If you're still learning English and are studying law, it might be wise to do the Masters first. I think a law PhD with English as your second language would be extremely difficult - law's hard enough to read for native speakers! It would only be another year and you could settle in to your new environment and practice writing in English before undertaking the PhD. And as for attending lectures as a PhD student - well yes, it's theoretically possible, but once the PhD gets underway people normally don't attend lectures unless they absolutely have to! Apart from the occasional seminar for social interaction and a free lunch...

You have my sympathies Slowmo! I know how painful it can be - I've transcribed 70 interviews, but have done this over 18 months so it's been fine. Sounds like you couldn't do them as you went..Build in more rewards I reckon. The holiday's a good start, stick a photo of where you're going on the wall. Bribe yourself with nice tea or chocolate - or something stronger if you need to! Cross off the remaining 23 interviews as you do them. And can you alternate doing this with a more interesting, or at least different task?

You're over half way though, keep going!

You might be brilliant Leopardi and he might not have any criticisms of your work!...but I find it odd that he hasn't provided any specific feedback. My supervisor drives me mad with all the changes she wants - many of which seem really nit-picky at the time. But inevitably she's right and my work is much better for her comments. I think you need to see him in person to double check that you don't need to make any amendments.

Hi Leopardi

Your supervision is, quite frankly, just not good enough. It's great to have a renowned academic, but as you point out, not much use to you if you can never see him. He's agreed to be your supervisor and he should meet his obligations. And personal contact with him has been discouraged? That sounds completely outrageous to me!! What kind of supervisor is that?:-s That's hopeless. Good supervisors don't mind being approached - often! - and give feedback promptly. You obviously don't want to jeopardise your relationship with him, which is completely understandable, but you probably do need to send him another email, requesting an urgent meeting and outlining your concerns.

Easy for me to say don't put up with it - but really, you should be getting better quality supervision. Get some advice from you postgrad association too before you call/email him.

Well it sounds as if it's all going swimmingly and you're doing everything right! ...then you too will be on here lamenting the pitfalls of being a PhD student...;-)

Good luck! Let us know how you get on.

Write as you go, otherwise it's too daunting if you only start once you've collected all the results. I've written chapters, then not looked at them for a couple of years as I've been writing other material, and that's fine. Once I have a first draft of everything, will go back and update and rewrite. Don't get stuck on changing things you've written - keep writing new material.

Gosh, the world is full of know-it-alls. In academia, in paid jobs. Ignore it and concentrate on learning your stuff so that you'll eventually know more than this pain. It sounds to me like this person is insecure and is putting you down to bolster their own ego. Some people will still do this even when you're an expert in your area. They're not worth the energy it takes to snipe back at them or worry about what they're saying. Ignore this person as best you can and cultivate positive relationships with other colleagues.

Hi all

I'm at the start of the writing up stage, and am progressing very slowly. Working very hard, making slow progress and not being particularly cheery about it. My partner today said that I seem to be having more bad days than good days - can't disagree there - and that I should be enjoying my PhD more (bitter laugh from me!). I replied that I see the writing up as an endurance test, and don't expect that it will be particularly enjoyable. Hard to have a good time when the pressure of 100,000 words in 3 months looms constantly, and chapters take sooooo much longer than anticipated. Explained all this, to which the reply was that this would lead to insanity. Well, yes!!

I think it's going well if I have any good days at all to enjoy! How are others going? Are you finding the process enjoyable overall, or is it a marathon endurance test that we just have to get through?? Replies also appreciated from those who can look back at this process!

Mind you, if everyone agrees with me that this is just a pain to get through, then that confirms my partner's opinion that this forum is for unhappy PhD students to complain on...

Thanks all. Now, back to that pesky little 5,000 word chapter that I just can't seem to nail....

And thank you for Google docs info - looks very promising!

Good for you Emily! Keep going, you've done too much now to stop. The next year will go by quickly. I think it's really common to not know what to do after the thesis, where the funding is going to come from, and whether we have what it takes to succeed. Not much can be done about though, I guess we just have to see where the PhD takes us.

Make sure you get support - see a counsellor, dr etc. Look after yourself!

Hi Mark

Assuming that we're in different countries with different eligibility criteria and different higher ed systems, I still think that if you want to do a PhD badly enough, and have the grades to get in, then it will happen. I think it's also fine to ask about other areas in which you could make a proposal and about funding. You need to put yourself out there! You could also think about other areas you'd like to research, then speak to potential supervisors about this. Maybe have a chat with the head of your project at the moment about this, so they don't get put out if they hear that you're talking to other academics about other possible projects.

Also, be a bit more confident! If you're already working on the project, and they want you, assume you'll get it! And then put in a killer application.

Your supervisors should be helping you with this - they should be letting you know what's expected of you in your first year. Having said that, the other posters are right - you would probably want to have your lit review done in your first year, and also have a plan for the rest of your PhD. You should also probably have a detailed proposal done by then too. The plan It doesn't need to be as detailed as Joyce's though. Work backwards from submitting - building in drafts, giving occasional conference papers, data collection in year 2. Impress them by knowing which conference you'd like to present at, and work towards that too.