[Beldin]

> But most likely, when you come home and a loved one asks what you did today, you won't be able to have an answer

My PhD - and subsequent research - is in security. I will happily explain my research to anyone who will listen. In case I'm not sure, I just start explaining just in case.

How privacy in voting is important. How most scraping studies have a fundamental flaw. How to catch scientific fraud.

Current WiP is on reconstructing possible histories of NTFS files. Sounds boring? We're working to catch criminals that claim "never had that file".

Maybe it's the subject, maybe it's just me, but this research stuff is friggin awesome and I'll happily shout that to the world!

[afr0ck]

It seems like you are very new to Academia.

[Beldin]

I've been in academia since 2004; just not US academia. Maybe that's the main difference?

There's plenty of wrongs in academia on this side of the pond as well, but some of the stories here just couldn't occur.

Case in point: a regular PhD position is an actual full-time job (with regular salary, healthcare, other benefits) here. You have to apply for such a position - which comes with a supervisor & a project description. No "can't find a supervisor" problems; no deciding on a subject all on your own.