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Grad students are going hungry on campus

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A firey orange ball hurtles over the clouds in a grey sky.

A Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang’e-6 lunar probe, lifts off in the rain at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in China.Credit: Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty

The China National Space Administration has successfully launched the first mission to collect material from the far side of the Moon. If all goes according to plan, scientists will be examining the first rocks by late June. It “will be like a treasure chest”, says planetary scientist Bradley Jolliff. “The samples collected will be analysed for decades to come.”

Nature | 3 min read

Read more: what China’s mission to collect rocks from the Moon’s far side could reveal (Nature | 7 min read)

Argentina’s nuclear sector — which includes power plants and research facilities — is at risk from massive budget cuts and lay-offs of government employees, scientists say. Some fear that the country will lose its place in the ‘nuclear club’, which it gained after becoming the first in Latin America to adopt nuclear energy. The situation is another consequence of the policies of far-right president Javier Milei, who has pledged to reduce public funding for science to help get to grips with the country’s economic crisis.

Nature | 6 min read

China’s AI sector could be five to ten years behind the United States, partly because it can’t access the most advanced computer chips. In 2022, the United States imposed export controls on the fastest chips and on equipment that could be used to produce such chips. Even foreign suppliers that produce chips for the US market won’t sell to Chinese developers to avoid falling foul of US sanctions. This has “dramatically limited” China’s progress with training AI models, says computer engineer Yiran Chen.

Nature | 5 min read

Palaeontologists have discovered dinosaur eggs in eastern China that were softer and less brittle than hard-shelled eggs — but not quite soft-shelled either. The eggs, which date back to some 66-145 million years ago, suggest that dinosaurs were more diverse than previously assumed. “There has been a long-running discussion on whether dinosaurs’ shells were hard or soft,” says Zheng Hanghai, the palaeontologist who led the dig. “The deformed eggs add a third element to discussions on the evolution of dinosaur eggs.”

Sixth Tone | 3 min read

Reference: Cretaceous Research paper

Features & opinion

The work of psychologist Daniel Kahneman, who has died aged 90, led to the rethinking of decision-making in areas as diverse as political negotiations, medical treatment and the recruitment of baseball players, writes behavioural scientist Eldar Shafir. Kahneman and psychologist Amos Tversky showed that decision-making was more often guided by instinct and emotions, than by logic and reason — an approach that won him the Nobel Prize in economics in 2002 and launched the field of behavioural economics. Kahneman enjoyed “adversarial collaborations”, writes Shafir, but remained mild and self-effacing himself. He “was open to the likelihood that he himself was often wrong”.

Nature | 5 min read

Food insecurity is “off the scales” in universities, say researchers. Some universities have opened places to get food banks and food pantries, others have group chats to announce where to score free leftovers. As well as lowering academic performance and increasing the risk of depression, food insecurity is associated with social stigma. Nutritional biologist Gwen Chodur helped launch a food pantry specifically for fellow graduate students, some of whom were anxious about going to the one used by undergraduates. “They were saying things like, ‘If I see my students there, that could undermine my authority in the classroom,” she says.

Nature | 8 min read

In a brisk but affecting thread, science journalist Tom Whipple revisits the tale of Carol Jennings, whose 1986 letter to neurogeneticist John Hardy outlining her family history of Alzheimer’s jump-started the leading theory of the disease. The letter’s outcome, five years later, was an influential Nature paper identifying a genetic mutation linked to the formation of amyloid plaques in the brain, supporting the idea that amyloid contributes to dementia. Recently, two experimental treatments — the monoclonal antibodies donanemab and lecanemab — that target amyloid have been shown to reduce the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease, raising hopes for a new era of effective treatments. Jennings — who began to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in 2008 — died in March, aged 70.

Twitter thread | 3 min read (with some handy paywall-penetrating links to Whipple’s longer coverage in The Times)

Reference: Nature paper (from 1991)

Where I work

Jan Pisek photographs a Norwegian spruce shoot under a blue light

Jan Pisek is a physical geographer at Tartu Observatory, the University of Tartu, Estonia.Credit: Marja-Liisa Plats

Physical geographer Jan Pisek uses photogrammetry to create a high-resolution 3D model of a twig of Norway spruce (Picea abies). “The better researchers understand what happens to sunlight when it hits Earth, the better they can estimate its effects on climate,” he says. “Part of this means creating reliable models of what happens when light hits trees.” In this case, much of the simulated sunlight is scattered and then absorbed by the tree’s needles. “In other words, the geometry that the conifers have evolved provides them with extra energy for photosynthesis — and explains why conifer forests often look darker than forests of other trees.” (Nature | 3 min read)

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Comparative anatomist Heather Smith and her colleagues found that the highly social African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) has eyebrow muscles for making the pleading ‘puppy-dog eyes’, suggesting that the trait evolved independently of humans. (Nature | 4 min read)

Reference: The Anatomical Record paper

On Friday, Leif Penguinson was hiding in Tassili N’ajjer National Park in Algeria. Did you find the penguin? When you’re ready, here’s the answer.

While we’re in the mood for seeking creatures that aren’t really there, take a look at this lovely drawing of a walrus herd — all generated with mathematical equations — by mathematician and artist Hamid Naderi Yeganeh. If you fancy trying it yourself, he shared his technique in Scientific American in 2017.

Thanks for reading,

Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing

With contributions by Katrina Krämer, Smriti Mallapaty, Sara Phillips and Sarah Tomlin

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Cybersecurity certification course for experienced IT students

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Continue your IT education with this advanced cybersecurity certification course bundle, now $49.99.
Study advanced IT concepts in this cybersecurity training bundle.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

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This bundle comes with courses covering security architecture, risk management, cryptography and more. The CompTIA CASP+ course even includes a practice exam with up to 90 questions.

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Prices subject to change. All sales handled by StackSocial, our partner who runs Cult of Mac Deals. For customer support, please email StackSocial directly.



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why US PhD students are fighting over food

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Low-angle view of a person sorting through food donations for the Open Seat, an on-campus food pantry

An on-campus food pantry at the University of Wisconsin–Madison helps students with insufficient money for food.Credit: M. P. King/Wisconsin State Journal/AP/Alamy

Jen Cruz’s life as a PhD student is a world away from her childhood. Although not a member of the tribe, she grew up on Yakama Indian reservation land in Wapato, Washington.

Cruz, a first-generation university student, remembers how families, including hers, would often work for local farmers or fishers in exchange for food to supplement the food stamps and free school lunches that most people on the reservation relied on to get by.

But once at university, Cruz found that the give and take and sense of community that had helped people to survive just didn’t exist on campus. She relied on food stamps issued by the state during her master’s degree in public health at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “I also took out loans and worked several jobs,” she says. “When the stamps ran out, I’d go to the food pantry.” These are distribution centres where people facing hunger can receive donated food, akin to food banks in other parts of the world.

Now four years into a PhD in social epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, Cruz no longer thinks of herself as food insecure — unable to count on having enough food to be active and healthy — but things are still tight in a city where the cost of living requires a single adult to earn US$62,500 annually to support themselves.

In addition to working full time on her dissertation, she does 20 hours a week as a researcher for a faculty-member colleague, and also teaches to supplement her $37,000 stipend (Harvard will be raising PhD student stipends to a minimum of $50,000 in July). She shops at a discount farmers’ market where she can buy a week’s worth of produce for $10, and she shares accommodation with two other people to minimize housing costs.

Hard evidence

A study published in February revealed that food insecurity at Harvard is not just anecdotal (N. M. Hammad and C. W. Leung JAMA Netw. Open 7, e2356894; 2024). Commissioned by the dean’s office at Harvard’s School of Public Health, the survey found that 17% of the 1,287 graduate students who responded and 13% of the 458 postdoctoral responders had experienced food insecurity — figures that were on a par with or exceeded those for the general US population (13%).

Respondents reported having to skip meals, cut down their portions and fill up on foods with little nutritional value. Some also reported feeling anxious that they wouldn’t have enough to eat. Food insecurity also correlated with respondents feeling that their housing was at risk because of difficulties with rent or mortgage payments

Widespread issue

The struggle to find enough food is a problem not just at Harvard. Food insecurity on campus is widespread in the United States and elsewhere, with one study reporting that 42% of US undergraduate students on average are unable to feed themselves what they need to stay healthy (B. Ellison et al. Food Policy 102, 102031; 2021). To lessen the struggle faced by hungry students, some 750 campuses across the United States have set up food pantries. Research is lacking on food-access issues affecting UK graduate students and postdocs, but a study of 161 UK universities found that food insecurity was “off the scales”, says developmental psychologist Greta Defeyter, who led the work, which is yet to be published. It affected 57% of first-year undergraduate and foundation-year students.

Food insecurity affected 20% of PhD students, “which is much higher than the UK average” of 6–10% of the general population, says Defeyter, who directs the Healthy Living Lab, a food-poverty research group based at Northumbria University in Newcastle.

A 2016 report about food insecurity at the ten campuses of the University of California (UC) system found that 25% of graduate students and 48% of undergraduates didn’t have enough to eat (see go.nature.com/49dedjx).

“We started producing the data to go to the state and say, we have a problem and we need to do something about it,” said Suzanna Martinez, a health-behaviour epidemiologist at UC San Francisco. Martinez led the research in her previous role at the university’s Nutrition Policy Institute in Oakland, California. “Since 2016, the UC system has published updates on food insecurity and actions to address it on its campuses,” she adds. These reports can be accessed online through the university’s Basic Needs Initiative (see go.nature.com/4begaus).

Social stigma

As well as lowering academic performance and increasing the risk of depression, food insecurity is associated with social stigma.

Gwen Chodur, now a postdoc in nutritional biology at UC Santa Cruz, was a key player in the fight for food security while a graduate student in nutrition at the UC Davis. Chodur’s monthly pay in 2016, her first year as a graduate student, was just under $1,700. A first-generation university student who hailed from ‘coal country’ in Pennsylvania, she often skipped lunch as an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University in University Park. Despite taking on a couple of jobs while there, she says, “I was always one unanticipated expense away from not being able to finish my degree.”

When she started at UC Davis in September 2016, she explains, she didn’t get her first cheque until November, which forced her to get creative with dried beans and rice, or stock up on cans of spaghetti hoops for dinner. “It was very clear to me that higher education wasn’t designed for students like me, and that was very obvious from the first day that I set foot on campus,” she says of the deep-seated sense of impostor syndrome she felt.

Chodur soon learnt that many other graduate students had similar struggles. Bolstered by this knowledge, she joined others to launch a separate food pantry, located in the Graduate Student Association office, for colleagues who felt uncomfortable going to the one on campus. “They were saying things like, ‘If I see my students there, that could undermine my authority in the classroom and it would be embarrassing,’” says Chodur.

Safyer McKenzie-Sampson spoke out about the location of the weekly free food market at UC San Francisco. McKenzie-Sampson, who was then a PhD student researching racism and adverse maternal health outcomes in Black communities, says having access to the market was helpful after spending half of her pay on rent. But a return trip to the food market took one hour from the Mission Bay campus, where she lived and worked. “There’d be a group of us with our big green bags collectively doing the walk of shame to the shuttle bus,” she says. Raising the issue repeatedly with her mentor resulted in a second food market opening at the Mission Bay Campus. “She was able to have the right conversations with the right people,” McKenzie-Sampson says.

Even so, McKenzie-Sampson still did not have enough to eat, and often had to track down free food provided at campus meetings. “I don’t know if you have heard of the example of ‘having sleep for dinner’. Well, there definitely were many nights when I had sleep for dinner,” says McKenzie-Sampson, who is now based at Stanford University in California, where she researches racism and ethnicity. She hails from Canada and, like other international students, would at that time have been ineligible for food stamps provided through the state version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Legal help

Legislation introduced in California in 2021 broadened eligibility for food stamps in the state’s undergraduates. But food insecurity in graduate students rose by 14 percentage points between 2021 and 2023, after a fall of 5 percentage points between 2016 and 2021.

“At the end of the day, it’s still the dollar amount that impacts graduate students,” says Martinez, noting that their stipends are too high for them to be eligible for food stamps.

Martinez, who advises on basic necessities operations on UC campuses, also attributes the jump to cost of attendance and increases in the cost of living. She says that the 2023 Basic Needs Initiative survey on food insecurity might have been done before pay hikes for graduate students, which took effect after a long-standing and ultimately successful strike over pay and conditions ended in December 2022. According to the university’s latest report on basic necessities, between 2020 and 2023, the US consumer price index rose by 19% and food prices ratcheted up by 24%.

Next phase

Meanwhile, researchers at Harvard are in the next phase of investigating food insecurity on campus, taking a deeper dive into the details of how graduate students and postdocs are weathering it and what they need. Nour Hammad, a PhD student who researches public-health nutrition and is lead author of the study, says a food pantry is planned. The research continues, she adds, “to see how food insecurity impacts academic performance, their physical and mental health, their relationships — just their whole experience”.

Until recently, Cruz was part of those efforts as leader of the Harvard Chan Alliance for Low Income and First Generation Students Organization, an advocacy group that campaigns for better food access for students in need and serves more broadly as a support system. Group chats announce where on campus students can find free food — usually leftover pizza, sandwiches and fruit from meetings.

“I would say all of us PhD students have Tupperware containers at our desks, so if there is food, we can take extra home,” says Cruz. On the day she spoke to Nature, she had scored some cooked chicken breasts: “I was like, that’s going to be my protein for the week.”

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NIH pay raise for postdocs and PhD students could have US ripple effect

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Striking University of California academic workers walk the picket line with placards on the Campus of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Academic workers walk a picket line at the University of California, Los Angeles.Credit: Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times via Getty

Amid a reckoning over poor job prospects and stagnating wages for early career scientists, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) said it will raise the salaries of thousands of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students who receive a prestigious NIH research fellowship. The move could boost pay for other scientists as well, because academic institutions often follow guidelines set by the NIH.

Beginning immediately, postdocs who hold one of the agency’s Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) will now earn at least $61,008 per year — an 8% increase and the largest year-over-year increase the NIH has implemented since 2017. Postdocs’ salaries, which are adjusted for years of experience, are capped at $74,088 per year. Graduate students’ yearly salaries will rise by $1,000, amounting to a minimum annual salary of $28,224.

“This is a major step in the right direction and something that the majority will agree is widely needed to retain talent in the biomedical and academic research sectors,” says Francisca Maria Acosta, a biomedical engineer and postdoc at UT Health San Antonio in Texas who is herself funded through an NRSA.

Postdoc shortage

In 2022, the agency assembled an advisory group on how best to retain and cultivate postdoctoral talent following reports that principal investigators (PIs) were struggling to fill vacant postdoc positions. In December, the panel released recommendations that suggested a minimum salary of $70,000 for postdocs.

The NIH agreed that a salary increase is indeed needed for the more than 17,000 research trainees covered by the NRSAs. The agency will also provide an extra $500 in subsidies for childcare and $200 for training-related expenses. In this week’s announcement, the agency acknowledged that this increase falls short of the council’s recommendation, and cited its tight budget in recent years.

It added that “pending the availability of funds through future appropriations,” the agency would increase salaries to meet the recommended $70,000 target in the next three to five years, while also suggesting that NIH-funded institutions could supplement salaries in other ways. That presents a challenge, according to Sharona Gordon, a biophysicist at the University of Washington in Seattle, when the NIH’s modular R01 grants — one of the primary research awards given to PIs to fund their labs — have remained at $250,000 since they were introduced in 1998. Such grants cannot be used to supplement salaries, meaning lab heads have to pull money from other sources to increase trainees’ pay.

Even scientists who approve of the NIH’s move say it could have unintended consequences. “For institutions such as ours, which mandate that the postdoc minimum salary be set to the NIH minimum, there are some concerns that this increase in personnel costs could be a barrier for labs based on funding levels,” Acosta says.

For some, the five-year timeline for the increase feels insufficient. Haroon Popal, a cognitive science postdoc at the University of Maryland in College Park whose work is funded by the NIH, says that while he understands the pressures on the agency, the new salary will not be enough to support him as he assumes multiple caregiving responsibilities. Even with the boost, postdoc positions in academia fall far short of what researchers could make in government, industry, or nonprofit positions. “This is an issue of diversity and equity for me,” he says. “The new postdoc salary is not allowing people like me to be in academia, which is counter to the NIH’s, institutions’, and our scientific community’s goals of increased diversity.”

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Samsung India announces Solve For Tomorrow 2024 innovation program for students

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Samsung has announced the launch of the third edition of the Solve for Tomorrow program in India. The program aims to foster a culture of innovation among students. This year, the program has two tracks: School Track and Youth Track.

This program is held in 63 countries globally. Over 2.3 million young people have participated in it worldwide.

Samsung India’s Solve for Tomorrow program in 2024 brings exciting rewards

Samsung India has announced the 2024 version of its Solve for Tomorrow program. This year, it was launched in a strategic collaboration with the Foundation for Innovation & Technology Transfer (FITT), IIT Delhi, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, and the United Nations in India. The program aims to improve the innovative thinking and problem-solving skills of the country’s students.

Samsung Solve For Tomorrow 2024 Program Launch India JB Park

The program was launched by JB Park (President & CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia), Dr. Sandip Chatterjee (Sr. Director and Scientist ‘G’, Ministry of Electronics & IT), and Mr. Shombi Sharp (United Nations Resident Coordinator in India).

Students can apply to participate in the Solve for Tomorrow 2024 contest by filling out the form here. The application date starts on April 9, and the application period ends on May 31, 2024.

School Track

The School Track is for students aged 14 to 17 and focuses on the ‘Community And Inclusion’ theme. It emphasizes the importance of uplifting underprivileged people, improving accessibility to health care, and promoting social inclusion. Students can participate in this track individually or as a team of five members.

Shortlisted students will get hands-on training from industry experts, including those from IIT-Delhi, MeitY, Samsung, and UN in India. They will get exclusive mentoring, coaching, and an opportunity to attend a curated innovation walk with Samsung leaders. There will be milestone-based grants for prototype development.

Up to 10 semifinalists will be selected, and each will get a grant of INR 20,000 ($240) for prototype development. They will also get Galaxy Tab devices. Finalists will get grants of INR 100,000 ($1,200) each for prototype development and Galaxy Watches.

The final winning team will be called ‘Community Champion’ and receive a seed grant of INR 2,500,000 ($30,000) for prototype development. The schools to which the team belongs will get Samsung devices for free to improve the quality of education.

Youth Track

The Youth Track targets students aged from 18 to 22 years. It seeks innovative ideas based on ‘Environment And Sustainability.’ It aims to bring ideas that reduce carbon footprint and protect the environment.

Up to 10 semifinalists will be chosen for the Youth Track. Each team will receive INR 20,000 ($240) in grants for prototype development and Galaxy Book laptops. Each of the five finalist teams will receive an INR 100,000 ($1,200) grant and Galaxy Z Flip smartphones.

The final winning Youth Track team will be called ‘Environment Champion.’ It will receive a seed grant of INR 5,000,000 ($60,000) for prototype development at IIT-Delhi. The colleges to which the team members belong will get Samsung devices for free to improve the quality of education and development.

JB Park, President & CEO of Samsung Southwest Asia, said, “At Samsung, we strive to inspire and shape the future through innovative ideas and transformative technologies. Our mission revolves around fostering the next generation of innovators and catalysts for social change. Solve for Tomorrow is truly shaping up as a platform for India’s youth to come up with meaningful innovations that can improve the lives of people.“

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Ready or not, AI is coming to science education — and students have opinions

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Yan Jun (Leo) Wu speaks into a microphone while opening the Students@AI Conference

Leo Wu, an economics student at Minerva University in San Francisco, California, founded a group to discuss how AI tools can help in education.Credit: AI Consensus

The world had never heard of ChatGPT when Johnny Chang started his undergraduate programme in computer engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign in 2018. All that the public knew then about assistive artificial intelligence (AI) was that the technology powered joke-telling smart speakers or the somewhat fitful smartphone assistants.

But, by his final year in 2023, Chang says, it became impossible to walk through campus without catching glimpses of generative AI chatbots lighting up classmates’ screens.

“I was studying for my classes and exams and as I was walking around the library, I noticed that a lot of students were using ChatGPT,” says Chang, who is now a master’s student at Stanford University in California. He studies computer science and AI, and is a student leader in the discussion of AI’s role in education. “They were using it everywhere.”

ChatGPT is one example of the large language model (LLM) tools that have exploded in popularity over the past two years. These tools work by taking user inputs in the form of written prompts or questions and generating human-like responses using the Internet as their catalogue of knowledge. As such, generative AI produces new data based on the information it has already seen.

However, these newly generated data — from works of art to university papers — often lack accuracy and creative integrity, ringing alarm bells for educators. Across academia, universities have been quick to place bans on AI tools in classrooms to combat what some fear could be an onslaught of plagiarism and misinformation. But others caution against such knee-jerk reactions.

Victor Lee, who leads Stanford University’s Data Interactions & STEM Teaching and Learning Lab, says that data suggest that levels of cheating in secondary schools did not increase with the roll-out of ChatGPT and other AI tools. He says that part of the problem facing educators is the fast-paced changes brought on by AI. These changes might seem daunting, but they’re not without benefit.

Educators must rethink the model of written assignments “painstakingly produced” by students using “static information”, says Lee. “This means many of our practices in teaching will need to change — but there are so many developments that it is hard to keep track of the state of the art.”

Despite these challenges, Chang and other student leaders think that blanket AI bans are depriving students of a potentially revolutionary educational tool. “In talking to lecturers, I noticed that there’s a gap between what educators think students do with ChatGPT and what students actually do,” Chang says. For example, rather than asking AI to write their final papers, students might use AI tools to make flashcards based on a video lecture. “There were a lot of discussions happening [on campus], but always without the students.”

Portrait of Johnny Chang at graduation

Computer-science master’s student Johnny Chang started a conference to bring educators and students together to discuss the responsible use of AI.Credit: Howie Liu

To help bridge this communications gap, Chang founded the AI x Education conference in 2023 to bring together secondary and university students and educators to have candid discussions about the future of AI in learning. The virtual conference included 60 speakers and more than 5,000 registrants. This is one of several efforts set up and led by students to ensure that they have a part in determining what responsible AI will look like at universities.

Over the past year, at events in the United States, India and Thailand, students have spoken up to share their perspectives on the future of AI tools in education. Although many students see benefits, they also worry about how AI could damage higher education.

Enhancing education

Leo Wu, an undergraduate student studying economics at Minerva University in San Francisco, California, co-founded a student group called AI Consensus. Wu and his colleagues brought together students and educators in Hyderabad, India, and in San Francisco for discussion groups and hackathons to collect real-world examples of how AI can assist learning.

From these discussions, students agreed that AI could be used to disrupt the existing learning model to make it more accessible for students with different learning styles or who face language barriers. For example, Wu says that students shared stories about using multiple AI tools to summarize a lecture or a research paper and then turn the content into a video or a collection of images. Others used AI to transform data points collected in a laboratory class into an intuitive visualization.

For people studying in a second language, Wu says that “the language barrier [can] prevent students from communicating ideas to the fullest”. Using AI to translate these students’ original ideas or rough drafts crafted in their first language into an essay in English could be one solution to this problem, he says. Wu acknowledges that this practice could easily become problematic if students relied on AI to generate ideas, and the AI returned inaccurate translations or wrote the paper altogether.

Jomchai Chongthanakorn and Warisa Kongsantinart, undergraduate students at Mahidol University in Salaya, Thailand, presented their perspectives at the UNESCO Round Table on Generative AI and Education in Asia–Pacific last November. They point out that AI can have a role as a custom tutor to provide instant feedback for students.

“Instant feedback promotes iterative learning by enabling students to recognize and promptly correct errors, improving their comprehension and performance,” wrote Chongthanakorn and Kongsantinart in an e-mail to Nature. “Furthermore, real-time AI algorithms monitor students’ progress, pinpointing areas for development and suggesting pertinent course materials in response.”

Although private tutors could provide the same learning support, some AI tools offer a free alternative, potentially levelling the playing field for students with low incomes.

Jomchai Chongthanakorn speaks at the UNESCO Round Table on Generative AI and Education conference

Jomchai Chongthanakorn gave his thoughts on AI at a UNESCO round table in Bangkok.Credit: UNESCO/Jessy & Thanaporn

Despite the possible benefits, students also express wariness about how using AI could negatively affect their education and research. ChatGPT is notorious for ‘hallucinating’ — producing incorrect information but confidently asserting it as fact. At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, physicist Rupert Croft led a workshop on responsible AI alongside physics graduate students Patrick Shaw and Yesukhei Jagvaral to discuss the role of AI in the natural sciences.

“In science, we try to come up with things that are testable — and to test things, you need to be able to reproduce them,” Croft says. But, he explains, it’s difficult to know whether things are reproducible with AI because the software operations are often a black box. “If you asked [ChatGPT] something three times, you will get three different answers because there’s an element of randomness.”

And because AI systems are prone to hallucinations and can give answers only on the basis of data they have already seen, truly new information, such as research that has not yet been published, is often beyond their grasp.

Croft agrees that AI can assist researchers, for example, by helping astronomers to find planetary research targets in a vast array of data. But he stresses the need for critical thinking when using the tools. To use AI responsibly, Croft argued in the workshop, researchers must understand the reasoning that led to an AI’s conclusion. To take a tool’s answer simply on its word alone would be irresponsible.

“We’re already working at the edge of what we understand” in scientific enquiry, Shaw says. “Then you’re trying to learn something about this thing that we barely understand using a tool we barely understand.”

These lessons also apply to undergraduate science education, but Shaw says that he’s yet to see AI play a large part in the courses he teaches. At the end of the day, he says, AI tools such as ChatGPT “are language models — they’re really pretty terrible at quantitative reasoning”.

Shaw says it’s obvious when students have used an AI on their physics problems, because they are more likely to have either incorrect solutions or inconsistent logic throughout. But as AI tools improve, those tells could become harder to detect.

Chongthanakorn and Kongsantinart say that one of the biggest lessons they took away from the UNESCO round table was that AI is a “double-edged sword”. Although it might help with some aspects of learning, they say, students should be wary of over-reliance on the technology, which could reduce human interaction and opportunities for learning and growth.

“In our opinion, AI has a lot of potential to help students learn, and can improve the student learning curve,” Chongthanakorn and Kongsantinart wrote in their e-mail. But “this technology should be used only to assist instructors or as a secondary tool”, and not as the main method of teaching, they say.

Equal access

Tamara Paris is a master’s student at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, studying ethics in AI and robotics. She says that students should also carefully consider the privacy issues and inequities created by AI tools.

Some academics avoid using certain AI systems owing to privacy concerns about whether AI companies will misuse or sell user data, she says. Paris notes that widespread use of AI could create “unjust disparities” between students if knowledge or access to these tools isn’t equal.

Portrait of Tamara Paris

Tamara Paris says not all students have equal access to AI tools.Credit: McCall Macbain Scholarship at McGill

“Some students are very aware that AIs exist, and others are not,” Paris says. “Some students can afford to pay for subscriptions to AIs, and others cannot.”

One way to address these concerns, says Chang, is to teach students and educators about the flaws of AI and its responsible use as early as possible. “Students are already accessing these tools through [integrated apps] like Snapchat” at school, Chang says.

In addition to learning about hallucinations and inaccuracies, students should also be taught how AI can perpetuate the biases already found in our society, such as discriminating against people from under-represented groups, Chang says. These issues are exacerbated by the black-box nature of AI — often, even the engineers who built these tools don’t know exactly how an AI makes its decisions.

Beyond AI literacy, Lee says that proactive, clear guidelines for AI use will be key. At some universities, academics are carving out these boundaries themselves, with some banning the use of AI tools for certain classes and others asking students to engage with AI for assignments. Scientific journals are also implementing guidelines for AI use when writing papers and peer reviews that range from outright bans to emphasizing transparent use.

Lee says that instructors should clearly communicate to students when AI can and cannot be used for assignments and, importantly, signal the reasons behind those decisions. “We also need students to uphold honesty and disclosure — for some assignments, I am completely fine with students using AI support, but I expect them to disclose it and be clear how it was used.”

For instance, Lee says he’s OK with students using AI in courses such as digital fabrication — AI-generated images are used for laser-cutting assignments — or in learning-theory courses that explore AI’s risks and benefits.

For now, the application of AI in education is a constantly moving target, and the best practices for its use will be as varied and nuanced as the subjects it is applied to. The inclusion of student voices will be crucial to help those in higher education work out where those boundaries should be and to ensure the equitable and beneficial use of AI tools. After all, they aren’t going away.

“It is impossible to completely ban the use of AIs in the academic environment,” Paris says. “Rather than prohibiting them, it is more important to rethink courses around AIs.”

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How two PhD students overcame the odds to snag tenure-track jobs

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A group of people in a conference room practicing their interviewing skills.

Researching the institutions you’re applying for can help you personalize your application.Credit: Getty

Academic careers are meant to follow a set trajectory: PhD student, postdoctoral researcher, tenure-track job. But when we were thinking about what to do after our PhDs, we decided to skip the postdoc stage and go straight for tenure-track jobs owing to visa restrictions (Q.L., an international student at the time) and financial considerations (V.R., who had the looming pressure to pay student loans while supporting a family). Our mentors and peers were sceptical. A faculty member advised one of us (Q.L.) against it. Even we weren’t sure we could do it — but we did. By the end of our PhDs, we had received 15 tenure-track offers between us.

At a professional-development workshop, we were able to tell the discouraging faculty member that we would be starting our laboratories, not working as postdocs. His response — “I guess I was wrong” — was a moment of vindication for us. In proving others wrong, we had also disproved our own doubts of success.

We’ve previously shared our advice for maintaining an organized and successful job hunt. Here, we aim to demystify the interview process, showing that, even when the road seems impossible, there are routes to achieving your goals. We think that, with determination, support and a clear understanding of one’s values and goals, the academic-job market can be navigated successfully, even for those who, like us, choose to forgo the typical postdoc route.

PhD students aspiring to tenure-track positions must recognize that, beyond the standard interview preparation, you should have a good record of research. We were unusual PhD graduates: by the time V.R. applied, she had published about 90 peer-reviewed papers after working full-time as a data analyst before starting her PhD (she also worked part-time during the PhD). In addition, V.R. had received several nationally competitive awards and fellowships. Q.L. had published more than 25 peer-reviewed papers, released 2 software packages (with more than 30,000 downloads), developed 3 web apps for statistical analysis and received prestigious research awards and funding.

Both of us also had master’s degrees in quantitative methods.

We aim to demystify the pre-interview screening and on-campus interviews. Interviewing can be nerve-wracking, and so we provide practical advice and insights on the basis of our personal experiences.

Research the institutions, departments and locations

Before a prescreening interview, do your homework on the institutions and departments. Familiarize yourself with faculty members and their research. Identify centres and institutes that complement your work and early-career programmes that would help you as you launch your career. Also, research the location and be ready to answer questions about why you want to live there. For example, we noticed that interviews were more likely to come from universities in states that we already had ties to — by having studied there or having lived in a nearby state. Personal motivations might make or break an interview; because faculty searches are costly, the search committee might take into consideration the likelihood of you coming to, living in and staying around the area.

Don’t start your job talk from scratch

Job talks are central to the faculty job search. The talk typically summarizes the core themes of your research and discusses your published, ongoing and future work as a cohesive and engaging narrative. At the end of the talk, you should have convinced the department that your work is important and fundable, that you will thrive at their institution, that you would be a great fit as a colleague and that you can teach students. Using materials from previous talks can ensure that you are familiar with the details, help you to feel more at ease and hopefully allow you to discuss your work more confidently. V. R. used some of her slides from talks she gave for her master’s degree, qualifying exams and dissertation proposal. Q.L. made slides from past posters and presentations that had already been refined and rehearsed.

Anticipate common interview questions

Prepare for a range of interview questions, and have a cohesive story ready about your research and why moving to that institution fits with your future research. In first-round online screening interviews, it was common to get questions about our teaching philosophy, future goals and fit with the department as well as why we would want to live in that particular location. We received fewer questions than we expected during in-person interviews; those were more about allowing us to ask questions about the department, culture, institution and what it’s like living in the area. We both had lists of questions that we asked depending on whether we were talking to, students or faculty members (junior, senior, out-of-area or teaching).

Demonstrate enthusiasm and engagement

Show genuine enthusiasm for the position and the opportunity to contribute to the institution’s academic community, both ahead of and during an interview. Engage with the interviewers by asking thoughtful questions about their research, departmental culture, teaching or the resources available. This demonstrates your interest in becoming an active and valued member of the department. Many in-person interviews involved one-on-one discussions with faculty members, as well as group interviews with students. V.R. learnt the hard way that yes, some might even ask inappropriate, and sometimes illegal, questions — on topics such as age, marriage or children. It’s helpful to have prepared answers, or deflections, for such questions.

Portrait of Violeta Rodriguez on a bench in Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Violeta Rodriguez is now a tenure-track assistant professor.Credit: Violeta Rodriguez

Prepare for on-campus interviews

If you progress to the on-campus interview stage, prepare extensively by reviewing the itinerary, schedules and departmental expectations. Plan interactive and engaging research and teaching presentations tailored to the specific audience, showcasing your ability to communicate complex ideas effectively. Bring a notebook or tablet to write questions and answers to consider if you get an offer. Have your travel bags ready, because interview offers might come with little notice.

Prepare to be tired

Our interviews generally lasted one or two days. There is talking, walking and eating! Even when you are excited about a particular interview, the process can take a toll on you. If you can, schedule some rest time, and wear professional but comfortable clothes and shoes during interview days.

Negotiate job offers effectively

If you receive job offers, you must negotiate effectively to secure the best possible terms. Look up salary expectations and the cost of living in the area to inform your negotiation. Consider negotiating not only the financial aspects, but also your teaching load, research support, start-up funds and professional-development opportunities. Communicate your needs and expectations while remaining professional and open to a collaborative negotiation process. Be ready to negotiate over the phone or through e-mail.

Leverage multiple offers

If, like we did, you find yourself with multiple job offers, it’s essential to understand that each offer can serve as leverage in negotiations. Sharing — without fully disclosing the names of the places where you have other opportunities — can prompt institutions to improve their offers. Approach this carefully, ensuring that you communicate in a way that is professional and not confrontational. Express enthusiasm for each opportunity while highlighting your desire to make the best decision on the basis of a comprehensive evaluation of all offers. We used these negotiations as opportunities to find the institutions that would best support our research.

Seek guidance and support

Throughout the job-search process, seek guidance and support from mentors, faculty advisers or career consultants. They can provide valuable insights, review your negotiation strategies and offer advice from their own experiences. When considering benefits across multiple institutions, such as health insurance and retirement plans, we consulted financial advisers to determine our best paths.

Overall, we think that, with a strategic, personalized approach, complemented by a willingness to learn from each experience, PhD students can enhance their appeal to hiring committees, turning the daunting journey towards tenure-track positions into a series of informed, strategic steps. And if you can find a friend during this process, as we found in each other — to vent to, compare notes with, talk you out of your moments of self-doubt and offer encouragement — consider yourself extra lucky!

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South Korean students to get benefits while using Samsung Wallet

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Last updated: April 1st, 2024 at 05:24 UTC+02:00

Samsung is running a promotional offer for students who use Samsung Wallet to make payments in South Korea. Starting today, Samsung Wallet users aged from 7 to 19 can get various benefits when they use Samsung Wallet to buy things at stores.

Samsung Wallet promotion for students in South Korea comes with discounts and other benefits

The South Korean tech giant has partnered with several retail store chains and food outlets for this promotion. From April 1 to June 30, users aged from 14 years to 19 years who get a Samsung Pay Recharge Card from Samsung Wallet will get an instant recharge of KRW 5,000 ($4). Students aged 7 to 16 years who use Toss Youth Card will receive Toss Money of KRW 2,000 ($1.5) once during April.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Samsung Wallet Payment South Korea

Shopping at CU convenience stores across Korea can get these users a 20% discount on Baskin Robbins Pint Ice Cream. This offer is valid for the first 10,000 customers through Samsung Wallet’s ‘Gift’ section. Samsung hopes that it will see increased adoption of Samsung Wallet among young users.

A Samsung Electronics official said, “We have prepared this promotion so that more customers can experience the differentiated advantages of Samsung Wallet for the 1020 generation. We will continue to expand various benefits and services for the 1020 generation who are accustomed to mobile life.”

Samsung Wallet is available on all Galaxy phones featuring NFC or MST. The Galaxy S24 series is the latest high-end phone to feature Samsung Wallet, and you can watch its review in our video below.

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The best laptops for college students

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Whether you commute to a physical campus, take classes online or do a little of both, a laptop is likely the center of your studies. If you’re working with an aging machine, upgrading to a newer model can make all of your academic pursuits a little easier by helping you stay on top of your schedule and multitask better with dozens of tabs devoted to research while you write your essays. While almost every new laptop the comes out is a bit more expensive than the last, there’s good news, too: laptops are lasting longer than ever before, so your new machine should serve you well for years to come. That is, as long as you pick one from a reliable company and with the right specs. To help you find the best buy as you shop, we put together this collection of things to look out for as well as a list of the best laptops for college.

What to expect

Apple has completed its transition to its own Silicon, so you’ll no longer have the option of Intel-powered Macs. Nor should you want to, really, since the M-series MacBooks have proven to be reliable, speedy and long-lasting. And with each new generation of chip, older models get cheaper while still offering excellent performance. This means you’ll have more options to consider without having to stretch your budget.

Meanwhile, new PCs keep getting announced, with the latest models typically powered by 13th-gen Intel processors or the latest AMD Ryzen chips. Though the shift to ARM-based systems has been successful for Apple, the PC industry is still struggling to keep up, and Windows on ARM is basically dead in the water. Don’t waste your time or money on an ARM-based PC; they’re hard to find nowadays anyway.

Speaking of, laptops with top-of-the-line specs can cost you around $1,800 to $2,000 these days. For most college students, though, a midrange machine to use primarily for writing papers and web browsing might be enough. Depending on your field of study, you could get by with an Intel Core i3 processor or equivalent, with at least 6GB of RAM. If you need to run specialized software for design or programming, consider upgrading to a beefier system with more processing power and memory. On the other hand, if you do most of your coursework online or in a browser, getting a Chromebook could save you a lot of money.

You’ll also want to pay attention to a device’s weight, especially if you plan on lugging your laptop to classes in person. There are a lot of premium ultraportables in the 13-inch category, with chips like Intel’s Core i3 or i5, that cost around $1,000. If these light laptops are too expensive, you’ll still have respectable options in the $600 to $800 price range, but they might be heavier and use older, slower processors. I’ve included our recommendations for the best budget laptops in this college-centric guide but we also have more affordable top picks that you can check out as well.

See Also:

With some laptop makers deciding to get rid of headphone jacks, it’s important to check specs lists when you’re shopping for newer machines. If you don’t have wireless headphones or use equipment that plugs into the 3.5mm jack, you’ll want to steer clear of devices like Dell’s XPS 13 Plus.

Finally, while most laptops offer WiFi 6 or 6E and Bluetooth 5.0 or later, you may not have one of the compatible routers or other devices that would enable those faster connections yet. Chances are, your campus WiFi might still be stuck on an older setup, too, so it’s not crucial that you get a system with the latest standards yet. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to get a laptop that’s future-proof, but just know that of all the things to look out for, WiFi 6E shouldn’t be a dealbreaker in your decision-making process.

The best laptops for college students

Photo by Devindra Hardawar / Engadget

Read our full review of the Apple MacBook Air M3

It’s hard to beat Apple’s MacBook Air if you want a powerful machine for college that won’t weigh you down. You have a few good options this year — the 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Air M3 and the MacBook Air M2. The M3 laptop earned a score of 90 from us for its impressive performance, gorgeous 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display and its thin-and-light design. However, the M2 remains a fantastic machine and, with the launch of the M3 models, it received a $200 price cut. We recommend springing for an M3 Air if you want a more future-proof laptop, but the MacBook Air M2 will likely be enough for most students’s needs.

Apple has officially stopped selling the M1 MacBook Air in its online store, but it’s still floating around the internet for under $1,000. It has the wedge design of older MacBook Airs, larger bezels and only a 720p webcam. But if you’re coming from an Intel machine, the performance gains will be noticeable even if you pick up an M1 machine on clearance. However, we expect stock to become limited as the year goes on.

$1,099 at Amazon

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Read our full review of the Dell XPS 13 Plus laptop

The best PC has long been Dell’s well-rounded XPS 13 series and I still recommend it to anyone that doesn’t want a Mac. Yes, the XPS 13 Plus lacks a headphone jack, and some of its buttons are hard to see and use. But the XPS 13 is a well-rounded machine and reliable workhorse that will get you through classes and late-night writing sessions without breaking a sweat.

Like its predecessors, the XPS 13 Plus offers a lovely OLED screen with impressively thin bezels and packs a roomy, comfortable keyboard. It also features a new minimalist design that looks more modern and offers a performance boost over the standard model. The row of capacitive keys at the top in lieu of traditional function keys may irk some as they can be hard to see outdoors, but if you become familiar with where they are you might not need to see where they are to find the right ones. The invisible trackpad can also be tricky since its boundaries aren’t clear.

If you don’t like the changes Dell has made to the XPS 13, or if you definitely need a headphone jack, the older generations are still solid options. There’s also the Samsung Galaxy Book series, which feature beautiful OLED screens and sharper webcams in thin and light frames. I also like Microsoft’s Surface Laptops, and the most recent edition offers great performance and battery life, albeit in an outdated design.

$1,400 at Dell

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Read our full review of the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptop

Just because your laptop might primarily be for coursework doesn’t mean you can’t use it for fun, too. Those looking to game on their machines should prioritize responsive screens and ample ports for their favorite accessories that can best help them defeat their virtual enemies. If you’re considering a gaming-first machine that you can use for school, check out our guide to buying a gaming laptop. It covers details about different CPUs and GPUs, minimum specs and more. Our favorite gaming laptop is the Razer Blade 15, which has an Intel Core i7 processor, and an NVIDIA RTX 3070 graphics for $2,500.

At that price point, it’s the most expensive item on this list, but you also get a 15-inch quad HD screen that refreshes at 240Hz. Different configurations are available, depending on your preference, including Full HD 360Hz and 4K 144Hz versions. The Blade series is also one of the most polished gaming laptops around, and Razer consistently updates it with the latest processors, graphics and other hardware advancements. If you really want to go all-out, you could consider the new Razer Blade 16 that has NVIDIA’s RTX 4060 or 4070 GPUs.

Students and gamers looking for something cheaper and more portable should consider the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, which was our favorite model in 2021. The main reason it got bumped down a notch is because the 2022 refresh is almost $600 more expensive. It’s still a solid gaming laptop though, with an excellent display, roomy trackpad and plenty of ports in spite of its thin profile.

$2,900 at Razer

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Read our full review of the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook

If you can do most of your schoolwork through web-based apps, a Chromebook is worth considering for your college laptop. Sure they don’t generally look fancy, nor have high-end specs. But they’re often more affordable and have longer battery life. Our favorite Chromebook is Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, which Engadget’s resident Chrome OS aficionado Nathan Ingraham described as hitting “the sweet spot for a lot of Chromebook buyers.”

This laptop nails the basics, with a 13.3-inch Full HD touchscreen that’s bright and sharp, an excellent backlit keyboard and an 11th-generation Intel Core i3 processor. The 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage may sound meager, but it’s more than enough for a Chromebook, especially at this price. It’s also nice to see USB-A and USB-C ports, a microSD card slot and eight-hour battery life. Weighing 3 pounds and measuring 0.66 inches thick, the Flex 5i is not the lightest or slimmest laptop around, but hey, at least your wallet won’t also feel light as feathers after buying this.

Notably, the Flex 5i is supposed to receive software and security updates until June of 2029, so it will last you for years to come. That’s nice to see, considering this laptop has been out for more than a year now, and we’re expecting Lenovo to release a replacement soon. When that happens, or if another manufacturer launches a comparable option, we will update this list. The Lenovo Flex 5i is no longer available directly from Lenovo, but you can commonly find it on Amazon for about $400 (as of this writing, it is selling for about $350). That’s an outstanding value.

$365 at Amazon

Will Lipman Photography for Engadget

Read our full review of the HP Pavilion Aero 13 laptop

If you’re looking for a sturdy student laptop under $800, your best bet is the HP Pavilion Aero 13. Yes, it’s almost two years old, but it’s still one of the best cheap laptops for college students available now. For an affordable price, you’ll get a Full HD screen with a 16:10 aspect ratio and surprisingly thin bezels, as well as a comfortable keyboard and spacious touchpad. Importantly, the Aero 13 provides relatively powerful components compared to others in this price range, with an AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor and Radeon graphics. Plus, it has a generous array of ports and enough hours of battery life to last you a full day and then some.

$600 at HP

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Read our full review of the Microsoft Surface Pro 9

For those who need their laptops to occasionally double as tablets, the Surface Pro series is a no-brainer. Compared to notebooks or 2-in-1 laptops with rotating hinges, tablets with kickstands are often much slimmer and lighter. The Surface Pro 9 is the most recent model and it features Microsoft’s sleek design with a thinner profile and minimal bezels. The Pro 9 also has a 120Hz display that makes scrolling long documents or spreadsheets feel much faster, and you can drop the refresh rate down to 60Hz if you want to conserve battery life. Just make sure you get an Intel processor rather than an ARM-based configuration, since app compatibility might be an issue on the latter. You don’t want to be the only one in class who can’t install the obscure app that your professor wants everyone to use, do you?

We also like Microsoft’s Type Covers and the Surface Pens, though it’s worth noting that they’ll have to pay extra for both if you want them. Unless you’re bent on sticking to Apple’s ecosystem, in which case an iPad Pro would suit you best, the Surface Pro 9 is arguably the best convertible laptop around.

$873 at Amazon

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Students Thrive with Psychology Assignment Help: Academic Success Guaranteed

The journey to academic success is often a challenging one. This is especially true for students pursuing psychology, a field that requires a deep understanding of the human mind, behavior, and emotional processes. However, with the right support and resources, students can thrive and excel in their studies. One such resource is psychology assignment help.

The Challenges of Psychology Studies

The study of psychology is multifaceted and calls for a high degree of dedication and intellectual prowess. It’s a discipline that demands students to delve deep into the complexities of the human psyche, involving numerous challenging concepts and theories. These challenges can often pose significant hurdles in the path of aspiring psychology students.

The first challenge many students face is the extensive use of scientific methodologies in psychology. From designing experiments to analyzing data, students are required to apply rigorous scientific methods. This can be daunting, especially for those who might struggle with quantitative skills or the intricacies of research design.

Another challenge lies in the breadth and depth of the subject matter. Psychology covers a wide range of topics, from cognitive processes to social interactions, from personality theories to mental health disorders. It requires students to grasp the nuances of these diverse topics and understand how they interconnect. This can often lead to a heavy workload and high levels of stress.

Lastly, there’s the challenge of academic writing. Psychology papers require clear, precise, and logical presentation of information. Students must learn to craft arguments, synthesize research, and adhere to specific formatting guidelines. This can be particularly difficult for those who lack experience in academic writing.

Psychological Well-Being Through Assignment Assistance

With the various challenges that come with studying psychology, students often find themselves under immense pressure to perform well. This can take a toll on their psychological well-being, leading to stress, anxiety, and even burnout. However, seeking psychology assignment help can provide relief and support in these stressful times.

Psychology assignment help can alleviate the academic pressures that students face. With guidance and support from experts in the field, students can navigate their way through complex theories and concepts. They can gain a better understanding of the subject matter, enhancing their learning experience.

Moreover, assignment help can also aid in improving students’ academic writing skills. By working closely with experienced writers, students can learn to articulate their thoughts clearly and logically. They can grasp the intricacies of academic writing, from structuring an argument to citing sources correctly.

Most importantly, seeking assignment help can contribute to students’ psychological well-being. By reducing the stress associated with heavy workloads and tight deadlines, students can focus more on learning and personal growth. They can maintain a healthier balance between their academic responsibilities and personal life.

Academic Achievements of Psychology Students

The impact of psychology assignment help goes beyond alleviating stress and enhancing understanding. It plays a significant role in boosting academic performance and achievement. Through this support, students are better equipped to excel in their studies, paving the way towards academic success.

With assignment help, students can develop a strong foundation in psychology. They can gain a comprehensive understanding of key theories and concepts, enhancing their competence and confidence in the subject. This deeper understanding can significantly improve their performance in exams and assignments.

Moreover, the guidance and support provided by assignment help can enhance students’ research and writing skills. They can learn to critically evaluate research, synthesize information, and present arguments effectively. These skills are not only essential for academic success in psychology but are also highly valued in the professional world.

Additionally, with assignment help, students can manage their time more effectively. They can balance their workload, ensure timely completion of assignments, and avoid the last-minute rush. This can lead to higher quality work, better grades, and a more satisfying learning experience.

Thriving in Academics with Psychology Assignment Help

In conclusion, psychology assignment help is an invaluable resource for psychology students. It provides the support and guidance needed to overcome the challenges of the discipline, fosters psychological well-being, and enhances academic success.

Through assignment help, students can delve into the complexities of psychology with greater ease and confidence. They can develop a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and improve their academic writing skills. Moreover, they can maintain a healthier balance between their studies and personal life, reducing stress and promoting psychological well-being.

With its significant contributions to academic performance and achievement, assignment help is a key to thriving in psychology studies. It aids in building a solid foundation in the discipline, enhancing research and writing skills, and managing time effectively. In doing so, it paves the way towards academic success, ensuring that students not only survive in their studies but thrive.

So, if you’re a psychology student facing challenges in your academic journey, consider seeking psychology assignment help. It could be your stepping stone to academic success and a satisfying learning experience. Because in the end, the goal is not just to get through your studies, but to truly thrive and excel in them.