I asked her via email and said that I want to disucuss it in person. I didn't receive a reply yet but will bring it up in the next meeting. I felt that mentioning it beforehand will give her a chance to think rather than just out-of the-blue asking in person. But if she says no and I find out the new guy is going, well the s%@# will hit the fan.

I have the urge to just sleep forever and never have to face my work or the panel. (BTW mine is in 2 weeks). I have desires of quiting but I have put too much work in and I know I probably won't. I dislike most of the people I have to work with, even the ones I liked at the start have turned into not so nice people. Only consolation is, soon it will be all over and I will never have to see any of them, the department or my work again.

Thare is one coming up in mid 2009 that's very important. I have found this out myself (sup didn't tell me) so I felt that's "a hint" that she doesn't plan for me to go. Yes funding is definetly a problem, but when I started something similar to this happened and 3 people from our departmwnt were sent - I wasn't. That was fine at the time as they were all more senior than me and I was a starting student. But I have a feeling that new guy that's been here for like 3 months will be sent to that conference in 2009 and I won't. Maybe it's still too early to plan for it? Should I mention that conference to my sup and ask something like "Any chance of me going?" and see what she says?

Hi guys,

So I'm in my second year and I have never been to any conferences outside of 100km radius of my city. I feel like it's a part of a PhD experience to travel and I'm feeling cheated. I have presented to the department and have a paper on the way and I feel like I should go to a conference. Meanwhile my supervisor is using funds to make 5 trips all over the world within a year. I have brought this up already and she said that unless it's a high profile conference I won't get much out of it professionally and I'm better of publishing papers. She said that the only thing I would get out of it is "a free trip". But I WANT A FREE TRIP! I kept quiet at the time but am now wondering if I should push this issue further. She always keeps saying that my work is great and yet I feel like I'm not deserving of being sent to a conference. Other than that we have a pretty good relationship, regular meetings, feedback, support etc. I need some advice if I should push the conference thing further...

I enjoy telling people that I'm doing a PhD. If ever I need to make an excuse for not attending a social function that I don't feel like going to, I just say "You know, the PhD..." and nobody ever wants to hear anyhting further.

It's also fun when I start trying to explain my project and nobody even understands the title of my thesis, let alone anything else. All I get is "Wow". It makes me feel special

Who here is so happy with their supervisor that they wouldn't change him/her for anything? Me me me! :)

I'm familiar with this issue. I tend to be overly friendly with mine and sign my emails with :) and "catch you later". At first I didn't get that good of a response and was getting cold "regards" back but now, every now and then I get a smiley face and even a joke in the supervisors email. I just persisted with my casual style (I can not stand stuffiness)and supervisor adapated

I have a review as well.. I have also found a paper that was published a couple of months ago and pretty much contains what my thesis will be about. My supervisor was quick to point an angle on how I can argue that my work is slightly different. I will actually review this paper and then "market" my thesis as an extension of it. I really think that as far as originality is concerned we should be fine.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence :
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Despite my best intentions, I'm still obssesing over this. I'm not sure what is an academic position exactly? I know that lecturer or I guess most types of research positions within the university are. But what about a research position at an outside institution (not the university)?

Thanks xeno. This forum really helps as none of my family or friends want to listen or even understand my PhD issues. I have now realized that I'm getting way ahead of myself. I still have a loooong way to go, I'm actually not even a half way through and I have only started working on my first ever paper. I need to focus on NOW and I'm sure that there will be some opportunities along the way that could potentially shape my career.

Rick,

Thanks for your message. I'm definetly doing the PhD for myself. I really enjoy doing research and I know that getting a PhD will bring me a huge sense of personal achievement. I care about this more than I do about gatting a job that will make me lots of money. But what has really depressed me is my supervisor saying this, now she knows my work better than anyone (and has always been complimentary), I'm kind of worried that she is hinting that *I* won't be able to get an academic job (even though it sounded like she was just making a general statement). I'm having doubts about my abilities now and am thinking that I have been deluding myself all along about my cappability of getting an academic job after this.

So I'm half way through my PhD and had a brief talk initiated my me, with my supervisor about what I could do after. She told me that there are very few academic posts and that they are generally contracted so having some sort of career/career progression in academia is very difficult. While I know this to be true, I felt like she was implying that I wasn't "good enough" to get those positions. She listed number of positions that I can have in a public sector. Now as I already have a Masters degree (by coursework) in a related area, I felt like I could have gone for positions she mentioned without a PhD. I have always had my heart set on an academic post (despite the odds) and this talk was rather depressing - I didn't want to tell her that as I felt I would appear foolish. Now I am starting to question: what's the point of doing a PhD in my case? I mean so far, this sure takes a lot of effort and dedication, but I now feel it's all going to be for nothing.

Oh god, rememember guys how I said my sup. is always too nice and positive. Well, I have just gotten back a piece of work that was FULL of corrections, and no positive words. I think I might have gotten a bit slack. This doesn't feel too good at all. Be carefull what you wish for...

I have a problem that mine is too nice. I sometimes wish she would tell me "THIS IS CRAP" when we both know it is. I usually get "This is good" or "This is very good" when I submit something barely average. When I submit something that is kind of good, I get "This is outstanding" or exeptional or excellent or great.

This might not be such a problem but I fear that external examiners will tear me apart and I know that I am a lot worse than my sup. leads me to beleive.