These vids have all kinds of advice from interviews to knowing the various types of institutions you are applying to motivation in finding a job. The first two vids are full of nuggets of wisdom.

Full disclosure: Most of these vids are from US Academics and their system HOWEVER they are all very insightful.

The following vids are all about tips when interviewing and negotiating terms of reference. Good stuff too.

I always tell my wife time is not granted, it is made. This, coupled with the reality of the all out war-zone that is the post-PhD academic career market, my priorities are quite clear: Work > work > work > everything else. I intend to make the time for these articles. Thanks for the on-the-ground feedback as usual.

Thanks for the input thus far guys. I am considering this as not only as a method of expanding my exposure but also an "anti-burnout" technique. While not straying out of my discipline, I think a bit of a break from my main thesis now and then may be a welcome "break".

See title of thread. If so, any useful tips? would you do it again? was it worth it? did it detract too much from your thesis?

Thanks in advance.
JP

All good points by milwaukiedave. I will actually check out those books as well thanks.

Also kits8914 you may find yourself wanting to look into other disciplines where the issue you are addressing is also featured. Off the top of my head; and forgive my lack of knowledge of your field's nomenclature; aside from the marketing and business literature, have you tried sifting through legal articles about peer to peer content sharing? I am sure there is a mountain of copyright literature on that topic, seeing that it is such a contemporary issue. Sure it may be law focused but I am sure there should be some breadcrumbs for you to follow.

I am sure the music and movie associations must also have some data on the effects of peer to peer sharing on their industries.

There is also a full featured documentary on Piratebay and its founders available online. Not very academic I know, but I usually don't discount ANY source before a brief perusal.

Again my apologies if my suggestions end up being utterly useless lol. Good luck, hey at least you know your chosen topic hasn't been beaten to death.

If it increases my chances of getting it published, said supervisor inviting me on a research team, etc then I would not hesitate to include those 10-15 odd characters of text if it was "expected" of me.

Understand the difference between your interest (getting published) vs your position (you did all the work, hence the right of authorship should be solely yours).

EDIT: Folding the article into a thesis chapter can be candidly yet tactfully explained at your viva. Well that is just my opinion of course.

Lazy candidates make me look like a rock star. Please keep up the good work ;)

Quote: "I just want us both to have jobs that mean we can actually see each other." If you truly mean what you said there, your priorities are your partner (and seeing him), having a job, and completing your PhD. In that order. Sorry to say you could have have 1. and 2. without the PhD. Please don't think I am being an ass, or being rude or unhelpful, quite the opposite. What are your priorities? I am 2 months away from starting my PhD and I am married 3 years with a 12 month old.

When I begin my program, the PhD will absolutely move into the first tier of priority with family second, and my personal health / sanity 3rd. That is my commitment and sacrifice for 3 years. Because in my personal equation, the PhD is the independent variable and the quality of other 2 dependent variables (family and myself) hinges on how hard I do / do not work for the next 3 years.

So again, what are your priorities? Want to be in a loving relationship sponsored by a secure job? You absolutely do not need a PhD for that. Want a shot at a Nobel Prize? Want to lead research worldwide as a Russel Group University Professor? If so then understand that the sacrifices you are enduring is the toll which must be paid for that privilege.

PDF all the way. It just takes some time to get used to (1 week of effort). I believe that it is more efficient in terms of speed, there is a highlight tool, and not to mention the all powerful Ctrl+F search function when you want to quickly scan a 100+ page document for a key word.

Physical paper is stone ages for me.

Being in the social sciences and in a development focused field (Renewable Energy / Climate Change) What I did was I spent 4 month reading just like you articles, chapters, conclusions, exec summaries and so on. Its kind of like shooting in the dark and only after I found my topic I was able to eliminate the "useless" stuff.

However what REALLY helped me nail my topic was reading the big industry reports, in my case the most prominent annual reports from the appropriate UN agencies. Why? Because these reports will have a section highlighting the research gaps still littering the intellectual landscape and suggest which niches deserve more research. So I pretty much had my pick of a few good "under-explored" areas within my discipline.

From there I scanned the references cited and I knew exactly what has been done so far and by whom.

Just my 2c

Thanks again Incognito for the insight, really appreciated. Happy New Year to all!

Ok I gotcha. Well if you set the tone of the viva by preemptively outlining the real state of your research and your desire for an extension I think that would be acceptable. Others with more experience can chime in. I would have had this conversation with the new supervisor before the Christmas holidays. Is he/she still reachable? Will you have time for an informal yet frank conversation before the viva?

I would hate to think its a matter of telling you that you failed and better luck elsewhere. Is an MPhil attached to your PhD?

Most importantly you have to have a frank conversation with yourself, and ask yourself what amount of time would you realistically need to complete your research, also with all the delays do you still give a damn about your research? You say you have a lecturing job so I assume you are an academic at heart.

I'll end by saying that you can reasonably negotiate your way to an extension barring any severe breach of the University's protocols. Best of luck and let us know if all went in your favor.

A few questions for you however feel free to not disclose as it is your privilege, I am just asking for clarity's sake.
1. How long have you been in your PhD program?
2. Losing your laptop aside, why did you run out of time?
3. Why has your supervisor never seen your work?

In your shoes, I would also feel like my viva was merely a institutional formality before issuing me a fail. I will reserve further comments until further clarity is given to your circumstances if possible.

Good post incognito, thanks for the link beefy.

Question: I have been putting down a laundry list of questions for my initial meeting with my supervisors, but I wanted to know how wildly can your originally proposed research vary from what you and your supervisor(s) agree upon?

Since I deferred for 4 months, I spent that time doing "pre-enrollment lit review" and discovered that A) My proposed research is not that great B) I have found a much more detailed and interesting research gap directly related to what I originally proposed and C) I had another idea that was originally an article idea but realized that it can easily become a full blown PhD related to my secondary supervisor's interests.

I have already decided that while I will put all ideas on the table, I will do whatever they ask in order to get the PhD and get my academic career started.

LOL only if my daughter could go a week with 3 baths....baby food in hair....not gonna happen.

Anyways, as a dad of a 11 month old with a wife in emergency medicine I have to get creative with my schedule, however the original poster said her little one is a good sleeper. Great, that's half the battle won. I got this tip from a successful professional and academic and its been working out great so far.

In preparation for my PhD in April, what I do is I go to sleep WITH the baby...yes 8-9 the latest. That way I can put in my 6-7 hours and at 3 AM guess what? rise and grind! House is quiet, I get my coffee and I go. That way I get my 3 hours research at the very least and I'm ahead all day long, no matter how horribly it goes the rest of the day. This took me about a week to get used to but its doable, its temporary, and in my case necessary.

Do what you have to do because 5:30 is not cutting it. Hit the bed with the baby..no tv, no mindless internet surfing, no decompressing from work...just good ol sleep.

My 2c