Yaaaaay, awesome news, congrats! It's always great to hear such good news, go and put your feet up for a while :) Best, KB

Hey! It's really unfortunate that your uni only offered you a third when you were too ill to take your exams. I was ill in my final year undergrad and was told that I didn't have to take my final exams, and that the grade awarded for that semester would be based on my average grade for the year, which was a first (In the end I took my exams anyway, even though I was ill, because I didn't want to think I'd been awarded a first on the basis of only half a third year). So it seems quite unfair that they only offered you the third. Anyway, I would certainly push further to see whether you can re-sit the year- after all, your circumstances were extenuating- and if not then you are going to have to be very persistent with your job-searching. I doubt you would be able to go anywhere else just to do a third year. The only thing you can really do is include a transcript and an explanation of your low grade with your applications and hope that someone will overlook the third given that you have a good masters. Another way round it would be to try for an RA position, which you might have a chance of, and hope that this could lead on to a PhD- quite a lot of people take an RA job and then manage to get funding for a PhD from the same institution for when the job ends. But I would say you will have to be very determined and persistent! Good luck with it, KB

Hey Wal, my supervisor has mentioned that I might want to have a chapter regarding ethical issues, although we haven't really finalised this yet. But I think when you're working with vulnerable people, especially if you have had to go through NHS ethics, then it's a really good idea to outline these issues in the thesis, because it's a really big deal in this type of research. I'm not sure exactly what sort of population you're working with, but some of my participants are not judged to have the capacity to even consent to participate in the research themselves, which of course is a huge issue. If you have a lot to write about on the topic, then I don't see why you shouldn't make an extra chapter on it. Just my thoughts! Best, KB

Hmmm, I think for a PhD you need to think more about your supervisors etc than the institution itself. Whilst it's arguably more important to get your undergrad or masters from a university with a good reputation, when it gets to PhD level you are more likely to be judged on who you worked with, the publications you have produced, and any conference presentations you have made- of course it looks good to have gone to a good university as well, but this is really second to the other achievements at PhD level. So I would be worrying less about the institution (unless the 'second rate' institution is really undesirable for any particular reason) and more about the people you will be working with and the support you will get. Best, KB

Hey Splendins! Welcome to the forum and congrats on your PhD place! Are you off to a different uni than where you did your undergrad then? If you're off somewhere new then I would just make an effort to get to know the place, the people, how the department works, who you need to see for what etc, and just get a feel for how the place runs. It's great to be reading papers, and you'll probably spend a lot more time doing this when you start, but I wouldn't overwhelm yourself with too much of the academic stuff before you get started- there's plenty of time for all that! Of course if the opportunity arises on your placement to learn techniques that you'll need for your PhD then great, but other than that I would wait until you get started and just enjoy your summer! Good luck with it all, stick around on here! KB

Hey Jun480, sounds like you really need a breather from life. I am doing a full time PhD (end of 2nd year) and am exhausted, so how you are managing it all and a full time job I can't imagine- you must be superwoman! Is there any way you can take a week off to give yourself a chance to recuperate a little? I'm having my first week off in a year this week and although I'm still tired, I have been able to catch up on some sleep, see my friends, and I feel better already and think that when I return to my PhD I will be in a better state of mind to get on with it. Alternatively, is there anywhere you can apply for some money to cover your tuition fees? Or any chance of getting a new job that might be less demanding/more enjoyable? I guess you have already thought of these things. Either way, sounds like you need to take a little time out -I hate taking time off but after just 5 days I already feel much better. Try to squeeze a break in if you can, you deserve one! Best, KB

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Hey Ev! I feel your pain- I have my first proper conference presentation next week and am also busy stressing about it! I would second what has already been said- perhaps part of your presentation could actually be about the difficulty involved with drawing the two disciplines together. One of the theoretical papers which I have submitted for publication basically documents the difficulties with trying to draw different theories together, whilst also highlighting the bits that can be integrated, so I don't think there's any harm in taking that approach. A pal of mine is just this week presenting at an international conference where she's highlighting the progress and the difficulties with integrating research from different backgrounds/disciplines. So do your best- maybe you could compose a list of bits that do fit together and those that don't seem to- and bear in mind that because it is in a relatively new area, hopefully there won't be too many well-established experts on your subject at the conference! Best of luck with it, KB

No, I didn't code the envelopes as the questionnaires inside were already coded anyway so that I would be able to trace them back to the participant if I needed to. Best, KB

Hey Billy. I have been sending out questionnaires to participants- and firstly, I'd agree with the post below. I got about a 95% return rate by speaking to the participants over the phone and introducing myself and the project before sending the questionnaire out. With respect to the postage I enclosed a freepost return envelope- the university were able to give me some stickers with the return address and a freepost code on them, which I put on the envelopes. So basically when the envelopes are returned the postage is charged to my funding account, but the advantage of this is that if the questionnaires aren't returned, you haven't paid for the postage in advance like you would if you put a stamp on the envelope, so you're only charged for the ones that actually get returned. It's worth asking your uni if they can arrange something like this for you, it has worked well for me. Best, KB

Yay well done Bug, sounds like you're flying along there! Enjoy your success! Best, KB

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Edited- sorry, I misunderstood the question and my reply wasn't relevant! KB

Well I can only comment on what I see in the department I'm in, but here researchers don't gain anything financially from taking on PhD students. Although the funding comes with the student, most of that is taken up with the costs of the PhD, there is certainly not much left over after that. In some cases the funding isn't even enough to really cover the costs of the PhD and supervisors actually end up using money from their own funding pot to help PhD students out, e.g. with attending conferences and travel costs etc. The main thing as far as I can see is the extra output from the PhD- in terms of publications (which would all have the supervisor's name on), conference presentations (which would have the supervisor's name associated with them), and the ability to tap into new areas of research through preliminary work by the PhD student. Several people on the team I am on are doing research that is actually quite a new area of work for our supervisor in some ways, and seems to represent an effort to 'break into' new fields of research or extend the boundaries of research already being undertaken by the supervisor. And of course it looks good to say you have 5 PhD students or whatever- almost like a status symbol! All the top academics in our department have quite a few PhD-ers- it seems to go hand in hand with success. Just from my observations anyway...KB