No. you're not alone. I also have friends contacting me via Facebook, but I can't (won't) reply cos I would have to sign up first, and I don't want to. Can't see the appeal at all.

I don't like the idea of work politics, but I've just partaken of some and feel a bit grubby now...someone is publishing using a theory of mine (quite a good one, if I say so myself), and I suspected that they might "forget" to mention to anyone that it wasn't actually their own theory. So I emailed this person, copying my supervisors in, with some advice and a copy of my original work on this...feel a bit sneaky doing it though. What would you have done?

I agree H, I had my hair straightened for a photograph once and I looked like a bloke in drag. A bit of wave and body is much more flattering.

That's brilliant, I know the feeling well! Esp. the bit about them running under your cupboard when you switch the light on at 4am, leaving you unable to get back to sleep.

Is Piglet reading this? Australia must get some whopper spiders too?

Try a ponytail till the hair is all one length (unless you've got Spock-ears like me).

Know exactly what you mean: I had to re-do 800 samples once cos of a mistake. You can really lose confidence in yourself. Now I make SOPs all of all methods I do, explaining clearly how the calculations work, so that other people can point out errors to me sooner rather than later.

I read this in the Guardian last weekend, and it made me feel better:

http://money.guardian.co.uk/workweekly/story/0,,2160002,00.html

Also know what you mean about ups and downs. I met a professor fairly recently who told me that his PhD was a repeating process of thinking "I'm a genius/I'm an idiot", for the whole 3 years.

At least we can admit mistakes. I know one or two postgrads who just cannot, and I wonder how they learn anything.

Thanks for sharing that, Walmin I will wear a boiler suit in bed till I know where this bugger has got to. It was like a small crab.

"Slowly"? These buggers move like Lance Armstrong.

I don't like killing them either; though I must confess I tried with this one (rolled up newspaper). But it just bounced back up and carried on. It went under the bed, and since then I've been expecting it to crawl into bed with me during the night.

I would recommend asking if you can come and meet him, and look at his lab. He will get a far better idea of you, and you of the group, this way. My supervisor is always happy to meet potential students; it's preferable to an interminable email exchange.

I'm suprised that your supervisor hasn't got the grant yet. But I don't think you need to worry: if you have been made a formal offer to study a funded PhD, then I think the university is legally obliged to support you financially.

Puppies are ace...are you going to keep the girl?

I don't think that caravan would be big enough for this spider.

As soon as it gets dark this time of year, the buggers come out to play. I swear the one under my bed last night had a six-inch legspan.

Hey, Rick: great minds think alike

Good to see we offer similar advice; it must be good advice, in that case.

I have to meet my industry partners once a month, and initialy I was just like you: I expected to be torn to shreds. But it never happened: in fact (even though sometimes they have questioned decisions I made) I have always come away feeling quite inspired.

Prepare a list of things you want to discuss or question - this helps you to feel in control. Read a few papers just beforehand so you can drop in stuff about the latest research (always impressive). And remember you're not on trial, it's a friendly scientific discussion. You'll feel really good after the meeting.