Hey Andy. The longest I know of in our department was 4 hours, but that ended up as a revise and resubmit, so there were obviously problems with it. I believe our department now has a time limit of 2 hours for a PhD viva. On the short side of things, my chairperson said she had chaired a PhD viva which only lasted 20 minutes simply because everything was so perfect that the examiners ran out of questions at 20 minutes. Recently a friend of mine had a viva which was finished off outside because the fire alarm went off, but I don't know of anyone who had to stop for lunch! Best, KB

Hey Billy, I've just spent most of my day doing multiple regressions on SPSS. I am using linear regressions, and I have to confess I don't know much about logistic regression, but I would definitely advise seeing a statistician if you're not sure. I've had a meeting with our statistician today and even though I know how to do regression there are all sorts of issues that have cropped up wth my data that I hadn't really thought about before. Now I'm having to re-run some of the regressions and am in my last month of writing up- I would definitely get your stats checked out earlier rather than later so you don't end up having to change things at last minute! Best, KB

Hey Neozelandaise- No, it certainly isn't nice, but having read your other thread I am not surprised that this person is capable of writing something nasty like this. My supervisor is rather prone to making nasty comments when she's stressed (although she doesn't tend to incriminate herself by writing it in emails that could potentially be shown to someone) and I find it quite upsetting, although I deal with it better now than I used to. I think the sooner you get away the better, it's good to know you're putting some distance between you. I know it's not easy but do your best to ignore it, nothing will change this person. Whenever my sup is nasty I just think that she's obviously not a happy person right now and sometimes I even feel sorry for her. Same probably goes for your sup, so move on and leave him to live his nasty miserable life. Best of luck with the move! KB

As the others have said, I think this is pretty unlikely. I had a small rise after second year, in line with what everyone else was receiving, but apart from that I don't think there's much room for manoeuvre. The only thing that I have benefited from is leftover funds from other projects that my sup is in charge of- she used leftover cash at the end of a project for funding a conference trip to the US for me last year and is paying for transcriptions of interviews for another of her PhD students out of that money as well. I'm not sure whether this is dodgy practice or whether it's acceptable to use leftover cash for something else, but I wasn't going to enquire when I has a trip to the states planned! Best, KB

Yeah- I totally get this! It's not just the written thesis, I don't even like the thought of people hearing me talk about it or try to explain it etc. I've just had an email from my sup asking if I want her to be in my viva and I can't think of anything that would make me more nervous! I can just imagine the tutting, sighing and eye-rolling that I would get when I screw a question up! I think when you get close to submission there's also the thought that you don't want someone putting doubts in your mind about what you've done- last minute suggestions and opinions aren't always helpful when you don't have time to respond to them! Completely normal I think! Good luck with the submission! KB

Hey Dunni! Not got much advice as I'm still a few weeks off my viva, but just to say good luck! I agree with Bilbo, probably best at this stage to try to chill out, get some fresh air and exercise, and do your best to relax. Personally I've calmed down a little now and am actually looking forward to getting it over with, and I'm sure you'll be feeling a bit of that as well, although I'm guessing the other emotions are taking over at the moment! I've got an afternoon viva and am just going to go to the gym in the morning and not look at anything PhD-related right before my viva. I guess the whole having to travel there and stay in a hotel probably makes it more nerve-wracking too, but spoil yourself for an evening and make the most of it! We'll all be dying to know how you've got on! Best, KB

Hey Sneaks! Yeah, I know who my examiners are- obviously, since my viva is so close to submission. To be honest, although my external is in the same broad field, her work isn't really relevant to my topic, so I haven't cited her at all through the whole thesis. I have been wondering whether I should somehow try to fit her work in with my discussion, but quite frankly it really isn't a good fit and I think she'd see it for what it is- a rather desperate attempt to suck up lol! I would just reference it as you would any other work, I think examiners will realise if you make a special effort. I mean obviously make sure you have a super-good understanding of what you cite etc, but I wouldn't go the whole hog and put bells on it! Best, KB

Hey Bonzo, have PM-ed you. KB

Hey all! So what with trying to get this thesis finished off within a few weeks, desperately working on the fellowship application that isn't currently going anywhere fast, and dealing with a supervisor who fluctuates between being fantastic and being extremely difficult.....I wonder how much more I can take.

And then I think about how small those tasks are in comparison to everything that my sup and probably most other profs out there manage on a daily basis. I'm not sure I could deal with the pressure I am under on a long-term basis....but dealing with their pressure? I think I'd explode. Do you reckon they get used to it gradually or are they just born tough? Sometimes I think...no thanks. Not for me. I want to do well, but at the expense of my sanity? Nope.

Anyone else ever think that...or is everyone just striving for the top? (I say that like it's easy to get there!!)
Best, KB

Hey Sparklyking, just to clarify- do you actually have be aged 16-25 to take part in the study? Cheers, KB

Hey there! Sounds like a common experience...I am in my last few weeks of writing up and it's hard to stay on-task. I was also due to submit end of Sept/beginning of Oct but my deadline has been brought forwards (with my agreement) and I now have to submit in 5 weeks. Even with just 5 weeks to go I find I need to vary my work because I am not able to focus on one piece of writing for ages.

Personally, I think it's important to get a rough draft done for all of your chapters before worrying about perfecting every last detail of the chapters you have already written. So I would leave those and move on. It will also help to have some distance between you and the chapters you have written- when you come back to them later you will be more likely to spot mistakes and notice what needs elaboration etc. When you get so immersed in one chapter it's easy to stop seeing mistakes etc and you end up just reading what you expect to read.

It sounds like one of your main distractions is looking at new material. Would it be possible to conduct a systematic literature search (through a search engine or whatever) so you have a list of all relevant materials and won't need to keep looking for more? Depending on your topic you could do one giant search or do a separate search for each chapter. Then obtain as much of the literature as you can and work through it slowly, maybe just one paper per day. That way you won't be worrying that there is literature you've missed etc.

The other thing I would recommend is working with your body's natural state. Since my deadline has been changed I have stopped dragging myself up at the crack of dawn and sitting at my desk for hours when I'm basically falling asleep and getting nothing done. Instead I've changed my routine around so that I now get up later, do my exercise in the morning, and leave my afternoons and evenings free to work. This is when I'm most alert, especially because I have done my exercise and I'm wide awake, instead of leaving it until the end of the day. At first I felt guilty about not being up really early but after a couple of weeks I can see that I'm doing the right thing because I'm able to work a lot more efficiently later in the day and am getting stuff done.

I think it is possible to write half a thesis in the time you've got left, if you manage to focus. There's no point in forcing yourself to work if you're too tired to concentrate so take breaks and prioritise. I think a timetable is a good idea- I'm a bit beyond that now and am just desperately and rather haphazardly trying to tick things off the list in any old order, but I think it will help you get an idea of how fast you need to work. And it might even be reassuring as well to see that you can get things finished on time. Good luck with it all! Best, KB

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Hey Alina! It will definitely be hard to get funding at the moment- even people with first class degrees and distinctions at masters level are finding it hard, so it will probably be a struggle. But it is certainly possible- I have two friends with 2.2s and a pass at MSc level who are on fully funded PhDs. Probably your best bet is to dodge the competition for advertised PhDs and try to get a research assistant post or something first. When you've got your foot in the door and can prove to your supervisor that you will manage a PhD fine (and there's no reason to think you wouldn't!) then you might be able to apply for funding for a project with that sup. None of my friends with 2.2s managed to get onto a funded PhD straight away but the two who did manage it eventually both did things that way round- they joined a team as a research assistant and then a year or two later their supervisors encouraged them to apply for funding. It does depend a bit on your subject etc as well- obviously some disciplines are more competitive than others. some subjects don't even require a masters at all, especially pure sciences, whereas for others a good masters is essential. But there are def other people on the forum who got funding with a 2.2 so hopefully they'll chip in and give you some reassurance and advice! Good luck! KB

Hey! To be honest, I have always believed that I will benefit from my PhD, but now I'm close to the end I'm less sure of myself. Job opportunities are scarce, even though I'm in an area that is of practical relevance and am prepared to move pretty much anywhere across the UK (dementia stuff!). I suppose I've always believed what my supervisors have told me (you'll be fine, you'll be the exception that makes it through and succeeds) and now I'm so near the end I am beginning to question that. I suppose I won't really know until I've finished my PhD and I'm competing for jobs, but I know from what I've learnt already that it isn't an easy market out there. It's easy to believe that you'll be the one who will make it, but I guess until you're out there competing for jobs you will never know for sure. I've got my fingers crossed that maybe I'll be the exception who makes it past the PhD and gets a post-doc or fellowship or whatever, but I am beginning to realise just how tough things are. Unfortunately having 3 degrees won't necessarily get you a job any more, no matter how relevant your topic is. I hope in 6 months or a year's time I'll be able to report some sort of success story, but right now nothing is at all certain. I don't regret my PhD at the moment, but if years pass and I don't make progress in the research world I'll be pretty devastated. Anyway, for now I've had a few vodkas and probably best leave it at that! Tomorrow I'll be back onto fellowship and viva preparation! Best, KB