As bad as it may feel, I think Natassia is right and that lots of supervisors must experience 'dramatic' moments from their PhD students. You feel embarrassed but I think that you just need to apologize, perhaps in person if you feel it will be more effective, as soon as possible, reiterate that you were struggling with the work and that you were a bit overwhelmed by the negative criticism. However, if you really are having problems with his level of respect for you and his way of looking at your work I also suggest you get it out in the open at this stage. I don't think it's helpful of him to have ignored your email which, however unfortunately worded etc, should also have sounded like a cry for help to him.

I recently had a piece of work (a definite draft!) back from my supervisor with a lot of negative comments, but when we went through it they were all justified, although I still found it pretty depressing. I thought I was then going to go through the same thing with my secondary supervisor but his outlook was much more accepting of work in progress and by coming at it from a different angle he's left me feeling a great deal more positive (although with loads to do!). Do you have a second supervisor to take this to for a second perspective? As well as making things right with your supervisor, I'm sure you would feel better if you improve your relationship with the piece of work in question, otherwise it will always remind you of this bad time and be much harder to work on. Good luck.

I am so sorry to hear this. I know there's nothing really any of us can say to make you feel better. But you have said the most important thing yourself in what they told you - you have not failed. However heartbreaking when you have seen the report you have options available on what to do next, and you can and will get a PhD at the end of this. There will be light at the end of the tunnel.

I get lots and lots of comments (some illegible) scribbled in pencil editing little written errors (although not really stylistic ones) but primarily putting big queries beside what I've done! Also, ways to expand and directions to consider, and occasionally a tick to mean: hurrah, a paragraph that makes sense! And then I get told the primary areas in which it can be improved, eg. problems with structure, issues with clarity. It's certainly not changes the way you mean them but tends to be very constructive. I've just had a piece of work (admittedly very much a draft) back that was ripped to shreds, but when we went over it I had to agree with most of what had been said, even the really big criticisms. I'm seeing my second supervisor tomorrow though, so expecting to go through the same experience all over again, which is slightly depressing even though I know it will lead me to produce a good piece of writing at the end!

All very uplifting - congratulations!

Another free way is through Open Office (a free MS Office alternative I used to use) which allows you to do a one-click conversion from word to PDF. I've never tried it the other way though.

I love cooking and really welcome having something different I have to do in the evening. A few suggestions for healthy and really fast meals that I do when I know I don't have time though:

fresh pasta, which takes 3 mins to cook, with pesto (takes minutes to make at home if you have a blender or you can buy it fresh or in a jar);

salmon - sealed in a pan and then cooked in a foil packet in the oven for 15 minutes with a piece of rosemary and a slice of sweetcure bacon - and salad;

vegetable stir fry - first fry up some chopped garlic, spring onions, ginger, lemon grass and chilli in ground nut oil, remove and stir fry your veg (or veg and chicken), then put the garlic etc back in, mix up some lime juice, nam pla and sugar in a cup and add that, and eat as is or with noodles which only take about 3 minutes to cook.

Hope those tempt you. I make sure I do a big shop each week so I have fresh veg above all, but there's always meat or fish in the freezer too. Fresh pasta can be cooked from frozen so that's a good one to keep on hand, especially with a jar of pesto in the cupboard or homemade pesto in the freezer.

I'd go in and talk it over with them - you presumably have a large group of witnesses (your students) that you did the teaching so they don't have a leg to stand on. They will also need you to do your next term's teaching so be firm with them and I'm quite sure you will see the money. I'm also quite sure that they know that you'd win if you took them to court. Being firm about something like this will make you look assertive and professional rather than somebody who's ok with being conned and not paid, which won't help people's impression of your character for references anyway.

Congratulations! That's wonderful and it's so nice to hear such good news on here! :-)

I was told recently that the key to getting a job after the PhD is what you publish during your PhD. I'm also 7 months in and want to start thinking about this side of things. I either have material I've already written which I think could become an article, or I could convert part of my MA dissertation into an article. Either way it's something I want to attempt in the next couple of months.

You're obviously aware of what it is you need to be doing so I should start doing it again a little at a time. Keep yourself to a strict working day, even if it's a short one to start with. Don't think 'I need to read all those books' but rather try to work through on a chapter by chapter basis. And be honest with your supervisor and ask their advice to start getting back on track. Good luck.

I've suffered on and off with mental illness - anorexia in my teens and depression of varying levels on and off with self-harm etc ever since, particularly in the last 2-3 since a failed marriage. I have a close friend with bipolar disorder so I've also some idea about how that can affect your work. She had a terrible relapse whilst weaning herself off meds and had to take a large chunk of time off from her degree to recover, which was a slow but very successful process with full support from the university. I had a fairly severe episode of depression which affected the first term of my PhD and, on this occasion, found that the meds they gave me made things different but very much not better. When it first started I tried to keep going as much as I could but I was exhausted and in a very bad state for going anywhere or doing anything, although I managed to keep work going as much as possible. Eventually, after missing a few classes and rearranging supervisions I finally explained to my supervisor (by email to avoid risk of breakdown etc!) who was very understanding. Fortunately the episode only lasted for a few months and with the help of my boyfriend I got through it without it affecting my work too badly. What you're dealing with sounds a great deal worse. If you aren't already then I would have thought you ought to be seeing a doctor and exploring strategies for getting through this, whether it be medication or psychiatry or both, and you should probably consider taking some time off, not because you're being unfair on other people but because you're not going to help yourself. I do understand what you say about the importance of your routine but if being in work is causing you to spend half your time in tears I don't think it is necessarily the best place for you. Good luck.

Sounds like you're going through a horrible time. Although I think there have been some good responses so far, my instinct having read your post is that you're probably just not suited to the PhD life, and if you don't see the completion of your project in it's own right as your driving goal then I can't see that you'll make it through for another 3-5 years. I'm not saying just walk away without seriously considering whether you can do something else with your life at the moment in which you'll be happier. Also, everybody has low points and you need to decide (with the help of some of the suggestions from other posters perhaps) whether this is a temporary thing or not. However, I've had friends quit their PhDs who really struggled with the idea of quitting anything, but for whom it was definitely the right decision. A PhD is not going to help you career-wise very much unless you continue to work in your field, and if you're not really driven by your work then you're not likely to feel strongly about getting the PhD for its own sake. I wouldn't want you to rush into a decision but for some people it's just not the right path to take and it's ok to admit that if you're one of them. Best of luck working this one out.

Just wanted to find out how other people are coping with learning new skills for their PhDs. I'm half way through my first year in Classics and find that I'm struggling to find a balance between learning the skills I need and actually doing my research work. Just for general career reasons (rather than a specific aspect of my PhD) I was learning ancient Greek during the first two terms in an undergraduate class, plus I sat in on a couple of other classes. That was all manageable but now I'm really trying to focus on learning German as there's so much secondary literature on my subject in German (and some in Italian and French although I have good French and Italian is just about (!) accessible because I have Latin). I find that I'm trying to read a complex academic text on the one hand while working through my beginners' German text book on the other. Even though it's a textbook specifically designed for learning German for academic reading l still find I'm making slow progress. I've just stopped seeing the tutor I had because even she struggled with the academic texts I was taking along and I felt like I was just expecting her to read them for me.

The whole issue is really getting me down today however as I'm now panicking about my Latin too. I have advanced Latin (in theory) from my BA and MA and I use it every day in my work. I therefore planned to take up doing bits of tutoring just to get some experience and bring in a bit of extra cash since I'm not teaching at the university until next year. I had a student lined up for beginner Latin revision starting this morning but I had to cancel because I realized I just can't do it! I understand the grammar and principles and basic vocabulary that's in the text book but I'm just not quick enough at the exercises to be able to teach somebody on a one to one basis. Now I feel totally depressed, terrible for having let the student down, and like even if I keep doing good research I'll never be able to get a job because I just won't have the other skills. I know that just putting time into regular Latin linguistic work would probably fix the problem but I'm struggling enough to get the other skills I need done.

I know that it's very normal to have areas of weakness and ignorance and that's part of the PhD process, but I feel so embarrassed to have got this far and yet actually be deficient in so many basics of my subject.

Does anyone have any advice on how to fill the skills gaps without losing too much crucial 'research' time? :-(

I have a deadline for the second week of term and am quite behind but I'm not planning to work through this weekend except minimally. I won't put the PhD above important time with my family plus various church commitments wouldn't allow me to work through. Generally I don't work weekends though so it's 2 days different rather than 4!

This sounds like a horrible situation to be in. I've just found out my teenage cousin is pregnant and though we're not close personally we're a close family overall and it's affecting everyone badly already so I can't start to imagine how hard this is for you. One thing I would suggest is that you need to start communicating your feelings to your partner straight away. I understand that he's probably still trying to get his head round the idea that his daughter is pregnant but he is sure to know that something is wrong for you as well and you need to be talking about that, however difficult. Also, take your time about your decisions. You presumably have 7 or 8 months before there will actually be a baby in the house so as difficult as the TV and so on must be there won't be an immediate change. It sounds to me like some serious ground rules ought to be set in the house, especially if she's planning to stay living there with the baby. If you're paying part of the rent and working from home then people around you should respect that and not watch television with the sound on or whatever while you're working, even if you have to schedule the hours when you have a quiet place to work. However hard, if you are dedicated to your partner and want things to work with him in spite of the difficulties I would recommend you don't run away (even if moving out does prove the right thing to do in the long term) but talk about it first and be there to support him whilst he works out how he can best deal with his daughter. It might mean some more difficult time for your PhD but I would have thought you'd be seriously risking your relationship otherwise.