As your supervisor asked you to submit an abstract I'd see what they suggest. I've seen people do things like writing "results will be discussed". I've also seen conferences that specify that this is not acceptable, so it appears to vary somewhat from conference to conference.

I've always disliked the fact that point 1 exists as a factor. Whilst a lot of people are able to move for a PhD, not everyone can. There are a whole host of social, family and other reasons people might want or need to stay in the same place for UG and PhD, and to look down on (such as viewing them as lacking scholarly breadth and independence, or as not being wise or committed enough) discriminates against those who are not able to move to a new place to take up a PhD.

Good luck. Hope all goes well/ went well with the viva.

To be honest most of the preparation for my viva was an exercise in making me feel less nervous on the day! I prepared answers to all kinds of questions I didn't get asked! Probably the most useful thing I did was mark the start of each chapter so I could flick to it easily.

I've never heard of this either. I generally come in late and leave a bit later, without anyone caring what hours I do as long as stuff gets done.

I'd be interested to know why it was brought in - was it that they want to know exactly what you're doing when, or was it because there was a previous culture of people being expected to work really long hours whilst only being recognised and paid for 9-5 hours?

I agree with other commenters about not feeling like you need to be productive all the time you are on the clock. Even in the evening, if you have to be there whilst the PCR is running, you should get paid for it. Whatever you are actually doing with that time.

Probably not the norm, but I submitted at the end of September and didn't find out my viva date til December! and viva was not til January. My problem was my external examiner could only do Friday afternoon and my internal lectured on a Friday!

I think I left it a few weeks before I first chased up. At my uni viva was organised by admin team. I had to speak to them and was not allowed to approach my internal examiner about it.

It sounds awful that your supervisor wont give you a reference. As others have suggested. I'd approach them again.
Other possibilities - is there someone at your institution that is the Postgraduate Tutor? could you ask them? Have you done any teaching or worked with another academic that could provide a reference. As you're applying for post doc positions, does this mean you have finished PhD? could you ask on of your examiners for a reference? Did you have to have an upgrade viva in your dept? is there someone who sat on that panel you could ask?

Hope you manage to find a reference and good luck with the job search.

I think that sounds doable.
My experience was slightly different in that my supervisors never saw a full completed draft. Instead they saw and commented on each chapter individually, but I wrote pretty much my entire thesis in 5 months, I was motivated by the end of my fourth year, a date I could NOT go beyond!)

1. Would that be a case series?

2. I'd think a case study is a research study. So yeah I'd agree your wording is ok.

3. Sorry can't help on this one.

Personally I'd support a change in format. I spent nearly a year writing a long drawn out thesis that hardly anyone will ever read. Biggest mistake I made was seeing my project as a single thing rather than breaking it down at the start into a series of papers. I passed my Phd and have been working as a postdoc, but I've only published a small portion of my Phd data. In terms of working in academia people ultimately need to turn research into papers, so why not learn to do that to gain a phd?

I'm also coming to the middle of my second post-doc and wondering where on earth I'm going career wise. I like doing research, but it seems the higher you go the less research you actually do! (indeed my boss spends 80% of his time applying for grants!) Boss is keen to put a grant in with me named on it, but I know chances of sucess are slim. I've considered a few non-academic options but don't think there are many industry options for my field (Psychology). Sometimes I regret doing a PhD at all. Sometimes I think it will all be fine and something will come up... just not sure what that something is right now....

I've used Gumtree and Spareroom. Both good, but Spareroom may be better for your purposes as you can filter by price.
Sites like rightmove and zoopla also allow you to search for rooms in shared houses. I think these are more ones where you rent single room from the landlord rather than meeting your potential housemates before you move in.

How much would it cost to fly back for the day them go back in holiday? If I really really wanted a job I'd consider doing that. I had to have a telephone interview from a hotel room once (I was at a conference on Canada and th wouldn't do the interview on a different day). Whilst I can't say I'd have got the job if we'd met Dave to face, I do feel a telephone interview wrote off any chance I had. That said, putting it in the cover letter, at least you're up front about it. Offering a sjyoe interview means you're not saying 'reschedule everything to accommodate me.'

When I moved to start my PhD I moved into a flat share. Worked out really well and I'm still good friends with the people I moved in with. I made sure I got a big enough room for a desk so I could work there, but I also liked having people to hang out with in the evenings. But then I've never been one for liking being/living on my own.

I chose to live with non-students. This meant they were working all week so didn't make a lot of noise/party mid week. It did mean I had to pay council tax, which I would have been exempt from living with other students or on my own, but it was still cheaper than getting my own place etc.

My viva was a bit unusual as I had to travel to London where my external was based, rather than the usual of them travelling to me. Straight after I went for a drink with my examiners and chair person, which was nice but also a little weird. It's normal at my institution for your supervisor to have a bottle of bubbly in the fridge and for everyone to congregate in the coffee room which I missed out on.

I ummed and aahed about planning anything as I wasn't sure what the outcome was going to be, but in the end I planned a meal with my lab group, supervisors and a few good friends. I then met other friends in the pub. Ended up a hectic night but good fun, especially as I had a good outcome in the viva. I think it would have felt like and anti climax to just go home and do nothing, but as mentioned in other posts, this can be different if you have commitments such as children. Someone in my current team has her viva at the beginning of January. She can't plan anything as she may have to dash accross the city to pick up her children afterwards.