Signup date: 23 Aug 2007 at 2:28pm
Last login: 05 Jan 2018 at 12:36pm
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I've just seen this Wally, congratulations!! As others have said you really deserve it, and we never doubted you'd be anything other than great. Good luck with the corrections, I've still not got mine done, haven't had a minute :$ - don't be like me, get them done asap!!
Oh Pineapple, I'm so so sorry to hear this, you must be totally gutted. I don't really have any advice, other than to say I'm totally gutted for you, I've been following your progress and was really hoping it would all come out ok for you soon! I would say though not to read too much into it, it would be that your examiner is really just too busy to read it all or spend the appropriate amount of time on it, which could be a good thing, if it's that extensive it should be unlikely to fail. I know it's getting tired to hear, but do just keep your head up, keep thinking positive and you will get there. Maybe take this as an opportunity to take a decent break from it all for a while until they find a new examiner, maybe leaving the work and viva prep for a while will help keep some perspective on it all, and you'll come back to it with fresh eyes which is always good for viva prep.
Good luck.
God...long distance relationships are the hardest thing. I've been in a long distance relationship for almost 4 years now, with about a year before that which wasn't long distance. There are so many things that you need to do and remember, as it's so easy to let it slide and things to go wrong. Absolutely set aside time each evening for skype calls or whatever you use, and make sure that you don't let too long go by without talking about stuff. Also, decide how you feel about the more intimate stuff distance wise, whether you're ok holding off until you see each other or trying verbal stuff meantime (trying to be as diplomatic as possible here!) :-)
Definitely do something else to take up your free time, sitting around moping about missing the other person won't do wither of you any favours, but be careful that distance between you doesn't creep in. And don't take each other for granted, and be honest about how you're feeling. Plan trips as much as possible, we did it by saying we'd see each other once a month so knew roughly how long it would be between visits. Oh and send little letters or pictures in the post, like surprises, it's great to get things like that and helps keep things going.
And it will be hard, there will be times you'll wonder if it's even possible to feel so sad, or miss someone so much, but it will be worth it in the end, and the time you do have together will be wonderful. It's amazing how quickly you can get over fights when you only have 2 days together!
Hi Sweetleafy
I used R for my project as the stats I needed to do just weren't possible/reliable with SPSS, which is the only other program I would use really. I tried teaching it to myself from scratch at the start and found it almost impossible, but that could be just me. I'm not naturally a computer programme-type person, and found learning all the commands a bit too much. Eventually I found a friend who had gone on a course and was able to give me basic code I needed for doing my stuff, which I then modified and made suitable for my stats exactly. It was a bit easier this way, as I was able to work through examples until I figured out what everything meant and I was able to see how to change things to suit my own needs, but it was still a bit of a slog. If possible you should go to a training course, there are courses run throughout the country although they are quite expensive - perhaps you can blag some funding for it by promising to run some tutorials to your department when you return?
Overall I'd say if you are learning it by yourself, you'll need heaps of time and patience, work through loads of examples, and use the R website links for basic code templates for various tests. Good luck!
How'd the date go DanB?! Recently single, I have totally forgotten how to do the whole dating thing, almost dreading having to do it all again.....:$
Thanks Joyce and Al, can't believe we finally got there eh?! ;D
Hey everyone! Just saw this, can't believe I missed all the updates! That's fantastic news that you're all done now Sue, I hope you get settled into city life soon though! It's really strange getting used to being around people and busy places again after the solitude of writing up! And glad you hear things are on the mend for you too AL, remember to keep as relaxed as you can and allow yourself to get fixed after PhD madness!
I've still got corrections to do, I'm collecting them tomorrow but hopefully it won't take too long, I think it's mostly changing words and fixing references/typos. Hopefully anyway! I think I've been offered a lecturing job too in another city which is great, just what I wanted to do! It's kind of part time so the moneys not great but it's liveable, and fantastic experience. Plus I really want to try living in a different place for a while, things are changing all around me, including my relationship, and it feels strange still being at home, like I'm being help in the past when I want to move on or something. So onwards and upwards!
And to Rick and everyone else who are almost done, keep plodding on!!
I would have found a monthly massage very nice I think! I carry all my stress in my back and shoulders and it was agony after a few months, got so bad I ended up having several intense sessions of sports massage and almost weekly massages for a while to loosen me up! Not a gadget but still helps!
Hey Natassia! That's great that you've started, and congrats on the masters merit! You should be really pleased with yourself, you know that you can totally do this! Like the others have said, don't be so hard on yourself about your capabilities, you are most certainly not an 'imposter' and you need to keep reminding yourself of it! I think every PhD is different, but at the start it's always a bit difficult to get into the way of things, once you lose the structure of an undergrad or MSc course it can be difficult to figure out how to fit in with your supervisors way of things, but you'll get there :)
Just remember to be kind to yourself, don't beat yourself up if you feel that your work isn't good enough/you're not working enough or whatever, if there is a problem your supervisors will let you know. Just draw up a rough structure for your first year at your first meeting, break that down into semesters, and then months/weeks and go over it with your supervisor once you've done this. If they are happy with it, so long as you keep to that and you've got something to show for what you're doing (even if it's going and saying this experiment/survey didn't work) then you are doing ok! And for your talk, don't stress about it, use it as an opportunity to put forward your ideas for the project, and see what others think, get ideas from other people in the department and they'll let you know if something is too ambitious or not not indepth enough. Always better to get these things sorted at the start then in final year! ;)
Thanks so much everyone! I had a holiday booked for a week starting the day after my viva so it was all a bit hectic having to pack with a bit of a headache the next day so totally worth it! I'm starting to feel properly relaxed for the first time in about 5 years I think!!
Chuff, you mentioned questions, so I'll try my best! I was really lucky I think, with really lovely examiners. I started viva prep about 2 weeks before, with roughly a day on each chapter (3 days in the intro) making notes of typos etc, and marking sections where I thought something wasn't clear and then going back and checking up on these bits, writing clarifying sentences or little notes for myself in the text. I found this very helpful actually as it showed where there were any weaknesses in my arguments, and I was able to see inconstancies much easier without having to read my thesis several times over again. When that was done I just had a few days to briefly read over any new literature published in my field and read around general current science topics in case any came up. Two days before I went over my key results a bit more, and against everyones advice I spent the day before the viva flicking through it, and checking up on anything I felt unsure about. I had an awful feeling something bad was going to happen, like a gut instinct which is why I did it, and I'm glad I did as I found a bit where I had mentioned including some results which actually weren't in the thesis, so I was glad I had found it and was able to get the results before the viva in case it came up. So I'd say trust your instinct people!
The day of the viva, when I went in the examiners were very friendly and chatty, and just spent a few minutes talking about the structure of the thing and how they were going to work it. My external led it mostly, with the internal saying bits and pieces when necessary. There were a few comments at the start on the typos (I didn't have a list, just lots of little page markers of where there were mistakes) which was fine, and then they went through page by page basically. There were some of the expected questions, such as what was the public application of my work, why did I chose this topic and this method, the main significant findings and the future avenues for research. As they were going through the thesis, my external was asking questions about my opinions on certain aspects or why I thought certain things might work the way they did, not directly related to the thesis per se, but mostly as if they wanted to see my thought process or how I problem solved and worked through hypotheses. At the end, I was asked what I would change if I was to do it again, and if there had been any major problems during the project. Then I was asked to leave the room, and after about 5 minutes I was called back in and they said that it was a very good thesis and I had done a very good viva and I had only a few minor corrections and congratulations :)
So that's about it! It was nowhere near as scary as I'd imagined it, but I felt so much better going in knowing that I had prepared well for it, and that I knew the weaknesses and I was confident I was able to defend what I had done. One thing I'd say is it's also important to be humble, and accept that you may have made mistakes somewhere, or that you could have done something better; don't talk yourself into something that you can't get out of, if you can see that you have been wrong or there is a better way, admit it, and show that you've thought about it, and that you recognise the limitations of your research, but that it's still PhD worthy work and you should be proud of it!
PhD in freshwater ecotoxicology, Jan 2011 :)
Hi folks!!
I just wanted to leave a message to let you all know how I got on at my viva, and say a big thanks for all the words of wisdom over the past few years! I had my viva last Wednesday, and I've never been so terrified or apprehensive of anything in my life. The whole week or so before I was panicking, having viva dreams, and generally getting super stressed about the whole thing, so that come Monday morning I was a wreck!
I made it to Wednesday morning somehow (found out on Tuesday night I'd left some data out of the thesis, not good!!) and my viva was that morning. Took about 3 hours, loads of questions and constructive comments, lots of nice hypothesis generating and chat about broader issues in my field, it was actually quite enjoyable really!
I passed in the end with minor corrections which should take a few days to do apparently, and that's me! I was away the next day so that's why I'm only posting now, still only starting to sink in anyway really!!
Anywhoo, good luck to everyone else, and those near the end, keep plodding on, you WILL get there!!!
WAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!
I've been away so only seeing this now, but congratulations Wally!! Aww I'm so so pleased for you!! Make sure you get a decent break, it will feel super strange for a while and you'll go back to missing it I'm sure!! But just enjoy your freedom!! Massive congrats, you bloody well deserved it!!
(up)(up)(up)(up)(up)(up)
sorry I had to dash off there rather abruptly Wally! I meant to say good luck, don't panic and you'll be fine! If possible, try to print and bind one copy the day before submission so you can check it over, it looks totally different once you see it bound. I actually have some nervous excitement building for you, I remember the final week sooo well. You've actually helped me get excited about my thesis for my viva which is handy as it's next week and I've been feeling like I'm soo over it now, so thanks!!
Good luck for today's installment!!
Good luck Wally!!!
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