About Us
OUR MISSION
PhD Balance is a collaborative community empowering graduate students to build their personal and professional resilience.
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By collecting resources to support academic and career success, such as sharing stories (Instagram, Twitter) of Academics overcoming mental health issues, we are building a diverse, international community that believes emotional well-being is a component of health and performance. We believe that personal stories carry more weight than just statistics. People relate to others’ accounts and can find inspiration to support themselves, connect with others, and even feel less alone (a major problem for graduate students, in general, and especially for those struggling with mental illness).
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Our vision? We aim to be the online version of your ideal lab break room, filled with experienced academics willing to help and listen. Need a poster template? Here are three. Having problems with your advisor? Here is advice based on personal stories. Trying to find a job after academia? Try our guides on informational interviews, building a resume, and searching for the perfect career. We have created and compiled resources to help you with your academic success, your career development, AND your overall wellness.
OUR HISTORY
PhD Balance (originally The PhDepression) was created by Susanna L Harris in March 2018 to make a safe space for graduate students to connect with one another and build a community.
The vision has, and always will be, to increase visibility and awareness for students and to let those struggling know they are not alone. PhD Balance aims to increase visibility of those who have struggled with mental health issues, from students to postdocs, future PhDs to those who have long-since graduated.
Many of us deal with these problems, and we must support our community by breaking the stigma around mental illness. Academia would be a stronger, kinder place if we could talk about these things openly and get the help we need.”
PhD Balance
is a volunteer run organization
Aidan Mowat
Brittany Uhlorn
Bryan Wilkins
Kathrine Schledermann
Chris Harris
Our team is made up of members from around the world. We love our team and are grateful for all the overwhelming amount of support we have received. We are always looking to grow our team, to find out how to join, send us an email to email@phdbalance.com