Hi all
I am quite far away from my viva, but from most people I hear that the examiners go over the thesis page by page and ask questions...

I am wondering, if you have to resubmit with major corrections, do you have to have another viva?

congrats.. !!!! I am so very very looking forward to be where you are now!!!!

hello there...
During my first year I pretty much did nothing else besides the PhD... even though I got some results, it turned out they were rubbish. Now, I work fewer hours (normal 8 hours that is...because before I worked for around 10 - 11 hours), do other things as well (i.e. sports) and I think I produce better results!

Of course, that might be due to the fact that I am now towards the end of my second year and I "know my stuff" better, but studies did show that the brain works better when it has a good balance of relaxation and stress. So give it a try... take it easy and see if it works for you.. One way or the other you are bound to get SOME results so you might as well chill and not worry too much about it..

oooo yes... wine always helps ;)

my methods are:

1. avoid TV/PC at least 2 hours before bed (visual simulation makes it harder for me to sleep)

2. read a boring book

3. herbal teas (the Dr Stuart's range is quite good)

4. I tried to count sheep but it doesn't work for me... what I do sometimes is choose a category (for instance country capitals) and go over the alphabet and find one item for each letter.. it's sad I know but it works!

I also found out that academia can be really harsh!! Most academics are competing with each other and often the poor PhD students get stuck in the middle....

Hello pineapple

I can assure you that you will feel like that many many times during your degree. The worse doubts will come from yourself, and not others. You need to have faith in your abilities and trust your supervisor. And yes, sometimes people like to boast about their work and seem important so don't let them make you feel insignificant. If you see that time goes by and you are really having trouble with the work, perhaps then you should consider if there is something you are doing wrong/if this is right for you etc, but don't feel like that because of what other people are doing! Keep the faith!

In the middle of the meeting.. "You know.. I am getting tired. Let's finish this another time" !!!

my supervisor sometimes really annoys me. He's had a lot of experience and students and he knows what he is talking about, but sometimes he doesn't pay enough attention to me! We might have a meeting and discuss X, he'll agree that X is good etc.. and then 2 months later he'll say
"why did you do X? It's wrong"... Oh thanx a lot! I don't know if it is because he has many things to do, but if that is the case, they shouldn't be assigning many students to supervisors who are busy with teaching/admin things/their own research to an extend that they cannot adequately support their students!

I agree that it is probably because of the lack of publications. Unfortunately, that is another thing we PhD students have to worry about. With not enough publications, well we can't really use our PhDs to go into academia can we? And with not enough publications we can't get a position as a Post doc, so getting more publications after the PhD is quite tricky. Yet another thing I disagree with about the "system" that imposes further pressure and stress

I guess that's a way for you to express grief. The best thing to do is perhaps take a break, but I know that sometimes this is not an option for us! I hope you feel better! Good luck with the mini-viva

I'd also like to know that worst and best moments of the PhD to decide it's worth doing it. But, no matter what people tell you, even if someone says "it's three years of hell on earth", I think if you were determined to do it, you'd do it anyway...

hi there. I think you should go for the uni with the good advisor. No matter how good a university is, if you can't work productively with a good supervisor, and if you don't enjoy what you are doing, then there is no point really...

hi all
I've had a chat with a counsellor at the university and I must admit that it was very helpful! she related this with some anorexia related issues (!), in terms of there is a feeling that no matter what you do is never good enough. So it is a matter of self esteem and realising your worth. She also did say that productivity must not be confused with how many hours you spend in an office. It's better to just leave a problem for a while and the solution will be more obvious later on... I have to fight my urge to stay and work until I feel I've resolved whatever it was that I was working on. It's going to be a bit hard at first (I can't help but to think "my work isn't going to do it self") but I said I'd give it a go.

thank you kitkat. It's very hopeful to see that so many other students have replied and assured me that everything will be ok. I am feeling better now but I am worried that it is only a temporary thing. I am seeing a university counselor today, and hopefully I'll get some good advice. I must say though that I was surprised by how many students said they went through the same thing. Is this a hint that universities do not offer the right kind of support for their phd students? Should the programme or the system change? And what is it that goes wrong???