wow Batfink! I'm well impressed with your energy levels!

I've got the beginning of a cold so not feeling too great at the minute but I must finish my journal article by Friday. It could probably be Monday but I'd much rather have the weekend off ;-)

I've been struggling a bit with it as the ideas are there but I'm finding it difficult to organise them whilst getting the references! I might just write them as they are and get the references later...

Have a good day everyone!

I think they'll know I'm not going to turn up as I haven't paid for the conference yet and they keep sending me emails about it. Or is this a general email that gets sent to everyone?

That's an excellent idea!! Thanks for that!

I know what you mean larrydavid, I went for a poster presentation because I've never presented at a conference before but I'd have gone for a paper one if I had. To be honest, it probably doesn't sound like it but I REALLY want to do it as I'm not sure I'll ever have another opportunity again.

The problem only arose when I started talking about the logistics with hubby (he's worried about me flying even though the midwives have cleared me) and that got me thinking how much money I'd be spending when I could just spend it on the baby instead. If only I'd won the euromilions!

Sneaks, there could potentially be someone who could present it for me. I'm pretty sure they're going so it wouldn't cost them anything. I might just ask...

I guess I can still state that it's been presented at the conference at my next viva though even if I haven't presented it myself, right??

I agree with Sneaks. I feel you need to think about what you're trying to achieve, then look at the best methodology before going into analysing rather than the other way round.

Thank you all.

You see, I don't mind the presenting itself I don't think, I probably wouldn't like the questioning bits though. It's the travelling there when I'm 33 weeks pregnant (I'll have to fly) and the costs (I'll have to cover everything!).

@Tt_dan - I think it depends on the conference set up. It may be different in other areas but in my experience, you can have 1) main presentation where you're presenting to everyone there (so hundreds of people), 2) paper presentations, where there'll be a few going on at the same time (so probably dozens of people, pending on your topic and interest of others) and 3) poster presentations where there'll be even less people. Mine is only for a poster presentation so I think it's 5 mins presentation, 5 minutes for questions. As for the numbers, in my case, not many...

Re: prestigious, it's not huge but within that field, I'd say it's big enough. Maybe it's worth bearing in mind that this is not in my field, but a related field and I have no plans of staying in academia so networking may not be the best either.

I just wanted to say well done(up)(gift)

Hi Button,

Well done on having your first full draft done! I agree with what the others say, it's likely your sup will give you some feedback and this will lead to changes that you'll need to work on (well, I hope they'll give you some feedback!). Plus, no one can actually predict when they're having a baby.

You have 3 years funding, there's nothing stopping you from making the most of it :). I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty to do, publishing, teaching, etc.

As for originality, it's unlikely that you'll be penalised if someone else happens so far into your thesis...

sorry, no luck here. Anyone else?

My sups suggested I presented one of my studies at this conference which I agreed to. Now that the conference is fast approaching I'm not sure if I want to do it anymore. Put it this way, I agreed to this months ago and my circumstances were very different. At the same time, as I got R&R at my viva, I feel this could potentially help me second time round.

So my question is: does it matter who presents the study at the conference? Do I have to do it? Or could it be another author??

Good morning!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. I really need to finish my article by friday so it's all about the article today!

Have a good day everyone!

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with it, my supervisors know a lot about me and I know a lot about them so I'd say it's ok. But then, I know that they don't have '2nd intentions', well apart from maybe getting a few papers published from my research ;-)

Saying that, I can't help feeling that this is not the case with you or you wouldn't be concernced and asking the question?? What makes you think/feel that this may not be a good sign?

Morning!

Thanks Batfink. I had a good thinking session last night and arrived at the obvious conclusion that I can't possibly know exactly what they'd like me to add so I'm going to add what I think is the best option, still under the same umbrella so hopefully I won't be penalised for it as I'm still fulfilling the requirements.

I have to finish a journal article too. I have next week as a deadline though so lots to do!

Goals for today:
1) to read two papers - breaking it down to small bits!
2) to continue working on my lit review
3) finish intro paper

Well done Pam! Enjoy the peace whilst it last, viva prep will soon start ;-)

Let us know how it goes.

Funny this, today has been the most productive day of the week so far. Still, I've not felt this rubbish for ages.

I'm just struggling a bit at the minute because I was told to talk about 'animals' in my thesis by examiners but I'm not sure which ones 'vertebrates' or 'invertebrates'. If 'vertebrates', do they mean 'mammals', 'reptiles', etc. Even if they meant mammals, did they mean... the possibilities are numerous and I'm going to have to pick what I think is the one they meant. Rubbish!

I think it's time I called it a day, had a relaxing shower and watched some tv.

I hope you all had a better day than me. Good night!