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Some supervisors have so many students because they like to get their name out there and what better way to do it by accumulating lots of students whose papers they hope to co-author despite not being very helpful!!!! In some departments time supposedly spent supervising students equates to time off teaching duties so if 1 student is worth half a module 12 could come in very handy!!!!!

PhD students are seen as outputs of the dept so the more the better as they get brownie points and it increases their ratings!

I am unaware of the monetary benefit but I guess they can claim expenses for them as more students equates a "more" successful department so they can maybe claim a larger research budget, more office and lab space (expanding the dept) and a raised profile within the uni.

Congrats - some supervisors are just a pain :-s and I'm glad it's has been recognised and dealt with! That's half the battle! 8-)

I would have thought you could use it after your viva but apparently it's not official until you've graduated and got the certificate! The bank will want to see this as my friend tried after her viva but they wanted proof! I suggested plonking the doorstop on the counter to show them! Passports don't have a section for titles but you might as well use it as you've earned it! (up) :-)

Hi, I know that feeling well!  I was disgusted by mine as I was writing the last few chapters that I felt sick doing it! It took ages before I could even think about it again after my viva!  They weren't pleasant thoughts either but like the others said you just have to grit your teeth and do it.  You are very close to getting it done and it would be such a wasted effort if you didn't get it done!

Time does seem to make things better as you forget the about your viva (or at least try to) so you can distance yourself from it and do what is required. 

I would suggest you do the easy things first like typos, renumbering, reformatting etc... before breaking the more detailed other stuff into chunks. 

Once you get into the swing of things it won't seem as bad as I agree with you it's the psychological stress/torture of thinking about it that makes it seems worse.  Once you break this down it'll be ok and you can get on with it! 

Even now I have problems thinking about my thesis and would gladly never look at it again except I have to write the papers which are going very slowly! I am so much more interested in writing proposals and trying to get funding for other projects - in fact pretty much anything to move on from my PhD!!!! 

As someone said once you have finished a set of corrections you can put them down in a document as finished as you need to show how you addressed the list of corrections and this would be the easiest way of doing it.  If you need to rewrite/rework stuff - you'll find a lot of the original points aren't valid so you can just say that.  It does feel like criticism when you are doing it and they are just being picky but that could be that as you've spent so much time doing it, it feels like an attack on your work when really it's just a different way of looking at things that maybe you hadn't thought about before. 

I hope this helps and hang in there! It's tough as you think it's all over after the viva and then you get landed with corrections which I think are worse than writing up as you just want it to be over! :-s

Good luck and think of a reward/treat to motivate yourself as you get each chunk done!
(up) ;-) :p

I agree with KB that genuine hate is very tiring and emotionally draining/demanding so it's probably an over used word to describe our frustration with things. I found it was too tiring to hate my supervisor and very unproductive so it just gave way to apathy mixed with frustration! I guess it was just my way of dealing with it and channelling my energy towards my research instead!

I am very tempted to say a decent supervisor as it would have been sooooooo much better and not so much of a struggle! They were more of a hindrance than help apart from some pearls of wisdom. Subsequent help was like looking for gold dust! I was not worthy! But that's life! What's more important is that I surivived with the battle scars to prove it! The whole process was character building!!!! ;-)8-):p(up)

Wow you're getting there! I need your discipline! I've managed to distract myself alot and do some work inbetween but need to do loads more! I really need a shed to hide away in! Congrats .. you'll have a paper in no time!

That's a good one Olivia and so true! Thanks for cheering up my day! ;-)

No that's great. It shows you've done your background research and raring to go! Super keen is a good way to be especially in current situation!

Congrats on the interview - I hope it goes well.

I've not got experience preparing a presentation for a PhD interview but I've done one for a RA post I applied for after my Masters. I have not been asked to prepare presentations for any of the PhDs I got interviewed for so it doesn't seem standard in my field which is not biology.

As a general rule of thumb allow one minute for each slide unless you have a lot to say on some slides.

I would go into the the reason why you want to do the topic you are proposing by way of intro, rationale, any research you have done in this area, give brief outline and then give results and conclusions, and what you hope to do next. It could showing where there are gaps in knowledge so you could fill them, or maybe show how you can extend previous results etc...

I would think the presentation would only be for the interviewers as they would be assessing you individually but I am not sure on this. Maybe you can find out from HR? You could them to clarify it so you can adjust your presentation to the audience and it's helpful to know who will be on the panel so you can read up on their research interests and try to see if yours fit. It's usually helpful to link your research to that of the dept.

Good luck. You can do it and let us know how you get on. (up)

======= Date Modified 10 Jul 2011 00:14:10 =======
I hate to say it (there's that word again) as much as I would love a job in academia it is not the ivory towers world people think it is.  It is not all nice and pleasant as one would imagine amongst like minded individuals who want to propel enlightenment and learning!  There is also a thread on this as well if you search for one on people's perception of academia though I can't remember the name exactly. 

Academia is very competitive (as competitive or maybe more so as there is less money around than the outside world/industry) so people will fight for their share of the pie and protect it well. This often leads to hostility and backstabbing/one upmanship.  It's a very sad reality of the system which seems to be getting worse now there are performance measures (i.e. REF) used to allocate funding and the crazy tuition fees to consider!   If this is occurs in a dept it filters down to the students which isn't great as PhD students are the bottom rung of the ladder so many feel helpless to do anything about it!  This isn't the case in all depts but this will depend on the culture of the dept but it's so easy to be sucked into this especially if your dept is polarised!  It's not a conducive working environment or one where you feel you can bond and make friends easily so many people use this forum to vent and let off steam. If you didn't you would go mad and it lead to worse problems in the long term.  The anonymity of this forum provides a good outlet to air your views and seek support from others who are or have been in the same situation. 

Yeah I would worry about the mental state of PhDs too as there is only so much one can take without going mad.  But then again anyone who does a PhD is not exactly sane! It's not exactly normal to go "I want to spend at least 3 yrs to researching XXX topic" although we all have our reasons for doing it!  ;-)

I agree with Pjlu about determination getting you through the tough times as that is what got me through too. It's knowing that you have to ride it out and that it will end! I can relate to the post which has good points.

I think that it depends on how difficult a time you had during your PhD.  It does get better afterwards and less painful but sometimes when you think about it too much it all comes flooding back but it's good most of the time. Funnily enough that was one of the first comments my friend who had completed their thesis a few months before said after I had submitted. 

Doing a PhD is a very emotional roller coaster so it's hard to say how long it takes to heal as it's Permanent head Damage ;-) but I think that depends on your individual circumstances and how good you are at letting things go and moving on. It's essential for your own sanity to do so.  I think it also depends on what you want out of your PhD and whether you achieved it.

I want a career in research so I did a PhD to get into academia though unfortunately there are no jobs in my area at the mo!  I don't think I'll be "healed" until I get a post doc/position in academia as that is what I want to do and I would like to think that it was worth it as I put up with a lot to try to achieve my goal!

As to whether you stay the same or become a changed person that is hard to say as it depends on your experiences.  Basically I think I am the same person but in other ways I have learnt a lot so perhaps I have changed. I still have the same drive/passion for my research topic but I am more receptive to other ideas/areas of research as I am aware that to stay in academia you have to be flexible to make the most of the opportunities available!  It has also been an eye-opener as I have learnt a lot about, people, academia, how they interact and the effect academia has on people. I am glad I survived my PhD and I know that I can cope with almost anything (I hope) in the future!  I'll have a new baseline to compare future experiences to which hopefully will be a walk in the park after my PhD! I know for sure that I have come out of this stronger and know where my breaking point is if nothing else and confirmed that I have loads of motivation and determination.

I hope this helps.  Good luck with the rest of yours! The end is in sight! (up)

He he it sounds like a good idea though shame about the Caribbean holiday - that'd have been great!  I stopped reading fiction too as I would've have done the same so I'm reading (opps freudian slip;-)) forward to getting stuck in again! I've also just been given a pile of books that I can't wait to get started on! 

I went out and had all drinks paid for all night which was a really nice surprise. I thought I would get a few but my friends refused to let me pay for anything!  It was so surreal as it hadn't sunk in yet and it felt like it wasn't really happening to me! It was the weirdest experience I've ever had!  I didn't get much sleep that night either so I was absolutely knackered the next day as I had an awful night's sleep before the viva! I also had a meal or two out with other friends so it was well and truly celebrated!
(turkey)(sprout)(mince)(up)(gift)

I'm the same as I prefer to read the paper version but my papers were taking over the room so I had to start using the pdf only apart from some papers which I print out as I know I'll use them a lot. I find it harder to read pdfs but it's a matter of getting to used to them. I find that reading them slowly (I mean scrolling down the page) helps with the eye strain and a bigger screen and breaks also help. Hope this helps. 8-)

It doesn't matter as long as you can make your research relevant to the job/research field you want to work on in the future and show you have the skills and knowledge to do so!  Research is a very funny thing as I thought the same as you before I had started and now I think it's more about the transferable skills you picked up and how to apply the stuff you've learnt. I know people who have switched fields for their postdoc but still use some of the methods from their PhD which they applied to their new field!  I also know of people who got hired for their overall knowledge of a topic and chosen over people who had specific knowledge of a certain method the project wanted to concentrate on! It just goes to show that it doesn't really matter and has taught me that even though we maybe specialists in our own small areas it's how you apply yourself and come across to potential employers that gets you the job unless your research it so specialised that not many people know it!

So it doesn't matter whether you are specialising in Brazilian studies or music and fine art.  You could be a specialist in both fields and link them together as something different about your PhD! I would go with project that you most like the look of and a supervisor that is helpful, reliable and that you get on with.  Good luck. (up)