I agree with the others that you should include your supervisors. I know exactly what you mean about the time and frustration of waiting for comments, and making changes, etc. However, supervisors do have more experience than us in how things should be worded, presented etc, to make a good journal paper that you won't find embarrassing in years to come! Even though it's a hassle, they might raise some useful points. I think this stage is inevitable, as you say, its just another part of the process of publishing. You can always try giving deadlines, like a date you want to submit by, and keep reminding them as that date comes nearer. But waiting a few weeks for feedback is not unusual.

Is he re-presenting your whole presentation, and nothing else, or has he just taken a few results slides and included them in his presentation along with some other stuff?

If the latter, this is completely normal. You should be acknowledged during his presentation of course, and hopefully he will do this as he presents the work, or at least at the end. The only way most group leaders do research is by supervising the people who *actually* do the research, so of course they present their students and postdocs work at conferences, often they can bring themes from different people's projects together, to give some additional insights, for example. It is a very good sign if your supervisor wants to talk about your work, and it should give you and your work greater exposure to a wider audience. Some supervisors will use whole slides the way you made them, others might just use the images and put new text, etc.

If he is just re-presenting your whole presentation, without your name appearing as first author, this would be quite strange.

This is a fabulous article on the subject of quitting a PhD, I think its been posted elsewhere on this site before:
http://chronicle.com/article/Advising-the-Dissertation/124782/

I quit my first phd, then started another which I have now almost finished, and I think these were the right choices for me. That said, I don't think I could ever really "regret" any of these kinds of decisions, as I will never know what would have happened if I'd chosen differently. And difficult experiences can often be very valuable ones in the long run.

ricotta

Hi Heidi, just saw this- many congratulations! I'm so happy for you. You really are an inspiration to me :)

There are completion bursaries at my uni, I know a couple of people who had them. The deal in our uni is that the supervisor's operating budget has to pay it back if the student doesn't submit by the deadline- I think the supervisor has to show they have the funds available as a prerequisite for the student being offered the bursary. So it acts as an incentive for both student and supervisor to get it done I guess. I think you definitely need to find out for sure what the deal is with your bursary, so you can go into it properly informed. Then if something happens to delay you in finishing during the next year, you can document it properly or take whatever is required. I'd say there's certainly the chance either you or your supervisor would have to repay it if you miss the deadline. But as others have said it's unlikely to be standard between unis.

Hi Heidi, thank you so much for posting on here, you have inspired me to keep going and not give up, if you can do it through so much suffering, then surely I can too! Bea is so lucky to have such a wonderful, courageous mother. Congratulations on handing in your thesis tomorrow, I hope everything continues to get better for you, and I hope you'll keep us updated as well. Please don't disappear from the forum (unless you really want to of course), you have a lot of valuable experience to contribute, and most people here will help and support you whenever they can. There's the odd one who likes to wind people up, but they are quite rare ;-). Anyway, enjoy the feeling of handing in, and your break with your family! E xx

Hi Walminski- some practical advice on plugs (I live in Australia): take most of your electrical goodies if you can, all those kinds of things are generally a fair bit more expensive over here. I recommend taking a uk powerboard or two as well, then you can plug everything in with far fewer plug adaptors. You can buy the adaptors most easily in the airport while you're waiting to board your plane. I hope it all goes well, I'm sure it will!

Hi Delta,
I also live in Australia, and would be happy to help if I can. Pjlu's summary is excellent. I am Australian but have lived and worked in several countries including the UK. I think if looking at it from a global persective, Australia is really very similar to the UK, it was a British colony after all, and most systems and institutions are based on the British ones, including the University system. But yes, of course there are also many differences in aspects of lifestyle and culture. More time at the beach for one thing ;). Let me know if there are any questions you'd like me to answer.

Also look into UK/EU funding that you could take with you. I know of someone who got a pretty good deal with some EU funding to do a postdoc abroad (Australia). Your current uni should have someone at the research funding office who can help point you in the right direction. Good luck!

Hi Potatoes, As Mhk mentioned, I think funding is usually the key issue.
Maybe you are already doing this, but when you contact these people, I think you need to ask something like "I am interested in working with you on topic x, we could apply for [funding scheme xx], would you be willing to work with me to put in an application?" If you have a reasonably good CV, I would think you'd be taken seriously. But I wouldn't ask "do you have any post doc positions available", the answer is probably no, unless one is advertised, and you risk your email just being deleted. At least this would be the case in my field, can't speak for others though.

Also I agree with Mhk on the connections- that helps a lot, especially if you could list one as a reference, or mention you have worked with them.

Hi Natassia,
I'm glad you got to have a break, and that your presentation went well. Well done in fending off a harsh grilling!
I know that I worry too much about some things as well, but find it hard not to at times! Not sure what the answer is :p
E

There are lots of online tutorials and protocols for imagej, as it's open source. Do some googling, you might find what you need. If you still have a question after that, you'd probably have better luck posting on one of the imagej forums, than on here.

One tip: people are more likely to help you if you have a specific question, and can show that you've tried to find out the answer on your own first.

It sounds to me like you’re probably doing fine with your work, you’re submitting written work and you’ve just written a presentation that your supervisor liked. Maybe you are getting tired and stressed from working long hours, and losing perspective a bit? I am feeling a bit like this myself recently, tired and emotional, lol.

I really would talk to your supervisors about it. You don’t necessarily have to tell them all the details of how you feel, just ask them for some feedback on your progress so far, explaining that you want to make sure you don’t fall behind due to your paid work, etc. They will be able to reassure you. Your progress is not more important than your feelings, the two go together. If you can feel better about things, then you will work better, and vice versa. And your mental health is much more important than your work, surely!

For your talk on Thursday, if you still have time, can you phone your other supervisor to remind them, or get their feedback by phone? Probably they just forgot or lost track of time or something. But your other supervisor thought it was fine, and so it will be fine just as it is I’m sure.

It’s very important that we look after ourselves and our health, I know it seems like there’s no time, but we need to set aside time for that. If you let yourself get burnt out, it will then take much longer to recover than it would have to prevent it getting to that point. I find that even just an hour or so a couple of times a week, to do something relaxing can help. I like to set a specific time for it, so I can look forward to it when I’m feeling tired at other times. Also make sure you talk to someone about how you feel, eg a counsellor, or at least a good friend who will listen. It sounds like you might be bottling things up a bit, which could be making you feel worse.

Also, its fine vary your pace and do more paid work sometimes, and work more on your phd at other times, like over the summer if you will have less paid work then. Tell your supervisors about your schedules for this as well, so they’ll know to expect more work from you at certain times, and less at others.

Really I agree with the others- it sounds like things are not as bad as you think. But you do need to take care of yourself and get some extra help if/when you need it. Hope you feel better soon. ((hugs)).

Hey Wally, congrats on the job offer :)
I live in Australia (I am Australian), but I have lived and worked in other countries including the UK, and I understand your worries about moving so far away. Don't know which uni you will be at, but most are very international, and chances are most of your department will be in/ have been in a similar situation to you. Most Australians will be sociable and welcoming also, and chances are you will meet people and make friends in no time. There are hoardes of British people here, and they don't seem in a hurry to leave, so they mustn't be hating it too much! And it seems like opportunities and funding in research, academia etc are much better here at the moment than in Europe or US.

I think you should go for it. Just think about it as a temporary thing, you can see how it goes and can always go home at any point. And no, it really won't be that bad :) Feel free to pm me if you want. In the unlikely event we're in the same city, I'd be happy to meet up if you'd like to.