It all sounds very familiar! I just wish they would make up their minds! Perhaps that is an academic trait we have yet to discover! ;-)

======= Date Modified 09 Jun 2011 01:05:07 =======
Hi Ladybird,

Unfortunately I can't give you any advice on your fieldwork as it's not my subject area but your situation is familiar.  It's difficult if you don't have a supervisor in your subject as they are suppose to guide you, give you ideas and enable you to bounce ideas off them to enable you to grow as a researcher! A PhD is research training after all!  If she can't do that she shouldn't discourage you from seeking another supervisor as that's even in your dept's guidelines. It's probably that her ego has been bruised as you know many academics especially ones with her personality have fragile egos!  She sounds a lot like my supervisor who also doesn't really give a lot of detail in their feedback which I only get if I'm very lucky some months down the line! That is very frustrating so I started to use other academics to gauge their opinions and get help on stuff I needed to do!

You have a good case for changing supervisor as shown by your upgrade report as it'll get tougher (sorry to bring that up.)  Your examiner will check your work is up to PhD standard so you will need someone to read your work and make sure you are going along the right lines! The fact that one of her students failed is rather worrying I'd agree so I understand your unease with your situation!  A good working relationship with your supervisor really does make all the difference especially towards the end but helpful in all stages! It is really unprofessional of her to say to you "get to the back of the queue" just because you are part time as you are equally her student and entitled to her time and supervision! 

Is it working out with your second supervisor? Are they knowledgeable in your field which I guess they are if you've chosen them?  An alternative if you don't want to change supervisors as there is a lot of politics involved that is to use your second supervisor as your main supervisor. It is definitely more useful to have somebody who can actually comment on the content and context of your work rather than just the general stuff! 

Is there a postgrad tutor/welfare officer that you can talk to, to discuss your options as they must want you to finish? Or an independent member of your supervisory team who is impartial and you can go to if your are having problems but don't want to go to your supervisor? Well you can hardly complain about your supervisor to herself as she doesn't seem like the type who listens!

I hope you get this sorted as it's hard enough to do a PhD without supervisor problems! You can do it!
Good luck!
(up) :p

I agree with KB where I have heard of supervisors taking staff/students with them when they move unis. If you choose to look for another supervisor at another uni that could be tricky as unis are protective of their students so you generally can't be a member of more than one uni unless by prior arrangement (e.g. at the outset the project involved you have to be registered or involved with different institutions but this depends on your project and funding perhaps.) I think you need to check the rules on this carefully as I know someone who tried it and it didn't work (well at least not in the UK.) You can't submit the same piece of work for examination more than once so this has implications for your thesis and is related to the point above. I hope this helps.

Sorry to hear that Ady - that's an unfortunate way to find out! At least they sent you an email even though they did mess it up! Most places don't even let you know! Let's hope something else will crop up!

Glad things have been sorted out. Don't worry about looking forward by putting your supervisor's name on the paper as academics love to get their names on papers! I've never heard of one refusing as the more publications the better for them unless they're really good and will only put their name down if they've actually contributed during the process! Some like it especially when they don't even have to do anything though it is usual to let them know and see a draft of the paper before submission as you have done so I'm sure your supervisor will be chuffed!

Good luck with the submission. 8-)

I know how you feel as I'm currently in a similar position looking for a job in academia wondering if I'll ever get one!  It's demoralising putting all that effort into our PhDs and then having nothing to show for it!  I'm still hoping to get one but it may take some time!  My supervisor's and other academics' words of wisdom are to hang in there and be prepared to travel though not possible for all! Another idea is to get as relevant experience (which you have) and contacts as possible as networking is very important as shown by the person who got the job! It's very competitive and even more so at the moment due to the current economic conditions!  There's probably more chance of winning the lottery at the moment which would give you funds to do research if you still wanted to! 

Hope this helps though probably no new words of wisdom but just to let you know we are stuck in the same boat so you are not alone! 

;-)

Yeah I agree it's great to be employed again especially in academia! I'm not at that stage unfortunately as I'm still looking and hoping someone will employ me as I'd love do more research but there doesn't seem to be much available in my field! I've even tried to be creative and apply for things in related fields and temporary teaching positions but it's all very competitive!

Good luck for your other interview! Hope you get that too so you can choose! 8-)(up)

I know what you mean as I kept falling asleep when I was trying to reread my thesis for the viva! You've done a lot of work so I think it'll be fine and you seem to know your topic inside out which is excellent. It's great you covered the what ifs scenarios but don't be so ready to accept chapter revisions unless your examiners suggests them first. It's a good idea about the typos as it shows that you are aware of your mistakes!

Good luck with your viva - it's a shame that your supervisors won't be there but I'm sure there will be other people to support you! (up) :-)

It's up to you as there are no hard rules on this.  Usually if your supervisor has had an input then yes but in your case it's up to you. It depends on how well you get on with them I suppose - if they've had a lot of input into your overall project you could put them in but if you feel that they haven't you could just put them in the acknowledgements out of courtesy. 

Congrats on the job offer - it's good to hear some positive news! At least you can relax at the other interview now that you know you have one job offer! :p

======= Date Modified 05 Jun 2011 17:54:30 =======
I'd agree with the MSc course leader that it's experience that counts in this field. Having a MSc is useful especially with the competition for jobs and may help career progression but it is hands on experience that is really useful. Getting various licences to handle wildlife is particularly useful e.g. a bat licence as they are a protected species.

Check out the Natural England website for more info:
http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/ourwork/regulation/wildlife/licences/default.aspx

I don't know what the requirements are abroad if you want to handle wildlife so it would be a good idea to check what is needed if you intend to go abroad to work.

Hope this helps.

That's a great idea Pam - there should be one for academia so we can get the experience we often need from a postdoc to do a postdoc which the funding doesn't seem to be there for! ;-)

This sounds normal especially towards the end - welcome to the joys of doing a PhD! I think studying the effects of doing one on the student would make a great project as it has to be one of the most stressful and emotional things you do! It's like going on a roller coaster and you don't know where you are half the time emotionally! You can go from being really happy with results to being really low as you describe and doubting yourself and everything to do with your project! Not to mention the insecurity that comes with doubting yourself which is enough to drive you mad!

I think it's healthy to have a certain amount of doubt so that we can question our data and improve it but when it starts to takes over we need to kick the paranoia out of the window!

Good luck - you can get a lot done in 4 months as you say so you just need to keep going! The last 10 % is the worst! :p (up)

Yeah I'm sure there is so can you let me know when you figure out please as I've spent ages trying to figure out that program which is supposed to make our lives easier! Thanks :p

Hey Pineapple, I know it's hard for you at the moment as all you can think about is the mistakes you've missed but don't worry about it now. Everybody has typos and some really obvious ones too so the examiners will be used to seeing them. It's difficult to condense a broad area which you should point out and highlight the strengths of the project but be aware of the limitations as you have noted.

Don't worry about your supervisor not reading it all as that happens quite a lot. I know people who didn't have time to polish their thesis due to time constraints and their supervisor not being too good with feedback so they handed it in and still passed. We were told at as part of viva prep that a thesis has to be good enough but not your masterpiece as many students think as this is your research training so the best should be still to come!

It's good idea to take a break and chill out so you are refreshed before your viva. Try to get a good night's sleep before so you won't be tired in your viva! As you been submerged in your thesis you should be familiar with it and remember you are the expert!

Good luck :p (up)