Thanks that's what I thought. I wanted it done before the end of the year but it doesn't look like that is going to happen! Nevermind there isn't much I can do about it.

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I've a Samsung HD which is reasonably priced, light and compact. Mine is 500GB but I saw a 1 TB HD recently which was very reasonably priced (about 75 pounds). I'm sure there are quite a few on the market.

I also use a few USB sticks as they are so handy, e-mail and the uni shared drive for additional piece of mind! You can't have your work saved in too many places as my experiences have taught me and constantly update your copies as it's a pain to find the most recent copy otherwise.

I like the idea of knights wearing armour all the time - good one Sneaks! Not sure how they get to sleep or wash but such trivial things do not bother knights of the realm when they are ready to do battle!!! (up)

Enjoy it - you deserve it and hope you get a speedy reply!

So when can you say you got your PhD like for your CV? After your viva? Or can you put the year of when you submit your thesis if say your viva is after Christmas?

Hi Peljam, thanks for your advice and tips. Congrats on getting your supervisor to agree to submitting the intention to submit form. Sorry for the delayed reply - I have been buried under a pile of paper, print outs and a dodgy computer in the last month so it hasn't left me with much room for procrastination :-s But I'm glad to say that it's all done now! Phew I can breathe again and enjoy (gift)(robin)(snowman)(tree)(turkey)this year!!!!

Me too please as I'm waiting for my viva too ....

I would agree with your supervisor ... as long as your post MSc study hasn't been submitted for a degree/qualification you can use it as part of your PhD. A PhD has to be original research but it's ok to include preliminary work you've done and if it's part of a bigger study you can include other people's results as long as you acknowledge them and they have a bearing on your results.

Good luck (up)

That's a tough choice. Just wondering so are your PhD and your current lecturer post in different subjects - how closely related are they and is it possible that you can still move into your PhD uni after finishing your thesis?

I would go with gut feeling though if the pay cut is a big factor this is worth considering. Sorry that's not really much help.

Just wanted to say good luck with decision and hope it works out. Why do decisions have to be so tough when jobs come along?

I mean ropey lecturers give students something to talk about .... maybe it's just that unis have become more customer based ... so students as good customers like to get value for money and seem very good at complaining and asking for stuff. Spooning feeding is likely to rate highly in student satisfaction - what's the purpose of uni again? Oh yeah I had forgotten that it's for learning - ok I know this doesn't apply to everyone but a good portion of students are just there for the sake of it.

I don't remember the drive to fill in all these forms when I was at uni to see how the dept were doing. We got asked for our feedback and we had a discussion about what we thought of the course and suggestions for improvements which they sometimes took into account and sometimes they didn't. I remember having to do an exam for a very pointless course which we were told we didn't have to do an exam for initially!

Yeah sadly I'm afraid that it seems to be going down that route - a friend of mine had to do a course to get a teaching qualification when he started his job as a lecturer. I think it was either done in house or the uni paid for it as it seems unfair to force this extra qualification on us and then expect us to pay. I think it was sold as professional development or some jargon like that - think he did it part time so it's not like a total degree as such unless Mr Browne has any other ideas!!??? Don't think I could do another course either or exams for that matter on top of the admin, research, writing papers and extras lecturers already have to do to satisfy the RAE and other quality assessments/criteria!!!

It seems like the days of having the freedom to do what you want within reason are over due to all this assessment and quality assurance to make sure the students are getting their money's worth!!! I wonder how one is supposed to do any research in this environment!

That's a disappointment but it's not so bad though I do understand that you want to get rid of it ASAP.  It's better to have the extra time if you need it than to be rushing around changing things at the last minute. As your supervisor pointed out it's a conservative estimate and it's likely that they are just playing safe so you'll be finished before then.  You're lucky that your supervisor is still interested in your project and willing to read it and give their opinion as mine has decided that they've had enough and is missing in action. Whereabouts currently unknown ....

It's good to be able to give it to your supervisor and then have a break while they read it and you can do fiddly things like tidy your diagrams which take me forever especially when I notice a small mistake and then I have to realign everything!  Then you can go back to it with a fresh mind instead of being sick at the sight of it!

As for the job thing I do the old trick of putting .... I am currently writing up my thesis which is nearing submission ... which covers a magnitude of timeframes. They'll never know how close you are and if they want to know just give them your best estimate at the time. 

I like your idea of doing a general proposal to keep handy if the opportunity occurs - think I'll look into it as well as getting tips on how to network and present myself as I agree that it sucks that networking is such a big thing.  It seems that it's an important part to getting anywhere and if you come across well at interviews they will give you the job and train you if they know and like you even if you don't have the skills. They should teach that sort of stuff too!  It's no good if just your research skills are good which should be the main thing. I am a sociable person so it's not as if I haven't got any inter-personal skills - I also find networking for the sake of it cringe worthy especially when trying to bag a job! :$ But I suppose it's part of the learning curve which we may find easier as we become academics as you suggested! (up) Learning how to work the system is a key skill! ;-)

Good luck and look on the bright side - you've got a bit of breathing space and the more you do now the less you've have to do after your viva.

thanks you're a star too. ;-)

It sounds like you're nearly there - just need to touch up your chapters once you get some feedback and then it's all systems go!

Thanks to all for advice on getting experience and selling yourself which I am not very good at doing. I seem to have the opposite problem of sounding better on paper as I'm not very confident so then get very stressed about interviews and networking which I find very hard to do! I don't think I come across very well as a normal person as my mind goes on holiday during such occasions - any cures would be greatly appreciated.

As for writing proposals - has anyone got any tips on these? How do you go about doing it and can you have a few going on at the same time with different people so you don't put all your eggs in one basket? Or is it better to go with one person and try as many different sources as possible as I'm sure only one will get funded if extremely lucky!

Any thoughts would be great thanks :-)

Hi Ubu, a review is bascially an overview of the main research developments/ideas in your field - i.e. the state of current research discussing topics such as the history of the reseach, the ideas which gave rise to it, the developments/advancements, any problems and what can be done to tackle them with suggestions for improvements and further research (e.g. the research direction of the field and any new ideas).

A peer-reviewed paper is one where relevant academics (your peers) have commented on a paper submitted to a journal and given suggestions for improvements before it is accepted for publication. Though sometimes it is possible to get a paper submitted without having to make any changes - this depends on who you get reviewing your papers.

Congrats on the invitation - it's a good way to get your name out there. They'll be citing it in no time .... Ubu (2010) says .... 8-)

I'm glad to hear that. You'd have thought that bringing new methodology to the field is a good thing as it's original research. Has it been tested as I find people can be funny about such things and do cling onto established ideas.

Anyway good luck and let us know how you get on