I was also hoping for an update Dan!

Sounds like you are having a tough tme of it.

Only suggestiosn I have are can you borrow any of the equipment (eg base layers, fleeces, rucksack) - I ski and so am lending my ski jacket to a friend who has to go to a conference in Stockholm in a couple of weeks time when it will still be really cold.

Or can you buy them cheap on e-bay or at a second hand ski sale - the school my childrne go to (as well as second hand uniform sales) has ski wear sales and a lot of the stuff is really good quality because it has been replaced for reasons of fashion not because it is worn out. Why not try putting an appeal out on a mountaineering / ski website - someone might have something they could lend or donate? It might get you some of the equipment. Or try going to a supplier or outdoor shop and ask them to sponsor you by donating some of the equipment - they are getting towards the end of the buying season and so might be willing to part with some of what you need for free or cheap. By going to a few you are not asking one to give you everything - just one to give you the gloves, one to give you base layers, one a fleece and so on. Or one could give you everyting in exchange for some publicity? Or an agreement to come and give a talk about your fieldwork (I don't know your subject but I am guessing there must be some element that could translate to a talk even if it is just living ina an extreme environment for 7 weeks)

Good Luck

Oxford Dictionary of Quotations gives details of famous quotations

Thanks for the suggestions - I am looking at anything and everything - colleges etc (but as I am not a plumber or bricklayer there doesn't seem to be much there at the moment - maybe I could retrain). I am in UCU and there is a branch meeting on Thursday BUT they have failed in previous (small) rounds of redundancies so I am not optimistic about that (but will go to meeting anyway)

Having just found out I am 99% likely to be made redundant in July I would go anywhere there was a job

The university where I work announced last week that there would be redundancies and our Dean communicated how they are being apportioned across the university. Our department of 6.5 (having already lost 2 in September) will have FTE of 3.5 from next year. The expectation is that in 20122 onwards they will expand but because of student number caps 2011/12 we have to cut back.

The head of department has decided that for mix of expertise etc he will have 5 people on 0.7 contracts (and he made the point that he was included in that - as though that made some difference to how I felt) with one whole person and the 0.5 (who has been talking about retiring for a few years) leaving.

Although we are in consultation period in reality we all know that is just lip service and results in dragging everything out. Because there are two of us who teach our subject the 0.7 will go to one of us and the other will be made redundant. Given I am the newest person in the dept, the other person is bezzie mates with the head of department and about to submit their PhD we all know what that means. His face said it all when he came to "update me on his current thinking".

I am totally devastated - I am the main wage earner in our house and there is no way I can afford even part-time PhD fees on my husband's pension (esp as we have a large mortgage and two children) even though completing my PhD would be the best option for my future. I am also middle aged and so realistically what chance do I have.

Next time I see my supervisors I am going to ask about bursaries, studentships etc but as I am only 18 months into part-time I am not optimistic. Any other suggestions welcome.

@ Ady - route 66 is fab (we did a bit of it this summer after my research visiit to National Parks) but you must do it in a car so you can stay in the fab (and some not so fab) motels - many of which are prserved in their 1950s glory.

When I am finished I want to learn to paint water colours - a long standing ambition - when I was on maternity leave 10 years ago there was a programme where a bloke took "celebrities" and taught them to do water colours and he made it look so easy. I keep seeing courses but think that the time should be spend on PhD or with my husband and kids but a week long painting course (somewhere lovely) will be my post submission, pre-viva reward...

I don't do lab work but I do take studnts out on fieldwok which require risk assessment s- the usual thing to do is to get a template (or an existing one) and adapt it to refellect the specific circumstances, change the date etc. If all your proccedures are similar (eg in same lab, using chemicals, similar processes etc) then it should be a doddle. I would have thought that you should be able to get either a template or an example that you can adapt.

H&S is (rightly) taken seriously and that is in part to protect you. If there were an accident in the lab and you were injured then the risk assessment would help to demonstrate that you had complied with legal and other requirements and could be essential in any litigation (either defending your actions or in suing the lab). It is also a major part of any industrial process to have a risk assessment.

I can't believe that you think it is "ridiculously complicated" and that you "don't have time for it" - that sort of attitude results in short cuts and sloppy practices and can, and does, lead to injury and death (and I speak from experience of losing a relative abroad because a risk assessment was not adequately done - four years on we still have not had the inquest and there is a long legal process going on to ensure that rules are changed). If you were my student I would question your maturity and ability to undertake independent research.

I do a class with my first years on reading - I start off asking them if they all know how to read adn of course they look at me as if i am mad. We then go on to discuss tha various types of reading and by the end they realise that they don't actually know how to read. I found a really good resource on skimming, scanning etc which I will try to find again. In the meantime here is an extract from my lecture notes (these are accompanied by images of where in the text you are looking for each reading style but I don't know how (if we can) to attach an image.


Surveying
Surveying the text means looking at the table of contents, at chapter headings, at summaries or abstracts, for an overview of content and purpose.
Skimming
Skimming means looking over a text quickly, looking for key words, headings, tables and illustrations, to get the gist of the content. Never start to read without first quickly skimming through the text to get an idea of what it's about.
Scanning
Scanning means looking quickly through the text to find a specific piece of information. If you only need a specific piece of information, scan the text to find it. Don't read the whole text in detail.
Reading for detail
Although skimming and scanning are vital reading techniques, you will also need to read texts thoroughly for detail.
Some of the texts you will have to read are likely to be quite complex, and you may not fully understand a section on the first reading. This is very common. It happens to everyone, lecturers included, so don't worry about needing to reread a text.
It often helps to formulate some questions about the topic before you read, so that you are reading for a purpose. This is an active reading technique. Active reading can help you get the most out of text when you are reading for detail. Being clear about your purpose in reading. Why are you reading a particular text? What are you hoping to find? Questioning as you go along. Thinking about the reasons for something, or the consequences. Linking new information you read with things you already know. Thinking critically about what is being presented. Just what are you expected to believe? Is there sufficient evidence? Is another interpretation possible?

There are lots of resources online (eg at open university) on the various readig techniques.

Good Luck

Really not sure why you are hacked off?

Turnitin is a tool to guide on referencing - if only the bibliography and direct quotations are the highlighted bit then you are absolutely fine. The point of turnitin is to highlight areas which MAY cause concern - it is a blunt instrument (hence my previous comment about something that had 8% being dodgy but something with 30% being Ok) but it does point out things you might want to look at again- if you are looking for a 0% score then you will be disappointed. I tell my students that if I see something with a 0 score I will be unimpressed as it suggests no engagement with existing literature.

Try changing the options (there are some which say things like exclude direct quotations) - can't remember how you do it but there is somewhere where you can set options; why not run trunitin the paper without the bibliography?

It depends entirely on what and where - I have had essays that had a high percentage but were Ok because it was quotations, key phrases and the reference list. Similarly I have had essays which came in at 8% but that 8% was a total copy from a single source and so was not acceptable.

Turnitin is really used for guidance on which bits of a piece of work are smilar to other work - it's more suitable for student essays and dissertations than for journal submissions.

Generally oonce you start getting into 30+ you need to worry...

Hi Eska

I woudl say - go for it - you will kick youself if you find out that they gave t to someone who also was only part way through the PhD.

I don't knwo what your university rules ar ebut PhD by publication (ie a series of articles) is usually a different route and needs to be specified at the begining. At my uni it is for people who have a storng research record but never did the PhD - I don't htink it is an easier option if the articles don't already exist as you ahve to write them all AND then write a wrape around that pulls them together.

I am doing my PhD part-time and working full time as a lecturer - I have 14 hours a week teaching classes plus another 2 hours a week supervising dissertations and 3 hours a week of office hours. On top of that is marking, preparation, departmental meetings, staff development etc. I won't pretend it is easy but it possible - I have about 200 hours allowance on my workload for PhD (whihc equates to half a day a week) so I have to do it in the vacations. I have youngish children so that is another demand on my time. I have to be very focussed about reading around the subject (not much) etc.

That said when I can devote reasonable chunks of time (and that is the problem PhD gets squeezed into the odd few hours here and there which is not the most productive) I get very into the PhD.

I think you should go for it.

Home with husband and children on Christmas Eve, my parents with all the familly on Christmas Day, off on Boxing Day on holiday for a week over new year - not taking any PhD or work with me as I owe my family some time:-)

Would echo what everyone else has said - unfortuantely thyroid is on of those conditions that doctors seem to have problems with - I have had mine tested I don't know how many times - I exhibit all the classic symptoms of an underactive thyroid and many of the rarer ones (in fact ever doctor I ever go to for almost anything suggests getting it tested) but the tests always come back "normal" and so I am not on medication.

Have you contacted the British Thyroid Association as they have some great advice http://www.british-thyroid-association.org/ (and a lot of case studies about doctors not recognising it)

You should definitely make a complaint but maybe leave it a few days (wanted to send a smiley but none seemed suitable)

As I said before your best bet is Interlibrary loans for UK theses as they are held in British Library and the library of the university where the degree was taken. Try speaking to a librarian at the uni where the degree was taken - I spoke to someone at Birmingham about accessig a thesis which has not been digitised and they were really helpful.