Goal for this afternoon 1-4pm ; zero draft on 1 section of paper
Goal 2: 4-6pm: try to read around the section which I know absolutely nothing about but which is supposed to be the main focus of my thesis (and this paper!!) :$

I want to have a completed draft of the entire paper to send to sups in 3 weeks time. I also have alot of labwork going on at the moment so that's not as much time as it sounds.

Sorry Sue2604

I wasn't implying that your opinion wasn't considered - nobody had replied before I started writing the message - I only saw yours after I posted :$

Hi John,

First of all congratulations on successfully defending your thesis (up)

Does your supervisor know why you are in a rush to get the dissertation defended i.e. is he aware that of the deadlines for the positions you are applying for? At the end of the day, you did the PhD to get such a position, I assume, so even if pushing your supervisor does offend him, at this late stage does it really matter? Ideally of course it is preferable to end the relationship on amicable terms but if he is not being co-operative it seems sensible to me to push him and apply for the position that you are interested in rather than cause yourself such a delay just to be polite to your supervisor.

I'm sure others will be along soon to give their more considered opinions.

Best of Luck with everything,
Ev

Cheers Dan - that's what I was assuming too - I just wanted to check as the paper is published exactly as submitted - I didn't want it to be rejected purely on the basis of its length.

Hi All,

I need to submit a conference paper in about 6 weeks so I'm making a start on it now as it's my first one. There's a 2 page MS Word style guidelines for authors on the conference website - this details margins size, font, etc. Just after it talks about the margins and columns, there is a line that says "text must fit exactly into the typed area".

Now, I know it's impossible for any of you to give me a definitive answer, not having the document on front of you. But if anyone has an idea if this comment refers purely to sticking with the prescribed formatting or if it means that the paper is limited to two pages in length (as that's the length of the guidelines which is basically a paper in the prescribed formatting about formatting. if you know what I mean ...).

Ev

Goal 1 achieved - I have a very sketchy outline of the paper - just headings - nothing too detailed yet - it's made me realise that I have alot of decisions to make about my work before I can complete the paper - eeeeeekkkkkk!!!!!!!!

Morning Sarah!!

'tis terrible to be stuck inside on a day like this so my motivation to get my work done quickly is to spend the evening with b/f and dog in the park.

Today I want to make a start on a conference paper that's due in 7 weeks. It's my first one so I want to get started early.

Goal 1: spend an hour reading conference papers to get an idea of what I'm expected to produce

Thanks Satchi!!!!

I'll play with it a bit over the next few days and see how I get on.

EV :-):-):-)

Hi Satchi!!!

I have been thinking about trying Latex too so if you get hold of a link could you pass it on please!!

This way we can learn together too :-)

Thanks,
EV

Opps sorry - Pink numbers!!

My goals for today were as follows;

Goal 1: get to the office DONE
Goal 2: prepare step-by-step lab method for one part of my experiment DONE
Goal 3: Discuss set-up with technician DONE
Goal 4: Find potential supplier for tricky item DONE (well hopefully - I've sent them what I need so they should get back to me tomorrow)
Goal 5: Read 1 paper in my quest to figure out a thesis topic IN PROGRESS (hopefully done in 40mins)

For tomorrow, I want to clear myself some space in the very messy lab so that when my equipment arrives I have somewhere to put it!! I'll come up with the rest of the goals in the morning!

Well done on debugging your program Pinkfingers - that's all ahead of me :-(

Oh and welcome Pinknumbers - I'm sure you'll find the forum useful, I certainly have!!! Have a welcome sprout (sprout)

Thanks for the reassurance Batfink and Sneaks. I actually feel a little bit more confident about my work having spent the afternoon reading several theses along the same vein as mine. Maybe all is not lost after all.

Good job you two on achieving at least some of your goals - it is the weekend after all. I am signing off for the evening as I'm out for dinner tonight to celebrate my mum's birthday. Batfink enjoy your time in the pub. And Sneaks good luck with your presentation - maybe you can take a bit of time to yourself when it's behind you!!!

I haven't posted on here for a while because I have been running trying to get practical things set up - so some progress was made this week in that regard but a conversation with a postdoc in the department has led me to realise that I have been putting all of my energy into doing the work I contractually have to do for my sponsors (the results of which will hopefully be useful somewhere in my PhD - where, I don't yet know) and have neglected to work on my PhD in any real way. So he reckons that I may be in quite a bit of trouble in that regard. So I am very worried and panicked but instead of sitting at home fretting I have come into the office today to start some basic internet searches to hopefully give me some ideas as to what the subject of my PhD will be.

Goal 1: read relevant part of the thesis that might spark some ideas

Hi Chris

Sorry they only seem to have it in hard copy in my uni - they don't have an electronic version.