Please say that the lecturer said "100%"!!! I don't know was it on this forum or one of the friends who was at home over Christmas, but I heard a great story of where someone wrote something in their masters and used it again in their PhD and was accused of plagarism - of themselves!

Another indicator of how spoilt this generation of undergrads are! They complain if notes aren't posted before the lecture, are spoon fed the answers, have more resources than when we did our under-grad, yet still manage to fail spectacularly!

PhDbug
She has her s*it to be honest (sorry for the crudeness). As suggested, write a diplomatically toned apology, citing the reasons for the change of policy and exclude all personal references and see what happens. Thank her for her time already and emphasis that this has inconvenienced you as well. If she is still in a strop, ignore her. Ya can't please everyone and you need to concentrate on getting on with your research. Get on with it and get over it - there will be times when you have to disappoint people on purpose so will need to get used to it (hey, way of the world we live in).
Hope your research is taking shape - still a glob of nonsense here but 2009 will be the year! Keep up the good work

Still working ... got corrections to be done and one report to be submitted to the supervisor for tomorrow.
Thank God for jango.com and youtube for keeping the motivation going ... that and the thought of a good break/reunion with about 10 old friends over New Years - it's gonna be messy 8-)

Surely ya have to take a longer break than that - it may not feel like it, but we all deserve it.

Thanks Eska,
Might take a bit of time off over the break to watch this in it's entirity but fair dues for posting it. Will have to admit went looking for other stuff on youtube about 10 mins in :p Good to actually hear from someone with both experience and knowledge of the system.

Have a good Christmas and a happy new year

But don't turn this into a "them vs us" situation at work - you still need this cash and don't want to create an image of the snobby student. I am sure there are aspects of this person's life that are difficult and this had moulded her opinion of students. Watched "Into the Wild" on Friday night and one great line ... "But there is some kind of bigger thing that we can all appreciate and it sounds to me you don't mind calling it God. But when you forgive, you love. And when you love, God's light shines through you"

In no way religous myself and not taking the higher ground, but have to just let this slide and forgive & forget. Besides, we can sometimes create an air of snobbiness around us students. One of me best muckers (who abhors students, but we get on - dunno how), told me of a part-timer in his place (a retailer) who told a full-timer, who has a kid to support, that it was beneath him to take that job. Thats the flipside that full-time staff see and hear from time to time.

As you can see I am really being Mr. Consistent today - main point is congrats on getting the funding but don't create unecessary hassle for yourself and if possible, maybe get a chance to hear this person out.

By the way - watch "Into the Wild" if ya haven't yet ... really great and moving movie.

Ah f**k that!
Go on the web, print off the expenditure of the needless war in Iraq and show her where her taxes go! Also, while at it, print off a few application forms for college courses and say that she is entitled to apply for such courses and get similar funding - its all a matter of choice. You'll always have the person to pi$$ on your parade so don't let them ruin your good mood. Fair dues to you - looking for funding is a tough and sometimes demeaning process, so feel good and proud of your achievements and use the money wisely. Sure invite her to the conference as well - it might open her mind a bit.

Sleepyhead - you are always going to have people who complain about us students being lazy. It makes life a lot easier to agree with them and remember that at some stage in the future we all will be making the same complaint. We all know well that this money won't be used in the college pub (well, a congratulatory pint wouldn't go astray ;-)

Congrats and keep on truckin'.

As written several times previously by others (PhDbug specifically), every uni is different. Go to the Student Union in your uni to get free advice (but be straightforward and honest ... without being crude, we can only get your side of the story and therefore I would think it would be unwise and potentially damaging to suggest drastic actions at this point). First of all, stop panaicing and then go to some post-grad rep at your college who should at least put you in touch with someone in the know. No supervisor would want to needlessly get rid of a student, especially one who will be producing papers soon.

Talk to a local expert about this as they would also know the people involved and the inner workings of your college.
Sorry folks if repeating the thoughts of someone else.

Pamw - there are various other means to get the vocabulary together and not lose the head. Things like Toastmasters or debating societies might be useful to getting a bit more confident about expressing yourself and developing that skill (and there is a bit of a social aspect as well). Of course, you will then have to bring that back to an academic context. Presenting at conferences and meeting with the other researchers in your field might be useful.
I suppose this is a bit of a digression but it serves two puposes
1. You get more of a feeling for what the academic community is actually looking at and a means to discuss ideas before commiting them to paper - also it opens up the option of co-authorship (an overlooked option in my view)
2. It just demonstrates that there isn't a world of difference between yourself and other researchers - if they managed to do it why can't you!
That said, I must get onto getting to a conference myself soon.

Pamw - in a similar situation here. Last weeks meeting with the supervisor started with "Oh I don't think you are of PhD standard", which really went down well. After rearing up, I think I defended myself admirably (never fight a cornered rat!!).
I have the same problem though - can't write for nuts! I think the first thing to do is get rid of any preconceived idea that we can write and learn to write the academic way. There are a few things in my opinion to get this done
1. Read the journals that you will be submitting to. Form a template from a selection of these papers.
2. There are several quick papers covering writing styles - I have recently read "Fourteen Steps to a clearly written technical paper" by R.T. Crompton, Jr. and other docs ("How to write a paper" by Mike Ashby). Both are on the web and serve as quick reminders to some obvious but overlooked hints. Take one or two and make them a road map. Maybe strengthen this by having one/two accessible texts. The one thing I picked up was to keep sentences short and in doing so, thro' the use of various punctuation marks, will not lose the attention of the reader, who by know is noticing that this is quite a long sentence in its own right.
3. As PhDbug rightly said (should that be "write"ly - sorry!!!), get writing! Our work will be rejected and ejected numerous times before deemed acceptable, so I guess its only practise makes perfect.

The points above are quite obvious but, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, there is nothing more deceptive than the obvious.
You will have to take a lot of criticism in this PhD - just remember, it ain't personal (or at least when given back in the correct manner). Have some form of mechanism to deal with those post-review blues, as no matter how black-hearted the person is, criticism stings everybody for a while. Just need to shake it off, take the positive notes and be constructive. I find either music, a good game of soccer or a walk does the trick. You are well capable of doing the PhD - not being cruel, but look about you in the office/lab. Are the other people (without demeaning anyone) there super geniuses or of another species? You'll get thro' this - just use it to spur yourself on.

Good supervisor FULL STOP!
You can take up any interesting topic once you get the PhD (even more so when ya get the PhD-ers working for you in 10 years time)
A bad supervisor will only prolong the pain and also, at the end of the day, while you are doing the work, it is mostly their idea that gets implemented.

PhD =
Pirates having Difficulties?
Piracy has Disadvantages?

Been away on a raid to foreign climes arrr (teaching!!).

engineerfahmi - sorry for the hijacking of the forum but >2 years on the rough seas does that to ya!

Everyday is talk like a pirate day ya land lubber ... ARRRRR!
Did ya hear of the Pirate Porn movie? It was rated Arrrrrrrr!

There is a lot of comparisons to the life of a Pirate and that of a PhD-er ...
1. Every day feels like walking the plank
2. You have to fight and kill for the treasure, stealing from other pirates on the way
3. Most other pirates bury their treasure in remote locations and won't think of sharing - Boooo!
4. Most of yer crew is made up of cut-throats who would sell ya for a glass of sweet, pain relieving rum (only kidding, but we all know the one or two who would!)
5. The key to finding the big treasure is usually stored on valuable pieces of paper
6. All of the pirates only meet rarely to discuss plans and make shady deals - these meetings usually are in remote locations that any proper living soul wouldn't or couldn't travel to!
7. Only other pirates understand how you speak in such an outdated and stupid language
8. Finally, it feels that most of the authorities are out to get ya and have put a price on your head!

Of course there is an upside ... ya get to dress like Jack Sparrow ... ARRRRRRRR!!!!

(up)

Dude,
I think the other replies sum up what you know yourself: Do you see this PhD as either
a. A solely personal crusade where you are out to prove you are right and they are wrong or ...
b. A means to an end where a great degree of sacrifice and following the advice of others is needed and heeded

Briefly, I would take a day or two off and do what you do to break away from the PhD - You are shell shocked at the mo. Then, when you return, organise a metting with your supervisor and sort out where do ye go from there - in a constructive fashion, looking at the future rather than apportioning blame or regretting past errors. You possibly couldn't have sorted that out in the last meeting as the noise of dropping bombshells would have been deafening. I would reckon you will be still be able to use previous work and incorporate some element of the psychological work but not to the degree you initially wanted (dunno the exact topic, but surely you can do a small section on it, even in the Lit Review). The PhD is a process of constant revision and if you need to do that, well then you need to do it. You are lucky it is now rather than 12 months more down the line.

Also, whats stopping you doing some of the work you are interested later in your Phd when things are steady?

Hope things get better and keep the head up,
Bonzo

P.S. Sorry for the rambling - Christmas party last night and Capt. Morgan was on extended shore leave - Arrrrrrrr!

8-)

Crikey! Sounds as if you need a break ... or at least some good choons!
Goto www.jango.com, look for some Suigur Ros (Von in particular) and some Godspeed You Black Emperor and float away!

Would agree with a lot of what you said but in my own case, very lucky to be in a house with people I knew for a long time. Maybe you might suggest to a few friends to do the same - strike out, get a private house to somehow make a homelier place than Bleak Towers ... so what if its more expensive. The extra rent is well worth it (yeah, I can hear the cries of "Do you know the cost of renting in (insert appropriate location).

Failing that, you have to adopt the "the gaff is only where I sleep" and work around that, with activities that get you out of that. And as for the 3.00 wake-up calls, I would get onto management and complain - maybe they could actually run a small campaign in the facility to make the duma$$es aware of this (with the prospect of hefty fines as well). Also, maybe suggest more vending machines in the building ... after all, it is the munchies that sends these cretins to cooking at that hour.

Sorry if I sound a little patronising, and yep, I never lived in campus (f**kers have enough of my cash already!). Hope things improve soon.

Exactly Juno - And thats the point I wish to make to Pum as well - you WILL go crazy if you start taking everything that is said or suggested to you by the supervisor seriously (there will be plenty of back-tracking and contradictions along the way). It is hard not to take it personally but try to have some mechanism to bring yourself back to reality after such events (a walk out in the fresh air, phoning/emailing a good friend, having a rant here or ... dare I say it ... have a quick ciggie:p )