Hi all, Well my final draft corrections are all done.  Both sups that have given feedback have agreed it is time to submit, so unless sup 3 wants to comment in the next few days, I will be sending it to the uni registry. Just got to figure out how I am going to get it bound etc. It is rather surreal as I really don't feel at all ready to defend my thesis in a viva but I guess that will come with some prep nearer the time.  I feel a little out of touch with current research but hopefully if the thesis is submitted it will give me time to focus on these things aswell. All a bit scary but exciting!

Congratulations Dr Walminskipeasucker! That is fabulous news, well done. Would love to hear the details of your viva prep and viva once you have had a celebratory drink or two :-)

Wow, tomorrow seems a popular viva day! Good luck to you all! Hope you will all be celebrating in style tomorrow evening :-)

Good luck Pink_Fluff, I really hope you have some very understanding examiners. Let us know how it goes.

Thank you very much Pete for addressing this problem, thought that I was going mad there for a while :p

Hi Pineapple, sorry I would have replied sooner but I have not been able to access this thread. I totally feel for you as this must have been an awful thing to read in a letter of all things. I imagine that you do feel deflated and have obviously had a rollercoaster PhD journey. But, please don't give up. There have been some very useful suggestions of why this examiner has decided not to review your thesis, and as previously mentioned, the timing is just diabolical. I am sure that whatever suggestions are made, none of these will make you feel better until you have some direction of this situation. I think that you need to speak with your supervisors about the next step when you are ready.

If you do need to edit the word count, it can be done. I have had to edit 8,000 from my thesis to get just under the 40,000 limit, so a reduction of 20%. It is not easy and was necessary for me as a recent candidate at my uni was rejected by the examiner purely on the word count. I cannot say what happened to that candidate, but I would have thought that an option to edit would have been allowed.

I would try to find out your options and then take a break to reflect on what you want to do.

Thanks Ady, that is reassuring that it is not my laptop. I have already had my email hacked so have changed all that friday only to have these issues yesterday! Perhaps the mods might be able to sort this problem then?

Has anyone else been experiencing this problem? Since yesterday I cannot view threads previously seen as they come up with this error, arghh! This is very frustrating, can anyone help?

Well done for getting your PhD studentship!  I am almost at the end and can agree that different points along the way have been associated with various feelings ranging from elation to anxiety. These are common to alot of PhDers so you will go though some of these and you will deal with it in your own way.  The forum will always attract posts conveying concerns and worries as this is where anonymous but knowing support can be gained. There are also some very useful posts and others of viva passes etc.

Good luck with your PhD journeys and I am sure some of these posts will be your posts in the not too distant future!

Mahasas, don't panic!  There will be many others who have forgotten to rewrite previously 'reviewed' sections, it is an easy mistake in this cutting and pasting world! Just be aware of it and if you get the time I would make a re-write and review of this section applicable to your thesis and results.  This means that if it were approached in the viva, you can concede to the error but you have prepared an appropriate resolution. I think that this will need to be corrected for the final in any case (and your piece of mind).  As for your internal examiner' s student having similar methodology, can you compare and contrast your methodology with it and work out where your thesis is different, ie a slightly different method or use of the method? Were the results and outcomes different?  As long as you can find differences in what looks to be common ground, you will be fine. Be prepared to discuss this at the viva as the internal is likely to have picked this up.  These issues don't mean that you will fail, rather some corrections will be implemented. Good luck!

I have just got the kindle 3 (latest version) and have all of my PDF papers on it so they are easy to find than rifling through reams of paper.  I plan to have all of my key papers on there for reading pre viva as it is easier to take this around with me than the laptop or lots of paperwork. You can add your own notes onto the PDFs so if there is a particular statement you perhaps don't agree with, you can add a typed note of your own.  I also have some PhD viva books on it ,which in my case, keeps little hands away from tearing out pages!

I find with all of these things (mobile phones, readers, mini laptops etc) that i cannot type very well on them, compared to the laptop/pc, so personally I wouldn't use them for typing notes, emails, chapters etc. Odd notes on PDFs is fine but that is all.  I do attach mine via wifi for downloads which is amazingly quick. Books and newspapers arrive instantly!  Otherwise I link to the laptop for PDFs. They do provide an email address to send PDF attachment emails to for direct download to the Kindle, but I have not tried this.  There is internet access on it aswell, but again I have not really used it for this. I guess my needs are pretty simple, PDF storage/reader to keep filed paperwork away from inquisitive little hands, with indulgent fictional reading and newspapers!

A student who has completed medical school has a right in the UK to use the title Dr. There is no reason why a medical doctor cannot use their occupational title in all correspondance whether they are conducting PhD research or not. There is undoubtedly confusion between a medical Dr and a PhD Dr. which doesn't help!!

Well done KB for believing in your work and turning it around!  It takes confidence in your own approach to ask for reconsideration and you have shown that it can be done. Thank you for sharing this.

I have a quiet house to work in where I can have a hot cup of tea without the need for endless reheating (its a baby thing)!  I know what I need to do to re-focus an area of my thesis so yes I am one happy-summer-submitter! The sun being out is novel in the south-west UK as it is usually raining, so I am enjoying that too.  8-)

I have been informed that I could just go with 2 x sups feedback for submission........so I will email the third when these latest corrections are done for an update on progress. It is always a worry that something may have been missed and the third sup could have spotted it.  Otherwise I will be happy to see the back of it, which in essence suggests that I am ready for submission! Gosh a viva in summer, my head is firmly in the sand on that one!

Ady it sounds like you are progressing really well, a draft by easter will be good for summer submission! I found I had a good amount of motivation to reach that milestone.  Keep going with it as 'you can do it'. (Now I have bob the builder song in my head, arghh!!!).

Hi to all those happy-summer-submitting-PhDers!  Hooray, I have had feedback from 2 out of 3 sups. I have made amendments, tidied graphs, added some extra supporting data/graphs and explained my way of presenting things (for which there is no right answer).  So I have just to modify the focus of an area of lit review and I think that encompasses all of those latest comments. The feedback has been very positive too but obviously no-one really wants to say 'yes, it will pass' as that will be down to the examiners.  I would love to have a crystal ball lol. So now there is just one outstanding sup,..........oh what should I do?

The sun is shining here, spring is on its way and I am feeling more optimistic!  Hope everyone is progressing well.