My department has a focus on nutrients as cancer preventatives ("prodrugs"), but it's in the UK. If this is an area you are interested in, I can ask if they have links to the USA or France.

Good luck. With the technology available today it should be possible to keep in regular contact with a supervisor, even in another country.

It's funny how much easier it is to work when you're excited about something. Wish I could keep that going all the time

My supervisor's wife did her PhD in another country to her country of residence. She had to travel twice a year to meet/present. It's unusual but possible.

http://www.dmu.ac.uk/faculties/cse/courses/cse_pg_programmes.jsp

This is from the Comptuing faculty, detailing courses in Singapore and the Netherlands. I know this may not be exactly what you want, but it is a good example. I'm sure other universities must do similar things.

Yes, my university operates undergrad and postgrad degrees in Asia (Malaysia and Hong Kong). They also operate Master's degrees in the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.

Don't be embarrassed, you earned it. Your school will be chuffed cos it's kudos for them as well.

Do you get a good prize?

Adem, don't judge. Sounds like you have been very lucky if you've never had a crisis of confidence.

Brilliant

Congratulations, you must be chuffed to bits. Well done!

What was it about?

I think you get sick when there are deadlines looming because you are more stressed and run down then. Still annoying though.

There's a good website with tips on how to deal with these idiots:

http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/

Sorry to hear about this. I have had something similar with a colleague, but she could seem very charming when it suited her, and so often you were not believed when making complaints (or it looked like you were the one with the attitude problem).

Can you try to make friends with people in another lab? Just to give you some normal people to talk to (and maybe some good collaborative work may come of it).

But I would not keep quiet in meetings because of fear of what they might say. That is probably what they want: you are enthusiastic and bright, and they want to stifle that, because as you say, they see you as a threat. Too bad for them.

It may seem that most people are not happy, but in reality (or in my case, anyway) people are most likely to post a message when they are worried or unhappy and seek reassurance. We don't often broadcast when things are going well - don't want to tempt fate .

If you want to do a PhD then you should go right ahead.

Manda's way sounds like more fun than my way

Defintely: I don't just want to be "OK", or mediocre. I'd really like to do something special. But when I'm panicking (like now!) I wonder if I'm even able to do OK; there always seems to be so much I don't know. I'm not sure that much distingishes me from the clever layperson (surely anyone who read the right papers and practised on the same machines could do what I'm doing, and probably better).