My boyfriend is a fairly junior lecturer at the same university as me (yet in a different field). He's having major problems with an MSc student of his. From my point of view, it's more of a personality clash than anything else. The email exchange between them is fairly ridiculous- there is a lot of miscommunication. This student seems to have a wealth of problems and on top of that, my bf thinks she is not up to scratch. He told me this weeks ago. Now we've found out that she has complained about him. Said he's a terrible supervisor, has given her bad advice, and my bf is now being investigated. A discipline meeting with his head of dept. is going to go ahead. He's completely stressed about this and seems to think it will jeopardise his reputation/ job. Has any one had any experience of this kind of complaint?

Hi,
I don't mean to sound really negative or anything, because your MA grades are excellent, and it sounds like you have a great supervisor on board to help you. However, I am also in the humanities, and when I started my MA, we were all sat down and told directly that unless you got a 1st at undergraduate level, your chances of AHRC funding for a PHD are pretty much non-existent these days. Sure enough, I don't know any one in my uni (which is a top uni) who got funding for History who did not get a 1st. I do know one girl who got full funding who got a 1st and a merit for her masters however. Obviously a lot of things are taken into consideration, and I think that your topic will play a big part. In history/literature certain research areas are favoured. If you happen to be researching one of those, I'd say you'll be likely to get funding regardless of undergrad grades. Anyway, you can explore a lot of different options for funding so fingers crossed you'll be fine!
Good luck.

Hello!

Well, I am paying £3,800 this year (1st year), and next year it will be 4,600, and hopefully they won't increase it any more in my third year. Beyond third year, I am under the impression that there is a decrease in fees, but that could be wrong. Funding varies depending on the subject. I'm a literature student working half in the History dept. and half in Literature. Since humanities students are chancing an ever shrinking pool of resources, History and Literature PhDs at my uni, like many others in the UK are lucky to get any funding at all. I'm told that the 2010 intake will have it even worse than the 2009 lot (out of 25 1st year students, I know that only 4 have full funding/grants, and only a further handful have bursaries/scholarships). Books, journals, talks-- I haven't seen a penny, but I believe I am entitled to £200 per year for these things if I claim it. I have paid for every conference so far, but am going to an international one soon which the university is (so kindly) covering.
Do I sound like a misery? Im not usually this bitter, it's been a long day and will be a VERY long night..xx

Hello,
I am in a similar situation. I get on really well with my primary supervisor. She is encouraging and helpful but unfortunately she is only a junior lecturer and is not particularly ambitious. MY secondary supervisor therefore seems to be my main point of contact. He is pro-active, organised (perhaps militant), and a complete ba***rd. I'd go as far as to say that I hate him. When I see him my blood boils and he makes my stomach turn. He doesn't hide the fact that he thinks my work is not up to scratch. When I try to explain something to him he'll wait until I've finished speaking and then come back with a dead pan response such as: "Maria, you lost me at hello. Do you want to go away and write that down so I can understand it", before swivelling back round in his chair and going back to his work. I have to go to France with him for a conference.
My advice is not to quit, take it in your stride. Some people are just wankers, and take comfort in the fact that other students and members of staff will see that too. Don't let her make you think you don't care about your work any more. Put it this way, if she was super encouraging, you wouldn't feel this way. By being such a bi*ch, she's changed your perspective so you have to find a way to get on despite her rubbish attitude. Good luck!! xxx

Congratulations for submitting!! xx

Yeah I'm really short (just shy of 5ft), so I think I'm alright. However, I am now going to tell him that I like my new curvy figure and there is no way I am ever going running in the snow.

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This is completely off-topic and random. I just want to know out of interest, how many of you feel that your bf/gf/wife/husband/partner is too fat or skinny, and does it bother you? And, if it does, would you ever say anything??
The reason I ask is that I have always been very slim and my boyfriend has always struggled with his weight a tiny bit. He's not fat, but he's a bit chunky. Anyway, I don't care at all how much he weighs (never have) and never give him stick about it. The other day I commented that I was 8stone (!?) for the first time in my life, and he got really stroppy about it and said he'd noticed but didn't want to say anything until I noticed. He said I should start running in the morning. Isn't that so hypocritical? I'm tiny and he's a podge and he has the cheek to tell me to do something about it. T****r.

Siwee, I sympathise with your situation. My writing style has been attacked from all angles. "Too simplistic", "too flowery", "too many adjectives", "too many clauses". Due to the nature of my topic, I have to please both Literature people and Historians. My advice would be to just make sure that your writing is as clear as possible. Ask friends ans colleagues to read it and see if they can easily understand it, and to highlight anything which seems overly complicated and ambiguous. With succint and clear writing, in any discipline, you surely can't offend.

Go for Dear Prof. Smith for your first email. You can't go wrong with that!

Louisa--that sketch made me laugh out loud. My emails are *exactly* like that. I also hate that moment where you have to make the transition from calling someone Dr.X to "John" in an email and you're thinking "ahhhhggg is this too forward!? "

I'm a literature student so this wouldn't really apply to me, but what I want to know is WHAT on earth is the point?! It's her PhD, it's not a high school exam which she just needs to pass to get to the next stage. Some of my papers would be a lot more interesting and publishable if I doctored the evidence too.

Thanks for all the suggestions! It's always nice to be thinking about naming my baby niece rather than working on a conference paper. Will let you know what I decide on! M,xx

Oohh Rosalie and Eleanor are both really sweet. I also quite like Ava, Gabrielle, Tara, Bethany. Aghh decisions!!

My sister is pregnant with triplets and I get to name one of the baby girls! She only asked me to do this two weeks ago, the babies are due in April and since triplets are often early I might have to make a decision very soon! AND I've drawn a complete blank. Any suggestions?!

I'm a wimp when it comes to gory films and I found a few of the scenes in this one a bit gratuitious. I know people who loved it though.

Aghhh this kind of attitude infuriates me! DAMN THEM! I have experienced something similar to this in the past when looking for part time jobs to accompany my studying. I just find it so ridiculous that people should even have to THINK about not putting their PhD on their CV because it might HURT their chances of getting a job. If nothing else, does having a PhD not spell out --I am tenacious, determined, intelligent, etc? Isn't that the type of people the work force are screaming out for? B*star*s.