======= Date Modified 12 Mar 2010 11:35:40 =======
Hey Angel, sounds like a good call to me. The fact that you actually got a good night's sleep after making the decision makes it sound like you have made the right one- best of luck with it and well done for making the decision! Best, KB

Hey! I didn't for my MSc, but I will be getting something for my primary PhD supervisor when I eventually finish my PhD...nothing too flash, but I think it's nice as a gesture if they have been a good supervisor. Sod's law- my supervisor doesn't eat chocolate and only drinks champagne. Typical! Best, KB

Hey! No worries, being in clinical psych myself, I actually quite enjoy doing these sorts of things and having a nosy at what other psychs are doing! Good luck with it, sounds like a cool topic! Best, KB

Hey Angel. I'm only in second year (although I am already scared witless at the thought of a viva) so I can't say I've been there, but a friend of mine did get a re-submit verdict over a year ago and he recently re-submitted and passed his PhD successfully. So people do get there. If it was me, I can't imagine being able to let go of 5 or so years worth of work and having no PhD to show for it, and would probably be doggedly determined to carry on and get through it. Having said that, you must be exhausted from it all, and if you really think you have nothing to gain from carrying on then perhaps it's not worth making yourself miserable over. As you say, it's on the table and I think you have to make a decision to either go for it hell for leather and get the damn thing done and out of your life, or throw it out and move on. What is your gut instinct? If you imagine throwing it away and moving on, how does it feel? Sorry, I haven't come anywhere near to answering your question...I guess my take on it is that if you reckon you can get through it then I would do it. If you really feel you can't then life is far too short to be this unhappy, especially if there is nothing to gain in the long-term from carrying on, so find something that will make you happy. All the best with whatever you decide, keep us up to date, best, KB

Oh unlucky Wal, that sucks. I know this won't make things any better for you now, but my supervisor confessed to me that she forgot to press the record button on her very first PhD interview and had to go back and do it again. Her participant had Alzheimer's and had no recollection of doing the interview to start with so had no problem with doing it again, but I'm guessing this won't apply to your participant(s)! I use a voice recorder and I always triple check it's working and even then worry that it will pack up halfway through the interview...oh how technology can let us down. It's crappy now, but you will get it sorted and look back (and dare I say, laugh), though I'm sure that feels like a long long way away at the moment. Good luck with catching up, KB

Hey guys! Interesting question. My primary supervisor really is at the top of her field, so is incredibly knowledgeable about her main topics, yet my PhD topic is a little out of her speciality and seems to be an area she is trying to break into. I really expected her to know everything there is to know about what I am studying, and of course she does know an awful lot, but not everything! There have been quite a few times I have mentioned research and measures that she has never heard of and I have been surprised, but on the plus side she always follows it up and seems to really respect my views and opinions about what I'm doing and how I'm doing it. And then of course there are loads of times when she mentions a whole load of literature that's relevant that I've never even heard of, but it is refreshing to realise that she doesn't know every tiny little thing and she's quite happy to ask me about it! So yes, your supervisor should have a good grasp of your subject and experience of your methodology, but in terms of knowing every tiny little thing and every last relevant journal article then I guess even the best people their field can't have read absolutely everything about everything! Best, KB

Hey! We seem to have formed a little clique on our corridor- there are three of us with the same supervisor who are very close and go out a lot, and we are often joined by a few other PhDers on the same corridor as us but with a different supervisor, and sometimes one or two others who have different supervisors but who we know through being on the same MSc a couple of years ago or the same teaching team last year or something. So we are quite sociable really, but it does tend to be a whole 'proximity' thing going on with us, in that those of us based in nearby offices tend to go out together. Sometimes I go to the PhD colloqiuums and so on, and that's fine for meeting other PhD students too, but all too often it's at a rubbish time and I'm out testing or whatever. I feel very lucky in having really close friends here, but I can imagine that if I happened to be on a different corridor with no PhD-ers on it then I would be a bit lonely. Although we are all on good terms with our supervisors and the staff etc, we don't tend to see them socially unless it's just for a bit of lunch or something now and again. I know a lot of folk in another block in our department who I don't see so much but who all do stuff together too, so I think it's a lot to do with who you're seeing and mixing with during the day. KB

Hey Sam, I'm doing a PhD in clinical psychology, working with people with Alzheimer's and other types of dementia. Basically all I did in my first year in terms of my PhD was write my lit review (and got it published), finalise my project propoosal, get school and NHS ethical approval, collect my control group data and start recruiting patients. It was only by September of my first year that I started to collect patient data, and this is the norm in clinical psychology because all the ethics procedures take so long to get through if you're working with a clinical population. If you're testing students I'm guessing you won't have the NHS ethics trauma, but even so I wouldn't worry too much at this stage...it's often into second year before people really get into the swing of testing. It's also better to find out the potential problems now rather than in another year, so you can put them right before you've gone too far wrong. How many experiments do you have? How many people do you need for each one? It sounds like you are doing okay to me, just keep going! Best, KB

Hey there! I am in clinical psychology but have a lot of pals doing cognitive neuroscience PhDs in the department. It sounds like you have a great background in psychology but I suspect you would be better off doing an MSc first if you have no experience of scanning. A lot of my friends started using the scanner (fMRI) in their MSc year, and then carried on to do a PhD afterwards, so I think you would need that extra year really to get to grips with things and to stand out from the competition- an MSc is usually a standard requirement for a psychology PhD anyway, although 4 years of experience is definitely good! Might be worth trying for a 1+3 ESRC award so that your MSc is covered too! Good luck! KB

======= Date Modified 09 46 2010 21:46:24 =======
Hey guys! Okay, I know this is really childish but I love winding my supervisor up because it is just so funny! She's cool and we get on really well, but she's a bit of an academic snob and tends to look down on anyone who doesn't have at least 3 degrees and talk with a posh accent. The best bits so far from this week:

Me: 'Wow, sorry about that, my head's been up my arse this week'
Her: 'Pardon? Your what has what? That's an absolutely repulsive phrase, do you really have to say things like that?'
(I have now promised her MSc students a round of drinks if they can somehow all squeeze the same phrase into their meeting with her next week)

Her: 'Did you read The Times last week'
Me:' The Times....erm, no I don't think so. I read Heat magazine over breakfast today though so I know who the England football players are all sleeping with'.
Her: 'Heat magazine? What is that? Why on earth would you want to read about that? That drivel can't possibly be doing your brain any good'

I actually think about the things I could say that would really shock her, I honestly think she lives in her own little world somtimes! What would you LOVE to say to your supervisor to wind him/her up and bring them back down to earth?!

Come on guys, it's a tough week and I need a laugh :-)

======= Date Modified 09 Mar 2010 21:31:40 =======
It really does depend on your subject and where your funding is from. I have a pal with a 2.2 and a pass at MSc who walked into a fully-funded PhD in health economics, so if you're in the right place at the right time then in some subjects you don't have to have an absolutely outstanding academic record. There are a lot of people in my department with 2.1s and a distinction at MSc, although none with less than a high 2.1 and a merit at MSc. I think if you get a good MA, you should be in with a shot of a funded PhD. I reckon a good masters can make up for a 'weaker' undergrad degree to some extent, but then there are some sources of funding that will probably insist on a first at undergrad- I wouldn't have got my funding with less than a first and a distinction as it was from an academic achievement based scholarship, but then I was offered funding from elsewhere which wasn't dependent on the distinction. In terms of doing the masters, I think it's a good decision- again, I know it's different for different subjects but I wouldn't have been anywhere near prepared for my PhD if I hadn't done the MSc first. So go for it- get yourself a good MA and you should be in with a chance, but ask around and find out who wants what! Best of luck, KB

Hey! While it is true that you can go straight to PhD from undergrad for some subjects, this is not true for all of them, especially the more competitive ones. I am in clinical psychology, and in the Psych department here an MSc is an absolute requirement for doing a PhD, even with a first at undergrad. I have friends in Biology who just had a 2.1 at undergrad and weren't required to have an MSc and got a fully funded PhD quire easily, but it would be best to check with individual supervisors and their departments whether they would like you to have one or not. Also bear in mind that even if it not a requirement, most likely you will be competing for funding against people who have one in the more competitive areas. I'm not suggesting that you jump straight into your MSc, but you should try to find out more about the specific requirements and the state of the competition in your field before you decide! Best of luck with it, KB

Hey Keep_Calm. Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I'm about halfway through my PhD now and for the first time I am beginning to feel as though I am getting behind and it feels like more and more work is being asked of me and I just don't know how I am going to fit it all in. Like you, it's not that I won't work hard- but there just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything that my sup wants me to do. I have supervision in an hour and I may well have to make my voice heard on this one as otherwise I think I'm going to have a break down. Luckily I enjoy my work and my topic, which helps tremendously, but I'm not superman and the day only has 24 hours in it. So I feel for you. It sounds like you are a tough cookie, and I reckon you will get through this patch, so try to keep plodding and keep your chin up :) Best, KB

Hey! My PhD is in clinical psychology, in the field of dementia. From my experiences, and the places that we tend to collaborate with, universities big on dementia stuff include Bangor, Oxford, UCL, Bradford, and I think Cardiff and Swansea as well. There are probably others, but these seem to be the biggies from what I know. Best thing to do would probably be to look at the staff pages of these universities, see if their interests overlap with your own, and then think about approaching one or more of them with your ideas to see if they are interested in taking you on. In terms of funding, people on the same team as me doing dementia PhDs are funded by ESRC X 2, external scholarships X 2, and School-funded X 2. If you can find someone who is interested in your project and willing to take you on, they will help you look for funding from various sources. You could also look at funding from the Alzheimer's Society- they fund PhDs too, although I was a bit hacked off with them because they 'lost' my application! Hope that helps a bit! KB

I get really paranoid about this sort of thing. I have now developed a slightly obsessive routine whereby every single time I save something I save it straight away to 2 different USB sticks (one remains in my desktop at work and the other travels wherever I go!) and to the desktop itself, and then my laptop at home! I have even gone back to my office in the middle of a lunch out once because I realised I had left both memory sticks in my desktop and worried that if the building happened to burn down within the hour I would lose all of my work! On reflection, I am probably a little bit too paranoid, but better safe than sorry! KB