Hey daydreamer! Don't stress too much, these reviews are usually fairly informal in my experience, although I suppose it varies! For my first year review I prepared a report that included a document outlining what I had been doing that year (including details of teaching etc), a detailed proposal for my PhD study, my literature review, the ethics form that I had submitted to the NHS, and a plan for the rest of my PhD. It depends what you have been doing in your first year really, but they just need to see that you have been doing something productive with your time and have got a reasonable idea of what you'll be doing for the next couple of years. If you have data already then you can include a summary of that, but I didn't have data on time for my first review and it wasn't a problem. You'll be fine! Best, KB

Without a doubt, it has to be psychiatrists! I have the pleasure of seeing them as a patient (for the bipolar) and also working with them for my PhD, which is in mental health. I have met a lot of psychiatrists and I have to say, the majority have been absolute tossers! There are of course exceptions, but most of the ones I have encountered are power hungry, reluctant to consider any point of view except their own, completely inflexible, condescending, and arrogant to boot. The good ones I have come across seem to be those who have experienced mental ill health themselves- I did have one fantastic shrink who had had two nervous breakdowns and he was wonderful! But as for the rest...grrrrrrrr! I am going to stop here before I post a very long rant lol! Have a good weekend all! KB

Hey again! Yeah, I think you have a chance, you have a 2.1 (or equivalent!). I would do your best to get a distinction in your masters, but even if not you still have a shot. The minimum for a fully funded PhD is about £13k, so not a huge amount, but enough to live on! Some projects come with more funding than that, depends what you're doing and where you're going! Best, KB

Hey again! If it was 60 or above then that would be a 2.1 (I think that cut-off is standard across all universities). If it was 50-59 then that would be a 2.2. So it sounds like you're on the borderline- it might be helpful if you could find out your exact mark! Best, KB

Hey Alextam! It depends a little on your subject. Most places would ask for a minimum of a 2.1 to get onto a PhD, and some subjects will also require a masters as an entry requirement (some subjects don't though!). If you have a 2.2 and a masters you might still have a shot at getting a PhD, but it will depend on how competitive your field is. I have a pal who got a 2.2 for her BSc and a low pass at MSc who got a funded place for a PhD in health economics, however I don't know anyone with less than a 2.1 and a good MSc doing a PhD in psychology, which is my field. In terms of funding, it is very competitive, so you need to do as well as you can in your masters. There are often departmental scholarships and you can also apply to research councils for funding for the PhD, but it can be difficult to get so you need to start applying quite early on and maybe apply to more than one place. If you are self-funding then it would be a lot easier to get a place, but obviously this is quite difficult to do financially. Best, KB

Loads of luck! Looking forward to hearing your good news on Sat! KB

Hey Mlis, they can't be mad at you for being ill. Depression can be such a severe condition, and it doesn't just disappear overnight either. You really need to look after yourself while all this is going on or else it is going to be really difficult for you to keep going. Have you been able to explain the situation to your supervisor? Or is there some sort of post-grad pastoral tutor or anyone like that you can go and speak to about your difficulties? I had to drop out of uni and re-start the year three times in my undergrad degree because I kept on getting hospitalised for bipolar disorder. It was always hard to get going again and took time to get back into the swing of things, but I made sure my tutor knew what was happening, and the counselling service and mental health advisors were really helpful too. If you really can't work on your lit review right now then I think you should do whatever work you can, and if they are forbidding this then I think they are being quite obstructive. Of course your lit review is important, but at the end of the day it all needs doing so I think if you feel that you can work on something else productively then you should do. Just getting something done will help you feel a little bit better and struggling on with this review is just going to make things worse for you at the moment. I would try to explain that to them- they should be offering support, not making threats and making you feel worse. I really would find someone in the department who you can speak to about how things are for you at the moment- it sounds like you really need some support. Big hugs for you, KB

Hey Natassia, I would probably want to hang in there and just try to be there for him, even if he doesn't want to involve you in it. You've not been together for very long and I think it's natural for him to try to protect you from something that he thinks may upset you. Hopefully if you make it clear that you are there for him he will feel able to tell you what is going on- I think that is important because it's going to be difficult to be together if he's keeping some sort of secret from you. But I would be patient for a while at least. I know it's a bit different, but the first time I was admitted to hospital with bipolar I finished with my boyfriend. We hadn't been together for long and I just didn't want him to be stuck with me or feel like he had to stay with me because I was ill, and I suppose I was worried that he would be embarrassed that his girlfriend was on a psych ward. I just didn't want him to have to deal with it. Perhaps it wasn't the best decision, or the right one, but I honestly did it to make things easier for him, however crappy that sounds now. So I do think it's natural for him to want to protect you or keep from you something that he thinks will upset you, he is probably doing it with the best of intentions. But I think you do need to know the truth, so reassure him that you can handle it whenever he is ready to tell you. Hope it gets sorted out, he sounds like a good guy. Best, KB

Hmmm, yeah, it's really hard to say. I wouldn't lose hope but at the same time I would keep applying elsewhere. There was someone on here not long ago who was on the reserve list for funding and did get it in the end, so keep fingers crossed! Good luck, KB

Hey Mlis. Aww, sounds like you're feeling pretty rubbish. I agree with sneaks, I think you should really see someone about how you feel, because taking sleeping pills to escape the day sounds like you need a bit of help! I am on lots of sedating medication for bipolar disorder, and that really affects how I am in the morning, so it's something that needs working around and takes a bit of planning. Can you go see your doc and see if they can help you in any way? And a trip to the uni counselling service might help as well- the counselling service at our uni is a godsend and I wouldn't have made it through my BSc without them, let along my MSc and PhD! You're no lazy retard, you're having a bad patch and you will get through it, and you will get a job. But for now you need to concentrate on trying to feel better, and when you feel better you will be able to get back to your work and feel better about yourself. But you need to get some help and support first- please don't struggle with this on your own. Big hugs, KB

Hey Agniparbon! Sorry to hear you are feeling so crappy, I know what it's like to feel so down. I think the others are right- at the moment your priority should be to get help and get yourself feeling better before you do anything else. Your GP should be able to help, and I would definitely contact your university counselling service if there is one- I think most unis do. They will have experience with seeing people who feel how you are feeling and they will be able to help. I have been going to my uni counselling service for over 6 years now for support with my bipolar disorder, and they have been fantastic- I cannot praise them highly enough. We also have a mental health advisor who has helped me out with the practical side of things such as deadlines, exam provisions etc if I haven't been well, so it might be worth seeing if your uni has one too. When you are feeling better your work will happen much more easily, so concentrate on feeling better first! And definitely let your sup know that you are having some difficulties at the moment- hopefully he/she will be able to take some of the pressure off you whilst you are sorting yourself out. It can be difficult to talk to your sup about personal matters like this but it does help if they know you are struggling a bit (you don't have to tell them everything- just let them know you are having difficulties right now). My sup has been brilliant when I've not been too well and has also been really grateful that I am able to be honest with her about how things are- hopefully your sup will be the same. Really hope things start to pick up for you soon, KB

Hey! I really sympathise with you as I have similar issues with public speaking! I am terrified, whether it is teaching, seminars, conferences and so on. Last year I had to attend an NHS ethics meeting (to gain NHS ethical approval) with over 20 NHS consultants, and even though I was so well prepared, after the first sentence my mind went blank, I stopped talking, then had to apologise and start again! I was so embarrassed but they were all lovely and I got through it. I think you do need to be able to do this if you want a successful career in academia, but just one blip absolutely does not mean you are not cut out for it! Just like some people need practice with writing papers or stats or whatever, some people need to build their confidence up with presenting. I keep submitting abstracts for conferences, even really big ones, because I just know I have to force myself to do it and that it will get easier. So keep going- as my sup says, just take little steps. First maybe just present to the rest of your team, then to a group of PhD students and so on, until you have a bit more confidence. Keep plodding and you will get there in the end- and if you're nervous, so what- most people appreciate what a nerve-wracking experience presenting can be and no-one will think badly of you if you are showing your nerves a bit! Good luck with it, KB

Hey Emaa! You know, I find it much harder to keep on task in summer when it stays light until later...I've always been like this. I think in winter when it's dark outside the office feels nice and quiet and peaceful and cosy and I can work better for much longer. In summer I just can't seem to concentrate the same. Strange. But when I'm feeling like that I just try to keep my work varied. Even on days where I don't feel like doing anything that requires a lot of concentration I always find something to do so that I feel like I'm doing something useful, even if it's just photocopying or something. I feel worse if I spend a day getting nothing done! But maybe it's just a sign that you need a proper break and a change of scene- sometimes that can help! Best, KB

Hey! Yeah, it sounds like you need to do a power calculation- I used the online calculator for that too but they can be a bit confusing so I did check with the departmental statistician as well! I calculated sample size for 80% power and .05 significance level based (rather loosely) on expected correlations found in previous research studies. To be honest I think a lot of people fiddle the power calculations a bit so that they come up with a realistic and achieveable sample size- when I checked the literature my sup had cited in the power calculation used for my study, turned out the figures she had taken from these papers didn't quite match up to the ones she had used in the power calculation, so I had a very fun hour with the statistician trying to sort that one out! Good luck with it, KB

Hey Kiori! Well I think there is usually a bit of room for manoeuvre, or at least there is in my field (clinical psychology)! In your PhD you should be learning some fairly transferable skills that would enable you to shift topic a little, but I don't mean actually changing field entirely or anything like that. Certainly in psych, it's quite possible to work with one clinical population (people with Alzheimer's in my case) and then switch to a different population afterwards (e.g. kids with autism, people with depression, whatever!) so long as you have the skills required to do research with a clinical population (so you're familiar with study design, stats, procedures for clinical research such as ethics blah blah). Loads of people in my department have done just this, or stuck with the same population but studied a different phenomenon. I would imagine that most fields would allow for a bit of flexibility, but of course the main thing you would come up against in applying for a post-doc would be others whose PhDs were more closely related to the post-doc topic, and who would then have a better chance. So good to choose a PhD on something you think you might want to carry on in I think, but certainly not the end of the world if you want to do something a little different. I imagine this might vary across fields though, I'm sure some of the others will fill you in on other topics! Best, KB