Hmm well he might be embarrassed if I corrected him but I never did :$ I had it all worked out one day how I was going to casually slip something about my name into a conversation but then that day he did get my name right! So I didn't bother saying anything... then he started getting it wrong again... :-s

Well I know how you feel, I am in my fourth year and my supervisor keeps calling me by a different name :-(

I really think you need to tell her that you are in your third year!!! It is absolutely essential - I definitely wouldn't keep quiet about it, because she's going to realise her mistake eventually and it will look pretty strange that you didn't correct her! Don't feel bad about having a slow second year, I certainly did! I made almost no progress for about a year and a half... But things are moving along now so all is not lost! I was talking to another student yesterday who said they did the bulk of their work in the last year, which is reassuring!

Is there any way you can get a second supervisor for the year your sup is away? Maybe you already said this in your other thread, I didn't read that one... But I'm sure they can't just leave you totally unsupervised, whether it was your 3rd year or not?!?

I have heard that too, from that UCL page... Seems like a load of old you-know-what to me! They suggest that it makes your thesis appear 'balanced' - so I guess it doesn't matter what you put in the chapters then, just how many you have. Ridiculous :-)

Jouri I think in science they tend to have a longer introduction which includes the background theory from literature - as far as I know!

I can most definitely relate I am having the worst week and things are really getting on top of me! Started thinking about all that I have to do yesterday and went into a total panic!!! Things are only marginally better today so I don't know if my advice is much good :p

But what I did was go home yesterday evening and go for a run to clear my head - then went to bed at 9 o clock - and then came in today, made a list and started going through it one thing at a time! That's all you can do really, you are only one person! Hope things improve :-)

I used to weigh myself every day simply because the scales was in the bathroom and I'd just hop up on it before I got into the shower in the morning. It was always at the same time of day but nonetheless I'd be up a pound one day, down 2, then up another 2... it started to drive me insane so now the scales is hidden at the back of a kitchen cupboard!!! I take it out once every 1/2 weeks at the most.

By the way my initial guess of having gained 3/4 lbs was bang on - 3.5 to be exact :-( But I have been all healthy so far this week, exercised every day so far yay!!!

@ MissSpacey, about the 10,000 steps a day thing... I tried to find out before how many steps were in a kilometre and the figure I found was 1,320 - so you would have to cover 7.5km a day to be doing 10,000 steps! Or around 50km a week... It's crazy, I didn't even cover that distance weekly when I was training for the half marathon! I don't know how they expect people to cover that distance in their day-to-day lives...

I actually lost weight since I started my PhD - about 10 lbs I think... not through stress or anything like that (I wish!) but through diet and training for a half marathon. The last few weeks have been a different story however! Half marathon is done so there's not the same motivation and I haven't run in about two weeks cause I've been under pressure PhD-wise - also I've been eating everything in sight :$ So I'm feeling that there's going to be at least 3/4 lbs extra on the scale but I haven't had the guts to get up on it yet! I'll join in on this thread as I'm turning over a new leaf as of this morning!

By the way... @ sneaks, that was hilarious, thanks for brightening my day :-)

Well I don't think it's just a myth - I know a girl who finished in just under three years actually! But she was in science and I think they tend to go faster... I think there is a big difference if someone is working on a project that is pre-defined by their supervisor compared to others who decide on their own topic - and spend up to a year defining exactly what they are going to do.

I also think that the supervisor has a big influence... I know several people who have been supervised by this guy who thinks a PhD should take 5 years... and ALL of his students take 5 years to complete... coincidence? My supervisor is very much of the plough-through-in-3-years mindset... but here I am starting my fourth year :-( Boo hoo hoo... Still an entire thesis to write too...

Intriguing title, I just had to look :-)

Above is the RIGHT way to do it!

Ahhhh... Thanks!!! Well now at least my name will live on in a fish, even if nobody else remembers it!

It took me SEVERAL minutes to figure out what the hell was going on here... I think my brain is turning to mush :-(

Funny that this should come up actually... I was just about to post about the fact that my supervisor (after THREE YEARS working together) has just started calling me by the wrong name!!! Either he's going senile or I don't rate very highly on his list of important-things-to-remember... Humph :-(

So anyway... I would really like to have a Black Angel Fish named after me!!!!! But Rosy is a bit of a boring name to give a fish... maybe I can come up with some variation???

Masochism. Haha... seriously though, like Bonzo said, just because it is the qualification needed for a lecturing job. That's the one and only reason!!!

Overeducated, I don't think you will have a problem with authority if you just make sure they know you are the one in control of things from the get-go. I have never had problems like that from my students, although one did try to add me as a 'friend' on facebook - which I declined! But what often happens is if somebody walks into the room during a class (because mine are normally in computer labs) I say 'Do you mind, there's a class on in here!' and they look at me in disbelief - sometimes even stand there for a minute - before they finally believe that I am actually the lecturer and then they walk out in a huff :-)

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Yeah the weather sucks right enough... and I think fees can be high for international students. I don't know when you say 'well-regarded' do you mean in terms of academic standards and so on... I couldn't say for sure because I've never had an international perspective on it, but maybe there is some snobbery there, who knows! Within the country there is some snobbery when it comes to Universities vs. IoTs (Institutes of Technology), with people thinking that a degree from a uni is better than one from an IoT. The standards for degrees, Masters, PhDs are set at a national (and international!) level here like they are anywhere else, so in fact a PhD from a IoT would have to comply to all the same standards as one from a uni.


The only thing is that Universities may have bigger education departments than some IoTs would and therefore more educational research going on. As for funding, there are good opportunities - I have funding from the Irish Research Council but I don't know whether international students can apply for that. Your best bet is to try looking on individual websites for funding opportunities.

Yes very exciting... I had heard about this ages ago - from the very highbrow source of a Dan Brown book hahaha. But didn't know it was launching today until I saw the funky Google logo.

Anyway I don't think we have to worry about the world ending today, that won't happen until they start doing collisions surely? Which are not starting until the official unveiling on Oct 21st - according to Wikipedia!!! Better enjoy your last 40 days of existence folks :-)

What if that is really true??? Not that I believe it is or anything... but if it was??? Who here would spend their last 40 days on earth working on their PhD (if they knew it was the last 40 days)??? Not me anyway :p