Hi Scarlett, how shocking!!! and awful for you. The times I've been ill and not been able to make it to the library, a doctor's note sufficed to cancel the charges. Surely they will accept this for you. As other posters have said, there should be some support at the Uni for you - students' union, personal tutor/postgraduate tutor? I'd gather all the support I could and try and get the fines cancelled. Good luck, I wish I could offer more support.

Bug yer dafty! I just read this - I was teasing you! sharing your joke as it where... I really don't think any PhD, whatever disciplline would use wiki. This is just a joke thread, not a serious discussion.;-)

Wehhhay!!!!! that's great news, thanks for letting us know.(up)8-)

Hi Wanttoknow: erm that sounds bad, but I don't understand south african currency so can't get a handle on the pay scales. In my experience things have been getting progressively worse here in the UK over the last ten years or so. As sessional or associate lecturers (those on an hourly pay scale) work loads can vary for the 33 - 37ish pouns per hour we are paid. I ran two modules (or undergraduate courses) while being paid for four hours last year, but this year I have two hours of seminars and my work load is a tiny fraction of my revious post. So it varies, but things are tightening up fast in the UK. It's good to hear from a mananger who is so concerned for their sessional lecturing staff and I wish you luck.

Hi Maxsamson - whatever the reasons for this change of focus and supervision in your PhD, I think you need to make sure you are entering the right discipline for you. If you want a career as a historian that will be very difficult with a literature PhD. Also, I know that even in the old polytechnics, to get a job in an English department you more or less have to have an Oxbridge PhD - a career in English literature is about the hardest option you can get in humanities academia. So I'd bear that in mind too - unless you are planning to teach literature in a school, a literature PhD outside of Oxbrdge is, from my experience and knowledge, risky. If I were you I would be thinking about where I wanted my career to go and researching how the discipline of your PhD will help or hinder that.

Hey Pamw, sorry to hear you are down in the dumps! I'm sure the lull in motivation will pass - you will come through the wall.

I think getting the panel/methods situation sorted if possible would be a priority - that must, as you say, be very demoralising. Does your sup think the panel would drop you in it? and is your sup's word reliable? I know how rubbish this sounds, but I may be tempted, as a last resort, to compromise to get the PhD, and then use the new methods for your own research. I'm not sure how far this would be possible, or if it would work, some people are just arsey for the sake of it. But have you thought about it? I just think you should get your PhD and be able to move forward with your career - it sounds like it means a lot to you and you'd have much to give. Just a thought because I REALLY want you to get your PhD!!!!!! 

If I were a bloke I'd go for the suit every time. If it defo feels too formal when you get there you can just slip the jacket off. But, yes, the suit every time.

I'm on such a go slow this week - I was whizzing through last week and then a weekend of socialising seems to have ground me to a hault and turned my brain to straw. Anyone else feeling like this? is it normal? how much meandering can a PhD stude get away with?

hey Barnaby, thanks for sharing. I have yet to submit to a journal so at least now I know what to expect and won't be so dejected by rejection. Good luck with the next one.

A beard... at 35. What a dweeeb.

Hey Ruby - that's brilliant news! WELL DONE and enjoy the sleeeeeep. :-)

1. completely loose touch with any expectation of normality, expect the absurd as a regular occurence.
2. get used to poverty and try to forget there is an alternative (this will help you stay sane for the duration).
3. get used to the following feelings and don't be alarmed or think you are unusual in having them:

(a) total inadequacy
(b) isolation
(c) ongoing stress
(d) the constant sensation that you haven't done enough work and you must do a ton more pronto.

4. Savour the good bits, because they really are fantastic, and don't let all of the above overshadow them.
5. Log in to the forum regularly so you know you are not alone.

There is a tips list on the forum which I think could be very useful for you.

I'm wary of advising on this because trying to remove a panel member, perse, could cause offence. But then I can absolutely see the benfits of doing so. However, maybe by taking a positive approach, if you have someone who you would like to be on the panel (is there anyone like that in your uni?) you could try raising that with your sup if they are sympathetic/nice. If you succeeded you'd still have to watch for the externals - be mindful of their sympathies and tastes.

Walminskipeas - that's nice thing to say! thank you

Hey Smil, thanks for that. But, although god is always part of belief in any religion - religion is NOT always part of belief in god.

I do think god is aware of everything - but don't believe in the 'judgement of god'. I don't have a grand narrative for this or set of rules, I just feel it, and if I had to choose a word for it it would be spirituality, not mysticism. Lots of people feel this way and it does not have to do with religion. I know this may make me sound like a wishy washy person to some of the scientists out there but I feel myself to be a spirit on a human journey, not the other way around, and to me religion is a human, intellectual, invention/construct.