The part about this so-called working half the time as a WM and the other doing your own thing I found to be a wsate of time also. ALthough at first it sounds ok in theory, it is *only* theory and what unsuspecting students could in fact end up with is spending the whole time doing the professor's dirty work full-time. In addition, it is common for PhD 'candidates' as they're called not to attend conferences and presentations because their supervisor is doing it in their place.

It seemed also that by the time you’ve spent the best part of 4-5 years doing other people's leg-work, you really are at this stage completing work for the title. The emphasis in the written work is placed upon data rather than also the critical review of others' work: The latter of course is equally important. The theses I saw I can honestly say seemed to lack much of the substance that you would expect, and my impression was that the original ideas often come from the project supervisor rather than the student.

I'm not sure what you mean Franz about not being able to do any original work during a PhD programme in the UK. From what I saw of German students' dissertations (notably they weren't called theses), was that they didn't seem to live up to the same standard as the British ones I have seen (sorry to say)...An example; in my institute it was more of an exception to finish within the nominal 3 and a bit years. Instead, it took nearer to 5 years….

Hmm, as far I am informed PhD's in Germany are paid as wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter. This means they want you to work for them part-time and the other half is for your PhD. Be aware that in Germany it's not like the Kindergarten it is here, so you will have to be really independent. That has its positive and negative sides. Your education in Britain will be better, but you essentially don't do really any original work.

dear sir/madam
i am rgistered doctor with gmc and working in nhs trust hospital,please tell me if scholarships are available for msc courses as im interested and i am pakistani national.

Its me who was 4 months St, now becoming 6 months St! Well, thanks!I took all your advices into account, they wanted me to write a thesis project to give after 6 months. I just gave the report and feel better, even if the conditions are still the same. I still don't know how its gonna end, but I think I will try some more months and see what's coming on.

Lost Soul, the PhD is not too good for u or for anyone, u are too good for it and they do need you, I am sure! I would still stay and see whats coming next, if things are gonna change. Anyway you are getting paid for the time being right? So you've got nothing to lose really. Be inspired. And cheers, other people have gone through such bad times, thats what kept me going until now. Give me some news in 2 months' time!

COncentrate on your work but don't keep your head down. I think joining the social scene will allow u to learn l ots of things, but one thing I have learnt, don't let social scene disturb u as well. It is always good to have good relationship with ur colleagues but a PhD is a personal matter. Don't expect too much help from the others.

I am a student who is interested in bioinformatics field .Who want to make friend with me and tranfer the information about informatics . My mail : [email protected]

I think 'thesis avoidance syndrome' is fairly common.

My flat is cleaner than ever before - yesterday I urgently needed to dust the skirting boards, and couldn't possibly continue my write-up until all the skirting was shining!

There's always a worthwhile distraction. e.g. replying to random messages on this very forum.

I find the best thing is to reward myself with a sweet for every hour of hard work, but often i've scoffed the whole packet within 10mins. oh well, a good excuse to pop down to the shop...

good luck!

I have just started my PhD three months ago too. I feel exactly the same, I have been considering to quit it all. I feel like I am totally lost not even knowing what to do next week is pretty hard! I feel like A PhD is way too good for me now. I try to talk to my supervisor about my concerns, he put me off telling me "oh well your GPA is so high, I bet you can do this!" He asks for alot but not giving much to guide me through.

something like : what's your name?

Ok …… looking at this logically, there are lots of posts on this site from people with a 1st or 2.1 & MSc who can’t get a funded PhD and some from people with a 2.2 who have been offered one because they knew the right people or were lucky or have some quality that the other candidates don’t have. We can either try to discover what that quality is or accept that the whole process is just a lottery.

You'll be fine - just do what seems right for you and don't feel that you have to follow the crowd. A change is usually an adventure. You'll probably feel more confident once you get your accomodation etc sorted out.

So what (s)he really meant was that I should try being regarded as a student worthy of PhD studies?

I'm sure that when panicked mis-used the word 'nice', what (s)he meant was that his/her prospective supervisor (rightly or wrongly) regards him/her as a student worthy of PhD studies. Therefore I think people reading these threads should keep their antagonistic & sarcastic (and pretentious) remarks to themselves - they are not helpful to anyone.

Not sure how PhD funding works in Germany if you're not paid directly by a university as a 'Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter'. But, in any case, you should be *very* careful about commiting yourself to a PhD position at a German university. Speaking from personal experience, the system is very different and you could easily end up being short-changed (and without a PhD).

what?