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Curious - national standards & statistics in PhDs?
B

I don't know about other research councils, but AHRC publishes submission rate statistics for its award holders. These are spreadsheet lists, by institution, specifying what percentage of award holders had submitted within specific time frames.

See http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/FundedResearch/Pages/ResearchStatistics.aspx

There is no support body/union for research students in the UK. Individual student unions/associations at universities are supposed to take on this role, but at two universities (I started a PhD twice, completed the second time) I found them of little use, and out of touch with PG issues.

How many typos can you get away with?!!
B

You can have hundreds of typos and still pass with minor corrections. Note them down in a list. Take it into the viva. Hand it to the examiners. Correct the typos afterwards. It won't swing you from minor to major. Typos are very easily and quickly fixed. Ditto for any silly small errors you spot.

Revise and resubmit - help please?
B

As far as I know this is normal procedure during a resubmission. You should have been given a detailed examiners' report. Follow that as much as you can to the letter. And things should work out ok. I have heard of people toing-and-froing between examiners, to get things approved. They want you to pass. But your supervisors probably have no input now.

Papers/Posters with supervisor?
B

Quote From chococake:

But did your supervisor not check them? A final edit?


No they didn't. I wrote them entirely off my own back.

But even if they had glanced through and given feedback I wouldn't consider that reason enough for adding their name. Their job is to supervise. It doesn't mean they should get credit on everything I did while a student.

I did thank them in the journal papers, in the very first footnote. But that's quite a different thing from being credited as a co-author.

Papers/Posters with supervisor?
B

Conventions vary by field/discipline. In mine (humanities) it is perfectly normal for PG students to single-author journal papers and conference presentations. During my part-time PhD I had 2 peer-reviewed journal papers published and gave 1 international conference presentation. I was sole author at all of them. My supervisor didn't do work for them. So why should they be listed?

Got the job :)))
B

Congratulations :) Really chuffed for you. Good luck for next week with the viva.

Publishing a second paper
B

In my field (humanities) it's definitely not the done thing to publish repeatedly in the same journal. Which causes problems when, as a post-doc like me, you have lots of papers published/in-progress, and are trying to figure out where to send them to!

I'd recommend asking your supervisor for advice. They should be able to advise you based on your own field and knowing your own research interests.

writing conclusions: any tips?
B

My supervisors hammered into me the mantra of "So what?". They would write that in the margins of mydrafts, and ask it repeatedly. Basically what is the point of what you have done, why is important, what does it show that is new.

In my final conclusions/discussions chapter I had a brief recap of what I had done, and the thematic answers I had discovered. But then I tackled a bigger, but fundamental, question which arose out of my research. And I considered possible future research.

Always bearing in mind "So what?" though :p

Changing university
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======= Date Modified 02 Aug 2011 20:26:32 =======
I looked at changing university halfway through my part-time PhD, when my supervisor moved 500 miles away. The destination university (actually Oxford) would only take transfer PhD students if the bulk of their PhD would be done there. Otherwise no. I don't know what general rules are, but suspect policies might vary by university.

At this stage, so close to the end, I think changing university would probably be counter-productive. You would be better to try to get more support locally. And why not ask your original supervisor (at the other university) if they would be willing to help and read through your thesis and give suggestions? It doesn't hurt to ask. The worst they can say is no.

What to wear for viva - 34 weeks pregnant!
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Quite casual is perfectly fine. The most important thing is you are comfortable.

I had to use my manual wheelchair at my viva, so had to wear clothing that was suitable for that, and comfortable. I ended up wearing my usual fairly-smart-but-casual stuff.

What you wear is not the most important thing. It is how you present yourself in other ways that counts.

So feel free to be comfortable but casual 8-)

Publication
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======= Date Modified 02 Aug 2011 11:51:37 =======
Some journals acknowledge submission of articles, others don't. So not hearing from them is ok. 1 month is far too soon for you to be getting feedback on your article. It will have to go out for peer review, and that can be a slow process, given how busy academics are.

Does the journal you submitted to give any guidelines in its notes for contributors about how long it usually takes to consider submissions? These guidelines can be woefully inaccurate mind. A journal I submitted to (a very eminent one) said it normally makes a decision in 3 months. They took 9 months to consider my article ...

There are various possible outcomes. Your article could be rejected outright. Or (rarely) it could be accepted without revisions. Or you might be offered a revise and resubmit. Generally though you will be sent the feedback of the reviewer(s), which will be helpful in any case.

Good luck!

minor corrections
B

Just do the corrections! You are making a mountain out of a molehill here. If your corrections are unsatisfactory then normally the internal examiner would tell you so, and work with you to bring them up to the required standard. You should not fail!

PhD submitted!!
B

Excellent! Well done. Good luck for the interview. That's your first priority. I think you will already be well prepared for the viva, with your thesis so recent/fresh in your mind.

Advice, please
B

Quote From hazyjane:

Quote From BilboBaggins:

1 P. Bear, T. Womble, "Penguins and sunshine: a research study", _Journal of Snow Studies_, Vol. 6 (2005), pp. 23-28.

Sounds like an interesting paper but alas my uni doesn't have access. Can you send me a copy? ;)


LOL :p I've recently been reading the first Wombles book and the latest Paddington Bear book (the 50th anniversary one) on my Kindle, hence those names springing to mind. Plus of course I was inspired by Sneaks and her penguins.

minor corrections
B

My minor corrections were really minor (just typos basically) but I've heard of people with more substantial ones sometimes having a to-and-fro dialogue with the examiners until the corrections are satisfactory. This is good in a way. It means the examiners will let you know if things are not quite right, and how to redo them, rather than failing you. Basically they want you to pass. Although it's nice to get it finished without that if possible.