its important to adhere to the written and unwritten rules of academia, not the least of which is the rigid hierarchical pecking orders. Maybe I am just in a particularly conservative branch of academia ( law--not noted for being wild-eyed and progressive), but am wondering what other people think or have experienced.

Just interested in what other's impressions are. I had a vision of academia as progressive, churning out new ideas, unafraid of the political correctness of things in the pursuit of knowledge, and eager to push the envelope. Now I am not so sure. Well, in fact, I have a strong impression of an over-riding conservative-ism in academia, where new ideas are looked upon askance, and the absolute hierarchy of the academic institution in general ( not a single university, just the whole thing as an abstract system) frowns upon innovation, new ideas, etc, as really upsetting the ( what is the metaphor, well whatever) cart, the eggs?? any way, rocks the status quo, and academia really LIKES its hierarchical status quo. Its not iconoclastic friendly....

Sometimes I try to hang onto the vision in fact that family has that this is such a great adventure! I mean, it is of course in its way, but that feeling of excitement wears down in the daily grind. I try to remind myself I am doing something really "cool." When I think of it like that, its easy to get motivated again.

@Smilodon, yes, you are right its so different with family v. friends. If its only distant family you don't see that much, is there opinion that important? If its near family, of course, that is hard, because you spend so much time and emotion in being a part of that family circle. I am fortunate on this score I guess, my family has moved from thinking the PhD was some sort of insane indulgence to valuing it as important to me ( and even thinking its glamorous to live in Bleak Towers and live abroad!). My dad even read some of my rough chapter drafts to try to understand what I was writing about! Sainthood for him!!!

http://lsci.tamucc.edu/Main/Admission

no idea if this is representative, but a google search on admissions for US life sciences admission requirements produced this. Again, I am not in life sciences, so no idea how the funding within those departments is structured, but my general impression is that funding is awarded via Graduate Teaching Assistantships ( GTA) in many instances, with a decrease or zeroing out of tuition, and some salary based for the teaching.

Remember that PhDs in the US have a long taught component, unlike their counterparts in the UK. GTAs might teach undergraduate classes, perhaps they teach at the (post) graduate level ( Graduate in the US means what Postgraduate in the UK means--if you said postgraduate in the US someone might think you mean post-doctoral...) as well.

Its apples and oranges, I think, when looking at "funding" in the UK and the US, for (post) graduate programs.

I don't think so, but it would be good to check with the universities you are interested in as to their admission criteria. You might also check whether you are required to have taken any kind of exam such as the GRE or GMAT ( though perhaps those are more relevant at the masters level for admissions?).

I figure a few more people using basic human courtesy of please and thank you would alter some of the balance of this foul and common behavior. I am not going to go on a wild eyed crusade about this, but I will make a point of thanking speakers and saying I appreciated their contribution whenever I can. I wonder if the Shovers and Diatribers realise that they look like proper fools in these events, rather than show-casing their glowing intellect?

I know its common at academic events, but its plain ASININE! Day 2 of community event--a few more academics at a roundtable discussion, some audience member when invited for a question instead has again the sheer rudeness to try to correct a speaker on some point. When the moderator cut the audience person off after about a 5 minute diatribe, the audience member threw a fit ( I suspect they might have been an academic "slumming" at the event, or a wannabe academic or expert...). I had a question I wanted to ask, but when I could not figure out how to ask it in less than some long paragraph ( practicing it to myself) I decided I would be an ar** to ask it and came up with something else that I could ask in one sentence.

Some journals list their impact factors ( as well as information for prospective contributors) on their website. I also googled something on impact factors and journal ratings and found a site that let you check journals within various fields, and countries...I don't remember it offhand, but perhaps you could try googling and see what you come up with? I will see if I can find the site again and if so will post a link. Good luck!

Academia seems to have its share of Shovers--people who think the other people in the world are nothing but a voodoo doll for them to put pushpins in, in order to demonstrate some sort of weird superiority. YUK!! to Shovers.

But what's up with the Shovers? Why try to prove you know more than a keynote speaker? How rude. If the Shovers were all that, then they would be selected as keynote speakers. Ah, perhaps that is the problem--jealousy and mean-spiritedness and insecurity. Well, no points get scored in anyone's eyes ( except perhaps their own) by acting like Shovers. I am sure the keynote speaker took away no illusion of the Shover's vast intellect.

The shover may or may not have been an academic, it was hard to tell from the bits of conversation I overheard, but he well could have been. The speaker remained so gracious and polite, while the shover tried to demonstrate some sort of superior knowledge.

Finally the shover went on his way, and I moved swiftly to speak with the speaker, while a shover number 2 lurked, trying to shove his way in. I simply told the speaker how much I enjoyed his presentation, how insightful it was, how it gave me a new perspective on this topic, and again, to thank him for his generous participation in the community event.

The keynote speaker had come from some distance, and was giving all of his weekend to this event. Whatever his motivations were to give the speech, he was certainly generous and giving of his time, knowledge and gifts to come to a community event.

After his speech, people circulated, speaking and socialising. An erratic sort of queue formed for people who wanted to talk with the keynote speaker. I waited patiently, only wanting to tell him how much I had enjoyed the speech, how much I had learned, and to thank him for coming.

A rude middle aged white man shoved past me, and came to a halt nearly chest to chest with the speaker. The speaker remained polite and gracious. The shover proceeded to try to criticise the speaker and his speech on some historical note. The shover, you see, felt himself an expert, because he was "writing a book" as he said numerous times.

I was at a community event, focussing on rights, stories, art, narratives of ethnic minorities, and was privileged to get to listen to two fine speakers--both academics. The keynote academic speaker did a particularly fine job in relaying his topic to the non-academic audience. There were a few academics scattered about, but the focus was a community event, not an academic one.

I think that is sometimes how people (continue) to read the name of this website. Oh, if only it were so easy, that you could simply post on a website, and a bevy of eager professors would locate for you, that perfect PhD spot with all funding included, indeed they would fight over you, each offer improving as you waited for the very best one that could be put on the table....