Why isn't epidemiology a science?

You'll be wanting a young person's railcard if you take the train, and that can also be used for the the Oxford tube as ID.

For train times/fares, use:
www.nationalrail.co.uk
www.thetrainline.com
http://www.seat61.com/UKtravel.htm

======= Date Modified 17 Sep 2008 20:30:25 =======
Not quite the same situation, but I recently left my PhD for some of the same reasons as you. However, I was still interested in research. In my case, I had identified a different field that I had wanted to work in *after* my PhD, but given that my project was rapidly disintegrating, I figured I might as well just take the plunge instead of going through any more of the situation I was in.

Before I told my supervisor I wanted to leave, I went to see a contact I had in the other field, in the hope of getting some career advice. As it happens, he was looking to expand his team and made me a sort of job offer. Had to go through a proper application process and there were other candidates, but I got the job in the end and I'm much much happier working there than I was in the last year or so of my PhD.

So I would say that if you're unhappy for reasons that aren't easily fixable, moving on can be a good thing. But it does very much help if you have a plan for what to do next. Knowing that there was something else I was definitely interested in made leaving easier for me, and the real possibility of a job was even better. Why not apply for some jobs before definitely leaving? Your reaction to whether or not you get invited to an interview/offered a job might tell you a lot about whether you're making the right choice for you.

It can vary hugely. I don't know if universities are supposed to have a consistent policy, but even within substructures there can be variation. In my department the students each had a desk, shelving and a laptop, and access to unlimited printing. But students in another department which was part of the same sub-institute were sharing one computer between seven of them. We were all doing lab based projects. That struck me as rather unfair.

As to whether they were treated like staff - depended on who was doing the treating!

Consider using the Oxford Tube (a highly frequent 24 hr coach service - www.oxfordtube.com). Fares are, I gather, usually cheaper than on the train, you can get a student discount, and you can bulk buy tickets in advance to lower costs even more. It also has WiFi, so you could work on the go.

Actually, one thing I would encourage you to think about is your statement that you were worried that a course was too specialised. Perhaps at this stage, specialised is what you should be going for. But if you're going to do that, you need some kind of overall goal. I would be reluctant to take another course without having some kind of aim in mind.

Good luck with your decision.

How about Health Informatics?
e.g.
http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/pgcourses/hi/index.html
http://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/factsheets/health/lpsofmh/5669.pdf
http://www.chime.ucl.ac.uk/study/health-informatics/

Oh, and check that you haven't written 'Tipps' anywhere in your methods. Unless it's about chimps advertising tea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PG_Tips#Advertising)

:)

Check your name, your supervisor's name, and the title are correct, then leave well alone.

Congratulations on being ready to print!

http://www.findapostdoc.com/
Nature Jobs
New Scientist Jobs
Science Jobs...

I've only used Reference Manager, so I don't know how EndNote compares.

No idea what it's like because I haven't used it myself, but there's a new system called Connotea (http://www.connotea.org/) which is an *online* reference management system. If you find yourself working from multiple locations/computers, perhaps this would be something to consider?

By most accounts XP is preferable to Vista, although hard to get hold of for private individuals. Check whether your uni/department has a procurement contract with any computer manufacturers - if so, they will often have an educational agreement that enables access to machines/systems not available to the general public, which includes those still running XP.

I'm not sure about your comment that 'word documents on XP won't work on Vista'. I suspect what you need to be aware of is either
(i) that some specialist programmes (or specific versions thereof) one might have used on XP can't be transferred over to a Vista system
or
(ii) Documents created using Office 2007 (denoted by '.docx') won't open in earlier versions of Office, unless you've made the effort to save them in a suitable format ('.doc')

Hope this helps.

If you come to London and look for people who are overworked and miserable, you will see them everywhere. If you come and look for those who are totally nuts, you will see them everywhere. If you come and look for those who love it and wouldn't want to be anywhere else, you will see them everywhere. Essentially, you've got several million people. There are all sorts.

And don't think that people are unfriendly to the core. Just bear in mind that most of us don't do conversation in transit. The only way you can put up with the crowdedness of the commute is to be quite defensive of your personal space. If you try to strike up a conversation during rush hour, without good reason, people *will* think you're weird. But if you go along to something sociable, then the rules are different, and then there's no reason to expect that people are going to be unfriendly.

Good luck with your decision. I hope you aren't too put off by London - but then I am hugely biased in its favour! :)

======= Date Modified 12 Sep 2008 11:38:47 =======

1. Accommodation - definitely expensive compared with elsewhere. However, if you're a single student, you might be able to find a place in a hall of residence that is centrally located, thus saving on travel costs. If you're studying at the University of London, each college will have it's own halls, although you may need to apply quite far in advance. There are also some intercollegiate halls (http://www.lon.ac.uk/halls.html) and some independent halls (http://www.goodenough.ac.uk/). Finally, check out the Uni of London housing website (http://housing.london.ac.uk) which has a database of vetted private landlords, as well as adverts from people looking for housemates.

2. Journey - I don't know what people consider to be a reasonable amount of travelling time, as I've not been blessed with a 'walking distance' option since I was sixteen. All I will say is that because lots of people have to travel far, perhaps it doesn't seem so bad - you certainly won't be the only one. And commuting time can be good for reading. If you're looking for somewhere to live, do take into account travel when making your choice. For example, it can be better to live further out in zone 3, but with a really good transport link (e.g. just one tube journey) than to go for somewhere on the zone 1/2 boarder, but which is the wrong side of town and requires two tubes/buses. Journey time is not directly related to total distance. The Journey Planner site I mentioned above will help you suss this out. Also be aware that students are entitled to a 30% discount on travelcards, if you pay a fiver for the right photocard (https://photocard.tfl.gov.uk/). Well worth having.

3. Social life - London *is* expensive, but it's perfectly possible to live off a stipend, unless you have a really extravagant lifestyle. It's really a case of knowing how and where to save money and still have a good time. If you have the time (and I realise that's a big 'if' for a PhD student, there's no way that you won't be able to find things to do to amuse yourself cheaply. All the unis have loads of clubs and societies, but there's no need to stick to them. Lots of local stuff going on too. Just check out Time Out, or look up the sports clubs/other facilities in the area in which you live.

As a life-long Londoner, I can't offer any useful advice re: how London compares with other places but...

I'm sure you've figured this out already, but if your only experience has been as a tourist/visitor, then the reality of living there might not bear any resemblance. Tourist attractions are crazily busy - not everywhere is like that. A lot of people who don't know the city hop on the Tube to get everywhere. Whilst it is convenient, buses can be just as good, and actually a lot of places in the centre are dead easy to walk to and from - just choose your route well. For example, walking along Oxford St in the evening rush-hour = major hassle. Walking along the back streets that run parallel = a lot more pleasant and less stressful.

If you do move to London, I would recommend making use of Transport for London's journey planner (http://tinyurl.com/hwrk) and Walk It (www.walkit.com)