Hi all, I'm self funded and I'm doing really well with my research. When I applied to the AHRC the money was still allocated directly to the student from a central pot, and the AHRC has fads, fashions and cycles for topic areas it will and won't fund; that has a been a major deciding factor in who gets what in the past, not just ability.

I didn't apply for any studentships which were funded by departments because I knew exactly the subject I wanted to study, and which supervisor[s] I wanted. I figured that by going for studentships I would not be able to build the foundation I wanted with the people I wanted. I was actually invited to apply for a studentship which offered fees and the usual 12,000 stipend at one of the universities I have taught for, but I knew the supervision and other contacts their would not get me were I wanted to be. We all make choices for different reasons, and I find it impossble to understand how a self-funded PhD student could be inhibiting funded places, it just doesn't work that way.

I get the feeling from one of the AHRC funded students at one of the unis I teach at that she thinks she is superior or in authority over self-funded students, but she'll get the sock of her life when the PhD finishes and she crashes back down to mere morta status.There's no way I'd have taken a PhD place at that uni, or with her supervisor - paid or otherwise; that thought always gives me a sense of secret satisfaction whenever she waves her AHRC funded status in the air at staff meetings...

I just sold one of my vintage Vogue magazines for a tenner on ebay... only 39 left to go. Hurrahh! I am a successful business woman. I'm also procrastinating because I need to clean my flat (someting whichh does nt come naturally to me) so that it looks pretty for potential swappers; I'm trying to do a home swap.

A large quantity of semi-grown-up chocolates or sweets. For example A box of Quality Street, Liquorice All Sorts, Thornton's Special Toffee, or, if you have about 1/2 an hour and the ingredients (butter, sugar, flour and any extras), you could make some biscuits or something

Yeah, sounds very shoddy, awful for you, in fact (see, sympathy to order!). I'd be tempted to, not only stalk the module leaders, but also tell the students to contact them with any queries you don't have the answers to because you don't have info.

In my experience, I've found it's best not to worry about discrepencies in badly organised modules because there's nothing you can do about it, apart from suggest imporovements at module meetings (if you have them?); I've found it's best to just follow nonsensical instructions and then take the money and run! It's rough for the students, but all you can do as an AL/sessional lecturer is work as well as you possibly can with the poor materials you have been given and tactfully suggest improvements to the module leaders.

Good luck. :-)

Ooooh nooo, can't click undo or something similar? Good luck.

Hi Jojo, Congratulations on the paragraph and good luck with the next one! Right now I am taking some time out, curled up on the sofa covered in my furry throw and watching a documentary about race and intelligence (it's really about how bogus IQ tests are) which went out on Channel 4 a couple of weeks ago. I saw the director speak about it the other day, so wanted to know if my thoughts on his talk were justified. I'm also formulating my next culinary endeavour: chicken pie made with left over roast chiken and some puff pastry I bought this morning, and debating whether or not to brave the cold, rain and darkness to get to my belly dancing class tonight. So, not work, but still stuff I suppose. :-)

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H Heather and Bev,



It's my guess that your supervisor is asking you to evaluate what is worthwhile about your individual projects, and why they are particularly suitable for her to supervise; ie to articulate the 'so what?' factor which is necessary when you introduce and conclude your thesis. Good luck. (up)

Oh, also, she mught be asking you do identify yourqualities as a potential researcher, maybe?

You could ask her what angle she's looking for, just get some clarification.

Hi Leanne, I'm feeling really good about mine at the moment too. My supervisor is happy with the blue print/outline I've just sent him -I wrote about 1000 to 2000 words on each chapter and the introduction - including my methods and framework; I'm starting to see how it's going to shape up, and that it's working; my writing is much, much better than it was few months ago, so much so that my sup says any further work on that would be a matter of making it really polished, and that I can wait for a publication or the final thesis for that. I'm so happy about it because the PhD got lost in the first year (I'm part-time) due to a supervisor who didn't have a clue and seemed more concerned with undemining me than rpoviding supervision. I'm really buzzing wth it at he minute! But, as you say, this could all change soon... we must stay on our toes, I guess. :-)

Thanks LKL! Do you sspend much time in the communal areas etc?

Hi Keanbean, I'm with Jojo on this one. You say your supervisor has done this to you before, so I'd bet big bucks that she's done it to many other students/underlings; her colleagues will be aware of this trait, along with all the others they seem to know about, so I'd just leave it and not get involved, unless the issue is raised, or if your second sup is off with you. Possibly your rsecond sup is feeling for you right now, and this is the sort of thing that ps him off about her. Or you could just make it clear you appreciate him next time you see him, something like 'I'm lucky to have someone as helpful as you on my sup team' or whatever. It's totally out of order for your sup to have done this, but it's my guess your second sup knows it wasn't motivated by you, also your sup could feel undermined if you went out of your way to counter the message she sent.

Good luck:-)

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Hello everyone, just to get this thread back on track and talk about the positives in what we are doing: I just had an AMAZING time at my department, we had a seminar at which a prominent film maker spoke, I sat next to an academic I really admire in the pub afterwards and had a brilliant chat about one of the directors I'm studying, who was a friend of said admired academic, and I'll be meeting him again to discuss it further. To top it all my supervisor seems to think my work is really good; he read out a paragraph and said I REALLY like this bit (capitals for emphasis only) and grinned. I feel like me, as I truely am, alive and switched on, like I have an electricity running through my bones which I couldn't get any other way; crickey I could be writing a Whitman or Thoreau poem. Anyhow, it felt as if I had come right back home. And the best thing about it is that there is a chance I could be part of this community and intellectually active in this subject I love for decades to come.





Oh, and BHC, I'm afraid that, in this instance, nobody asked for your account of what could happen in the future, unless, of course they were the good things; that was the whole point of Wally's thread, so the analogy you gave isn't comparable at all.  If a second year undergraduate came up to me and said: 'I've heard so much about the negative aspects of studying; I need cheering up and motivating, please tell me about the good things I will get from doing a degree/ studying', I would absolutely not then launch into an account of the bad things which could happen, unless of course I was aiming to throw them into a deep depression (joke!). And that is, in effect what the ghosts of Christmas future have done (not the depression part).







Of course I know you're not trying to get us to give up our studies, I was exaggerating for dramatic effect and because we've heard sooo much about the bad stuff from TGCF (the ghost of crimb future) that I'm struggle to find reasons why it seems so necesary to give us regular reminders of our impending doom. I'm sure a bunch of bright sparks such as ourselves picked up on that warning of imminent disaster the first time it was broadcast on WJs thread not so long ago; indeed, it was at that moment that a great big capital D for doom was branded on my forehead. I didn't 'know all about it (capitals for emphasis only)' at nursery school, but I did have a clue by the time I was doing my A'levels (at the age of 24) and learning that Noam Chomsky supported himself and his family by flipping burgers when he wrote his breakthrough works. This gave me an incling that this wasn't going to be an easy path; that's probably why I waited so long to do it, I knew I need to be strong; but I also knew that it must be one hell of a thrill and satisfaction if someone was willing to make that kind of sacrifice to do it.





Cheer up BHC, at least for our sakes on this thread, even if you're not keen yourself. Your wisdom is appreciated, but this particular conversation is about something other than the bad stuff of academia. It's bit like choosing 'Every Day is Like Sunday' by the Smiths as your karaoke tune at a wedding. We know there are gong to be grey days ahead, but right now we are celebrating.





It'd be great of we could keep this thread about the positive as much as possible; after all, that's why Wally started it. We have plenty on threads from WJ and BHC etc about the bad things that could happen, so lets have a positive one too.

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Hiya all, I've been reading this thread without commenting for a while, but it's finally reached a point now where I can't help myself and have had to put finger tip[s] to key pad.



I do appreciate the dual headed ghost of Christmas future represented by BHC and WJGibson coming to warn us of our impending future doom; however, we got the message about that ages ago, and sometimes we need to be positive about what we are doing in order to get on with it. Or, as Wally says, are you trying to get us all to give up? Plus, I'm pressuming many people are like me and have friends and colleagues who are further along this process than most of us are, hence we already know that there are plenty of possible pitfalls to what we are doing. I ,for one, entered this whole process with my eyes reasonable wide open. For example, my closest friend from my undergraduate days finished his PhD at Oxford, with a very well resepcted supervisor, almost two years ago to the day, and he managed to publish an extremely well reviewed book while he was still a student: he has since had just a one year .5 contract, which ended in September, some freelance research work, and has been sustaining himself as a journalist (what he did before embarking on a PhD). My boss has had several nervous breakdowns, and I know several people with PhDs who are doing the same job as me and who are utterly frustrated about their professional and financial lot in life.



So, yes, you guessed it: WE KNOW ALL ABOUT IT THANKS (capitals for emphasis only). But guess what? Just like the crazy lemmings you keep telling us we are, we're going for it; call the men in white coats if you like, but that's just how it is. So please try not to disrupt our attempts to gee ourselves along. Just think, the sooner we finish, the sooner we'll be able to throw in the academic towel and you can go home for your tea. I find well managed denial and positive thinking have been excellent ways of getting through all kinds of life challenging situations; and it's worked great with the PhD so far too: I will not be giving it up, or giving up th blindly optimistic expectation of a fulfilling academic career. And for your information, I've worked in several other sectors and they all have terrible possible pitfalls too. For example, my boss at the film and tv costume place was a coke snorting bulmic who used to snort and then throw up in the ladies loo every morning, and bullying was standard practice; while there is nowhere more political and back biting than a film set. Bullying was absolutely rife at the slave driving recruitment company I worked fo too, and at the musem I worked for.




But you know what? People deal with it, and they very often do so by following the sage advice given by the very wise and wonderful Monty Python team, who once sang out with all their hearts 'always look on the bright side of life' even when the chips are down, and you're being crucified.



So! I am looking forward to being able to write and think for a living AMAZING; I can't wait for the day when I dedicate my book to my sister who died just as I started the academic career; I want to contribute to students lives, as my tutors contributed to mine; and I want to work with other people who think and write too. Now that's worth being crucified for, much better than sorting through thousands of pairs of sweaty tights for extras, or pretending actresses bums don't look big.

Hello everyone, thank you for sharing your stories and offering support. I'm thinking that maybe I will be ok, I basically have to be because I can't afford the flat any more, and it's too far from work and my PhD department. There is a postgraduates' room which is always quiet at one of my teaching unis so maybe I could try and gatecrash that. Like Slowmo said, maybe it will work well for me to go somewhere especially for the purpose of studying. Anyhow, I really appreciate your responses, and would like to see if some more comments come in; it is always useful to see how other people deal with things.

I just sent it!! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah. Now I am free and can walk amongst normal human beings. I'm going into town to get a bit of air and life; unfortunately, though, I drank half the rose last night and put a quarter of it the gravy (probably hence the stroppy comments), so I won't be downing that tonight.

Hi Ruby, I hope you're doing OK post PhD.

I've taken a generic over 16s teaching qualification and it was confidence building and often interesting, but I also found it repetitive and boring. I found doing things like schemes of work complete with what seemed like trillions of lesson plans a torturous chore. However! I feel I am a much better teacher for it, and it has given a massive confidence boost around students especially, it's mad emy job much easier.

Our tutors told us that PGCEs of any kind can be converted with a small amount of course work, they said the basics are the same and they're what s really important. It might be worth you while finding out it the free PGCE at your place can be converted to suit your needs.

Good luck :-)