From my perspective I don't see anything wrong with going to people in other departments for advice. It's your research after all. I've done it plenty of times when my research has expanded beyond the scope of practice of my supervisors. It's the way the cookie crumbles. I suppose if you do have a tetchy supervisor then it would be tactful to tacitly suggest it first and see what he says. The way I see it, you're training to be an independent researcher and you're using your initiative.

Hi Algaequeen, I've been following your progress, rooting for you to hand in and really admiring the dedication you have shown to handing in on time. Even when you found out you had only a matter of days, you never surrendered. You did your discussion in something like a day! And then your supervisor drops this bombshell on you. I don't want to swear because I'll get modded, but FFS! It's a shambles and an utter disgrace. Hint? That wasn't a hint - it was as blunt as a scalpel. I don't mean to cause offence, but your main supervisor epitomises nearly every horror story you read about bad supervisors. To not have read your chapters, even up until the last minute (and then ask you to send them again) is just plain not on. What planet does he live on? He doesn't deserve the privilege of having PhD students. He can argue being too busy and overloaded all he wants, but when you take on PhD students you are duty bound to give them appropriate contact time. If you can't do that, you shouldn't have PhD students in the first place.
I'm really sorry you've had to experience this. With better communication and greater fluency of feedback it could/should have been avoided. I hope he reflects at some point on how ineffectual he has been as a supervisor and gives you a sincere apology. It really is unfair.
Best wishes.

I've been waiting and waiting and I can't believe no-one has said this: water pistol. Now I know this may seem cruel, but it's not much worse than disturbing a cat's sleep. One squirt while the cat is sleeping on the stairs and it'll never sleep there again. As sure as a cat won't kip outside when it's raining, it won't kip on a stairs step it if gets a little zap from a water pistol. Watch me lose all my stars now:$

Whew, not much work today so far - but I still have my driving license! It's all been sorted and, as far as they're concerned, I was insured when I was pulled by the police. So, they're sending me a letter stating this and I just have to send it off to the police. Thank heavens for that!

I've found out what happened now. The insurance was cancelled by the provider at 5-30 pm yesterday. Unfortunately, I happened to go out in the car to buy mouthwash 7 hours after. My brother explained that if I get charged for the lapse, I'll get 6 points and an automatic ban as I've only been driving for 1 year. There's no way on earth either of us would be so irresponsible as to knowingly go out in a car without insurance, tax or MOT. So, what they've said is they may be able to produce a letter for me that will cover me for yesterday and I'll hopefully be okay. So fingers crossed.

My brother is ringing up his insurance this morning to find out what's going on with the policy. I'm going to try and forget about it for now and just try and get some work done. I've been reading up on the implications of inadvertently driving without insurance all night. It's an absolute offence apparently. Also called a mate of mine, who's a copper, and he said not to worry for now. I just have to find out exactly what the situation is with the insurance and then call him back for further advice on what to do before that other policeman calls me back later today.

I was going to Asda to buy some mouthwash and I was pulled by the police for driving without insurance. I share the car with my brother, am a listed named driver and he pays the insurance by direct debit. The police man followed me home to speak with him. My brother produced the insurance certificate and everything. Now I have to wait until tomorrow to find out what's happening, when the policeman has contacted the insurance company. He says that if the payment has been missed then I'm going to get a court summons, be fined £200 and have my license revoked. It's all my fault and I'm aware of that, but to lose my license is going to be truly a horrible experience. I'll get a criminal record as well. I am honestly unaware if there's a problem with the insurance as it's his policy. There goes my career. :-(

It's come to this again - another night of working late. I wonder how long I'll be able to sit at my laptop tonight then, only to repeat it all tomorrow?

Hi EV, I've got a book on it called: GC/MS - A Practical User's Guide( by Wiley-Interscience) in .pdf ebook format. If you think it could be of any use, send me a PM and I'll e-mail you the book.

Not much progress so far. It's going to be a very long day...

Congratumalations, Pjlu. Good luck for the future.

Do a redraft of the systematic literature review.

Cheers Olivia and Sneaks. I'm feeling a lot better about it today because hopefully it's just concise. Plus, I haven't finished it yet. I'll take another look at the word count when I've finished re-writing chapters and done a first draft of my other two chapters.

Just logged in after a long night of work. I spent about 10 minutes trying to work out what this thread was about and then I twigged it - I've got 5 stars! I've got 5 stars! I'm going to be busy today now...

Dear supervisor,

It is with great satisfaction that I announce my intention to leave my PhD programme. I have recently been promoted at my place of work procrastination, PGF. As a result, I expect a much higher standard of living, a hectic jet-set lifestyle and a fantastic level of income. Therefore, the PhD I have been working on for 3 years no longer fits in with my long term vision.

Thanks, but no thanks,

Walminski BSc (Hons), *****