Hi All,

Sorry to start off on a negative note - I realise this has been mentioned before I'm hoping just venting in this way will help! To cut a long story short, since moving away to start my PhD a year and a half ago, I've made little progress in making friends, despite trying all the usual things (classes, socialising with department colleagues, gym, etc.) and despite being a sociable person before the PhD. My coping mechanism was to work most weekends (when my partner works so I wouldn't be too lonely) as well all during the week. I guess a over a year of this has now meant that I feel pretty burnt out and have now decided to start giving myself more time off at the weekends. The problem is that I can't seem to shake this lonely feeling and at times I feel quite down about it. I just wondered if anyone has been through anything like this and has gotten through it.

I have no plans to quit my PhD but feeling like this affects my motivation in general and I don't want my work to suffer, as I'm really hoping to get this out of the way and move on with my life as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate it! x

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been mentioned before - I did a quick search and couldn't find many threads related to this so thought I'd throw this out there for any advice.

I'm in my second year of a full time science PhD, which has so far been going well. The main issues I've had are a couple of ongoing chronic health conditions which have occasionally slowed down my work rate and caused some added stress in addition to any stress related to the PhD. I should probably mention at this point that I've been told by health professionals that exercise will improve my physical health in the long run. My supervisor is aware of these issues and has been very supportive up until now. However I've now reached a point where my workload has increased massively and I've probably been experiencing a little bit of the second year blues that everyone talks about for the past couple of months. As a result I've been trying to throw myself into the work to feel like I'm getting somewhere, and therefore haven't been making time for exercise and to look after my health as much. Additionally when I am unwell I feel guilty asking for time off, so I don't always take a break when it would probably be better to do so. I feel like I should be able to juggle everything, but it can be hard at times. I tend to find that when I prioritise my health, my PhD suffers and vice versa.

I realise this probably all boils down to time management and I just need to find a balance, but I've always found it hard to prioritise. I just wanted to ask how other people cope with health problems and the massive workload that comes with doing a PhD. Do other people find it hard to juggle everything?

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated! :) Thanks in advance!

Hi Teaspoon,

I agree with Hazyjane's comment about cells being an expensive resource and your post doc probably does just want to bulk up the stocks and then hopefully he will let you get cracking with culturing the cells yourself. However, I will also say that it's worth keeping an eye out and if he still doesn't let you take over the cell culture it might be time to ask him about it. It depends on the atmosphere of the lab/personality of the postdoc I guess, but the reason I say this is because for the first few months of my PhD I wasn't 'allowed' to culture my own cells despite having had a lot of cell culture experience all through my masters. This was down to a lab technician that felt that she wanted control of the cells and wanted to know exactly what I was doing with them, and for this reason she was very reluctant to let me take over the cell culture. Needless to say I made very little progress during this time and feel as though I probably lost a good 2-3 months during that time. On the other hand, during my masters I was expected to culture cells from day 1 and learned how thaw/freeze down cell stocks almost straight away. It's definitely worth keeping an eye and talking to this post doc if things don't change once there's some cell stocks of your cell lines.

Good luck! :)

Thank you for the replies guys! It's somewhat comforting to know that other people come across this too.

Ian - I completely agree, the word 'student' is completely misread in the case of people doing PhDs. Interestingly, this friend of mine doesn't work and has actually turned down jobs because they were 'too long hours', which I think is half the reason I was so gobsmacked and felt the need to vent!

Joanna - I'm so shocked to hear that even work colleagues sometimes say these things. I think you're definitely right though, it isn't worth letting people get you down.

DocInsanity - I hope you get some downtime after long periods of working really hard. I usually find that I need a couple of days of doing absolutely nothing after a really busy week or two in the lab just to recharge my batteries.

Do other people find that friends that aren't working in academia/doing PhDs, and therefore don't know the structure and volume of work required, make comments like "well if you've got so much work to do you should work evenings then as well as weekdays and weekends..."?

I recently had a conversation with a friend who asked me how the PhD was going, and then when I merely said "oh you know, loads of work to do and not enough time, the usual", she turned around and said I should be "making more of an effort, putting in longer hours and getting on with it...no offence." To which I was thinking hang on a sec, I work 8-6 during the week, most Saturdays and most Sunday mornings - we all need a break at some point though! Just find it strange how people with no experience of the process we go through find it okay to make comments like that and think that we're somehow slacking off. Anyway, felt like getting that off my chest! Do other people come across this too or just me? :-)

Hi All,

I realise this question has probably been asked many times before so I apologise for being repetitive.... I am a year into my PhD and have my transfer viva coming up soon and, as someone who has never had a viva before, I was hoping for any tips or advice on the types of questions that are likely to be asked. Although my supervisor doesn't seem concerned about progression to the next stage, naturally I'm quite nervous about how this will go and I'd like to be as prepared as possible. Any advice or comments would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance! :)

Hi Sa09abr,

Sorry to hear you're feeling a bit nervous, but I can relate to this. I've finished my masters last September and graduated in December. I think looking back, the most helpful advice anyone could have given to me would have been the following:

1) Try not to feel too overwhelmed by things at the very beginning - the first couple of months are tricky because it feels like you're thrown in at the deep end, especially in a lab environment if you haven't had much lab experience before.
2) Don't be afraid to ask questions - the people in your department should be there to help you, and if you ask lots of questions at the start then you'll get to a point where you understand what you're doing very quickly (unlike me who was worried about looking stupid and then months later still looked stupid!)
3) Keep a really detailed record of your experiments and what you're reading.
4) Make a note of any deadlines because they can creep up on you suddenly without you realising!

And I think lastly just try to enjoy it all. If there are other masters students in your lab or that you have lectures with, try to socialise a bit too, because the work can be intense at times. I found the first couple of months very overwhelming, but once you get a feel for your project you do start to really enjoy the work, and it's great experience for if you're planning to stay in research and do a PhD. If you still feel anxious and want more info feel free to PM me.

Hope this helps, good luck! :)

Hi Yash,

I think the number of hours that you work depends on the department and your supervisor. For me, during my masters I was working about 10 hours a day in the lab and then at least one day of the weekend (if not the whole weekend!) because my supervisor gave me such a massive workload! Now in my PhD it's very different because it's a different lab - for the first 6 months I was working 9-5 during the week and maybe doing some reading at weekends, whereas now my research is really picking up so I work 9-6/7 and then maybe a day and a half at the weekends to make sure I get everything done. But the busy periods come and go so there are always less busy times when you can take weekends off and go on holiday, etc.

I think the best thing would be to talk to students in the departments that you're interested in working in to get a feel for what the atmosphere and typical workload is like. Hope this helps, and good luck!

Anxious :)

Hi guys,

Thank you for your posts - CR1980 I feel much more reassured about the viva now! I have a fair amount of pilot data already and I've sought advice from a few senior people about how to analyse it etc. And to be on the safe side like you said Alleycat, I've also had a chat with my supervisor to find out his thoughts and I now know exactly what I need to do to have enough data for the transfer report. I've planned out my next few weeks' work and I'm gonna stick to it!

Thanks again for your advice :)

Anxious

Hi Sega,

Thank you for your reply - it has really helped more than you know! In the last few weeks I've managed to track down a few people that work on similar assays that have been able to put my mind at ease about my work, and from there I've managed to regain momentum and I'm starting to get a lot more done. I feel like I've been much more productive recently, and I'm at least starting to question myself a little less, so thank you for your advice! I hope you're still managing to get through everything and that all is well with you too!

Thanks again,
Anxious :)

Hi all,

Just a quick post to ask whether anyone has any helpful advice/words of encouragement - I'm nearly a year into my PhD and due to submit a transfer report soon, followed by a viva. However, in recent weeks my supervisor keeps questioning my data and the amount that I've done. He never actually says he's concerned about my progress but hints that my viva panel might question my progress, and I'm really starting to worry that maybe I haven't got enough data or the standard of work isn't good enough. I've been a bit hampered by illness at times throughout the year which he is aware of, and I'm worried that this may have had a bad impact on the amount of work I've done. Is there a chance that I could get sacked and lose the chance to finish my PhD? I really don't want to have to leave, as I love the work and really want to get this PhD. Or is there a chance that the viva might be an opportunity to explain why there isn't much data and explain my plan for the next couple of years? I'm starting to really panic about this - does anybody have any advice or information about what the transfer viva is normally like?

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

I'm new to this forum and I'm just hoping that someone might have some advice or have been in a similar position to one I've found myself in. I'm 9 months into my PhD and working on assays that my sup is unfamiliar with (I'm doing a lab based project). However, since I'm getting close to a deadline for a 1st year report I keep getting questioned about how valid my methods are - the problem with this being that I don't have anyone in my department to ask for help with this as there isn't anyone working on similar assays, and the more I am quizzed on it, the less confident I'm feeling that what I'm doing is right. In addition to this, I don't really have many friends around to turn to for support. I moved away from home for this PhD and I don't socialise with the people in my department (just different personalities I guess), and I feel like I've found it hard to bond with anyone that I've met since the move. What's more, I have a few long term health struggles that have really damaged my confidence in my ability to get work done, and my enthusiasm for everything is seriously lacking at the moment!

I guess the reason I'm posting is because for the past few months now I've been really struggling to get anything done and I feel like I'm constantly doubting myself, despite previously always being a good student and being successful at what I do. My sup is aware of these health issues but perhaps not completely aware of how they affect my productivity day to day. In terms of both the PhD and my life outside of it, I feel like I can't seem to make any progress anywhere and I just feel very low at the moment. I realise this probably just sounds like a rant but if there is anyone with any advice or who has just been through anything similar, any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks xx