Whenever I sent a CV to a potential supervisor I always put a bit of information about myself in the email, but I always attached a CV as part of my application. I just put stuff about why I liked the project, what my interests are in the field and a bit about my past experience. I always felt it was more polite than just saying 'Dear Dr X I want to apply to your PhD, here is my CV, Yours...'

It has nothing to do with being negative, it is all to do with being realistic and weighing up possibilities.. There are lots of things other than death that can stop you in life!

I will probably be working or watching crappy Thursday night TV.. My other half is at a different uni to me about 250 miles away, so its not easy to meet up mid week! But saying that I don't really like the whole commercialism behind it, and I don't think that it makes you unromantic if you feel that way. I get annoyed by the restaurants who charge over the odds for couples with a special 'valentines day menu', which is usually a crap set menu with little variety!

I personally feel its much nicer to get a little card or surprise your partner with something any other time of the year, as its totally unexpected. On valentines day there I am sure with alot of people there is a general feeling of 'Oh it's valentines day I best get a card' so that to me kind of takes some of the sentiment away.

Haha I had forgotten about this.. It's a bit like the big brother badie who everyone gets annoyed with then they are just forgotten lol.

I can focus on my work very well.. I can sit there and see it sitting on my desk.. my problem is actually getting through it

A masters is not essential in science to go on to do a PhD. However in your case it could be worth considering if you want to move from bio to ecology, as you would probably be up against hardcore ecology graduates. Was your biology course a general bio course or was it directed towards ecology at all? Because you might need to get some more background knowledge before heading out onto a PhD. I lived with some ecology MSc students last year and they did ecology undergrad and then have gone on to do PhDs now, I got the impression from them that it is a very competetive subject when it comes to getting funding; so experience counts. It might also be worth while considering getting some hands on experience in conservation or the like. But I would imagine that at a starting out level this would be either poorly paid or totally voluntary which would be a bit of a pain.

If it is a project you really like and you like the place then go for it. Of course it's nice for the CV to have a PhD from one of the 'leading' universities like oxford, cambridge or imperial. But at the end of the day it is your PhD and 3-4 years out of your life so go for the project/uni of your choice not your supervisor's, besides it's not like St Andrews is exactly scraping the bottom of the barrel, it is a good university! From my experience things are alot easier and enjoyable if you are in a location that you like. Also when things get tough in the lab and you start pulling your hair out when things don't go to plan if you are stuck in a project you don't really like as you can really loose your motivation.. Go for it I say

Oh yeah it's going to be a pancake feast for me tonight.. woohoo!

Beware.. once you think you have the british weather sussed it will change

Hehe well it is Friday so you are allowed to be mind-boggled

Well a poster presentation is quite straight forward. You have to prepare a poster normally on A0 size paper outlining your work.. Then there will be poster sessions where you stand by your poster and people wander round then you answer questions that anyone has on it. The trick is not get too bogged down in details, keep it short and snappy.. There are a few guides online for preparing a good poster.. http://www.biophysics.org/education/block.pdf if you do a google search you will find more guides

Like lil_miss says the course title does indicate that the course will have a large programing content. However, if you want to go on to do a PhD then that sort of knowledge will be very useful so don't be too disheartened by it. There are lots of biological science PhD's advertised and so I would suggest using findaphd.com to search for one you like the look of. Are there no possibility of staying on at Liverpool to do a phd?

The simple answer is to apply when they start being advertised.. There is nothing wrong with looking around for unis that offer PhD's in your preferred area now and book marking them for potential adverts later in the year.. The whole application thing is a pain in the proverbial so good luck!

Haha I get annoyed by made up latin words and badly latinised phrases. I studied it at school and I will admit to being a bit of a pedant when it comes to proper translations. My other half is a lawyer and loads of legal latin is total crap lol.

Summer school in what? science, arts, humanities, knitting, surfing or cake decorating? To get the most out of a post like this you need to provide more information so that people can help/advise you

Other than that I would suggest using the forum search function for related posts or try searching on google.