Hey chick! It's really normal to feel how you are doing- I think sometimes academics can lose touch with the real world and think that it's actually okay to tear a student apart in front of an audience when it really isn't appropriate. Try to bear in mind that most proposals have holes in them- sometimes it's okay to have holes in them so long as you are aware of what they are and how they might impact upon your results. The way I am approaching my topic is not perfect by any means, and I can see flaws in it, but it's an improvement and a step in the right direction, given that there is no perfect solution to the project I'm doing! So try not to get too disheartened- easier said than done! When I had finished my proposal I had to check the proposed statistical anaysis with the departmental stats guys before I submitted it to NHS ethics. All he needed to do was check the stats were okay, yet he spent 90 minutes tearing my whole project apart, which he clearly didn't understand, and I sat there in tears for about 88 of the 90 minutes. I even got up and walked out at one point, I was that embarrassed that I was crying, then I went back in and he just carried on slagging my project off! I mentioned it to my supervisor (the fact that he didn't like the project, not the fact that I had cried all over the uni stats guy for over an hour!) and she just laughed and said he was a statistician, not a clinical psychologist, and therefore he wouldn't have had a clue what he was on about. It made me feel a bit better but I still cringe when I see him! Try not to stress too much- it will blow over and the guy probably just made himself look like a nasty piece of work and that won't have done him any favours! Chin up :) KB

Hey Maria! I haven't been the subject of this type of complaint, but I did have a complaint put in about my PhD study a few months ago- to do with the recruitment process (my participants are recruited through the NHS and are a vulnerable group of people). Basically a relative of a potential participant didn't like the way in which the project was recruiting and put in a complaint straight to the head of school. I was mortified and had visions of being thrown off my PhD etc! The details are really irrelevant here, but the fact was my supervisor and everyone within the School who had to get involved were all extremely supportive and non-judgemental. They checked the facts out- everyone involved had complied with the conditions approved by the NHS ethical team so no-one was in trouble, but despite the fact we were deemed to have done nothing wrong, we did have to write a letter of apology to the relative and change our recruitment procedures, and then it all blew over very quickly. I'm sure that your boyfriend will be given the opportunity to have his say in the issue, and I'm sure that the department will be very supportive and not judge him without all of the facts. Possibly the best thing to do is for him to try to be constructive- even if he's done nothing wrong, sometimes an apology and a practical way forward to address the problem are what is required in this sort of situation. Hopefully it won't be blown out of proportion and will be resolved without too much hassle- try not to panic! Hope it goes well, KB

Hey again Kari! The question of whether it's okay to stay on at the same uni is a familiar question on this forum that crops up time and time again, and usually receives mixed responses. I have been at the same university for my BSc, MSc, my PhD, and I will soon be applying for funding for a post-doc, also at the same university. I don't have an objection to moving uni, but for me I am really in the best place to research what I'm researching, with the best supervisor I could ask for. The team I'm with are great, the department is great, and I am very settled here, so I can't see the point in moving at the moment, although of course I realise that I will have to eventually. I think the main thing for your PhD is to have confidence in your supervisors and a good fit between your research topic and their expertise- these are things that make for a good PhD experience. If that means staying where you are then I wouldn't think twice about it! Just my opinion, I'm sure other people will have different ones! Best, KB

Hey Barz! I think you will probably be okay- after all, you ended up with a 2.1 regardless of your difficulties in the first two years, and a distinction in your masters will demonstrate your capability. I would just submit your overall BA classification and MA marks to date really- if they ask for other marks then I guess you will have to send them, but I would think that they would be satisfied just to see your overall classification for your BA, especially if you send your MA results which clearly indicate that you are working at distinction level. At the end of the day though, you're applying for a PhD with a 2.1 and hopefully a distinction- plenty of people get fully funded PhDs with this sort of academic record, and I even have a friend doing a PhD who got a 2.2 and a pass at MSc level, so I don't think you have too much to worry about. So long as you have a strong proposal and references, and a good MA result, I would think you have a good chance of getting your PhD. Good luck with it, KB

Hey Cobweb! I think my genuine passion and fascination for my subject and the fact that it has personal meaning for me keeps me going, as well as thinking about the potential implications of the research, should it go well enough! I have been very lucky in that my topic is perfect for me (although horribly complex!), and I have never really lost my enthusiasm for it- if anything I become more and more interested and motivated as time goes by. What with my own experiences of mental illness (bipolar) and those of close family members (particularly dementia), and having seen first hand the horrific ways in which people with mental illnesses are often treated, I feel driven to try to make a difference in some way. I keep my favourite photo of my remaining grandad next to my desk- one that shows him before the Alzheimer's kicked in and he lost all knowledge of his world and of who we all are. It's not often I lose motivation with that to look at and remind me why I'm doing research. I think it also helps to see rewards for your work, so having praise from supervisors, managing to get a paper published or a conference abstract accepted etc. I know a lot of people doing PhDs who aren't really all that keen on their topic and I don't know how they do it- I would really struggle to motivate myself if it wasn't for my love of the project. I suppose one question to ask is why you are struggling to keep motivated? Is it to do with the topic, the process of doing a PhD, feeling as though you aren't getting anywhere etc? I guess most people go through patches like this and get through it, so work out what motivates you the most and find a way to incorporate this in some way. And try to vary the work that you do- if you do the same thing day in day out it can get monotonous, so try to have a number of different things on the go so you can choose what you feel like doing some days- that's better than knowing that you are going to be stuck doing the same thing every day. And don't be too hard on yourself- I think it's pretty normal to feel like this sometimes! Best, KB

Hey! I would definitely go for the good lab and supervisor over the 'brand name' of a university you have doubts about. Years back I moved from a top uni with an average department for my subject to an average uni with a top department, and I have never regretted this choice- it was the best thing I ever did! And I agree with the others- I think the uni itself matters more for your undergrad degree, but beyond that your work will be judged for what it is, where it is published, and who you are working with among other things. I think it's also hugely important to be with a team of people you can work with well- I am on a team of about 12 people in my department who work on similar topics and I really appreciate being part of such a great team where we all get on and are prepared to help each other out, and where I have people who share their experiences and who I can learn from. Def go for the lab in my opinion! Best, KB

Hey! It does vary according to subject, so you really need to check it out with individual universities. I am in a completely different field to you but for my subject an MSc is an absolute requirement even with a first class degree, yet for other subjects people have no problems getting on to a PhD with just a 2.1 at undergrad level and no publications, experience etc. So best to email the departments you are interested in and check before you make your next move! Best of luck, KB

I'm not actually seeing anyone at the moment, but in the past my boyfs have ranged from slim to a little bit on the heavy side, and it really doesn't bother me. I myself am very sporty, and although I am not overweight I am heavier than I used to be due to the medication I have to take for life for my bipolar condition. However, I don't particularly look for sporty men, it doesn't matter that much to me. But if a boyf told me I was too heavy or to lose some weight I would be mightily hacked off and probably feel a bit insulted. If you want to start a keep fit routine I guess you could use the opportunity to take up a new sport together or something. If you are quite happy as you are I would tell him where to go! KB

I have to absolutely agree with you Keep_Calm. I got a first in my undergrad less than 5 years ago, and am still at the same university now doing my PhD. Some of the stuff I have to mark is barely comprehensible- I get 2nd and 3rd year students who don't even know what a sentence is, let alone the difference between 'their', 'they're' and 'there'. I think I find this more disturbing than the actual content, which sometimes isn't that bad if you can comprehend it. It's frustrating, and the scary thing is that a lot of these guys are getting 2.1s. My supervisor has very high standards, and has recently given her third year group a modal grade of a D in their final module exam, only to be told that this is too low for a modal grade. Her argument- they handed in a load of rubbish that was not worthy of anything better. Their argument- you just cannot have a modal grade of a 3rd class degree in a module, it looks so bad. I am biased because I was the TA on the module, but it was very well organised and well lectured, and the exam paper was absolutely fair. All we can conclude is that people are simply not prepared to put the effort in to do well...you can provide people with the materials they need and try to teach them the skills they need, but if they are not prepared to put in the effort and the work, what can you do? Of course, there are exceptions to this, and there are a lot of talented undergrads here too, but it always seems to be the bad ones that stick in your mind unfortunately :( I know, it just sounds like a rant, but I am in agreement with you! KB

No, I certainly wouldn't, but I do agree that sometimes there is a very fine line with statistics between attempting to present your data in a useful and interesting way that will capture people's attention, and manipulating the figures to the level where they are no longer a true representative of the facts. You only have to look around you to see examples of people using stats in a way which might distort a person's perception of them, even if it is not technically 'wrong'. For example, students' exam marks being manipulated where a class has done particularly poorly so that they fit a normal distribution, dodgy statistics used in advertising or published by the government that don't tell 'the whole story'. And let's face it, I reckon a lot of us play around with different types of analysis etc to find the one that 'shows' something up the best, and select the interesting results to publish whilst ignoring the ones that didn't really get us anywhere or support the theory we wanted them to etc. No, it's not good, and it's not right either, but I think it would be naive to believe that every researcher writes up their results exactly as they found them, without doing a little tweaking here or there. Personally, I wouldn't because my work is health-related and it would be hugely irresponsible to deliberately mis-report things, but I expect when writing up I will be faced with the usual decision of which bits to write up and which bits to drop simply because they didn't go anywhere and I don't have enough words to cover every single little bit. I suppose with other people there are further pressures such as where the funding has come from, and what they have been 'told' to find, competition between research groups, the pressures of publishing etc, that perhaps we are not fully exposed to yet too. Complicated! Best, KB

My pal has a little girl called Ilona, which I think is quite pretty. I like names that are a bit different but not too off the wall for girls, but prefer traditional names for boys. Not quite sure why. I would find it much easier to choose a name for a boy than a girl! Let us know what you decide! KB

Hey guys. So I did that thing today where I entered all of my data to date and had a little nosy at it on SPSS, thinking that I wouldn't have enough data for anything to be significant yet. But there's LOADS of significant stuff. Some of it predictable, but some of it completely counter-intuitive, non-sensical, and defying all logic and expectations!

I just cannot get my head round it...I know it's good to have found something, but my little head is going to loose many nights sleep whirring round wondering how the results can possibly be so! What is the rational thing to do in this situation?! What did any of you guys do when you found really unexpected stuff? I suppose it is good in a way, but now I'm stressed!! :p

Cheers people, KB

Hey Moomin, just to wish you good luck- I have also heard a fair few people say that they quite enjoyed their viva when they got into it, although they weren't anticipating that they would! I'm only in second year but will be terrified when mine comes round, but I think it would be strange not to be a bit scared. So take a deep breath and go for it- we're all rooting for you! Let us know how it goes! Best, KB

Hey Keep_Calm, I have exactly the same problem, although fortunately because I did double my required amount of teaching last semester I don't have to teach again until October, apart from supervising MSc students and I'm okay with that! But with the module teaching I was petrified all of last year and last semester as well, and it didn't really get much better. The thing that helped me most was to be very well prepared (obviously!) but also to have a friend from the same team there for support. Last year we were teaching in pairs and I was with a pal, and that was much better although I was still nervous. This year I was the only TA for the module (about 85 students) and for the sessions where it was just going to be me presenting stuff to them, running discussion sessions etc, I got someone to come down there with me for support and that made things a bit better. I did find that towards the end, when I had got into the swing of it, I usually felt better- the anticipation is the killer for me. The one thing that made it worse was my sup coming down to watch me teach- I was practically in tears and mute, I was that nervous! I think it is one of those things where it will get better in time, it's just slower for some of us than others. I am also very envious of people who can just get up and teach, present their work etc without batting an eyelid, but I like to hope that I might be that person one day, and hopefully you will too! Good luck with the teaching this afternoon! Best, KB

Hey, congrats Leaf...I thought you would probably be okay. Great news, well done! Best, KB