Hello there, 
My name is Jayron, and here is everything you should know about me👇

I finished my PhD in biochemistry at the Amsterdam UMC under the supervision of Prof. Carlie de Vries, Dr. Ed Eringa, Prof. Daniel van Raalte, and Prof. Max Nieuwdorp.

While completing my PhD, I co-founded and co-host The Struggling Scientists Podcast. This podcast explores research topics like intermittent fasting and offers insights into scientists' daily lives. My co-host, Suzanne van Wouw, and I have:
Produced 80 episodes
Achieved approximately 4,000 monthly downloads across Spotify and Apple Podcast
Interviewed numerous guests including a Nobel Prize laureate
Expanded our audience on Twitter/X, Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn to 90.000+
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What becoming an expert in your field really looks like.

You don't do that by just staying up to date with the most relevant research but often you also need to explore outside of your immediate field to find new information and connections that others haven't considered before.

To some, this might seem like procrastinating (in some cases they are), but it's a crucial part of the academic process. At least in my humble opinion.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤🤔?
How many open tabs is too many?

I hope this helps.
Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ Recent Science news with a dash of humor
✅ + and advice to make your research life less of a struggle

♻️Like, share, or comment if you found this helpful 😊.
You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

Jayron Habibe, PhD

I share advice to help make your academic journey less of a struggle | Co-founder The Struggling Scientists | Communications Officer at Westerdijk Institute

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On critical feedback from reviewers👇

Something that kept catching me off-guard when submitting papers during my #PhD was the way in which many reviewers communicated their feedback.

Their feedback often seemed deliberately condescending, as if to intentionally bring down the work rather than objectively pointing at weaknesses or providing suggestions on how to improve it.

Now, I understand that reviewers aren't supposed to provide detailed overviews and commentary to improve your entire paper but perhaps they can provide more than the communicative equivalent of an angry drunkard telling you to go away with your paper.

Feedback can be critical but it need not be cruel.

I also personally believe that if you've taken some time to review a paper, then you should also put in the work to provide actual feedback to the authors on how they can improve it rather than simply providing your assessment that the paper is not good enough for a journal.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤🤔?
Have you also encountered some petty reviewers?

I hope this helps.

Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ Recent Science news with a dash of humor
✅ + and advice to make your research life less of a struggle
👉 You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

♻️ Share this post to help more people
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On choosing to do a postdoc after your PhD 👇

I think for many people the choice to pursue a #postdoc was an obvious one. Regardless of how their PhDs may have gone, they knew academia was for them.

For many others, however, that choice is less obvious, especially if your #PhD didn't meet your expectations of what you thought academia would be like.

After your PhD, you might realize that you don't actually like academia that much but you have zero idea what industry or alternative career paths might look like so you are hesitant to make the switch.

Many people, therefore, despite already kind of knowing they don't want to stay in academia, postpone the decision to leave it by doing a postdoc first. 

While I totally get wanting time to figure things out for yourself before you make any big life decisions, I do think this approach of doing a postdoc in the interim might hurt you more in the long run than help you unless you approach it strategically. 

Future employers might see your postdoc experience as you being overqualified for the role, spending too much time in an academic setting vs industry, and not developing skills you will need outside of academia.

There is also the danger that you keep postponing the decision and perhaps do a second postdoc or never actually spend time during your postdoc to facilitate your transition to a career that might make you happier.

 Therefore, while there is some semblance of security to be found in the familiarity of academic research by doing a postdoc, ultimately if you know it won't make you happy, consider making the switch ASAP.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤🤔?
What would recommend a finished PhD who is doubting between industry and academia?

I hope this helps.

Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ + and advice to make your research life less of a struggle
👉 You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

Starting your PhD is hard enough. Starting your PhD with someone else’s unfinished project? That’s a whole different kind of chaos 😅

You’re handed a pile of scattered notes and maybe a freezer full of mysterious samples.
And then expected to just… figure it out.

If that’s you right now, here are three things I wish someone had told me:

1. You’re not the mess you were given.
That confusing project file, those weird data gaps, the protocols that somehow only exist in someone’s memory? They aren’t your fault. Take the time to figure it out, but don’t internalize the chaos.

2. Ask all the “dumb” questions early.
Even if the person who left the project is gone, someone around you probably has context. It’s not embarrassing to ask how something works or why a choice was made. 

3. Try to make the project your own.
Once you’ve got a handle on it, reshape the project into something you understand and feel motivated by. That ownership will carry you through the tougher parts.

You didn’t start with a clean slate, but you still get to write your own version of the story.  

I hope this helps.
Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ + advice to make your research life less of a struggle

♻️ Like, share, or comment if you found this helpful 😊.
You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

It’s 2026 and somehow we’re still debating whether bullying and harassment in academia are "real problems". 👇

They’re real!
They’re systemic!
And they drive talented people out of science!

The UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF), which helps decide how £2 billion in funding is distributed, was set to start including “research culture” as a core component of assessment.

Think: mentorship, collaboration, transparency, equity.

But now? That plan is on hold.
The weighting of “culture” might be cut.
Or worse, the word itself might disappear from the official framework.

If that happens, the message is clear:
how you treat people doesn’t matter. Only your metrics do.

That’s not an academic system worth celebrating.

If we care about good science, we need to care about the conditions it’s produced in.
Supportive culture and research excellence are not opposites.

They are dependent on each other!

We don’t need to wait for governments to lead.
Lab by lab, department by department, we can keep pushing for better.

💬 What one change do you wish your department would make to improve research culture?

Read the full article:
https://lnkd.in/eNHj6jVc 

I hope this helps.
Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ + advice to make your research life less of a struggle

♻️ Like, share, or comment if you found this helpful 😊.
You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

Some days during the PhD, I wished someone else could just step in and finish it for me.

But the truth is, no one else can write that thesis, analyze your data, or make the final edits to your manuscript.

Here’s what helped me keep going when it felt like too much:

1. Make peace with imperfect progress.
You won’t always be productive. Some weeks will feel like a blur of meetings, failed experiments, or mental exhaustion. That doesn’t mean you’re not getting closer to the finish line.

2. Own your project.
No matter how many collaborators or supervisors are involved, you are the engine that moves it forward. Trust your knowledge and intuition more as you go along because you are the expert.

3. Find support, but don’t wait for a rescue.
Friends, supervisors, and colleagues can be lifesavers, but the hard decisions and final pushes have to come from you. Sucks, I know but you've made it this far so I know you got this :)

I hope this helps.
Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ + advice to make your research life less of a struggle

♻️ Like, share, or comment if you found this helpful 😊.
You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

I always struggled to find time to just sit down and read an academic paper.

It always felt like you should be doing experiments or simply be in the lab, which left very little time just to read.

Obviously this is wrong and everyone should spend more time reading but it never felt like you were incentivized to optimize your inputs but instead just optimize your output (experiment results, writing, presentations, etc.)

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤🤔?
Do you feel the pressure to generate more output than to optimize your inputs?

I hope this helps.
Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ Recent Science news with a dash of humor
✅ + and advice to make your research life less of a struggle

♻️Like, share, or comment if you found this helpful 😊.
You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

After all the stress, the rewrites, and the reviewer comments that made you question your life choices, your paper has been accepted.

And if you’re anything like I was, your brain might already be racing to the next thing. But before you move on, take a second to really enjoy it.

Let it sink in.
This is a big deal!
You shouldn't downplay it and just move on to the next item on your to-do list. You spent months, maybe years, building and working on this. That hard work deserves a moment of real recognition.

Tell people who get it
Your lab mates, your friends, and your former PI, share it with those who know what it means. Let them celebrate with you. Their “congrats!!” messages will make it feel more real.

Celebrate the way you want!
Whether it's a fancy dinner, a goofy dance in your kitchen, or just taking the afternoon off guilt-free, mark the win. Do something that makes you feel proud and happy :)

Getting published isn’t just about meeting the requirements to get your PhD.
It’s about reaching a milestone that you worked incredibly hard for. So pause, breathe, and let yourself feel it.

You did it. Let that be enough for today.  

I hope this helps.
Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ + advice to make your research life less of a struggle

♻️ Like, share, or comment if you found this helpful 😊.
You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

Friendly reminder to celebrate your academic accomplishments and milestones more 🙂

Btw...

This post is brought to you by The Struggling Scientists Podcast 

Be sure to check out our podcast on YouTube, where we share...
✅ Helpful advice for in and outside of academia
✅ Useful info about AI tools in academia
✅ + advice to make your research life less of a struggle

♻️ Like, share, or comment if you found this helpful 😊.
You can find us on YouTube as The Struggling Scientists

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