very true Chris, there's no way of knowing what will happen. After almost driving myself and my boyf mad with questions that even I can't answer (what will happen, will you stay, what job will you get, what if we still have to do long distance after 2 more years..etc... ) I had a good long chat with the old parentals about it. They are wise! I think how we have decided to leave it is see how the next two years go, neither of us definately know what job we will be going for after that so we still have a fair bit of flexibility regarding job opportunities in the same country, we are still young and who knows what will change in 2 years, it could really be a lot! So there's no point tearing our hair out now, I couldn't ever imagine splitting up with the boyf so if i want to make it work then i have to accept thats how it is. Acceptance seems to be a big theme of this! life's not that bad, so you're apart but if uve got the chance to make a career that you want, you have good friends around you and you can learn a bit of independence from a relationship, while still having someone there to talk to when you need it and seeing them when possible...it's not so bad.
Of course it all depends on the situation, and the people involved, so you never really can know what will happen until you are in the situation, but dont stress it! :p

======= Date Modified 16 Jan 2009 14:40:45 =======
hello there! sorry to blow a big hole in the water here, but its not just the actual phd years that can cause problems in a relationship - its the after years that can be even more affected. myself and the boyf are both doing phds, and for the past year it has been long distance seeing each other once a month. this has been ok, not wonderful but we are doing alright, and he's finishing in april/may - however, potential postdoc is also in the same country he's in now, so this means longdistance for the next two years at least, il should be finished by then, so what next? its unlikely that we'll both be able to get jobs in the same city, there arent a lot of jobs out there. Also, by that stage il def not be wanting to do long distance so in that case, who compromises and follows the other? we both took on phds to get the best job we can, not to be stuck doing any old job... so really, its not just the phd you have to think about, but the future, are u prepared to stay in the same city and miss better jobs elsewhere? or will they be prepared to move?

whoo, thought id forgotten my password there!

try oasis and H&M for decent 'normal' clothes, and i think vero moda is pretty dead on too. i cant be bothered dressing up for the office so i pretty much LIVE in jeans and tops so they have some decent things there, and u can get some funky tshirts and nice shirts for variation! lol!
as for the jane austen thing, i think that sounds likea a hell of a good idea! although for total release from phd dtress and to give ur imaginaation a wonderful time, try reading the His Dark Materials trilogy from Philip pullman, legendary fantastic brillaint books! dont let the horrific golden compass movie put you off, the books are great! :D hope everyone has a nice day, my experiments are going good for a change! yea!

cont...
but then things came to a head last week, i mentioned it to my supervisor and had the most awful meeting ever, he was furious that i considered changing to MPhil and leaving early and that i seemed to think i knew better than my supervisors..it's all sorted now and my own research will be included and chemistry wont take over like i feared, but id advise wnyone in this situation to be very very careful of what you say to sups and how you put things across...im not good at confrontations and i think i may have come on a bit too strong about my concerns!
im still feeling a little lost about my project and totally unmotivated but i know it will pass and at least im still on track for a phd, but dont be afraid to mention any concerns as soon as they arise and that at the end of every meeting uand ur sups know exactly where things stand to avoid any confrontations :)

good luck!

Hi there, pinkneuron i know exactly where u are coming from, i was stuck in this situation last week. When I started my phd in October I was working in a more chemistry based lab, when im actually an ecologist...my project proposal which was agreed with my supervisors was a combination of the two disciplines which was fine by me, but then as the weeks progressed i found myself being directed more and more into the chemistry and i was too nervous to make much fuss as im a new student, what do i know?!

hello there! I think that the only way to properly define the correct sample size is through preliminary experiments. Different surveys/experiments all need differennt sample sizes, depending on the variables measured. when working with human responses to a certain situation, say, the variance is likely to be much larger than when working with human variances in body temp for example (only a few degrees compared to many different opinions...). so, im not sure what exactly ur project is, but when u get to ur stats, if ur variance is large, then u need to continue the surveys, increase ur sample size and this will reduce variance making any results more significant and reliable.

imnot sure if this makes sense exaclty, the point is use whatever sample size is necessary for minimal variance, and always do prelim trials first! :)

hey! I usually start with a bit of just shoot me and will and grace too, and then a brisk 20min walk to the office gets the oxygen going to the brain, then emails and general messing around on the net for half hour when i get in! however, recently ive noticed that any personal issues im having really stop me working, i can be having a great day and any little disappointments really just knowk me out, cant concentrate at all, any tips for that?! sorry a little off topic, but how do u keep going thru the general malaise?!

hi phd girlie, never fear ur not stupid! Im just useless when it come to moles as well. as far as i know, u need to calculate the molar mass on one mole, so thats just the molecular weight of whatever substance u have, then u use this to find out what the relative mass of the amount of the substance is and thats ur molar mass.

eg, 5.380g of C6H12O6. molar mass of C6H12O6 is 180.0g/mol. ing 1 mol C6H12O6 = 180.0 g of C6H12O6, moles C6H12O6 = (5.380)*(1molC6H12O6/180.0g C6H12O6) = 0.02989mol C6H12O6.

hope that helps!

hey there! first of all good luck in ur viva, just relax and let the answers slow, theres no way ul have done ur phd for three years and not know about it, its all in there somewhere! and secondly, my mates boyfriend was prescribed beta blockers by the doctor for his driving test cos he was so nervous so im sure ul get some for ur viva!

Im actually a little jealous of u pinklneuron! my supervisor isnt so keen on all the extra things i have to do, he seems to think i should spend every second of the day reading as there is such a lot to do...although ive started 5 weeks early as i got in on a work placement! i was aked to demonstrate by an old lecturer and he wasnt at all keen but i fought my corner, i need other things to keep me busy otherwise il go mental!
everything well calm down soon, and believe me after a month and a half of just reading ul be begging to have other things to do!

oh u should definately relax! ive only started so i know ive no idea of just how stressful it is at the end but reading through this forum has given me a bit of a clue! the most important thing is to relax now, theres no point working away if ur getting nowhere, it'll only make u feel worse. you should take a day or two at least and go to a spa or just get a good book and go sit in a coffee shop reading it or something, take urself away from the lab or wherever u do ur work, esp if its at home and take time out. it will help so much, i almost had a breakdown in my final year and i had to stop and get away and it really helped.

good luck and remember, if uve got this far, u must be doing something right so just keep on gonig, its nearly all over!

ooh feeling great!
just out of a seminar, my supervisor sitting in front...slept the whole way through! looks like im not the only one! :-P

ooh good luck!! ul be fine, just be confident and friendly and thats half the battle! show how ur willing to learn and how u are excited about gettingn to teach others, broadening their horizons etc! i want to eventually teach myself one day and thats y im doing my phd, and i think its one of the most important jobs in the world so good luck!

and make sure u let us know how it goes!

thanks for all ur replies guys! ive had a lot of aother stuff going on aw well as the phd, which has been worrying me a bit so i guess its prob anxiety and the stress of things changing, everythin in my life is changing right now! but im just gona see how it goes and not fight it, if i need sleep i need sleep! think i might mention it to my supervisor too tho, just so he knoes where the snores are coming from!

nope, ive been drinking water so much im peeing like a mad thing, and lunch is usually a sandwich, earl grey tea, fruit and a wee freddo choc bar! but no matter what lunch is i fall asleep! :D ive tried the whole going for a walk thing and drinking coffee and lucozade and then avoiding coffee and lucozade, but i think im just meant to sleep!