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On second thoughts, and subjective of course, I think it's the "take them" that is reading clonkily. Maybe "lead them from their ..." or "remove them from ..."?

Hi Jepson, please don't think I'm speaking out of turn, and it is just a suggestion, but actively trying to "sound" academic seems like the wrong way to go about it. By this I mean, you wouldn't want it to sound contrived. Personally I use cliched terms from time to time and I think 'comfort zone' is fine. Sometimes I might use inverted commas or add an opening phrase such as "what are commonly referred to as 'comfort zones', that is, a place or situation where one feels at ease and is reluctant to leave despite the lack of prospects or challenge available...'

Failing that I have another word to throw in the mix: security?

Hi wise and wonderful veterans,

I've just submitted an abstract (my first) for a conference in Jan this morning. I haven't received any email in return to acknowledge receipt, and, I was wondering, is no acknowledgement normal? And also: is it usual practice that the organisers would wait until the deadline for submission before letting potential speakers know their answer?

I had a little search for answers to this before posting, but couldn't come up with anything. Feeling rather wet behind the ears!
Thanks.

Interesting question 4matt, I tend to feel infantalised by my studies since my friends seem to be able to afford more, or are getting married, have savings, plan to get mortgages soon.

I'm 24, just begun PhD full time this month (after doing MA part time) and live with my boyf in rented accomodation. I live off a stipend from the university and, thanks to this, we're looking to move to a larger house in a nicer area rather than this one-bedroom apartment in the noisy city centre. I'm really looking forward to having an office (my desk is in our bedroom at the moment, which I hate).

If I was single I would try to live alone rather than with housemates. Having done the house-mate thing throughout undergrad, I can safely say I don't miss it. I'd rather live in an apartment with my bed in the living room/kitchen than share a house, but that's just my anti-social tendencies!

Hi Turnerm, I think, whilst your ideas may still seem messy or "vague" as you say, what they will look for is a strong proposal with the potential to lead to interesting and new research, i.e an open study which does not go from A to B simplistically, but has room to stop at XYZ in between. You don't need to know, step by step, how and where and when your PhD will happen, but you will be expected to have a definite direction, questions you want to address, areas of study you plan to research, a proposed timeline of sorts that shows you understand the scope of the study rather than a definite plan of action, and notes about current and exisiting studies that you want to examine/answer/expand. Your reasons for raising these questions, and the areas you hope/plan that your ideas about current studies will lead to, should make for a lively discussion/debate. :)

Good morning all :)

So, after finishing my MA diss about three weeks ago, I have begun PhD and had my first meeting with my new supervisor last Friday. All went well and I gave myself the weekend off, planning to begin PhD 'properly' this morning. So here I am, trying to salvage some unused MA research and decipher my scribbled-down meeting notes to make a short term plan.

As my sup was explaining the actual mechanics of PhD to me, I see that I've written down phrases like 'Progress Panel', expected word-count, standards, that kind of thing and then there's this other phrase: 'Work Plan Report' that I can't, for the life of me, remember the meaning of. I guess these phrases could change from uni to uni or department to department, but can anyone enlighten me as to what a work plan report is? It's really nagging at me - damn my crappy note-taking!

Thank you!

Hi Pjlu! Just wanted to say, I handed in my MA diss last Friday and I've been recovering ever since! Well done!

I still feel a little numb and dazed, but ... it's over! :D

Hehe, thanks Sneaks, I will search around (or just rewrite that section!).

I realise this is a bit of a reach and may get no replies, but does anyone use MHRA style referencing? I have a question about not using "ibid" in footnotes anymore, my sup has said it is 'outmoded' now - but I'm not sure what to do instead.

MHRA seems to suggest page numbers in quotation marks after the quoted sentence for a string of references to the same text, or one footnote for one paragraph of references to different texts. However, I have two references to the same text across two paragraphs, with no other references (so don't think just page number in text is clear enough), and I don't know what to do about it :S Have always just put Ibid.

Thank you.

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RXS873, there are deadlines for funding yes. Each institution, department, and research council will have a different deadline and it may well be the case that you apply to some or all of these so you need to know what these deadlines are. They can change year to year so you need to do some research because there are no set answers to your questions.

The websites of the departments and research councils you apply to will usually have application forms to down-load and information regarding online application-deadlines and paper-application deadlines (which are often different too).

You need to know a) which universities you're interested in b) what departments in these universities you will apply to c) if there is a tutor available in that department who is interested in your field and is willing to supervise you and d) what funding the department offers (if any), what the deadlines are for this funding, and if there are any external bodies you could apply to for funding and what THEIR respective deadline(s) are. No one can tell you this information because it changes all the time as departments and councils are awarded different amounts of money to spread about every year.

As Peljam says, this is different for PhDs which are advertised, and come with funding attached. These are very competitive (as most funding is) and you will need a strong research proposal whichever route you try.

Hi RXS873,

first are you sure you don't need a masters degree to apply (my university required this)? And over the year (Sept-Sept) it took to complete the masters, applications for the UK institutions I applied to started from December up until June time, and I believe most fall within that time period each year, with exceptions of course. It's not really about when "you" apply since your application will be FOR a specific start-date, say Sept 2010, Feb 2011, and so on. You have to state this date on most application forms, and for funding.

Oh, my work is in the English dept and also involves some cultural theory - I was talking about the way certain cities have a kind of "folklore" and how it is used and adopted. This example was about Casino (the film/book). Not very happy at the moment bec my sup has had my work for 15 days and I'm just waiting for it back - due to submit on 9th Sept, so this is just wasting time :(

I have "the only thing missing is Elvis in a rhinestone jumpsuit" in my dissertation, which I am proud of :)

Nevyn, it is very unlikely you will not receive a reply of some kind. If universities did this, they would constantly be receiving calls/emails from worried potential students!
I applied for my PhD at the end of March and didn't get a reply until June or July, so a wait is normal and you should expect the horrible process of uncertainty I'm afraid. If you applied online it's likely you will get an automated email, or, if on paper, you may receive either a letter or email. Killahtron makes a good point about the undergrad admissions consuming unis at the moment, so I wouldn't do anything until early September. Good luck :)