I agree, it sounds a sensible plan to at least apply. But don't count your chickens before they've hatched. I would um and ah about making the right decision only if you get offered it, it's a long road until that point.

It depends a lot on your supervisor and also whether you're doing a lab subject, which I guess you are from mentioning experiments. Usually there will be an official number of days stipulated however it's usually pretty flexible. It's certainly worth asking your supervisor when you have your first meeting what their expectations are about it - I barely saw my supervisors over Christmas and uni Summer holidays as they were often away so they weren't really that bothered whether I was at Uni or not.

Oh my gosh, I remember Stu, I wonder if he's still as caustic or PhD life has mellowed him?

And Sixkitten! Oh gosh, now that's a name I definitely remember!

Glad to see you are well though Sylvester, I shall let H know you are around!

Sylvia! Where have you been hiding!

Although if Clara van der Akker goes, I don't think I would be able to contain myself from declaring my true love for her and making a scene.

oooooo if the lovely Claudia is going I could be very much persuaded...

Okay, I have to give some kudos for a spammer actually coming back and responding (up)

Oh sweetie, if you're going to spam, at least make it vaguely intelligible.

3/10 - pretty poor effort.

Awww, hope this and the other go well - hopefully they will become a regular thing and I'll pop along to one when things less up in the air!

A very sensible idea. Try and just get it off your mind and enjoy your break, ready to face it head on when you get back.

It's really hard at the moment and I think my case is showing a trend I've noticed. Really hard for graduates to get jobs (we've just taken on two in our department and we had dozens of applications for each). But there seem to be lots of jobs for experienced people (hence me getting an interview). When I first got a job it was really hard, as two great jobs I lost out to another candidate because they were experienced and I wasn't.

Just keep going, being persistent, something will come along (up)

Oh my word, I have an interview. How did that happen! It still doesn't seem quite real. I'd be surprised if I got the job as I don't really have that much experience but there we go. Eeeeekkk!!!

Hey cornflower, just some general and random thoughts here from me.

It's easy to be nervous and worried about it all, especially if you're coming from "the real world". One thing I would advise is getting involved with things outside of Uni - it's easy to get consumed by the PhD. Forcing yourself to do something else is a good way to take time out.

Also don't be afraid to ask and never think a question is a stupid question. I used to ask all sorts of random questions to my supervisors but they can lead to some really interesting directions. If you don't understand something, just keep asking and reading around about it, you can't possibly know everything and it's the best way to really learn.

THe time will fly by. I had graduation a few weeks ago and I started my PhD in Oct 2005 - it seemed like I had started yesterday. So enjoy it as much as you can (although you will hate your PhD several times over, just accept it, happens to everyone!). Motivation will feel really difficult at times, but just hang on in there - I say this as someone who at the end of my first year gave my supervisor a letter of resignation and was convinced I was leaving. I'm so glad he persuaded me to reconsider (DanB, PhD :P)

Make sure you go to as many conferences as you can, give as many presentations as you can at departmental seminars or journal clubs if they have them, it's great experience and you can meet some really interesting people.

Make friends with the department secretary as well - she (and it invariably will be a she!) will be the one who really knows how to get things done around the place if you have any problems.

And this place is great for advice and general fun - I've used it for many many years since I started my PhD and it's been a great source of useful advice, laughter and even friendship!

Those unis don't offer solely online PhDs as far as I'm aware - they still take PhD students as any other university. Online PhDs are generally a bad idea - you need to have time with your supervisor as well as the support facilities of the University itself. You can't realistically do this online, especially in a totally different country.

Also the area you're looking at , are you sure you want to be doing a PhD? Would an MBA or a Masters in a management area be more suitable or are you actually looking to do research in the area?

Wait until you see your examiners' report before stressing too much further - it might not be as much work as you think. Is it just major corrections without another viva? If so, then keep optimistic and make sure you address each of the points on the report.

I know it's easy to lose faith but keep it going, you've come this far, you've done good work but it just needs a little bit of polish.