Scuse me?

I was just trying to explain myself, that's all - if I say "I'm temping" it seems strange that I'm posting on a PhD board. So I answwered the question of what PhD i was doing, and just used one line to say why I'm not. Hardly War and Peace is it?

Sorry H, I'll know not to mention it any more. No need to be sarky tho...

I was meant to be doing a PhD in glutamate receptor expression in the spinal cord, but for one reason and another didn't start, so I'm temping until I can start a new project (if I get one...) in September. And of course it's ok if you don't say where :-p

Hey Laura, what exactly are you researching? And where?

LMFAO!!!

Driven2Insanity - I've been bullied in the past, although not by academics, and you need to realise that part of the game is to make you feel like it's completely normal, and that any feelings of doub tyou get are due to your over-reaction. This supervisor is behaving totally unprofessionally and is a disgrace to his university.

Sugar_student - do you actually study sugar? Sweet!

I once saw a paper with 76 authors - can you imagine the fights they'd have had over precise order of contribution if it weren't for alphabetising?

If your library toilets were anything like the ones in Sheffield, the fumes were enough to make your eyes water without any emotional stimulus!

Whereabouts are you btw?

So, your issues, one by one

1. House - do you have friends you could live with? Where are your current housemates going to live (if you have housemates)?

2. Conference paper - not sure what to suggest there, but I'd say that's the most immediate issue.

3. Money - can you speak to someone at your Students' Union about it. They have hardship funds for people in trouble. Also, if you really get stuck with a place to live, they'll be able to help, at least in the short term.

This said, your situation doesn't sound much like fun. I hope it all improves soon...

I started a undergrad MBiochem, at Jesus College, Oxford, although I didn't complete. My opinion of Oxford, from the time I was there, is that it has great facilities, and certainly has academics who are a the top of their game. Whether it's any better than other universities, especially the Russell group unis, is debateable. Certainly in sciences there seems to be little difference if any, with the "Oxbridge is better" statement being a myth perpetuated by those who have Oxbridge degrees. The place can be very stuffy, and it certainly isn't like living in the real world - I much preferred my time in Sheffield to my time in Oxford and, unless I found a superb, out-of-this-world project with a brilliant supervisor, I wouldn't touch Oxbridge again with a bargepole.

Why are you doing a PhD - well, that could be meant in the "what do you want out of it?" way, or the "why the hell do you think you can do one?" way. The former is ok, the latter isn't.

The other three questions/statements are, IMO, disgraceful. Either your supervisor is on an ego trip to make himself feel good, or has no idea about other people's feelings, or is a ****. From the sounds of it, **** seems about right. If a supervisor of mine ssaid that to me, there'd be no way I could work effectively with him.

This may be a baaaad idea, but I was thinking last night - why don't we get a findaphd.com facebook group going?

Hey Claudia - for some reason, Leeds never really crops up in my desired fields (neuropharmacology or immunology). However, I've heard that the student area is somewhat crime-ridden, and I'd be a bit wary of going there. Still, nice city, and certainly close enough to home for me.

What are you doing there?

Big up Big Don!!!

I have often thought that a large part of a PhD is gaining the confidence to appear right, and believe that you are right, even if you are wrong. Bluffing, if you will. I have had many contradictory lectures from respected researchers, with differntng facts, sometimes diametrically opposed ideas, and often no common ground between them.