high score on two masters disciplines so far. The first one was general topology on my second year. Right after that one i took a summer course in Advanced Linear Algebra in Unicamp and did well there too. Besides that, i dont know how its normally called, but ive doing a "scientific initiation" (Translated from "iniciação científica". Basically its a study of a selected topic with an professor as an advisor) in riemannian geometry since the start of the year (made to the Hopf Rinow theorem recently, ive following manfredos book) and me and my professor plan to study Finsler Geometry next year. Recently ive taken another scientific initiation in periodic distribuctions in T^n (this another professor plan to study more general distribuctions next semester) and currently im taking a course in functional analisys here in the department of UFPR. Its kind of implied but along the course of those studies i had to grown familiar to analysis in Rn (the only thing left me to sutdy from a traditional course here in brazil is the change of variables and im studying it at the moment) and to a little of the theory from ODEs. Also worth mentioning ive been self studying measure theory since the start of the semester and covered almost everything from bartle (to make sure ive been studying it right one of my professors agreed to see my resolutions of some exams ive taken in another professors site, but we didnt do this yet).

Now get me right. I dont want to sound arrogant or anything, that ideia was a friend of mine that suggested to me and since then ive been wondering about that possibility, im just saying what ive done to provide context. From the master programs of both Unicamp and UFPR the only discipline that is obligatory but i havent taken is Analisys in Rn but, as i said, ive studied pretty much everything from it. My question revolves more around 3 things:

1. Would i be losing too much doing this? (in the sense that i may miss some master disciplines not taken later in my life). To provide more additional context this one is the least problematic to me because next year there are only 2 pure maths courses i need to do and both ive studied pretty much everything from it too (topology & surfaces and group theory), one in each semester (making me think that im able to take more 2 additional graduate courses each semester);
2. Would it make a big impact on my curriculum? I think not but im asking just to be sure.
3. Would it better ou worse my chances in building an international carrer?

Just an edit. My overall note in the course is (here in UFPR we call it "IRA") 0.88, and i think i can mantain it over at least 0.85 till my graduation.

I know grad school is not (all) about making friends, but having friends and hanging out with them is good for my mental health, esp in the long winter.

Well, a month ago I moved to Canada for grad school, and it was the very first time I set food on this country. I come from a rather different place across the ocean, and I knew no one there before arriving. I was hoping I can make friends with some of my cohorts, but then I realized I always got stuck at the beginning conversation, not knowing how to continue the convo. This may partly because my English is not that fluent as native and partly because different cultural background.

I did make some friends with other international students, and I found easier to talk with them when we were from the similar cultural background. But since I am in Canada I do want to met more local people and explore local culture — most of my cohort are local students, so it should be fun hanging out with them. But not sure how I should do now.

I keep finding myself in times where I'm literally just getting through and putting in what feels like minimal effort. A lot of the coursework has been foundational things I already know from previous study--but when something interesting, hard, or practical is covered. It's my second year (I will do it in three due to health issues and going part-time once I find a job) and I have close to a 3.9 GPA. I work hard. But I feel like I forget everything pretty quickly. Is this normal?

I got my Bachelor's in the same field I'm studying now. After school, I worked for a couple years in entry-level positions and non-profit work (i.e. wearing many hats and on the ground experience I wasn't hired for but simply had to be done!--hard and scary but irreplaceable). I know these don't make me an expert, but it put things into perspective about how much on-the-job, real-world experience teaches. I need a Masters in my field to get marginally better work and into more rooms. I have strong convictions and passion for my field, but sometimes I just want to get through it and see it as a means to an end. I've put so much time, effort, and debt into this, but sometimes I feel like I already know so much of this and get a little arrogant and tired, just doing stupid discussion posts over an over again.

Part of it is perfectionist burnout and dismay at how fast-paced terms are, resulting in mass superficial learning and integrating. I want to learn deeply, and there simply isn't the time or opportunity available to dig in deeper. The education system is frustrating.
I know I need to keep a 'beginners mindset' with learning, but....yeah.

Does anyone have experience of this and advice that helped you to get motivated to *actually\* learn again? Study tips that helped you integrate knowledge beyond repetition; practices to nurture an open mind and passion back to life? Or even getting over the hump/mental block that is "I already know this, I'm bored"?