Hi,
A very good answer fom Pjlu, as it is pretty much what I ve done during the first year.

Good luck!

Hi In between,

I am in my 2nd year but I started writing early on. I find writing really hard, and I am really slow, so I try to write as much as possible. I set goals to write 500 to 1000 words per day, which I find reasonable.

For each publication, I start with almost 3 to 4 times the amount of words required, and then I have to cut it down, make it more dense. It is a challenge, as I try not to lose information during the process. Editing takes me ages....I can edit a finished draft for a month, I have no idea what I am doing and why I waste so much time!

I think one of my major problems is the lack of structure. I normally try to impose a structure AFTER I finished writing the first draft! After I have kind of managed to put the whole document flowing in a rational way, then I try to go into more specific. I ask questions from the more general to the more specific and each paragraph has to address the issues.

http://www.icpress.co.uk/general/p605.html

Check in this book advices on "how to write an introduction"

Then I work on each paragraph. First sentence has to explain the topic. Main body has to add more information, last sentence summarise. Of course, theoretically all these things sound easy, but it takes me LONG LONG (add more long) time until I reach to the point that each paragraph addresses a specific point in a structured way.

I ll also check the book you suggested. Good luck, I am also posting here to avoid editing my thousand random words!

Try to contact the company and see if they can replace the equipment until it is repaired.

You will need to check with your uni.

In my uni we are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week while in a full-time funded PhD.

Hi Sneaks!

Massive congratulations! I was actually hoping for a more detailed thread with all the little hair-raising details... But this is just me.. greedy!

Well done!
(sprout)

Hi there,

From MY experience equally important factors to consider are

1) if you like working with the supervisor and the team in the lab. You will spend 3 years with these chaps!
2) if it is a well structured PhD that you know what you are doing. You should have a rough idea of the methodology and the research question from day one. BUT you should still develop the project yourself -do not end up running around like a headless slave.
3) that you will find all the support you need. Support means mainly available equipment, enough money for expenses to run the experiments.

Ooh, and finally (at least in my area) no, you are not stuck in the same field for ever. My supervisor did his PhD in a different topic than his post-doc. Lots of the thesis he supervises come from wide backgrounds.

Also, when I started the PhD I was mildly interested in my topic, but the more I read the more I loved it.

Good luck with your decision

I really enjoyed it!

Hey Tigger!

I am so glad you found your mojo!

Don't forget the 2nd part of the advice. Detailed notes in tables for every paper you read. In the beginning it will seem like you will NEVER finish, however you will be thankful you did it once you come back to your literature review after a year or so. And remember, writing is so bloody hard. At times you would prefer eating cat-food, or packing raw fish, or pulling your teeth out without anaesthesia over writing!

Just Keep going!

Hi Tigger,

what really helped me was a technique proposed in writing skills class. Start with a blank template, and start writing non-stop for 30 minutes. I normally start with personal problems " Am I Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde? nobody loves me .... I wish I had money to buy new socks...mpla mpla.. where does this PhD go?" Then I start with the overall objective of my PhD, then I put down all these thoughts that they seem like bits and pieces completely unrelated and sporadic. Remember, non-stop for 30 minutes. Repeat as often as you need. It worked so well for me in the first few months, it was really liberating and helped me structure my thoughts. It woked as a PhD diary, as you grow in your PhD, you feel that you always knew everyhting, and you don't realise the progress you make.

Another helpful advice, is after you broke everything in themes start putting the relevant references with the same topic together, and compare their findings. It is important that you keep it clean and organised, so that you can always come back and add more references. I keep them in tables of: Number of participants-experiments/ Method/ Analysis/Results/ Comments.

Hope this helps :)

Hi Linds,

I hope you did fine at your upgrade.

it would be worth to take some time off. It seems like you burned out. It happens to me too when I am over-worked. After you come back, try to enjoy life as much as possible. Do things you enjoy on a daily basis. The PhD is a long distance run, it is not a sprint. So, you need to stick to a productive routine you enjoy to keep going. For example, I go to the swimming pool every morning, I enjoy cooking healthy meals, inviting friends over etc... I also try to sleep well, and try not to worry too much.

I spent the first year doing a literature review. Remember: whatever you are doing, do it well!
I read and read, for 10 hours a day, every day, keeping detailed notes. My first draft was 120 pages, and included tables with detailed notes in each study, and comparative graphs among studies. I think I did a good job, and set very good fundation. I defined my research question, and unlike other students, I knew what I expected from my field surveys. I don't regret doing this massive job, (which was published) it makes everything so much easier later.

Now, when I write a paper, I can easily say: The correlation between biscuit sales and flying penguins was particularly high, and similar results have been reported by Smartguy et al, 2008 and Nerdyguy, 2010. I can easily go back and see if my results agree with other research or not and why. I also think that I built a vocabulary and a better way to express myself scientifically.

doing a focused literature review in the first year can only be beneficial. Just keep going. And don't compare yourself to other students!!!!!

Hi Broccoli,

my only advice would be not to waste funded days doing nothing.

Imagine how bad it can when funding runs over and you need to get a job to pay the bills and do the writing up...

Moreover, if you need a more controlling supervisor agree on deadlines to deliver certain things. It is really hard to find a balance between the laid back supervisor and the control freak that breaths down your neck...

Alternatives to the PhD:

1. another PhD
2. cad monkey in an office
3. Housewife
4. Fish fry supplier
5. any low paid Mac-job with minimum responsibility
6. shepherd/ farmer/ fisherman- autonomous living in rural areas

I think seriously of 1, 3, 4 and 6 as career paths after I finish

Ooh, and by the way my sister's husband is a chef. He works insanely long hours, he carries heavy boxes, and has pain killer injections to make it for the next day. He works in a basement with no natural lighting and an average T of 40 C, and then he enters the freezer at -20 C so his internal thermostat is broken; most of the times he can't tell if he is boiling or freezing. Chef is not a good choice.

Hi Chococake,

I always put both my supervisors regardless their contribution. I am in the sciences and I put my first supervisor as the last author, which is a way to show who is the boss:)
Generally, I receive a lot of support from them, and I feel that putting their names is the least I can do to acknowledge it.

I would say that a conference paper is much shorter, so you can present part of your results. In the paper publication you include everything, and go in more detail. At least this is what I do, it is not cheating right?