lol I'd love to meet Cleverclogs and give him what for! There are a few others that spring to mind too but I'll hold my tongue! Unlikely I'll ever meet anyone though, I'm in oul Norn Iron, and it seems most people are across the water!

Bit harsh there Smug. Ella, if you are looking to do a PhD as soon as you finish your Masters, which I'm assuming is ending in October 2011, then you need to start thinking about ideas for a research project. Once you have an idea, you need to make sure there is no current research going on that might solve your problem and ensure that it's a novel idea. Then you have to find a supervisor for your project, by asking in the department of the uni you wish to study in and checking other places too. Once you have a supervisor, then you can start to draw up a Research Proposal, ideally with help from your potential supervisor and you can apply for funding. Funding is very difficult to get and often you have to have your masters qualification before you can apply.
and a proposal should be the current info in your chosen field, what is missing, what your project will add to this, and why it should be you (and your supervisor) in particular who are the ones to solve the problem.

Good luck.

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aaaarrrgh!! I hate my supervisors! there are so many many reasons why so I'll not go into detail here but I hate them. Feels like I'm banging my head against a brick wall and there's nothing I can do about it. If I don't be mad with them I'll just be overwhelmed so I'm sticking with anger. Goal for today is to wade through the mess of feedback (as one sup doesn't even read stuff properly and gets all confused with what hes saying and it's down to me to figure it out..) and figure out what they want me to do for this chapter.

Just when I see this thread up and running again...we watched Drag Me To Hell last night, and I must say I really enjoyed it! It started like a really old demon movie that you would see on TV at 12 or 1am, and had elements of that style the whole way through, but it did a good job of building up the suspense and anticipation, and I definitely jumped a few times. That said, there were some cringe-worthy cheesy lines and occasionally terrible acting, but overall I liked it!

Hi folks, sorry I'm only getting back on this now, sent the evening after the meeting recuperating and the next day travelling, but here I am! First though, Sue I hope everything goes ok for you and things aren't too serious. What a nightmare time you've been having. And MaltildaL and Rick, what an inspiration. Really helps keep things in perspective, it's crazy how the PhD can suck you in and it just takes something outside of it to remind you it's not what life is about. As for my own news, things are going ok I think, my aunt was taken into hospital last weekend and overnight went from being ill to being on life support, but I think she's through the worst of it now.

As for the meeting, it was a bit of a mixed bag. I had 2 of my sups there, the 3rd didn't even bother to say if he was coming or not. My main sup basically let my 2nd (evil) sup do all the talking, ripping my chapters apart, particularly one chapter which I'd told him not to read cos I was rewriting it, and I'd already started doing all the changes he was suggesting at the meeting so that was a waste of time in a way. It felt a bit like a mini-viva at times, they were challenging loads of things I'd done so I have to defend them and give reasons why it was necessary to do something in this way etc. There was some good stuff though, all the data is there, there is more than enough for a PhD and the results are interesting, and plenty of scope for future work, it's just all buried under a jumble of terrible chapters. So it all has to be restructured, again. I have an extra chapter to include, so my PhD will be 9 chapters, joy. Then I basically got kicked out of the office by my 2nd sup, cos he's not very nice. I hung around for a while and went in to see my main sup again before leaving and he started being all nice to me then, said he didn't want to say in front of the 2nd sup but if I need an extension it's fine etc...and apparently he can tell how stressed I am as my writing isn't the usual standard and I need to step back and try to de-stress and I'll be ok. So I'm kind of glad that he said that cos I know my writing isn't as good as usual which has been stressing me even more,which is further worsening the writing etc. He also said I've given myself a millstone in that I've got too much data for my PhD now, so I need to whittle it down to the most important stuff. So I'm going to do what he said, take it at my own pace, and see how it goes. He said to let him know in a few weeks if I need an extension and the viva can be postponed if necessary.

I really really really want to get submitted in time to do the viva though, I don't want to put it off. It's the same date as my mums 60th birthday and she's so excited that I could be done that day too. I feel better after the meeting though, there is really a lot to change, but I feel a bit more confident that I can defend what I've done, just need to write it properly!

I hope everyone else is getting on ok (mince)

Thanks Montezuma, starting to feel like it's neverending but I know there will be an end someday!! Hopefully I'll be posting here with a finished draft some time soon!!

Hi everyone, I hope you are all getting on ok. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed like Pineapple thesedays, I haven't received much in the way of positive feedback from my supervisors about my work, and I'm truly starting to feel it's all a pile of crap. I have a meeting with them tomorrow and I am totally and completely dreading it. To the point where they may have to drag me in kicking and screaming. I have still got so so much to do and one of my supervisors has sent an email tonight and I can tell from it that he's not going to be in good form with me at all tomorrow. Plus I've just flown home for the first time in a month to several bits of bad news and I'm at the edge of my tether. I know I'm having a right old moan here but I don't know what else I can do, apart from keep plodding on which is just the most depressing thought ever. :-( I keep telling myself that it's just another month until submission, but I have a feeling I'm not going to make it on time and my viva will have to be rescheduled. ugh I don't like this bit at all.
Sorry for the moan....

I'm soo soooo sick of looking at my thesis, I'm starting to really resent it. Only another months to go eh.

Todays goal is to finish the rewrite of C4.
so Goal 1 - methods section.

Goal 2 - draw up graphs and tables for results.

Hope everyone has a happy Sunday!

Hello everyone

Well, so far this morning I have updated and changed the terrible graphs in the other chapter I needed to fix, so that's done this morning and has been sent off, again, to my sups. I've had lunch, and now on to the next set of goals.

Goal 1 - fix up (as in, rewrite, again) chapter 4

Goal 2 - not kill my boyfriend, or throw things at the wall/desk.

Off we go! Good luck everyone, and Pineapple, I'm sure you'll be fine, just keep on doing what you can and don't worry about the viva until you get that far.

oooh I know this feeling well!! I'm starting to regret my choice of external, I think I managed to voluntarily select the single most knowledgeable person in my field :-( and my internal is a bit of a stats man so he'll spot any holes there no problem. Why do I hate myself so much to do these things to myself?!! External has written some of the very first methods papers in my area, and has been working on it since before I was born. Wonderful! But if (when!) we pass we'll know it;s cos we are amazing, and not just lucky! (turkey)

======= Date Modified 14 Aug 2010 14:08:17 =======
lol Satchi I came on this forum in a foul temper and you've just cheered me up so much now!! I don't think you need have apologised at all, that's life! And as Teek said, it was probably the woman trying to make it obvious that it wasn't her! :-)

Also I think this thread is well suited to the off-topics section, as much other threads on contraception, dating advice etc, none of which I have a problem with...

Whoo!!

Chapter 6 first draft done and sent off to the supervisors of Doom who will no doubt rip it apart... now I'm off to bed! See you all tomorrow!

======= Date Modified 13 Aug 2010 16:21:22 =======
aw Sneaks that's crap. I'm on Cerazette too, it's been great for me (I went through a few different ones before that which were terrible) but my friend recently changed to it from Yasmin I think and hated it. It's kind of annoying how it affects everyone differently eh?! Can your doc not just let you take a double dose of yasmin until you're finished and can lose a bit of weight? I hope your migranes clear up soon (sprout)

and keep going Button, two goals down in a good thing!! we are getting there!

Doing much better Button and Teek, thanks! After spending the whole of that night crying (nothing like typing as you're crying!) I redid my graphs yesterday and they are looking better, showing what I want them too a bit better anyway. I think it was a bit of a shock cos I know I'm crap at figures and legends and I was so proud of what I'd done, only to be told it was rubbish! :-) But onwards and upwards!!

They are redone, I've incorporated some into the chapter I'm currently working on, just proofing it now before sending it to my sups. Then I'm going to do rewrite Chapter 4 and hopefully get that done over the weekend, I have a meeting with all my sups on Tuesday so want to be well on by then. Still 2 chapters to start writing though, hopefully they won't be as big cos I've only got 4 weeks left! aarrgghhh!!

So, next task, finish proofing!

Good luck everyone, hope it's a productive stay at your dads Teek!