Pick a paper from a journal with a high impact factor to avoid doing a really crappy paper. Make sure you read through the methods part especially carefully because the others will ask questions such as "At what dosis was this performed", or "How much salt did they use for this extraction?". If you don't understand a method look it up or ask a more experienced member of your lab.
If methods are used that you yourself don't use try to find someone that does use them and ask if the experiments were done correctly. Be critical, always ask what controls are there/missing.
After you have prepared it ask a postdoc to go through with it and help you find the weaknesses of the paper.
Finally, don't take it personally if the others weren't convinced of the paper- in three years there was no paper that cnvinced everybody in my lab

HEY- you xenophobic brit! Ukranian's have tons of humour one they fuel it with vodka.

I got only 10 000 a year (i.e. 820 a month) but am living in Brighton, which is very expensive, i.e. I pay 350 rent a month. So if I get a postdoc anywhere else I will be probably better off than I am now.
err- no-idea, I don't know if your stipend will be tax free in the US. Did you try to look this up on the websites of the US universities you are interested in?

I was just wondering- has anyone ever dreamt of their supervisor?? I dreamt I was bitching about her and then she was suddenly behind me and gave me a hugg and told me that she didn't really mean it that way (ie. doesn't mean to be an evil supervisor). Someone else dreamt he was scuba diving with dolphins, when my supervisor came in a rowing boat and asked him for the location of a protein prep in the -80C freezer .....


errr- elephants, are you sure you really want to sleep???

Err- I don't think any of us will be really able to give you any advice on this. Have you asked your supervisor about his/her opinion?

Why was this trail of thought never picked up by anyone else? Has it been quoted by others?

I've got a strong deja vue feeling after reading this thread. Not another natural science vs. social science thread, please!

If you are a succesful scientist without a PhD, for example a very good technician there's always the posibillity to get a PhD through publication. i.e. You submitt three or four good papers (first author) back to back and an introduction as your PhD thesis.

So, do you want to play word association again?

Fudge- chocolate

chocolate - cake

Hmm, ... is this a chocolate fudge factor? If you don't want it I'll have it!

phdaspirant

Well, your efforts might lead you nowhere- BUT, if you don't put in the effort you most certainly won't get the phd. Think of it in a more positive light- as you are so keen on this project you will probably be better prepared and make a better impression than most applicants.

And no, as an EU student I had it a bit easier to get a phd, though it was very frustrating to see adverts for phds that I would have loved to do and then seeing that I would have no maintenance grant to cover living expences.

Good luck- and don't give up too early!

Sounds like an informal interview. If you do go the lab head will probably have a chat with you- so prepare for an interview. If you do meet the other students ask them about their opinion about ther supervisor. Ask them if they would recomend doing a PhD with their group.

Yes, luckily you don't get told this untill it is too late, eh!

Oh dear, the CND does sound quite evil!

I'm doing a PhD in DNA reapir. But I would also swap with a friend of mine who is looking at the behaviour of bats (plus, they hibernate- time off for her!). My brother is studying ship construction and is trying to work out how to kill off marine life in large volumes of ballast water to avoid contaminations. There are many interesting topics out there, I wasn't hellbent on doing DNA repair, developmental biology would have been just as fine for me. My maths isn't that great, so I probably wouldn't want to do a topic that involves too much of it (but I'd lear it if I had to for my project).

Not really- wear your bikini under the (unbuttoned) suit.

Ah- that was a misunderstanding on my part then- I thought the comment "So true" was meant sarcastic. Just shows once again that meaning is transported not only by words alone.