yes this post has probably been done a billion times before - and that proves that you are not alone in feeling like this and it is completely normal! i agree with the advice below - organise a meeting with your supervisor(s) and check with them to make sure everything is on track. they'll soon let you know if you need to be doing more!

i wonder also if perhaps going straight from bsc to phd has left you feeling a little lost - this too is perfectly normal, often a masters course 'bridges the gap' so that students have a better idea of the level of work expected of them. without this the phd may seem a little overwhelming at first, but you will soon get the hang of it!! you could perhaps keep track of how much you are doing each day (maybe make brief notes such as 'read 3 papers, started experiment 1, or whatever) and this may help you to see whether or not you really are being lazy, or perhaps you are just expecting too much from yourself? mostly though i would say it's early days, so don't worry too much at this point!

if you already know the person doing the hiring, is it possible for you to have a quick informal chat with them about the post before you apply? you could say how interested you are, and then casually mention your concerns (while still being positive about your ability to do the job!) and see what they say. failing that, if it was me i would just apply anyway, seems like you don't have much to lose! it is unlikely you would ruin the relationship with the professor as you clearly have the skillset necessary for the job.

when i was over there, i met an english guy who only had a D in French at GCSE, and he managed pretty well and was just as fluent as the rest of us by the end, so it can be done!

living costs when i was there (which was 2003) were pretty cheap compared to the UK, but unfortunately now with the exchange rate being so poor it won't seem so much of a bargain! but they cater well for their students at universities, and if you were lucky enough to get a place in halls you would save a fortune. i stayed in halls on campus and had a very basic room with a shared bathroom/kitchen, but it only cost about £30 a week so i wasn't about to complain! they also heavily subsidise meals on campus in the canteens so a good lunch was only about £2. obviously this will vary from uni to uni, but i think in general students in France get a much better deal than we do!

however, the downside to this is that the universities ae fairly poorly equipped compared to over here, so I would make sure you do your research, and maybe even visit the university if at all possible before committing to anything. i was at universite de paris-sud studying biochemistry, and the science labs were terribly basic and old-fashioned. again, this will probably vary from uni to uni, but paris-sud is world famous for its science so i would think it is probably fairly representative. so i would highly recommend visiting first, and check out things like the library as well, as the one at paris-sud was shocking!

i can't comment on funding etc, but i did a year abroad (in Paris) as part of my undergrad degree, and I have to say it was the best thing I have ever done! to be perfectly honest, the language barrier was pretty horrendous to start with (even though I have an A level in French), but it got easier and easier as I went along and I felt almost fluent by the time I came back. The French are generally extremely helpful to anyone wanting to learn their language, and they forgive most of your linguistic mistakes and almost everyone I met tried to help me in terms of correcting grammar/pronunciation (even people in shops, banks etc). Obviously it very different from living in England, and their lax approach to paperwork/admin in academia is incredibly infuriating, but it was a wonderful experience to study in such a different environment, and you pick up the language incredibly quickly once you are thrown in at the deep end!

Hi,
Was just wondering if anyone knew of any (preferably free!) software that can analyse data directly from graphs? Basically, I have a few old papers that only present their data as graphs (i.e. the results are not published as tables or anything), and I want to be able to accurately read the values used to create the graph. Someone told me there was software available that can do this, but I am struggling to find it.
Thanks
:-)

i think it depends on who you are funded by, but when i did my masters (funded by BBSRC) it was paid quarterly in advance

you do not have to justify your life choices to anyone! as has already been mentioned, what a boring and uninventive world we would have if everyone were to follow the exact same path. are you scrounging off the state, living off benefits? no. you are making a positive, well-intentioned contribution to society. where would we be without us lowly academics toiling away in the background?! even if your research won't be life-changing or ground-breaking, the advancement of human knowledge will always be a worthy cause and i for one will never feel the need to apologise for the choices i have made in terms of my life and career. what if your life's passion was to be a charity worker and you were perfectly happy earning a tiny amount of money? does this mean your life and career would not be worthwhile because you didn't drive a flash car and live in a huge house? money isn't everything. and if you get a well-paid job at then end of it, will it mean less than if you had little/no education? people should be grateful that everyone is different, and it doesn't make your career any less worthwhile than anyone else's. tell them to stick it!

ok, i'll get down off my soapbox now, rant over :)

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i like the feeling of being in my own little bubble, where no one (sometimes not even me :p) understands what on earth i am doing! and i don't mean that in a big-headed way, just that my topic is pretty obscure, even to other people in my dept!

seems to me like you've answered your own question....

you can switch to a masters after a year - you would normally write a 1st year report and then continue onto year 2, but this can be used as a masters thesis instead (you would probably be awarded an mphil). obviously the regulations differ from uni to uni, the best thing to do would be to talk to your supervisor. do they think you should continue with a phd? is your work of a high enough standard to be used as a masters dissertation? (no offence intended here, but 6 months into a phd project you wouldn't have expected to achieve a great deal, whereas 6 months into a masters project you would be halfway through and som things would have moved along a bit quicker). you need to speak to someone at your uni who can advise you as to the best course of action from here.

hi, i know exactly how you feel - i have a meeting today to discuss beginning my first year report, and it's like all of a sudden i have realised they have the power to chuck me out! my progress to date seems to have gone ok and my supervisors seem happy with my work, but i can't help but worry that i've been completely deluding myself for the last 9 months and i'm actually completely incapable!! i'm sure this isn't true (well, not entirely anyway...!) but i think it's perfectly natural to feel nervous and worried at this stage as there is always the possibility, however slim, that you may not be able to continue. no doubt i'll feel better this afternoon once this meeting is over and done with, and i'll wonder what i was making so much fuss about! i've never heard of anyone leaving at this stage other than through choice, so i'm sure it's pretty unlikely, and i like to think my supervisors would have let me know by now if they didn't think i was up to the standard.

hi pamw, well done for taking such positive steps to get this sorted out, it seems ridiculous that the panel are being so unsupportive of you and would let you just carry on for another 2 years without knowing what will happen. i am a bit baffled by this attitude - surely they want you to egt a phd and so should be abit more constructive and supportive?! hopefully your supervisor will be able to get some answers for you and get you on track. good luck and don't give up without a fight! :-s

seeing it from your sups point of view, he was perhaps slightly offended that you left early, and wasn't trying to discriminate against you in any way. it would probably have been better for you to stick it out to the end rather than sneaking out. i understand it must be very difficult, but to get through the phd there are going to be plenty of times when you don't understand things (and this applies to everyone, dyslexia or not) and unfortunately you just have to bite the bullet and either tell people you didn't understand or try and bluff your way through it! i went to my 1st conference last year and hardly understood a word (i am not dyslexic by the way). my supervisor asked me loads of questions about it, and i just had to be honest and say which bits had been too complex, and he was really helpful and explained some of it to me.

as for discrimination, i couldn't really say as it is not something that affects me personally, but i would like to hope not.

would it be possible for you to look into perhaps doing a part time phd? that way you could keep a part time job as well as doing research. it seems to be quite a common option for people doing a phd after taking a break away from academia. there is always the possibility to change to full time at a later date if all is going well/you can afford to not work etc. it sounds like you really want to do something more fulfilling, and if you feel that a phd would be the way to go then i would say go for it! you have plenty of time to look into all your options for a 2010 start, so use your contacts to do some looking around in the areas you would like to work in. at least with your experience in industry you should be able to go back to work if it turned out that a phd wasn't for you after all. good luck! :-)

i'm in the sciences so obviously the rules are a bit different, but for me the lit review was a requirement at the 4 month stage. it was basically to prove that i had read and understood the context of the project and it should (in theory at least!) provide me with a basis of an introduction for both my 1st year report and my final thesis (although obviously it is probably unlikely to still be relevant by the time i get to that point!). the system differs from uni to uni and so itmay not be necessary for you to do one, i guess it also depends on your research area and what would be relevant for you.