I am currently wrapping up (surviving 😂) my first year as a PhD student. What are the expectations for summer work? Or unwritten rules? I can tell my advisor/GRA supervisor is “this work is my life” type academic. I really respect her but she’s 100% the type to work full time through summer. She’s already dropped hints about things for me to do during break. My one friend is a GTA so when the semester is done they will 100% be off, (actually will be adjuncting a few summer courses for extra cash). I have a 5&7 year old who’ve made a lot of sacrifices along with me that I’d ideally like to spend more time with, I also have an hourly job that pays $60 an hour. Ideally when May 9th comes I really just want to close that lap top up as my contract ends.
Comments
I don’t think there’s an unwritten rule, but y’all should talk about it soon given the semester ends in a month. I’ve done research every summer with funding, some of my friends intern during the summers. It really depends.
If you’re in a U.S. STEM program, the expectation is that you’ll work full time over the summer on PhD research.
But I’m guessing you’re in a different situation if you also have an hourly job right now.
Is she paying you during the summer? Typically one wouldn’t be expected to do work for someone else without compensation. Do you have upcoming prelim exams? If so, you should be preparing for those. If not, if you were my student I would tell you that you should be identifying potential dissertation topics and projects by reading the relevant literature, thinking through ways to do the analysis, etc. Grad school is a full time job. That doesn’t mean you don’t have some flexibility but the students who have the most success treat it like one. Summer is a great time for exploring ideas but it really helps to keep yourself on a schedule.
I guess it may depend some on the institution/program, but in a fully funded STEM PhD program (US) you continue working full time throughout the summer. It’s not a break like it would be in undergrad
Do you get a stipend over the summer? If so, you’re on the payroll and should work toward project goals.
Expectation is full time work over the summer. There is often a deliverable at the end of the first summer such as a paper draft.