Have a look at my blog at:

http://www.wearthesis.talktalk.net

which will hopefully give you a few pointers. Bear in mind this is largely aimed at UK candidates.


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

I suggest this is the wrong place to ask the above. You might want to try some of the Sunderland (Sunderland Message Board)and Newcastle (Talk of the Tyne) football forums. You may get an interesting audience though.

I know of the lap dance bars in Newcastle (For Your Eyes Only, Blue Velvet, Some Like it Hot, etc.), however, they're not places I've ever wanted to go in. The whole scene basically adds up as men handing over money for some degree of sexual stimulus (implying a lesser degree of prostitution). That said, I know a tale of one lad who ended up fancying one of the girls and over two nights he handed over an entire months wages in order to get her to notice him. He got rebuffed.

There were protests up here by women's groups to begin with against them as it was seen as denegrating women to the status of sex objects, however, if you see Newcastle (or any major city on a Friday or Saturday night) then it's all really a moot point as whatever you want is available for free anyway. I'll be honest that as soon as there's a bit beer in my system, my own eyes end up on stalks anyway on a night out. :-)

The girls working in the lap dance bars at least in Newcastle included a large number of students who because of the money they were getting off the punters, were managing to leave University with zero debt and a very healthy bank balance.

So the question has to be who was screwing who, figuratively speaking?


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Have a quick glance at my blog I wrote now ages ago (PhD is a distant memory for me). Whilst I did an engineering related subject, the blog should give you a few pointer.

http://www.wearthesis.talktalk.net

For a smile have a look at the 'PhD Game', which is an update of one on the Cambridge Uni. website at http://www.wearthesis.talktalk.net/phdgame.pdf (the lad who did the Cambridge one is aware of this one too).


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

As suggested below, you've two approaches. Either you can submit papers that later become the basis thesis chapters or you can concentrate on your thesis and later convert to papers.

I wrote the thesis then converted later to make it into a series of papers. Nine papers and one book chapter resulted. Of the nine papers, three were effectively written by my primary supervisor and six by myself. I'm also aware of another two conference papers written by my supervisor that I have not been able to lay my hands on, making a total of 12 documents resulting wholly or (in the case of the book chapter) partially from my thesis work. To cut a long story short, the project went well meaning that the data just flowed out with the experimental rig being seen as a paper production unit. Good experimental and data collection design was key to that.

A post doc at another Uni. gave me another three papers (one I largely wrote myself and on another two I was a contributing co-author), making 15 total. There was also another paper that I decided not to publish due to some extra data being required but is downloadable.

The actual count at the end of the PhD was actually two, however, both written by my supervisor. Most people come out of their PhDs with one or two papers, three at a push. During your PhD you will find time is precious and it will take all your efforts just to carry out any data collection, analysis and the thesis written up. I've known people not actually manage to publish.

The paper count went up after as I decided to pump as many papers out of the thesis as possible. As commented, publications are important if you want to remain in research and academia. I guess this might have been part of my motivation, but primarily I wanted the data to see the light of day. If there had only been the thesis, that would quite frankly have just sat on a shelf gathering dust. In the end, after two post-docs I ended up back in the real world meaning my publication record didn't really count for anything. (Problems during my second post-doc saw to it that following a research path at that time was not practical.)

If you get a couple of papers out of your work by the time the PhD ends, as I said that's normal. I wouldn't push to publish as many papers as possible (three or four maximum) as there's the danger you will lose focus on your PhD. If your supervisor is using you to pump out papers, I would be concerned about the amount of time you're being allowed to work on your PhD proper.

Hope that helps,

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

UCL is the highest overall in the UK rankings, however, Sheffield is the highest of those for Civil Engineering.

Take a look at this for overall rankings:

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?

and this for Civil Engineering (the nearest I can find to Architecture):

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=Civil+Engineering


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Have a look at my blog at:

http://www.wearthesis.talktalk.net

which will hopefully give you a few pointers. Bear in mind this is largely aimed at UK candidates.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

======= Date Modified 01 Sep 2012 13:31:54 =======
Dalmation just about says it all with what is an excellent post. If you're doing a PhD because it's expected of you rather than it being what you want to do then you shouldn't really be there. I will comment, however, that the stresses encountered during a PhD can lead to depression as the workload especially during write-up can be crucifying. Feeling a bit depressed can lead to something worse if you don't step back from time to time to take stock and rest, and the pressure can drag down some very bright, very level headed people with no clinical history of depression into the gutter if people let that happen. There are shades of grey. Also, Personal circumstances change and become reasons for needing to withdraw.

Setting aside extreme circumstances, I've observed that people who see the PhD through tend to be those who see the whole process as worthwhile, as a period of personal development when you learn to be and mature as a researcher and (if your chosen path is such) potential academic. That includes me who has ended up outside academia and I have no regrets over doing the PhD.

Conversely, those who drop out (or end up failing or getting an MPhil) might see the process as a waste of time and a loss of a year or two of their life. One complaint I hear is academic life is not fast enough paced for them (I see that often enough on here) or the PhD is irrelevant to the real world. That latter view I disagree with as I believe the PhD gives you the ability to critically analysie a situation or major project before rushing in (a major flaw of mine) and possibly makig a mess of it. That said, dropping out isn't the end of the world and I know of someone whose career is now going from strength to strength whilst those of us who stuck it out are in fairly mundane jobs in comparison. Also, if you've chosen your project incorrectly or have had supervisor problems, there's no harm in dropping out, taking stock and a couple of years later coming back in trying again.

I know LarryDavid and I have had our differences over a recent incident on here, but I find myself impressed by his answer. He dropped out, knew he'd made the wrong decision and came back to see the process through. If you've doubts, need time out to sort yourself out to come back later (for example knowing research is for you) then I see no harm in this.

I've said elsewhere that I never had doubts once I started that I would see the process through (though because I'd been offered two different, equally interesteing projects, I did doubt very briefly whether I'd selected the right one). I enjoyed the process and the work, however, I know from the lad who dropped out the process and a story about another lad who just wanted to fiddle with his motorbike rather than do the work, that you have to know you want to do a PhD for the right reasons. A third drifted out of his PhD and only came back to write up because he didn't like the thought of me being awarded a PhD and him not getting one.

It's not a walk in the park or an excuse to be a student for a few more years. It's not about getting a fancy title. It's 3 to 5 years of hard work that requires serious committment to your subject and work and not something you can just pop in and out of the University when you feel like it to do bits and pices here and there (i.e. the lad with the motorbike). You've got to want to do a major research project, with the view to critically analysing the the available literature and data you collect to produce an original contribution to knowledge in your field and be able to put in the work to get there.

This seems highly irregular and I've never heard of this before. If your external now wants to act as your supervisor, isn't that a conflict of interests?

Your external will need to review the final revised thesis and therefore can't take part in the revisions he is wanting. The revisions should be your work and not his. All the external can do is place in the exam report what revisions he is expecting.

What are the possibilities of appealing against the process and being reexamined by different examiners? Remember you can't overturn the decision and at best can only be reexamined.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

To the THES article, I can add having a viable research topic, having supervisors that whilst they don't do the project for you at least keep you on course, actually doing the necessary work to ensure a there is a viable, original contribution made, keeping a focus on the hypothesis or hypotheses you are trying to prove or disprove, not letting personal issues get in the way (difficult, I know), having the support you need (either professionally or personally) when the inevitable bout of depression comes, remembering to label and store your samples and data properly (that lesson is normally learnt early), etc.

I'm sure we can all add our own take on this. I note that article is from a Humanities-type angle and I'm sure Science and Engineering candidates can add their own thoughts to it.


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Interesting. Have you got to the point where you want to murder one of your supervisors yet? That's normally during write-up that happens after (seemingly) the fifth draft has been handed back to you covered in red pen.

After I finished, I unloaded everything I'd learnt from memory onto the following page in the form of a question and answer sheet. It may be of use to a few on here (the old timers will recognise it).

http://www.wearthesis.talktalk.net

Or if you want a smile, a 'modified' version of the PhD game.

http://www.wearthesis.talktalk.net/phdgame.pdf

Best of luck to all those still going through the PhD process.


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

A degree in nihilism? What is the point of it all? :-)

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

======= Date Modified 23 Aug 2012 20:25:02 =======

How long before you hear about a decision? Did they say?

You've put a lot of work into reducing the size of your thesis. That said, the examiners will have to take another look.

I remember it was nearly three months between submission and viva for me, however, that was partially due to my supervisor delaying it so he could attend a conference. I'm guessing for you once people get back of their summer holidays and take a look, it'll probably be mid-September at a guess. Hopefully sooner.

Fingers crossed for you girl.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

======= Date Modified 08 Aug 2012 09:36:47 =======
Is the supervisor moving to a new University?

Can you therefore retain their services say as a second supervisor? If the data collection is complete, can you transfer your registration to the new University (I would probably opt for the second if possible)?

If the supervisor is doing a good job, I think continuity is most important. A new supervisor with slightly different ideas and possibly different interests might push the PhD off course slightly (it might be the difference between minor and major corrections).


Ian (Mackem_Beefy)