one thing - IFs are done across all journals so take into consideration your discipline. in some it goes up into the 50s but in mine, anything above a 1 is good!!!!

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I'm distinctly average. No first, no distinction. Also at a Russell group.

firstly, good luck.

i didn't have to do the lunch thing, that idea always scares me. if i was interviewing though i would want to see someone who could make small talk with the other candidates but don't give too much away and don't tell any of them you're nervous etc...

i got my phd almost entirely on enthusiasm. if you meet all the academic criteria (which you will have done to get the interview) then they're looking for that extra bit. also, i really sold my previous work as being majorally relevant! with slight twist on the emphasis this can be done most times...

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I don't understand why you'd want to do two MRes courses. Perhaps 1 MRes and 1 MSc/MA...but I'd only do that if it was demanded by a higher authority...

Also, the first year of my PhD was not an MRes. And I've never done one, I did an MSc. It might have been nice if my first year was an MRes but it's been fine as it is.

i got back from a lovely european holiday at 2am this morning. it was wonderful. i was also away at glastonbury a couple of weeks ago. and a week at new year. plan to do at least one if not two more weeks this year. i know i have a crazy amount of work to go back to but before i went i was really dragging and now i feel uber motivated. to be honest, i don't really see cash as a problem if you're on the typical level of funding. holidays aren't about major cash expenditure. they're about spending time with the people you love, relaxing and having fun.

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yeah, definitely be careful. i know two people at undergraduate level who got pulled up for self plagarism. one was given a zero for the assignment but one was kicked off the course, full stop.

also, i wouldn't trust your supervisor to know the answer. whilst wonderful, they're not usually too hot on the rules and regs so go to the grad school, grad tutor, someone at uni level who can direct you to the relevant person in your department/school/faculty.

good luck

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are you serious? that's great! like, 10% of your thesis (depending on the length) and the majority of your thesis will be your original findings right!

also, just be aware that your literature review will change as you incorporate the new literature that comes out each month.

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oo, just had another look. mine is my upgrade report. i don't have to do end of year reports as far as i know but i'm not funded by one of the big research councils.

sorry!

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It's unusual in psych to get onto a phd without an MSc so if you have the opportunity, go for it!

Best of luck

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Silly Billy - We upgrade "normally between 9 and 18 months". My supervisors seem pretty obsessive about getting this out of the way. I think it's because my funding literally cannot go a day over 3 years. And the main supervisor isn't allowed to be the main supervisor for another student on that funding until I complete. No pressure...It was a little bit of a nightmare, 10000 words, but now it's great. I have a folder called "thesis" and that document will be the basis of my thesis. Hoorah! Also, I think my department has different rules to the rest of the institution because, without giving too much away, they are kind of seperate.

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I started writing it the day I started my PhD and handed it in on Monday (9 months) but I was also doing a whole host of other things in this time. If you have some background literature or the basis of your lit review and you know what you want to do you can do it quickly. I, however, was told I would be upgrading 6 months after starting. My supervisors realised pretty quickly that was HUGELY unrealistic. To be honest, writing the basic research plan took a couple of days, filling in the justification took about a month and the lit review a couple of months.

What is your deadline?

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a little off topic but i disagree about the abuse. the issue is whether or not other people in the group have shared the same kind of experiences, i.e., if everyone in the group has (self-reportedly) been abused then it's fine to ask about abuse in a focus group as long as everyone there has been fully informed and consented to this. if only one person in the group has been through this then it probably isn't appropriate for the person who has been abused or the other participants who have been abused to discuss this in a group, but it does depend...

just a thought...

it doesn't have to be an either or situation. why not to part time research and part time industry. i'm in a med school and it's basically unheard of to do full time! everyone has 2+ jobs.

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I love love love my PhD. I have had three major pitfalls so far (coming up to the end of my first year) and I'm so proud of the way I've dealt with them.

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Congratulations.

I haven't (yet) felt this fraud sensation but I do know it's very common. Now, I think the reason I haven't had this is because I've always classed my PhD as a research job. All my friends, family members etc have (or have had) jobs. That's not scary, that's necessary. I think if you frame it this way, it makes it less scary. Incidentally, when I hear people get places on PhDs I always think, "Wow, I bet they're crazy clever".

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