Well done!!! Excellent news!!! You must feel elated!
A well deserved outcome for all your hard work. Have a lovely Christmas. C. xxx

@ Nimrod81. I do that every month. I send him a report with a list of what I have done, what I plan to do for the following month, I detail what I have read, written, attended, etc.
Result: not even a note to say: 'I received it'. I mean, it's not a problem, I am going to work according to plan anyway. I do it for myself. I know that if I don't do that I am not going to complete at all! Still, I wonder what's the point to let him know...
Hi Rogue, as I mentioned earlier, yes I am going to talk to him on Thursday and see what comes out of this. From the reply I have got when I asked for an appointment I could perceive a hint of guilt, let's see if this correspond to some good will for the future.

It's of great help, thanks Rick. This is exactly what I am going to do. I honestly don't know if what I am doing is good or not, but it is possible that he thinks that I don't need a lot of supervision. I certainly don't need to be encouraged to write, because I do it anyway. But as I spend substantial time of my research doing fieldwork abroad I feel that it would be just beneficial to make the most of the time that I spend here by discussing what I am doing with him. However, as I said I am going to talk this matter through shortly and hopefully find an agreement.

Things are a little more complicated than you think. There isn't anyone else in the department that could take over, and even if there was, I cannot put myself through another change at this stage. Of course I am concerned, but I think that the best course of action that I can take now is to talk with him and try to find a solution that suits both of us. I have a meeting with him on Thursday to discuss this. For what I can see around, there are a few lucky people who have very supportive supervisors, but the majority of us have to deal with inconsistent or unsupportive supervisors. This does not mean that I am going to accept passively whatever is thrown at me, but I think that at the moment at least, it is better to try and face these problems rather than run away.

Hi Danny. You have been through a lot in this three years. In spite of all the difficulties you are still motivated and willing to undertake a PhD. I think that your future supervisors cannot be other than very impressed with your strength and perseverance. Do apply! Good luck & a big hug.

Most of the times I just collapse in bed - but manage to dream briefly of Jeremy Irons. Sometimes I knit or crochet. I am also a member of a book club. I love cooking - and you can see the effects on me! - listening to early Venetian music, and swimming.

What you say makes a lot of sense, but the problem is that this person is busy and very disorganized, which is equal to poor delivery in the areas that are at the bottom of his priority list. He's the type of person that writes a paper the afternoon before the conference, so I am not sure that he can be sympathetic about insecurities. The bottom line is that my insecurities derive from his behaviour. I am never sure if what I do is enough or too much, etc. His personal records show that only the students who were capable to do their project independently got their PhD, the others dropped.
I definitely don't want to join the second party, so I will soldier on!

Hi Shani,
It does help, thank you. Indeed I have the same sort of reaction, but there are moments in which -like now- pressure is on in different areas of your PhD or private life and it is difficult to be detached.
Also, it is irritating when people constantly fail to deliver and this makes difficult to keep motivation going. It is not just matter of doing my research and writing up. I am pretty much independent on this point of view, but there are activities like presenting papers, publishing, organize conferences, in which you cannot just go ahead by yourself bypassing completely your supervisor. I start to be scared that this is going to affect the outcome of my PhD, as I am in the middle of my 2nd year.
I hope that the Christmas holiday will help me to put the situation into perspective. In the meantime, thanks Shani. You made me laugh!

I had problems with my former supervisor, who has now left but still is involved as my 2nd. I had a good relationship with my current 1st supervisor before he took over and hopefully thought things would work well...Current situation is: I send my written stuff and don't even get a note of acknowledgement - e.g. read receipt- if I do, there is an endless procrastination from my new sup on when he is going to provide feedback -never so far! I am honestly sick of it! What's the point for me to stick to these deadlines when nobody care about what I am doing? I am capable of working by myself, it's not matter of needing a lot of guidance, however at least one of them should do his job: supervise! Sorry about this rant, I just needed to talk to someone.

I think that everyone experienced things like that. I can tell you that I attended conferences with big names presenting papers and some of them were either unable to deliver or to answer the questions. It certainly gets better as you build up your experience, but things like this may happen regardless of how experienced you are. I presented many times and I made a little disaster the time I felt very confident about it. I thought about retiring somewhere remote, but in the end I learnt to take it as a lesson. Your perception of what happened may also be a bit different from what it really was. You felt uncomfortable and probably inadequate, so your 'picture' of the event appears much darker than in reality was. I would say that, on its own, it's not a good enough reason to quit. You will survive, you will present again, you will be successful next time because you know how to deal with this.

You build confidence through a combination of things, including surrounding yourself with positive, non-judgemental people and learn to enjoy the little successes and build up from that. Of course, nobody is obliged to do anything, but he/she is likely to face these challenges again in the future.
On a more personal note RogueAcademic, do you always have sour milk for breakfast? Take it easy.

'All that talk in a previous post in this thread about putting positive thoughts in your head as a way to deal with things can sometimes be a form of denial or lack of acknowledgement that there is something else underneath.' Indeed. In fact we do not know what is the underlying reason for his/her lack of confidence. Perhaps a lack of encouragement and support when he/she was a child? Of course positive thinking is not the only thing to do, nor you learn to think positive overnight. However, things are not only black and white. Nobody come to this world with a label on the forehead, we all learn 'how to'. If this person needs encouragement, well I cannot see the problem in providing some. The majority of people need to be encouraged at some point in life. My impression here is that the chronic lack of confidence would probably jeopardize other activities as well, and this is why it's important to deal with this issue. I don't think I wrote that this is going to be sorted out overnight.

Dear HopelessLoser. I would like to start from your perception of things. Your username in the first instance. If you perceive yourself as a loser, you will be likely to lose. You need to build up your self confidence. You need to re-instate positive, powerful messages in your mind. I WILL, I CAN, I SUCCEED. You describe positive outcomes in some of the sessions, when you felt confident with your material. Focus on that. You know that you can do it, because you did it! We all need to learn new things, acquire new skills, that's why you are given these opportunities. Secondly, I can tell you that with some undergrads even a bomb wouldn't work! it's nothing to do with you. Try to think about a range of little activities and try them. It's only in this way that you will find out what works in that particular group. Show your enthusiasm to the students. And remember, you are in control. You can decide how to run the seminar/tutorial etc.

Hi Chris. First of all it's great that you are trying to learn a new language. Now, I don't know a word of Swedish but I have some background in teaching languages. Grammar & exercises are boring but necessary. However after that you should try to put theory into practice as much as possible. Do you have any chance to watch any foreign channel or listening to Swedish radio programmes? In our Uni we have conversation swapshop where students can meet with native speakers. Is there a Language Centre in your Uni? Can you borrow books in original language, watch Swedish TV there? Have you tried to get in touch with the Swedish cultural institute? I am not sure if there is one in the UK, but you can check this:
http://www.si.se/templates/StartPage____3.aspx
In short, if you want to be fluent you need to live the language.
(If all the above fails, the best alternative is to find a Swedish boyfriend)

Excellent advice AnnieG. I do the same. I also keep a diary of any idea -related to my research of course- that come to my mind, what I do and what I intend to do. I update my bibliography regularly and index all photocopies/ articles in separate thematic folders.