What do u mean, 'working from home'? If you are still working from home on a PhD then surely it doesn't matter where u are working? But then again, maybe I'm missing the point....
I didn't teach or demonstrate during my PhD (I'm scared of Cambridge undergrads) and so my last job was back in 2003 (part time when doing my undergrad) - this went on a recent application form and I didn't get the impression that this was a problem at all...

Yep, 8p!!!!!!!
They come in 3 flavours - chicken, bacon or curry - but I'd stear clear of the latter if I were u!

Oh Laurzf1, sounded like u described my relationship with my boyfriend! Fortunately, he works in the computing department at my Institute and is used to hysterical PhD students who have managed to drop their computers, lose all their data etc etc ect so he was fairly prepared for me!!

hear, hear, pea!
I think its wicked that people have such diverse interests

Hi Roopa,
I was actually at UCL as well - I did my undergraduate BSc in Anatomy and Developmental Biology and then when straight on to do my PhD.

Ah, just re-read that - my phenotype doesn't actually give me personally an enarged forebrain!!!!!

Hi Roopa, Well, sort of...my studies kinda stop just before gastrulation - although my phenotype does give me an enlarged forebrain. I'm at the Gurdon Insitute, Cambridge. How about you? what do you do?

This might be different for sciences, I'm not sure, but mine is a developmental biology PhD...
I'm writing the intro at the mo, and I'm not sure when its ok to cite review papers and when to cite the original papers?
Do you have to have actually read the original papers to cite them? (I mean more than reading the abstract and skimming the paper and then seeing a review and going, oh yeh, i knew that....)

Wow. I haven't a clue what that means but it sounds very impressive!!!

Depends what you mean by pointless.
Are you gonna change the world? Nope.
Will anyone ever read the thesis except for the examiners? I've been told no.
But, at one point even if you can't remember now, you must have been sufficiently interested in your subject to want to dedicate a miminum of 3 years of extremely hard work to doing a PhD and finding out more about it.
Maybe thats the point?

Am sure someone must have posted something like this before....
but whats your thesis title?

Me:
'The establishment and regulation of the anteiror visceral endoderm signalling centre in the mouse embryo'

You??

Yes, like some of u said, I feel completely abandoned, as if my PhD doesn't matter.
Of course, everyone needs holiday...but 5 weeks? Now?? With no email contact???

Good thinking on the library idea Fluffy, I'll get on to that today

As for the whole departmental safe-guards/advisors...
Well, I've been trying those since I was about 12 months in when I realised I was getting zilch supervision...one thing I don't like about where I work is although I am registered to an Uni Department, I work in an affiliated Institute, where for some reason I seem to have far fewer people wanting to help me...
I've banged my head against a brick wall trying to get someone to listen to me - my advisor helpfully told me of my supervisor, 'oh well, everyone knows what she's like...surely you did before you joined?' NO!!! I applied cos I loved my science!

They do fab noodles for 8p!!!

I definitely don't eat right.....I guessed cos I'm so short of money, I have found myself actually enjoying 8p noodles from Tescos! I keep telling myself that when I finish I'll start doing things properly again, like eating right and exercising. It does really feel like my life is on hold and all the 'normal' things in life will start again when I submit....
Oh, and along with those 8p noodles, a weakness has become cheap chocolate bisuits, so weight loss hasn't been a problem....

...and yes, she may very well be on the moon.....apparently she is totally without email contact while she is away....actually, I can think of somewhere else she is, but that thought is a bit rude!!!