Any PhD students here?

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I've noticed that some of you here have a lot problems at school but there also seem to be a few who are really good at it. I'm more of a person who belongs in the latter group, though there are a few things which pose a bigger problem for me than others (presentations and oral exams get me nervous days in advance, though I usually manage to pull it off). When I started going to university I decided for myself that I should at least try to build a succesful career in order to support myself later on and that I shouldn't let my dissatisfaction about my social life affect that. As we all know, us aspies tend to have rather narrow interests. I was always good at intensely focusing on those narrow interests so I tried to do the same thing with my studies and so far I've managed to do that pretty well, it's pretty much the only thing I care about these days.

Here's where I'm getting to my point: I get reasonably good marks (better than 90% of my class) and I could see myself becoming an academic researcher or something like that so I'm wondering if there are any others here who have achieved that? I know I'm setting the bar pretty high here but I need some kind of goal and achieving this would make me feel good about myself, which kind of compensates my unsatisfactory social life. I suppose you do need some social skills and you might have to do other things which aren't very easy for Aspies (eg. teaching in front of a class).

Anyone have some advice for me?

I am a PhD student on computer science. When I came to the university my grades became nearly perfect, being focused on my interests.
I haven't given any classes yet, but I know that I will have to do it sometime. That feels a little frightening.
But I am doing what I want and the people of my department is very nice and understanding, so I am clearly continuing this path.

When I was doing my degree I got a investigation grant for undergrads, which was helpful to integrate myself between them, maybe your university have something similar.

I'm not, but my boyfriend is finishing up the last few months of a PhD program in Cell Biology. He would like to stay in academia, but is sort of freaking out because it's not exactly easy to get a tenure-track position, even if your qualifications are excellent. Because of his specific area of study, he could also go into pharmaceutical research and may very well go this route if he cannot find a tenure-track position after a few years of post-docs, but he would strongly prefer to teach.

That said, to give himself a little bit of an advantage in that competative job market, he's been applying to teaching post-docs at a few different universities. From what I understand, this is different from a traditional post-doc in that he'd divide his time between lab research and teaching classes. I guess part of the idea is that through that type of a program, you get additional hands-on experience with teaching a bit earlier in your career, which might help someone's confidence levels when it comes to dealing with students. I'm not sure what your area of study is or if teaching post-docs exist outside of the sciences, but it could be worth looking into, if you want to go the PhD route.

I want to start a phd next year, Im finishing my part time msc at the moment. I must say I find post graduate study so much easier than undergraduate, you have less interaction with others, less interaction with tutors, more freedom to pick your topics and do your own research, more freedom to say your own opinion and the text books are at a much more interesting level, challenging and interesting where as undergraduate can be a bit dull. My marks are better on a lot of work than undergrad so I dont think its harder, I definitely prefer it.

I would not do a part time teaching post phd as the above poster suggested as I would find teaching awful and being round lots of students vile, but different things suit different people, best thing is to know yourself.

I am very lucky as my town has the head quarters of the Open University so I can do my phd full time and they are one of the top ones for psychology research so are good for my topic and they dont have students on campus which is great and they are 'equal ops' so help about aspergers rather than discriminating.

Im really excited to start!!

I'm starting mine in two weeks

Where I live (australia) there is an optional 4th year of undergrad called honours where you do 50% coursework and 50% research, that research semester was awesome and I can't wait for 4 more years of it! (australian phds are also rather short, they don't have coursework)

Well I've sent in my applications to PhD schools and I'm awaiting (hopefully) acceptance. I've talked to grad students and they say their lives are much better now that they're in graduate school. I believe them because it makes sense if you love the area you're going into.

My dream is to get my Ph.D in the future. I'm working now for "research experience," because I've found that many grad schools care more about how prestigious you look rather than your grades and passion. I've been reading graduate-level textbooks about my areas of specialty for fun, so even if I never get accepted, I will at least have the level of expertise.

As for teaching, I want to be a professor. I absolutely adore teaching/lecturing. I have zero social anxiety (never have), and I've always thrived in giving presentations and speeches. I also just love explaining my special interests to others, to spread the love of science and help others learn. I've noticed that I can tolerate neurotypicals when I'm in a position of leadership/control, because most will have some respect and act more mature and studious rather than immature and silly. It also is a way for you to only have to talk about your special interest with them and avoid small talk. I TA-ed for chemistry and statistics in undergrad, and I thoroughly loved both.

Not yet. I'm a long way off from it. I still haven't even gotten into school yet. (Waiting to hit 24 for financial aid)

But I plan on getting a PHD in Fine Arts, and then I'd like to go into art restoration at a museum.

I'm midway through mine in materials science. I want to continue in a academic or government research role, pwehaps do the professor thing as well.
My comprehensive exam is coming up (~4 hours oral exam) and I am freaking out about that, but my examiners and PhD supervisor are aware of my Aspergers and I have the option to leave that exam for up to 20 minutes at any point to collect myself if I have a meltdown.
The biggest problem has been that my program is highly self-directed and my inability to organize my time and follow or even develop a plan for my work make this frustrating. I think that many AS/ASD students are capable of doing PhDs, but having a well thought out and straight-forward study/research plan from the start is a great help. I did not have a good plan and spent about a year doing research that was more-or-less pointless.

If its only prensetations and teaching classes that worry you then you're pretty well off I have a lectureer who teachs everyday but STILL gets nervous when she has to present anything to non students. Shes had panels in disbelief when she says shes a lecture. But, shes still one of the best lectures i've had. Another lecture only started teaching last year and for the first few weeks he kept grinning and giggling in class. He got better and better and you wouldn't know now that he's relativly new to lecturing. Even NTs (i assume) have trouble presenting adn teaching at first.

If you have the interest, desire and academics to got to college and be successful, don't be held back worrying about the social stuff. Most colleges offer some sort of public speaking seminars when presentations come up. And if you think you'll need a fair bit more help and practice with this part, look for debating societies. They are well scary at first (had to do one in school) but they do pay off really quickly.

Are they amenable to accepting US students? I am working on my masters in anthropology and plan to add a masters in public health. My undergrad in anthropology was my second degree --- I've had enough coursework! Now I wouldn't mind taking a semester of classes, but I really don't want to take more than a year if I come in with two Masters degrees.

That's one of the major reasons why I want to do it. I love talking about my passions, I could go on for hours about it, which is why I think I might be able to teach in front of a class. I don't have zero social anxiety like you though. I like explaining things to fellow students and I've helped a few friends with courses but I'm terrified of giving presentations and the feeling of being judged gives me chills, I always perform worse than I should at oral exams just because I get so nervous. I've always wondered whether it would be possible for me to get used to it and get a little confidence. I'm very insecure about my abilities though. The people who think I'm great are usually the ones with (much) lower marks so I don't really value their opinion that much. I've considered talking about it with other academics (mainly my professors and their assistants) but I don't really know them that well and I don't know how to bring it up. The thought of it actually scares me a little because I don't want to come off as arrogant.

I've considered going to debating societies. There aren't really that many here though and so far I've opted not to go. The few friends I have have different interests than I have, which means I'd have to go alone. Most of the people who go to the debating society I intend to go to have already obtained their Master's degree and are a little older than me so I feel a bit out of my league. I'm always afraid of being thought of as stupid or ignorant. This and not knowing anyone there has prevented me from going until now.

I'm not sure to be honest. I assume so. However there are course fees for international students and my understanding is that scholarships for international students are rather competitive. The main difference in applying for Australian PhD's vs the US and most of Europe is that you need find a supervisor willing to supervise you before applying.

I should also add that the Australian government expects us to finish in 3 years, this -never- happens (in my field anyway).

Finish in three years? Sounds great to me!

i have been accepted on a PhD, and while i would love to complete this, i have funding issues. How do you guys fund your PhD? Is it different for each country? I am in the UK.