Get a cat/dog. Always supportive, let you moan at them about your PhD woes and dont moan back, actually happier when you are too busy/poor to go out socialising.

oooooooo, i like this wine thing! Think i might stick to wine to get the writing started and chocolate as a reward.

don't compare yourself to the full-timers - of course they are ahead of you! In fact, don't compare yourself to anyone, its not linear progress, bound to go in fits and starts.

FIRST thousand words???????

eeeek, I'm lucky if i get 1000 a day in total.

hmmm, maybe I'm ust not eating enough chocolate.

although the wine is feeling quite good at the momennt

well, I'm ust trying the suggestion of having a glass of wine to cure writers block ....

have a feeling i could end up at the end of 100,000 words as an alcoholic as well as chocoholic.

my definition of a PhD would be that it is four years spent not knowing what you are doing. If you think you know what you are doing you are either:

a) drunk
b) delusional and in need of medication
c) doing it wrong

the trick is to learn how to *embrace* the not knowingness

404, I got a booklet from the ESRC that gave information on the RTSG. (also available here http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/Postgraduate_Funding_Guide_tcm6-12067.pdf though that's not any use to you).

I don't think it is a question of having a 'right' to ask. IMHO (and I am getting very cynical about these things) I think Uni departments tend to rely on people NOT asking (and therefore not getting and so saving the department money). Oh, and also if people do ask, being as uninformative and unhelpful as possible and hoping students will get put off, and making the procedure to get stuff so difficult and time consuming that students give up.

Sorry, will stop ranting now - good luck with getting some support for your research!

wow, someone who has got a nearly completed draft - well done! must feel good to have got so far!

dont have any suggestions, the conclusion seems so far off (from the depths of chapter 2...) but nice to know it is possible to get there

Did your funding come with a separate amount for research expenses? I'm ESRC/MRC and in addition to the stipend they provide a Research Training Support Grant (RTSG). This varies (e.g. ESRC alone is less than ESRC/MRC) and it goes straight to the deparment - and my department then nabs it, says it has all been allocated before I even started (to things like photocopying, phone calls, faxes and other stuff I dont even have access to and which are completely NOT the things the ESRC says it should be used for) so I then have to apply to the school (i.e. beg) if I want money for actually doing any research.

(yes you've guessed I'm pretty annoyed about this setup)

I'd try and find out if your HEFCE funding had any RTSG element, and try and find out from your school what research money there is and how it is allocated.

Hey FluffyM, I'm sure if tables at the end happen in your field they're ok - just havent seen them in mine.

I still reckon that if it doesnt feel good where you've stuck it, then taking it out and putting it in somewhere else isnt going to improve things, you need to be doing something else with it.........

I'd say you always need to put your data in the writing at the point where you are discussing it. I've never come across a published paper that has data stuck at the end.

If it is making your chapter harder to read maybe you need to ask whether the table is contributing anything? Or, do you need to expand your discussion of the table in your text to integrate it more fully into your writing.

dont really know, but I'd think where you've got stuff published could be as important as how many. Get one first author paper in Nature out of your PhD and I dont suppose you'd have many probs getting a post.

Hmmm, I like peas too, especially mushy ones with chips.

Are you a mushy pea, pea?

I'd agree that there is no way you can be sure you'll get on - that's the case for any relationship. (and I'd also say you can't be sure you'll like living in a town from a view of the station and a couple of hours on the university campus!) But I think the supervisor is something that should be high up the list of things to consider. A lot of it will be on gut feeling, but there are some more objective ways of evaluating the potential - for example if you do best with plenty of support you might not want a supervisor who is always off attendng high powered conferences or one who has a big teaching load and doesnt have so much time for PhD students - whereas these might be ideal if you are very independent and are going to resent a 'hands on' approach. i went for a supervisor who I felt I'd be able to ask idiot questions without feeling embarassed and who'd be supportive to me trying out ideas, because I felt that was going to be important for me getting through the PhD.

Aw, don't give up yet Piglet! Your referees might have been prompt in responding, but maybe they are waiting for other people's to get back before they finalise a short list of people to interview? Or maybe they havent had time to sort this out yet? A week isnt long (I know it'll feel like it to you), esp this time of year.

If they contacted your referees that means you have passed the first hurdle, they must be looking at your application seriously.