Congratulations - good to hear it went so well. Good to hear your hand's better too. Don't overdo it though!

I understand why you'd be nervous, you've obviously got a lot of things drawing your attention away from this paper. But I think it's understood that sometimes these things are very much 'work in progress'... I attended a workshop recently where one of the speakers was pretty much just floating an idea, one which he acknowledged faced serious objections that he had no ready answers to - but he didn't look stupid or underprepared, just unafraid to put an idea out there and accept feedback on it.

As for being the only student - I appreciate that must be a bit overwhelming, but on the other hand you're not under the sort of pressure the 'big hitters' are under to present something worthy of their formidable reputations!

I live in Bradford (well, near Bradford - a BD postcode anyway), my wife did a PGCE at Leeds and I'm about to start a PhD there. We probably don't have the best-informed view of the 'student experience', because we're older with kids and our own home, but for what it's worth...

Leeds has a very good reputation for student life - it's a nice, affluent-seeming city with good shopping and (I'm told!) a good nightlife - lots of bars, clubs etc. The most studenty area is Headingley, which I don't really know but which is supposed to be a great place to live. Public transport's good, with a free bus running between the city centre and the unis all day.

Bradford is only just starting to experience the sort of regeneration that's happened in Leeds - plans are afoot to redevelop the city centre and it is changing for the better, but a lot of old shops have gone and not yet been replaced, so it doesn't give a sense of being thriving the way Leeds does. Obviously there's a large Asian population and that comes across in the city's cultural life (the annual Mela for instance), architecture (mosques), shops and of course its famous curry houses!

Different areas have their own personalities - Saltaire, for instance, the beautiful Victorian village a few miles out of the centre, has a bit of a trendy, arty vibe, with the Hockney gallery in the old mill and several 'boutique'-type shops (vintage clothes, jewellery etc.).

Again, public transport is very good - even small villages like Saltaire have their own train station, and places like Skipton, Ilkley and York are very accessible. We live car-free without too much trouble.

I can't really comment too much on the nightlife or the student experience in particular. Bradford's certainly not awash with trendy clubs like Leeds, but there are some nice bars and restaurants I think.

People-wise - I think Yorkshire folk are a nice bunch on the whole! But as to the student population specifically, I couldn't say.

Great news Pamplemousse - hope you're very happy in your new home! I suspect you've bought at the right time & it's good that you've managed to get that foot on the ladder before prices start heading up again.

Ah, memories... My A level result were a pretty big let-down (BBD when I needed ABC), but it was in the process of grovelling to my Uni asking if they'd still take me that I switched to a joint honours degree, which was the best thing that could have happened. I was a pretty average 2:2 student in my main subject - the one I'd been planning to study for a single honours degree - but did well enough in my subsidiary subject that I managed to get a 2:1 overall. I've since gone on to get an MA distinction in my subsid subject and am about to start a funded PhD. Funny how things work out... if I'd got better A Level results I reckon there's a real chance I'd have sleepwalked through a single-honours degree in a subject I didn't really enjoy studying (or have any real aptitude for) at that level, collected my 2:2, and that would have been that.

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Good grief, what a horrible situation... I never cease to be amazed by some of the horror stories on here.

It looks to me as if your supervisor has been trying to get away with murder. You're entitled to regular input from two qualified supervisors, and instead you've been left floundering with only a PhD student taking responsibility for you - which isn't fair on you or them. (Even established academics aren't left to supervise students solo with no prior experience.)

I know the politics here must be horrendous - you have to work with these people - but I think you need to look into complaint/grievance/appeal procedures. From what you say, you have some very concrete examples of your supervisor's failure to do her job. Normally you'd have a second supervisor and maybe an advisor to talk to, but in your situation maybe you need to go to the head of dept. or someone?

Hopefully other people will be able to offer some more expert advice - I'm a newbie myself. Very best of luck anyway.

I think the general consensus is probably right: give it a couple of years and see how things look once you've adjusted to parenthood, had more of a chance to assess whether you see yourself staying in your current career long-term, and maybe get a bit of money saved up. I don't see any real reason to turn everything upside down all at once (new baby, new home, new income).

Family commitments (four kids!) kept me out of education for ten years - which really was too long - but if you're happy in your current job I don't see why sticking at it for a year or five should be a problem.

Just a couple of other points:

1. I'm not kidding about putting some money aside! We started out dirt poor (student parents) and have only ever had one modest income coming in, so it hasn't been an issue for me to go back to Uni now my wife's working. In fact we feel positively wealthy on a teacher's salary plus my studentship! But if you get too used to having & spending two decent incomes I can imagine it being hard for you to give up work and go back to Uni a few years down the line. Obvious solution (IMHO!): DON'T get used to spending everything you earn now, start putting a good chunk away to see you through your PhD. (Honestly, we know couples who really seem to struggle with money when they have kids, and it's not because they're earning less than us - it's because they're used to a two-income, no-kids lifestyle).

2. Moving schools isn't that big a deal for very young children. We moved to a new town when my oldest two were around six and eight, and although they were a bit sorry to leave friends behind they were quick to make new ones and get used to a new school. It's not like switching schools as a teenager with exams looming etc.

Best of luck anyway!

Bug - just to pick up on Sleepy's point: if funding bodies are looking for someone with the potential to attract young women to research careers, surely there must be a fair amount of mileage in the fact that you're an expert in modes of communication used by girls at the age where they're beginning to choose a career path? (If nothing else it suggests an ability to connect in an appropriate way with young women at that crucial stage).

Sleepy - yes, of course I expect to pick up all sorts of things over the next few years, but I don't see why that means I shouldn't ask for advice on this forum meanwhile. I'm not at uni at the minute - I finished my MA last year - so chatting on this forum is about the best I can do as regards staying 'in the loop'. And there are certain questions I'd be a bit uncomfortable about putting to someone in my dept - 'does this funding you've given me look a bit pants?' being one of them!

Sorry if that Willy Fogg stuff offended you. You asked me to come back in a couple of years and look at how stupid my old posts were - how could I resist looking for a stupid old post of yours?! I wasn't trying to be nasty (or to 'stalk' you!), I was just kidding. Hence the smilies and generally conciliatory tone of that post.

I'll admit my claws came out with that last sarky comment, which isn't like me, but like I say - being patronised really does wind me up. Sorry if I've offended you, I hate getting drawn into this sort of argument.

Thanks for the support Phdnewbie - I was beginning to feel like I was in the stocks there!(up)

Thanks also for your helpful, polite and considered response to a question which is, by near-universal consent, among the very dumbest and most inane ever asked. ;-) Sounds like I should be prepared for a certain amount of snobbery about non-RC funding.

*ahem*