Ruby,

I'm so glad to hear that you submitted and that you are now taking it easy. I know that it is a combination of feeling great about not having to work on it any more and feeling paranoid about what went wrong. The good news is that you had it read by your supervisor numerous times before submitting, and that this is only part of the exam; the rest is the Viva. So, do not worry that your thesis is missing stuff, just make sure that you are aware of what is missing (if anything) and discuss it with your examiners. That will do, you've done a great job so far (up).

I came to the University today to talk to my supervisor and find out what the story is with the Viva. He said that he'll have news for me by next week for sure. So, It's time to work a bit harder on my preparations.

Omega Monkey and Armendaf, thank you! :-)

Yep, I'm resting, surprised at how much sleep I seem to need at the moment but it's SO nice to have given it in!!!

Armendaf, let us know what happens about your viva next week, won't you? Unless they spring it on you without much notice it looks like we might be having vivas at around the same time.

See you soon! :-)

Hey Ruby - that's brilliant news! WELL DONE and enjoy the sleeeeeep. :-)

I've fallen off the accountability wagon recently due to work going rubbishly and my supervisor being awful, but I wanted to say an ENORMOUS congratulations to Ruby! You're an inspiration to the rest of us to keep slogging away :-)

Hope you can enjoy some quality time off and feel refreshed before viva preparation and all the rest.

wow CONGRATULATIONS RUBY!! you are a superstar!! well done on submitting your thesis!! i am soooo proud of you!!
you must have been so relieved!! its a great feeling handing in the thing. please dont worry about mistakes or what you left out. that's all in the past now. just focus on resting and pampering yourself and rewarding yourself, you have accomplished alot!!!

and then when you've relaxed you can join me and Armendaf on the viva train! yeh!! that's good that your viva wont be until april /may. so you got plenty of time to prepare. definately take some time off though to relax and recoup. cause your brain needs a complete break from your thesis. so take however many weeks you feel you need. and then we will see you back here for viva prep! :-)

i still have one month for sure, to prepare for my viva. as my 2nd sup is away on holiday the whole of march, so that's abit of a relief. i will contact my sups in april. and in the meantime, ie during march, prepare a document with all possible viva questions and my attempt of answers. i've given myself till april 1st to get it done. then will contact my sups 1st week of april, regarding viva etc.

i had a fabulous time in madrid for my birthday, thanks everyone for their well wishes. it was really great to get away and have that break. and my friends were so much fun! it was a group of us, 5 girls. i feel very refreshed and ready to start revising again. i spoke quite abit of spanish with the locals, which was so much fun for me!!
i am not feeling at all depressed about being back home, actually got tired of being on holiday, walking around all day and sightseeing, being on holiday is tiring too! lol it was just the right amount of time to be away, and i felt it was time to go home.

but i havent done any studying since i got back. but i'm going to start this evening. i thought i would start off with making a long list of viva questions. and then reading some papers. get myself back into study mode. i'm actually looking forward to studying again, not dreading it. well i say that now! haha

thanks Pari for your very encouraging message, really appreciate it!

Hiefer, i totally understand what you mean, i too have fallen off the wagon, i'm going to attempt to scramble back on

Armendaf, yes please let us know what you hear about your viva next week :)

congratulations again to Ruby. we will miss you around here for the next few weeks whilst you're resting! and i look forward to having you back for the viva prep :)

Congratulations Ruby! That's excellent news and it shows that we can all do it! I've never been brave enough to post on this thread as it makes me think that I should be writing loads more than I am at the mo! But it's been great reading it and an inspiration too! Great idea to take a break at the end of it! What a great way to celebrate!

Good luck for your viva! (up)

Congratulations Ruby! You must feel so much relief. LOL at your thesis dream - you'll probably have that dream for years to come.

Happy belated birthday Lara!! Sounds like you had great time!

Thanks Miss spacey! how are things going with you? what's the latest??

well i havent done any studying this week i'm afraid *hangs head in shame* the only thing i did manage was compile a list of viva questions, i have 116 questions listed! yikesamondo! going to a wedding tommorow, so going to start studying properly for my viva starting monday :) i have made a plan, where i have to write answers for 4 viva questions each day, and re-read my thesis again, 6 pages each day and write down the highlights on flash cards. in addition to reading new papers.

see you guys all on monday for proper study session *fingers crossed*

Hey Lara,

Things are going slow with me, but I have shifted my submission date to the summer. I'm getting really annoyed with my PhD now, and just want it finished. I've decided to leave a number of areas out of it as it's becoming too big (or resigning issues to footnotes) - hopefully, they won't be picked up by the examiners.

It sounds like you're doing quite well with viva prep. Will you be having a mock viva? My dept' doesn't seem to do them. Also, have you got any further with the appointment of examiners? At least that is something which is sorted at my end (I hope!).

hey miss spacey , great to hear from you! i can definately sympathesise about being annoyed and sick of the phd. its a good idea about leaving areas out, and just focusing on the essentials. summer submission is definately doable. good luck!!

i dont feel like im doing at all well with my viva prep. i feel so insecure about my knowledge and being able to defend my thesis - but i'm going to give it my best shot this final month.

no my viva examination hasnt been sorted yet, because i'm procrastinating on it. as im not at all confident to sit for the exam. my sup is basically waiting for me to tell him when im ready. so i'm giving myself one more month to properly study for it and then contact him in april and get the ball rolling. the viva questions are just so yucky lol but i'm going to prepare answers for them as best as i can.

---

my aims for today:
1. answer 4 viva questions.
2. read 6 pages from thesis and make flash cards of the essential bits.
3. read papers (about 11 papers)

======= Date Modified 15 Mar 2009 01:04:59 =======
i've decided to contact my sup on monday. i cant keep burying my head in the sand hoping he never contacts me and never organises my viva. i have to face my fear. i'm not prepared for my viva at all. but its time i should at least contact him and ask him whats going on with regards to my viva, so that once i know my viva date i can make a proper timetable, because right now i'm just floating around.

so monday is the day i email my sup and ask him. i'm not exactly looking forward to it, but its something i have to do, and i cant keep running from it.

okay i've composed the email and sent it to my friend to check that it sounds OK. i already feel better about it :) and feel i can breathe again.

the gist of the email is as follows:

.............."Dear X,

I hope you are well. I understand you are very busy, so I will try to keep this email concise. I did however want to congratulate you on all your papers that are being published this year, I did a pubmed search and came across several of your papers, which I have printed and will be reading. I also heard Mr Z interview on BBC 6 radio the other day about the Lancet paper.

Sorry I have been not in touch, I’ve been trying to prepare for my viva, going through my thesis again, reading new papers. But I still have loads of papers to read to increase my background knowledge as you had suggested, but i am finding it difficult to retain all the information in my head, but I am working on that, by making better notes and working on understanding the principles and revising.

I’ve also been doing research into the process of the viva, (i read the book “how to survive your viva by Murray) and have researched typical viva questions that may come up and compiled a list of 113 viva questions (attached file) which i am currently trying to formulate answers for.

I am currently working on the viva question “if you were continuing your project what would you do next”. I am thinking of incorporating copy number variance into the answer. Also I read a very interesting article in Nature about .......................Based on this I thought I might suggest something similar in the case of .................. I’ve attached the paper incase you are interested in reading it.

I feel quite overwhelmed by the viva and feel that I still have alot of work to get through, so I wanted to find out from you how organising the viva is going to work. When I handed in my thesis I spoke to senate house about how I need adequate time to prepare for my viva and what is the deadline to have my viva and they told me that senate house do not pose any deadlines and they simply hold the thesis until suitable examiners are appointed and told me if i want more time to prepare for my viva i should request a delay in appointing examiners from my supervisor.

So basically I wanted to ask you, are you waiting for me to let you know when i’m ready for the viva, and then you will arrange examiners for me and the viva or have you already organised examiners, or have you heard anything from QMUL as to when my viva date should be? I personally feel I need a few more months to prepare for my viva, and whether this is feasible.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks for your help.

Kindest Regards,

Lara.
======

my friend is going to check the email tommorow and then i will be emailing it on monday morning! yikes!!!! but i have to do it, i cant keep hiding from it. because who knows one day i might be told, my viva is next week! then what will i do. best to gather all the facts and be in the KNOW.

well i'm clocking out for today, its been a very emotional and stressful day. i've printed out a bunch of papers that are important for me to read, so will be reading them tommorow. and then monday i'm going to make a proper timetable that includes reading new papers, answering viva questions and re-reading my thesis again.

oh wow i got two stars, when did that happen. :-)

hi there! I would like to join your every-day-progress book!!! its a very good idea. I haven't exactly written anything yet. I did write something earlier but its all ffragmented and my project keeps changing!!!!

WELCOME WELCOME!!! always happy to have a new recruit!!

well its been a lazy sunday for me! i finalised my email that i am sending to my sup tommorow! yikes. my friend sent it back to me and said its fine. so emailing it first thing monday morning. and then i wont check my email till the evening, incase he says something that upsets me and ruins a perfectly good day of studying.

i'm going to relax for abit after sunday lunch. and then my aims for sunday evening are:
1. reading papers. and making notes. i've got a big stack of papers to get through. so will try to read as many as i can.

Satchi - keep writing, no matter how fragmented it is. every bit helps in the long run. just free write, without worrying whether its any good. you're making mud pies at the moment. think of them as zero draft versions :) good luck! and i look forward to hearing your daily aims and progress, will be nice to have the company. its awfully quiet nowadays.

Good luck with the emailing Lara. I think it's a really good idea to email your supervisor: things need to start moving on, and you could do with some input on viva preparation. But I can totally relate to your not wanting to check your email for ages in case there's a reply ;-)