Hi everyone,

So, I'm having a few weeks' holiday at the moment, but I'm feeling really down about everything. I have three years left of my PhD (I'm on a 4-year one, but I MUST submit by Sept 2013). Anyway, by then I'll be nearly 31. Assuming I do at least one post-doc, I'll probably be 33-35. I won't have my own house, am highly unlikely to be in any kind of relationship, and feel like I'm heading toward a life of never owning a house, never really feeling settled anywhere, and generally failing in life. All my peers from university have settled jobs, are married or as good as, are on the property ladder, while I feel like I'm so far behind I'll end up stranded. I was late starting my PhD because I uffered some pretty bad depression and related stuff, which set me back about 4 years, over which time I was only fit to do a 9-5 office job paying peanuts.

The only people I really have are my family, but my parents are getting older, and my sister isn't exactly in the best of health, and besides that, I'm about 250 miles from home, so I only see them pretty rarely - every 2-3 months usually. I have very few friends (probably only two or three people I'd actually call friends), but they have their own busy lives, partners, work etc etc, and I'm certainly not able to talk in depth about my problems to anyone. I go to work, get home, eat my dinner, watch TV, and go to bed, pretty much repeating that every day. I spend the weekends alone too, usually a mixture of working and reading the paper in a coffee shop.

I know this all sounds terribly self-indulgent, but I just thought I'd put it down. I am constantly wondering whether there is any point even going on, if the passage of time serves no purpose other than to get me deeper into this mess.

Hi everyone,

I'm thinking about paying off some of my student loan this summer with a lump sum, but I'm slightly concerned as to whether a graduate tax may come into force. I'm worried that this tax would supercede existing student loans, meaning that paying off my Student Loan would be a waste of money. Or would the graduate tax only apply to new students, and not retrospectively?

If anyone knows anything about this, their input would be much appreciated...

Hi Cornflower,

I think a lot of us remember being in your position.  Your feelings are entirely normal, and your questions are pretty understandable too, so here are my answers :)

References - there are a number of bibliographic programs - EndNote and RefManager are the most common two, and are pretty similar. I use EndNote, and have done from the very start.  I think that the sooner you get using it, the more time you'll save. Perhaps you could find out what other members of your group use - people tend to use what their colleagues use for ease of transferring information.

Debt - good question.  I suppose the main advice is the usual - keep a budget, make shopping lists etc. My best tip?  Don't drink too much! It costs a hell of a lot of money over time.

Falling behind - this shouldn't be a problem.  Your supervisor is there to monitor your progress, and most universities have regular "checkpoints" for you to get through. It's not uncommon for people to struggle, but it IS uncommon for them to struggle for the whole of their PhD without help from their supervisor/university.

Motivation - a very good question.  You'll have ups and downs, and there will be periods where you wonder why on earth you chose to do the PhD, but you'll get through these. Some would argue that this is part of the PhD process, and I'm often told that one of the key qualities you develop over a PhD is perseverance.

Other students - hopefully, you'll get on well with everyone you work with.  In reality, this may not be the case. As in all other areas of life, you meet people you like a lot and get on really well with, and others who you don't get on so well with.  It's not unknown for people to have problems, but the best thing is not to worry about this until it comes up - it may not happen! Universities do have procedures to try make sure that nothing untoward, such as bullying, can happen.

Three years does seem like a long time, but my first year (of four) has flown by.  And a thesis? Well, it's long, but probably less written work in total than you did over your entire undergrad degree!  When all's said and done, your thesis is a means to the end of showing that you can conduct novel research independently.

Good luck!

Matt

I have friends in social sciences and arts who do a fair bit of teaching. However, I'm in biomedical science, and none of my friends here have any time for anything like that, as we're in the lab 9-6 most days, and then reading/analysing data/writing papers whenever we're not in the lab. Perhaps one of two will demonstrate in an undergrad pratical, but this will be about 4 hours per term - nothing more. So if you're in any kind of science, I'd tread carefully.

I just thought I might add a couple of tips to find out how good a potential supervisor may be (quite difficult sometimes!).

1. Look at the supervisor's page on the university website, and find where their publications are.

2. Look at the publications in, for example, google scholar. Are their publications cited regularly by others? Are the publications frequent? What kind of journals do they publish in? One publication a year in a top, top journal is probably better than 12 in something with a very poor impact factor.

3. Try to find out progression of their PhD students - how many complete, what do they go on to afterwards? You might be able to find this out from the university, or perhaps even the supervisor themself.

4. What kind of groups does a potential sup collaborate with? I know in my field (medical science), international collaborations are very mnuch flavour of the month.

Hi Sammy,

I'm sorry to hear that you'v had trouble finding a PhD. I'm not in social sciences, but I think the problem may be the people you're competing against. With the financial downturn, I think studentships are at a premium. You're competing against students with firsts in the bachelor's degree and distinction at master's level - I believe that it usual to require either a 2:1 minimum, or 2:2 plus distinction at masters. This isn't necessarily the case in science but, as you say, there are more studentships going in science.

I'm pretty sure your nationality/race has nothing to do with it - universities are generally some of the most tolerant places going, and there would be no point rejecting a candidate purely on the grounds of race.

Have you asked any of the places you've applied to about why they didn't choose you? This might give you more of an idea - maybe it was something you did/didn't include in your application, or maybe it's your marks. This could then give you an idea about whether it's worth continuing to apply.

In my opinion, it depends. If you're going to stay in academia, then a PhD from an amazing, world-renowned group at a poor university is a lot better than a PhD from a poor group at an amazing university, although I suppose the better universities tend to have a greater percentage of "really good" groups. On the other hand, if you get a job outside academia, and especially if it's outside your field, they'll probably pay more attention to the university rather than the group.

Example:

PhD with a poorly renowned group at Oxford vs PhD with world-renowned group at University of Neasden.

In academia circles, the PhD at Neasden would look better. In non-academic circles, and certainly outside your field, the one at Oxford would look better. If it was my choice, I'd go for the group which is best.

Minh - nice to hear from a clinician doing a PhD! In the words of Basil Fawlty, "So you're two doctors?".

I'm not sure what you're asking. If you're asking whether you need to cite the impact factor, well, I'm sure you don't. I've never seen anything where impact factor is cited. If you're asking whether any journals you cite need to be journals with impact factors, then I'm not sure. I thought all journals had impact factors...

Or, alternatively, find a journal which does citations exactly as you want them, and set your formatting style to that journal.

I think it depends entirely on your field of work. My work is laboratory-based, and so the hours are less flexible. I probably spend 9.30-6.30/7 in the office/lab on weekdays, and work most of Sundays at home too, so about 50ish hours per week, but this can rise to 60-65 hours per week (with evening work too) if I have deadlines to meet.

The best thing to do would be to speak to colleagues who might have done a PhD, especially if in a similar field. For example, if you're doing something where you have to take readings of something at specific time points, you might lose flexibility. However, I think that even the most rigid of PhDs would offer at least the same flexibility as, if not more than, a job.

Ok, A-Level German was 10 years ago, but here goes...

I would like to see the desire for, and admiration of, entrepreneurial success in the eyes of a young person. I would like to feel the pride and joy of parents, when a son or daughter can throw themselves into something independently.
...to be as good as we can be - true to the tried and tested maxim, which I, during my time in America, came to understand. "Be the best you can be"

I hope this is ok...

Has anyone here in the UK ever bought anything from PhD comics? What is the postage like? And how do they work out the cost from $ to £?

The advantages...

1. You get cheap cinema tickets.
2. You don't have to pay council tax.


The disadvantages...

1. 10% off in HMV is pointless as Amazon is still cheaper.
2. You get paid comparatively poorly compared to what you'd get for equivalent work in the private sector.
3. You work long hours.

Frankly, I have no idea how those with young children do PhDs, so all credit to them...