Argghh, missed the 1000th post!! Sue will also be annoyed...

Most conferences run these social events (organised trips to local attractions etc). However, I think it's unlikely that your Uni will be prepared to fund much beyond the conference registration fee, accommodation, travel and subsistence costs. I would think they would not expect you to attend these or if you do, that you'll pay for them yourself.

And I'm a 1975 baby, so I'm having this one!

As a first step, you might want to clarify what you mean by APA - there are many organisations using those initial e.g. American Psychiatric/Pharmaceutical/Psychological/Planning/Payroll/Philogical/Poolplayers Association, Advertising Producers Association, Association of Police Authorities et cetera

If you mean the Psychological APS, this may help??
http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cite6.html
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/apa/
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/DocAPA.html

The chamois in my various cycling garments are all pale blue (various brands) and they are female specific? Interesting...

I've no suggestions for avoiding helmet hair, other than not wearing helmet which is very bad idea of course!

Padded shorts are the only way! You don't have to suffer the 80s lycra look though, buy padded undershorts which you can wear under baggy overshorts (bike specific baggy shorts are best (have panels designed to allow movement) but you could just wear them under normal shorts or trousers etc). Make sure you get gender specific padded undershorts though as the padded chamois is very different for men and women (not so surprisingly).

Also, make sure your saddle is back far enough and it helps to have the front pointing slightly down, reduces the pressure! Gel saddle covers help a bit too.

I've been out on a 20 mile bike ride today (which was a good excuse to eat choc eggs later, calorie deficit and all that!), fantastic weather. Happy Easter one and all!

If you want to cite something from a review paper and you haven't accessed the original source then the 'safest' way to do this is to reference as;

blah blah (Jones 1989 cited by Smith 1992)

or

blah blah (1 cited by 2)

Where Jones (or 1) is the original citation given in the review paper and Smith (or 2) is the review paper.

This is 'safest' because you are implying that you haven't read Jones and if Smith got it wrong (and misinterpreted the info from Jones in his/her review) then the blame is on Smith, not on you! Of course, the best option is to get the original paper but this isn't always practical or necessary, especially if it's something peripheral to your main thesis topic.

A friend of mine had to re-submit and have a 2nd viva, all a bit of a nightmare really (major issues with external examiner and some very unprofessional behaviour...). She got her PhD in the end, took an extra year though.

If you only do one thing to prepare before a real viva, have a mock one!! I'm a firm believer in them As for who acts as examiner, supervisors are the usual choice but anyone with the required level of knowledge, familiarity with your thesis and the time to help will do (other students, post-docs?). Good luck!

In my entire life, I've missed one period - and that was the month of my PhD viva!! Stress can do weird things!! Make time to have fun and de-stress (exercise is good). Take care.

Hi Fluffymonster

I passed with no corrections and whilst I was pleased and relieved, I spent about a week thinking about how I could have answered some of the questions better and feeling annoyed about it! Absolutely bonkers! However, I think people who do PhDs tends to be perfectionist types and nothing but the best is good enough. Also, I was so tired after weeks of cramming that I just didn't have the energy to party hard. The fun part for me was my graduation about 3 months later when I had a party with my friends and family and let my hair down. By then, the viva was a more distant memory and after the floppy hat and impressive gown graduation, I actually began to feel like I'd got my PhD.

Hi 404

My first 'post-doc' was with the same team as my PhD, we applied for money (project grant) as I was finishing the PhD and were fortunate enough to get the funding. That was for 2 yrs and we did similar clinical studies to those which formed my PhD (but with a different drug). I've not been lucky enough to get fellowship funding either (recently been turned down for one ), they are few and far between and I never seem to be at the right stage of my career - at the min I'm too new for the 'independent researcher' type fellowships and too old for the new PhD ones, doh! Good luck with your funding search.

Doh! now it says 901 (making this 902), grrr!! Foiled again!!!

It was still listed as 899th, so I claim that this is now the 900th post!!!