I thought I saw Pete here the other day. When I saw him in the pub I told him to come clean, but apparently there is someone with the same interests, same opinions and studying the same field! What are the chances of that?

No doubt about it, you are capable of a ph.d.! hard work and motivation is at least 80% of the process. My only concern with your plans are the part time aspect...

What flavour of science are you talking about? I heard many a supervisor say that part time Ph.Ds do not work for biology and chemistry based Ph.D.s

I'm sure there are some people who work full time and do a Ph.D. but how they manage is beyond me!? Academic science in my (very recent) experience is all or nothing i.e. Early mornings, late nights, weekends. Obviously, if you are doing a more "dry" science part time shouldn't be a problem and will actually probably be an advantage.

Good luck with the applications(tree)

Like an Afganistan election I'm voting twice in favour of Marmite! (I know Marmite wasn't running for election, but if it was...)

Oh hang about, it won't let me. What kind of democracy is this?! Only one vote?(robin)

Go for it! With the world around us descending into a frozen wasteland of illegal strikes and youth binge drinking you can avoid it all and taste the coffee of post graduate extravagance!

In otherwords I reckon you'd be foolish to turn down such an amazing opportunity.(gift)

======= Date Modified 04 Dec 2009 13:07:47 =======
How does this story end? Did Jojo go home?

Well done for getting your stuff together for publication.

IMO these academics are snakes, bad snakes, that wait in the grass then bite you when you're not looking. They steal your ideas and with their tarnished bite infect you with cynicism and hate. So, I'd hide it under the mattress in the bottom of my freezer in an old chocolate tin until it is published. When it's published they can read it until their eyes bleed, if they so wish.

Unless of course you are dealing with a trusted friend, then it might be useful to bounce a few ideas about before resubmission.

I have/had the same problem. Often I'd go to bed at a reasonable hour only to be laying wide awake in bed an hour or two later, and not dropping off till 3-4 am.

I have found a way to get back on track though, but it's not everyone’s cup of tea... Really hard exercise.

I was having problems sleeping until i started cycling to work (my new job! :)). It's an Eminem style, 8 mile ride, I don't have a single problem sleeping when I've cycled to work and back. Unfortunately, I've had to shelve the cycle for the time being due to the terrifying-ness of country lanes in the pitch black and, alas, I'm back to bad sleep. Just joined a sports club though, so will be trying to work that in around my busy schedule!

Hang on in there! I've just been through pretty much what you speak of (except the international parts), and there is light at the end of the tunnel (and it's not a train).

When I was flapping around trying to finish, I found it useful to only work on one item at a time (eg one journal, one paragraph) and at the end of an evening have a glass of wine/get out of the house. I found starting the day by sorting out a little problem made each day a little more bearable. I had to move flat while writing up, find a job, and live on meagre savings during the last 4 months and just about managed. I'm sure you'll pull through. As they say, the day is always darkest before dawn.

To be perfectly frank, you are not PhD material.

You should be able to use the internet to find a relevant position, and not expect current Ph.D. students to be at your beck and call. If you cannot overcome this simple hurdle you are destined to fail.

Good luck

I know my in just awards the 'competitive' funding on a first come first serve basis - provided you meet the criteria. It usually comes down to the supervisor convincing the big cheese that you (the applicant) are worth the stipend. Then the supervisor can take the money and forget about you.... erm I mean give you a fulfilling Ph.D. experience.

I am/do! :-)

Hi Emily,

Write a really good cover letter that makes who ever receives it say "wow - they sound great". But make sure what's included is all true! Try to include things you've been involved in that show initiative, leadership and diligence, I don't reckon there are many bosses who don't want that in an employee.

I was in a very similar position to you, demonic Sup and no publications. But I really put a lot of hours into job applications and have landed a pretty snazzy post doc position as a result. Yay me!

Good luck and don't give up. I reckon you should expect to hear from about 1 in 6 applications.

Hey Sneaks,

Sometimes Powerpoint gets in the way of a presentation. I've done a couple of (short) presentations with out PP and found it to be a refreshingly honest way to talk. At the end there were more questions than usual, and I got the feeling I had really engaged with the audience. One trick a pal of mine used in a talk was to take a relevent prop with him. he used the prop as a unifying theme throughout the talk - it worked really well. Good luck and enjoy

I did my Ph.D. because the university paid me to. Now I don't have to be a lab technician forever, what a result! Although I'd rather have skipped the Ph.D. and spent 3.5 years working as a research scientist to begin with, but nobody would have that and instead I entered the contrived treadmill of modern education.

I can really relate to lostinoz's fourth point, stipends are very well paid these days add in the money from lecturing and demonstrating and you've got yourself the equivalent of a comfy 21k+ salary (when you consider you're not taxed) and no council tax - bonus!