We're all in the same boat, it seems: it's good to have this forum to offload worries.

(by the way Corinne, we have even more in common - my real name is Corinne too)

I define my objectives - why do I need to write this; what questions must I answer? Try to get into the frame of mind of your reader.

Yes, I keep having fantasies about moving to Vanatu or somewhere equally remote.

I keep telling myself that as long as I've tried my best with the resources available to me, then I have fulfilled my obligations. But I don't think my industrial partners see it that way - they just want results ASAP.

Try not to get too down: your award is a brilliant thing that no-one can ever take from you. I think in your case people expect a lot from you because you are clearly able to achieve a lot (even though you may be going through a temporary crisis of confidence).

I think I know what you mean. I'm really feeling pressure at the moment. With me it is because my work is part of a chain of industrial research, and if I don't meet my objectives it really messes up the industrial partners' research. I was told at the start that this project "cannot be allowed to fail". At the time I saw that as a challenge but now it's just terrifying.

Interesting. One of the unis round here (not mine) has decided that if you go beyond 4 years, it's an automatic fail.

I like "The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research" by Gordon Rugg and Marian Petre. It's informal compared to some others, but very realistic.

I have never heard of a supervisor being so negative - you are so close to finishing, she should be cheering you on. And pregnancy aside, lots of students whose funding has run out have to work, becuase of the daft rule that you are not funded for the write-up period. Surely she must be aware that most students have to work at least part-time in the last few months of their PhD?

Try not to tkae it personally - it's probably not about you, but about other issues in her life.

Know what you mean Sue. But I'd like something to make it slightly personal, just not embarrasingly so. I always read the acknowledgments first, just out of nosiness.

Is anyone planning on putting some kind of quote in the title pages of their thesis?

I was planning on something by TS Eliot, but the way things are going lately I'm more inclined to Bart Simpson: "I didn’t think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows".

Use whatever you feel more comfortable with, and I would recommend rehearsing (out loud) by yourself, just to get used to hearing your voice. If you feel like a plonker then have the TV on too, so the neighbours can't hear.

I had to attend a course last week where we were filmed giving a presentation, and then forced to watch ourselves - but actually, everyone realised that they don't look as daft as they had assumed.

Hmm...a long shot, but I seem to remember that some Parisian museum holds a metal bar that defines the exact length of a meter. Perhaps some science museums will have similar objects re: inches. Would the Greenwich Maritime museum be able to help?

I have a pretty big phobia of fans (don't laugh) - this includes window extractor fans, desk fans, even the little fans in the back of computers and other machines. They're unavoidable in labs; but I am OK as long as there is someone else in the room. If I have to be alone, I can force myself to stay calm for a short time.

Personally I didn't find any kind of desensitization therapy helpful, but it may work for you.

I think Shani made a good point a few posts back. Watson and Crick quite famously said that they would not have discovered what they did, if their universitites had been as obsessed with "returns" and commercial relevance as they are nowadays.

I'm only at the end of first year, but I'm so sick of lab equipment failures. I'm supposed to give results once a month at a meeting and I'm fed up of having to apologise for lack of data.

Also starting to resent another PhD (no fault of theirs, mind you) whose work was based on well established methods, whose 3-year plan was devised by the supervisor and who basically did what they were told for 3 years...and everyone tells me constantly how well they did to finish on time. That's not helping!

(petty of me I know...just sulking today after a bad meeting).

Two of them signed up, using their real names as usernames. But they dropped off pretty quickly. Just me left, as far as I know.