Hey all!

So I'm in my last 6 months of my PhD and am obviously concerned about what I'm going to be doing next. I've always wanted to stay put as I'm very happy where I am and so is my fiance (neither of us even remotely want to move), and my supervisor has put in a number of grant applications that I am either named on or would be able to apply for if she were successful. I have always emphasized to her that I really want to stay in this department and I do.

But of course, I can't count on anything. Now there are another couple of jobs at different universities that have come up that I am thinking of applying for. I would have to put her down as a reference but I am scared of asking her in case she goes off on one and thinks that I am not committed to her projects or am wasting her time by being prepared to move elsewhere, when really I am just trying to cover my back.

Any advice? My heart says to just wait until something comes up here, which it will in the end, but I don't know how long I will have to wait and what I would do in the meantime. My head says to apply for every single thing that I can.

Cheers peeps, KB

Oooh, I don't know where I'm up to! I feel like I'm really lost at the moment. I'm writing up 3 results papers at once, and my sup keeps telling me to only do one at a time. But when I only see her around every 3-4 weeks it's hard, because I'm not going to spend ages on discussion sections when she's not even approved my results sections, and I can't spend 3-4 weeks on one results section! I feel so anxious whenever I'm in the office right now, and I've never had that before in my PhD. I just want this write-up done! KB

Hi Klebb! I'm doing a PhD in psychology (of the clinical variety!) and everyone in our department is required to complete an MSc first, unless they have a substantial amount of research experience in the field, and even then you would be expected to sit the MSc taught modules in the first year of your PhD. There's only one person I know in the department who has managed to get on to a funded PhD without an MSc, and she has had an awful lot of relevant experience, so basically, you will need an MSc! You also need to make sure it has a substantial research component (as opposed to just taught modules) or else it won't be accredited by the ESRC or whoever accredits research degrees these days! Funding is very tough for psych, so do your best ot get a merit or distinction as well! Good luck! KB

Hey Chrisoz! I am publishing my papers as I go along- but it's not officially a 'PhD by publication'. Basically all of my lit review chapters and results papers are already/will be published (7 papers in all, although I will write some more after I've finished my PhD), but they are still 'chapters' in my thesis, with a few changes such as more details which were ommitted in the publication due to word count limitations etc, and with the publication citation at the end of the chapter. So there isn't always a completely clear distinction between the two. One thing I would advise though, is to publish as you go along. You will be in a much stronger position at the end of your PhD if you have a few first author papers, and will probably find it very hard to get a post-doc without any. Of course trying to publish is unpredictable, but I have been able to manage this (including four revise and resubmit papers which are now all finally accepted!) alongside the rest of my PhD, so even with the inevitable extra work as you try to publish, it should be manageable! If the traditional PhD means that they won't be pushing you to publish, then I would definitely go for PhD by publication, but if it is just the case that you don't absolutely have to publish but you can if you want to, then I wouldn't worry too much- there won't be much difference in the outcome. Good luck with it all! KB

Hey Indy! Yeah, the MSc courses at this uni are like that too. I did a part-taught and part-research MSc, so the first two semesters we had lectures, and the third semester (summer) we completed our dissertations, which we had been collecting data for all year. However quite a few people on our course actually went home (i.e. back to their parents' house) to write up- if you're on target and have finished your data collection or whatever you're doing, then it's not uncommon to go home and write up over the summer. So it depends...you might have to hang around all summer- I actually wanted to because I wanted to be near my supervisor and the library etc- but you might not have to! Best, KB

Hey CONGRATS! Always good to hear a success story! Hope you're off out celebrating now! KB

Hi Apple! I wouldn't worry about it too much- conferences often demand abstracts more than 6 months before the conference itself and I think a lot of people blag it on their abstracts a bit before they've even begun to think properly about the presentation or analyse the data completely. As long as the vague gist of it is still somewhat resembling your original abstract I don't think it's a problem. I have been to plenty of conferences where the presentations depart a bit from the abstracts and I think this is only natural- people are trying to present up to date research and it's a tough job to predict in an abstract exactly how the data will pan out 6 months down the line. Good luck with your presentation! KB

Well I have taken people's advice and had a few days off over the weekend and on Monday to go visit my grandad in Ireland and am feeling a bit more positive now. I think there must be some sort of inverse relationship between time from receiving feedback and level of negative mood....unfortunately I am due another load of feedback on Tuesday so I am going to make the most of the time I have left before doom and gloom strike again! Best, KB

Hey Pam! This has never happened to me, but has happened twice to my brother (in retail management) - he has gone along for an interview, not got the job, but told that they really like him and want to keep him on file (both times he just lost out to someone a bit older and more experienced). Both places got back to him later and invited him for interviews for other jobs, one of which he got. It wasn't immediately after, it was a good few months later, but still, he was chuffed! So hopefully it will turn out to be a positive thing for you! Best, KB

Blimey Phdbug- you finished in 2.5 years working just two days a week on it?!! That's crazy, you must have made the most of those two days lol! What broad area are you in- did you have loads if data collection to do? I reckon I could do 2.5 years if I cut out publications and conferences but that would be 6 days per week still! You will be ready for a holiday when you're all done! KB

Hey! Not a lot in my case- he helped with recruitment because he's a clinician, but apart from that and turning up to my review meetings once a year he really doesn't have much input. He certainly doesn't read my work or anything, but he's always nice and helpful to chat to should the need arise! KB

Hey Ailicec! I found it really hard to select the journal for my first paper too, but luckily my supervisor helped out. She hasn't been so helpful for the rest, usually wanting me to make a few suggestions first before we decide. There are a few things to consider. Firstly, there are some journals that are devoted to review papers, so if there is one like this for your subject area then that's worth looking at. Another thing I find useful is to look at the reference list for the paper and see which journals those papers have been published in- at least that gives you some kind of idea about which journals are open to publishing what type of topic. Another thing to consider is the word limit for each journal- these vary a lot, so if you have a relatively long paper then you need to seek out a journal that has a decent word limit! And finally- have a look at the impact factors or the reputation of the journal. You can either aim high with a view to resubmitting somewhere else if it doesn't work out, or play it a bit safe and go for a more modest journal. I have done both at one point or another- I aimed high with my first one and got lucky, but then with one of my other papers I wasn't very confident about I just played safe and went for a solid but less impressive journal, on the basis that I could not deal with the type of comments that might have come back from somewhere more prestigious! Maybe that's a wimp's way out though! With the others I have tended to compromise and go somewhere in the middle. Also think about where your other papers might eventually go- it doesn't matter that much at this stage but it's nice to have a range of journals in your publications list rather than submitting everything to the same journal! And anyway if you think of a few you can suggest, I'm sure your sup will steer you in the right direction! Good luck! KB