In the real working world I'm guessing my boss wouldn't suggest spanking me if I didn't get my results soon.... he is unbelievable.

Point taken though, am going to go see my graduate tutor early next week with my concerns.

Thanks for all the replies. I know I should talk to someone, it's just hard to know what to say. I don't want to make it a big problem because the liklihood is I'll have to work with him for the next 3 years so I'm a bit scared of going over his head.

Speigboy: I'd love to be able to improve the relationship but if you met him you'd understand, all of the post-docs in my lab, plus PIs in other groups feel the same about him.

I think it's the "bipolar" side of him which is the hardest, one day he will shout at me for the smallest thing and then the next day he will forget that he even said anything to me and be fine about everything.

Lets hope it gets better, there's no chance of him retiring anytime soon!

My supervisor is awful, truly awful. He offers no support and forgets I exist until he wants to shout at me for not having results. It is well known that he has no people skills, he also forgets to sign forms etc, forgets meetings I arrange with him, doesn't listen to what I say or read e-mails I send.

It's just not really possible to get a new supervisor for a science PhD is it? I am just entering my second year and the thought of 3 more years of dealing with him is really getting to me. Any advice?!

I am writing mine now, am doing a mini-thesis type thing similar to my undergrad dissertation. I haven't had any guidelines as to what I'm meant to write so am winging it!

So I'm one year in and I have a meeting with my supervisor about what to do next at 4pm. I have some good results to tell him that basically mean the first part of my project is finished so I need a new direction. He is really hard to pin down and although he is massively enthusiastic about everything it's hard to know what he really intends on following through.

I've spent a year doing things quite removed from what I applied for and really want to get back on track. I'm a bit confused about how much I control my PhD, nothing I have done so far relates to the advertised position. How much can I insist on what I want to do at this stage and how much do I just have to do what he says? I don't really mind about specifics I just want to be learning certain techniques which I haven't been doing so far. Any tips on getting hte best out of this meeting?

I'm definitely thinking quite a big clock then so I can't pretend I've been reading for an hour when it's only been ten minutes!

I am currently trying to persuade the boyf to turn our spare bedroom into a study for when I start writing up. What do you reckon are the essentials of a good working environment? I'm going to have to get rid of the bed cos otherwise the afternoon naps will be far too appealing!

One of the best/worst mistakes I heard about was a group that were researching the effects of ecstasy on the brain and found it to be highly toxic. They published an important paper and then realised that the person who was making the samples so the study would be blind had actually got ecstasy mixed up with a well known neurotoxin.

I have curly, wavy hair....and a very expensive pair of hair straightners. We always want what we don't have *sigh*

Medical/research testing can be pretty lucrative and with flexible hours as a PhD student you could probably do quite a lot and it doesn't all involve taking drugs or anything remotely dangerous.

Tutoring is also an option, but I don't think it pays enough to be worth the work (preparation/marking etc) to be honest.

But...if you have a crazy big loan repayment each month the best plan is to work out a proper, very detailed budget. (go to www.moneysavingexpert.com) Put *everything* you spend in there, even the things you'd normally forget such as coffees and magazines.

Hopefully you have got all the dramatic events of a PhD over in one year!

I would say first 9 months of PhD pretty much sucked but now things are on the up experiment wise. Just need to work on my supervisor relationship, my uni actually runs a course on "managing your supervisor" seems I'm not the only one with a problem in that area...

Go to a good hairdresser and he will cut it in a way that will allow it to grow properly, and you'll probably need to get a trim every 6-8 weeks to encourage it to grow. (I spent a loooonnnngg time growing my short hair into verrrrryyyyy long hair)

Obviously, on a stipend pretty difficult. What about a wig?!

It's just 3 weeks until I have officially been here 1 year and today some experiments actually started working. I am really excited about the prospect of coming in at the weekend so I can make more progress. Would be great to actually have something to say in the 12 month meeting so am going to have a hectic three weeks.

Anyway, just wanted to share my excitement with everyone.

(now no-one complain there are never any positive posts on here!)

Sometimes if you have less time (ie four days a weke instead of five) you actually work more efficiently on the other days as you know you have to get stuff done rather than having the "I'll do it later attitude"

Only you know if this will work for you but if you need the money then having less financial worries might make you work more effectively too, I know I can't concentrate if I'm worried about something.

Actually a PGCE is not essential to become a teacher. If you have a PhD and have also gained teaching experience during that time (tutorials and lectures etc) then you will be able to get your QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) througha different route that may be quicker. You can find a school that will take you on as an unqualified teacher where you will train for 3 months to a year or if you have a lot of teaching experience you may be able to get QTS straight away although you will need to be assesed formally.