Hey! I have become a bit irrate with my sup a few times. Generally I don't argue with her because it's not good to get on the wrong side of her, especially cos I want a post-doc with her, and boy can she hold grudges! But just a couple of weeks ago I had to have words with her because she was basically asking me and a fellow PhD-er to do too much work for our MSc students- she was basically asking us to do half of their project for them and she went a step too far (I posted about it on here, you might remember!). So we had a word with her and I was a bit narky with her to be honest. She was a bit grumpy about it, but she did seem to take our point on board and has since taken some of the work away from us and asked the MSc students to do it themselves, so it did work out for the best. I also got pissed off with her once because she wrote a narky email to someone and put my name on the bottom of it next to hers without telling me, but she didn't appear to see the problem with that! So I tend to reserve the tellings off for very special occasions! KB

Cool Zelda! Well that will give me something to aspire to then! Did you get them all done before submission? I can see where the 8 publications would come from, (2 reviews, 1 theoretical paper, I qual results paper, 3 quant results papers, and a discussion paper), but it's the whole getting them completed before submission that seems a bit crazy! But she seems to have faith in me so I will do my best! KB

Hey! That is a little bit odd, did she give you any reasons for these suggestions? You would think most supervisors would want to push their students! My supervisor is completely the opposite, and is probably a bit too ambitious. I am flattered by her faith in me but feel a bit overwhelmed by her expectations (she is anticipating 8 publications from my PhD- I mean who does that many publications from their PhD? She is crazy!). Is there any way you could have a word with her, find out if she has particular concerns that underlie her suggestions, but let her know that you really want to aim high? Best, KB

Hey Keep_Calm, I know, feedback is horrible. My first paper needed quite a lot of revisions and had to be resubmitted and got accepted in the end, but it isn't nice to read all that stuff about what's wrong. I think it's even worse when the comments make no sense- one of my reviewers was clearly from a different field and didn't know the literature, so his suggestions were non-sensical, i.e. he/she was asking me to consider 'evidence' which was non-existent and so on. Because of this I couldn't respond to the comments except to say that they were inappropriate as the literature didn't exist in this field and so on, but when I sent it back the editor must have realised that the reviewer was a bit off topic because it was accepted straight away then, without going back out for review (which I was initially told it would do). Try not to let it get you down, it's hurtful but even the best researchers get papers rejected sometimes. If the comments are do-able then perhaps revise and send to a different journal? Best, KB

I suppose none of us really know whether it's worth it until we get 'there', wherever 'there' is. For me, I love what I'm doing and if I could carve out a career doing this then I can't think of anything else I would want more. I have had stressful moments in my PhD and been overwhelmed at times, but I have never ever regretted doing it or thought once about quitting, it simply hasn't crossed my mind. I am aware that it might not be possible to follow this career as it's so competitive to get funding etc, and I do have a plan B (to train as a clinical psychologist- which is also horribly competitive), but after a number of false starts at other subjects/careers I really feel like I've found my thing now. I think also I feel so grateful to have got this far- having dropped out of uni several times due to bipolar disorder and spent 5 years in and out of mental hospitals I know what I want out of life now (spending the rest of my life on a locked mental ward isn't on my to-do list!) and I'm determined as hell to get there one way or another. So I am hoping it will be worth it. On another note, there are several post-docs on the same team as me, and whilst they work hard they pretty much stick to 9-5 or 9-6 without too much hassle...I guess to some extent you can do enough to get by or you can throw yourself at it big time....Best, KB

Yay, I am also a recent new addition to the 4-star club! But it feels rather elitist somehow...in the same way that I doubt I will use my Dr. title when I eventually finish my PhD, it feels wrong to flash one's 4-star status around. Still, the race is on for 5 stars :) My money's on Wally! KB

Hey that's awesome news Bilbo, big congrats! Hope you spend a long time celebrating! Best, KB

Woooohooo, well done you! Always good to hear a success story! Best, KB

Thanks guys, it's good to have so many helpful replies! It's strange, we used to get on so well, especially considering we only met when we were looking round the flat the two of us are now living in! I think she is insecure- the department she's in isn't very good, she has a lot of grief from her colleagues, and I think she also feels a bit inferior to her boyfriend, who is in the same field but in a better department and doing outstandingly well by the sounds of it. The other thing that really seemed to provoke her was when we were at a psych talk together (one of those public lecture things), and all her friends from her department were saying how interesting the work of the department was and how boring they felt their topics were in comparison. The next day she launched into a speech about how everyone finds her subject really interesting and how it was the 'sexy' subject of her field and so on. She also rattles on about how she is now in a 'position of power' because she had been asked to be chairperson for a symposium session at a conference or something. Arrrrgh. And it spreads into other issues as well....I'm really sporty, but whenever I'm chatting to mates about kickboxing or the gym or whatever she always goes on about how she once ran a marathon (she does next to no exercise now), it's like she just has to have one up on me all the time. I try not to, but sometimes I even end up rising to it myself when I get really annoyed. I wish I could just let it wash over me but it's hard. Anyways, thanks for your suggestions, I will think about which ones I could put into practice without being too confrontational- I'm not good with confrontation! Best, KB

Hey people! Need a rant. Now I'm in second year PhD and I share a flat with a girl who is doing a post-doc in a different subject. We used to get along fine but recently she's started getting really competitive over things like who's working the longest hours, who's the busiest and so on. She takes any opportunity to put me down and big herself up. Last week when I was talking about supervising our MSc students, her response was 'oh well, you're barely more than that level yourself are you really'. She keeps telling me how she has been in work since 6am, how many papers she is working on, how the conferences she goes to are 'bigger' than the conferences I go to etc and it's really doing my head in! I really love my topic and my work and feel as though I'm doing well, I just don't need her constantly trying to prove that she's bigger or better! I'm not sure if she's just insecure or trying to convince herself she's amazing but she's clearly trying to prove some sort of point and quite frankly I've had enough....but I don't know what to do! It's such a silly thing to get annoyed about but it's really grating on me!! Any ideas?

Cheers, KB

Haha, I know what you mean. I'm not so good at chilling out and not working either- unless I am actually away somewhere I just get bored. For my easter break I have planned a week in the office with no testing, no appointments and no meetings as a treat. Everyone thinks I'm barking, but I'm just so busy right now I can't deal with sudden enforced relaxation, I would rather be doing something productive! But you should take time off if you feel like it- you've earned it and sometimes it can make a huge difference. I went away on an adventure sports week in France last summer and had such an awesome time that I promised myself I would do something like that every year...I came back feeling refreshed and re-energised! Treat yourself to a few days out with pals, and be chuffed that you have the kind of supervisor that insists on you taking time off- last week my supervisor offered to chain me to my desk :) And well done for getting your upgrade stuff in! Best, KB

Hey! It's a tough one really- I'm only in second year but my supervisor and I are planning to apply for funding for me to do a post-doc here when I've finished my PhD and we're in the early stages of writing proposals now. It's really tough- I'm hellishly busy yet trying to find the time to conduct extra lit reviews, writing an additional review paper, familiarising myself with a whole load of new literature (twice over, as we are putting in two separate applications for different projects!), but if I don't do it then I won't get the post-doc I want so I'm just trying to cram it in. In reality, funding is so competitive that we may well not get it anyway, but I'm determined to give it a shot. Are you going to be applying for funding or looking for an advertised position? If you see a job you are keen on then I would definitely apply- of course your PhD is high priority but it would be a shame to miss out on opportunities for the sake of an extra week's work or whatever. That's my thoughts on it anyway! Best, KB

Hey Boatgirl! I'm halfway through my PhD in Psychology (clinical) and I didn't start my testing until 10 months in- this is completely normal in some areas of psychology, especially if it's clinically oriented (my pals in cognitive psych seemed to be a bit quicker off the mark!). By 8 months in I had written my literature review, written a detailed proposal, got School ethical approval and had applied for NHS ethical approval. So I wouldn't get panicky just yet! One thing I would say is if you need NHS ethical approval then best to get on with filling out the forms as soon as you can- it can be a very time-consuming process! Best, KB

Yay, happy birthday! I'm 28 next month and am quite scared to be nearing 30! Hope you take some time out to celebrate not being 30 yet!! Best, KB

I suppose I work quite long hours, often 9-7pm or later sometimes, but I'm out testing participants a lot and it's often a good drive away too, so it's not as though I'm sitting at my desk all day. I could complete my PhD on fewer hours, but I suppose it's the things like publications and conferences and teaching that take up all the additional hours. There is another girl doing a full time PhD on the same team as me, who puts in just a few hours per day and takes huge long holidays several times per year, and she'll probably pass her PhD but she won't have any publications, conference presentations, teaching experience etc, basically the things you need to do to progress in academia (well, in our subject area anyway, I appreciate it is probably different in different areas). My flatmate spends at least 12 hours per day in her office (usually 7am-8pm) and always whinges about how much work she has, but I suspect she spends an awful long time chatting to people, having coffee breaks, shopping in town etc, so her hours of work are probably a lot lower than the 12 hours she spends in her office! I guess it's about finding the balance that works for you- if you can work really well for 5 solid hours and you get a lot done then that's just as good as someone who goes to the office for 8 hours but spends loads of time having breaks and chatting etc. So don't stress- just find out what works for you and stick with it! Best, KB