Happy birthday Ady!!!

I am an 80s child too, and my thesis is in Arial. As far as I can remember, my uni stated it had to be 'in a readable font, such as Arial or Times New Roman, no smaller than size 11 or 12', or something along those lines. I went for Arial because I find TNR a bit old-fashioned (no offence intended to anyone who used it!) and somehow Arial just looks a bit more modern. Also, the template I used for my headings and things used a more modern font (can't remember which now, v similar to Arial but not exactly) so I wanted them to look as close as possible.

Hi Heidi,

Just wanted to add my support! It sounds like you are doing an amazing job despite everything. Really glad you got your extension, I really hope you can get it all done. And don't worry about day 1 being slow going - it will get better!! The first day is always the worst. Glad you're having fun with your daughter too :-)

Obviously I haven't experienced all the trials you have, but hopefully the forum can be a support for you, as many people are at the same writing stage you are and you can keep each other going!!

Best of luck.

Thanks Delta. I know they would let me keep the stipend until my official end date, even if I had finished my phd entirely, as long as I wasn't working elsewhere and was either doing viva prep or working on papers from my thesis. However, now they know I have employment to go to, I am just wondering how precise they will be, ie. will they let me keep April's stipend or will they only let me keep the pro rata amount until the date in April when my job starts.

Thanks, I'm really hoping they'll just say 'it's ok, just keep the rest of the month's stipend and we'll stop it from may' but I've had a couple of emails asking me for details of my job so I think they are on the ball unfortunately!!!

Hi all,

Was just wondering if anyone knows what happens about your stipend when you finish. I have submitted, and have my viva in a few weeks. Just before then, I will also start working full time. My uni have emailed asking me to confirm my job start date so they can stop my stipend. The thing is, they have already paid my April stipend into my account.

So my question is, will I have to pay back the 'remainder' of the April stipend, i.e. from the date I start work? I get paid in advance for my stipend but won't get my first pay packet from my job until the end of April (and then it will only be 2 weeks worth of pay), so there will be a gap of a couple of weeks where I won't have anything to live on!! Does anyone have any experience of this, and will the uni let me keep the last couple of weeks stipend even though I am working?

Thanks in advance

:-)

Hi Drowningfast,

So pleased to hear you are feeling better about things!! I was one of the people who said you should quit - but if you think you can finish and are feeling more positive then I am really pleased for you!! Glad the forum was of some help, and don't forget to come back here if you start to feel low again (although obviously I hope that doesn't happen!)
Best of luck :-)

Congratulations!!! I've got my viva in a few weeks so this is exactly the kind of viva story I want to hear at the moment ;-)

I couldn't read this and not write a reply - not sure I will be much help but I really felt for you reading your post so thought I could at least try!!

The thing that really jumped out at me was when you said you wanted to hurt yourself - and all I could think was "hurting yourslef over a phd? really??" And I really don't mean to sound flippant, as I understand you are feeling desperate (I have suffered from anxiety/depression myself and know exactly how it feels), but I think you need to take a step back and think, is this really worth all the heartache and stress it is causing? Do I really want to feel like this just because my studies are going badly? NOTHING is worth making you this ill, and I think you desperately need some time away to get some perspective and have some time to think. Honestly, from what you have said, I would just give up on the phd and go and find something that doesn't make you miserable, but I realise that's easier said than done when you're right in the thick of it.

Go and see your GP too - they can help, whether it's anti-depressants, counselling, etc. You do not need to feel like this, and things WILL get better, I promise!!! Just because the project hasn't worked out, this does not make you a failure. What you need to do now is decide how to make the best of a bad situation and then move on. Could you write up what you have and submit for an mphil? Although I repeat - if it's making you want to hurt yourself I personally would get the hell out of there and forget all about it.

Hope this helps a little, and hopefully some of the other great people on here will be along soon to offer more advice. Most importantly - you are not on your own, there is a lot of support on here and out in the real world!!!!! :-)

Yep, we'll just call it 'anyone doing a phd who has problems' ;-)

I agree, sports is a great way to meet people. For starters, you're guaranteed to have something to talk about! The sport I'm involved with is fantastic for meeting new people. I find that people just love to talk about things they are passionate about, so even if you are just stood on the sidelines watching someone will start talking to you, asking your opinion, asking for a hand with their equipment, etc. I don't lack social skills as such, but can be quite reserved and find it hard to just start speaking to strangers. Fortunately, others don't seem to have this problem and I have made lots of friends with people who just randomly started talking to me at an event!! I don't socialise with these people in the evenings as unfortunately we live far apart, but I have some contact with them via the internet and often see them at events/competitions at weekends.

I have to say I agree with Hazyjane and Button. It feels a bit patronising to me to single out women who can't cope with their phd because they had to do the housework!! As mentioned by others, everyone has different factors in their lives that may cause a distraction or mean that they occasionally let their studies slide a bit, and singling out married women isn't particularly helpful. If you are struggling around the home - get your husband to help out more. If family are coming to stay and getting in the way - don't let them visit!!

Don't get me wrong, I am not against people starting a thread on here for moral support for whatever situation they like - but I would object to my university setting up a 'ladies group'!! It feels as if we've stepped back into the 50s and are saying that poor ladies are too weak and pathetic to cope on their own with the cooking and cleaning, so we need to look after them give them extra help. It just doesn't sit right with me at all. Why aren't married men having the same issues? Don't they ever have to help around the house or with the kids?!

However, I will repeat - I have no objection to people coming on here for a moan about their busy lives, we all need that extra support from time to time and getting it all out on here can be very helpful, as I know from experience :-)

Hi Dalmation,
I submitted last week, and so am also in limbo-land, although I don't have an actual viva date yet. Just wanted to say that I feel really sad too!! I thought that once I had submitted I would feel really excited, at least just for a little while, but I actually got back to my car and cried after I'd handed it over. I think as lughna says it was just all the stress and the tension of the last few weeks coming out in a really weird way!! However, I think it's perfectly normal to have strange confusing feelings at this point, as it feels like I've used every last drop of energy I had to reach the top of the mountain only to find out it's not really the top and I've still got a bit to climb!! The good news is though that this is the last little push, and think of how amazing that will feel! Best of luck ;-)

Having just finished writing my thesis, I definitely wish I had learnt latex instead of relying on microsoft word! people kept telling me to do it, and I ignored them, thinking I would have loads of time to get round to it.... needless to say, I didn't have time and spent many an hour cursing word as it reformatted all my tables for no reason yet again!!

Hi Ady,

Thanks very much for your reply! It's nice to know that it's normal to be completely freaking out! Just sobbed down the phone to my mum as my supervisor STILL hasn't read my thesis - I have sent yet another begging email to her telling her how desperate I am to submit this week. I am swinging from calm resignation to total hysteria every few minutes at the moment, can't wait til this is over ;-)