Didn't read the entire thread, so I'm just referring to the most recent Badhaircut entry. What a load of rubbish. Stop crying like a girl and get a life. Book some sessions with Paul McKenna or similar to boost your self confidence. You're highly qualified, and if you're 30 years old it's definitely not too late. You could earn 50k+ within four years if you left academia behind (and went into consultancy or industry). And perhaps find a better girlfriend. But this depressing talk here is almost unbearable.

I don't think so. As GolfPro said above, quality is likely to suffer. After all we are talking about a doctorate and not some school essay.

IMO, 600 words good quality are a realistic target (per day).

Please take my advice: you can be really lucky that your supervisor is so demanding, not many students are in this fortunate position. It may feel like hell right now, but it will at least help you to get through it (rather than the opposite laisser-faire attitude which rarely is successful).

Stick with it, two years is less than it sounds, considering a lifetime of feeling that you have achieved something remarkable.

Perhaps a bit atypical, but my best PhD year was the third/final year.

My first year was characterised by insecurity and fear, my second year by insecurity, fear and anger at the establishment. Then, all of a sudden, my third year was a smooth, easy ride straight into submission. This was quite a surprise given the rough ride in the first few years (where I nearly quit a couple of times). The time between submission and defense was horrible, though.

You have my full sympathy. I don't think you have to pay any money back. Yet, I don't understand this sentence:"The crappy thing is that I am capable of doing it but my life has gone in other directions and have responsibilities that are more pressing. "

Certainly, in the era of contraception it was a "conscious" decision to become pregnant in the middle of a PhD?

It's certainly tough but you need to consider the fact that most students only register on this forum to moan about the difficult PhD and PhD life, so the picture may not truly reflect reality.

PhDs are do-able if you have the persistence and determination to complete it. In this case it is also unlikely that you will fail your Viva as 99% of students who submit a dissertation get a PhD. Unfortunately about 60% or more never get to that stage as they quit in their first, second or third year.

please see respective funding bodies

as soon as possible. That's because new things will pop up, like suddenly wanting to buy a house, travelling, having a family or similar, and ultimately they will increase the distance between you and your educational goals as they will eat up all the money. I'd rather do it in 2008 if I were you.

I think tutorial is more personal, could be just you and a couple of other people and a leading academic discussing specific research etc., whereas workshop is more generic.

just think about your favourite subject whilst doing the MS. Then select one more specific topic within that area. Good luck.

Congratulations!

I hope it will last. Just don't forget the back up..

I'd settle for Newcastle. As you said, it is a good university.

I am not the type of person to get emotional, but I found this one of the most touching documentaries I've seen for a long long time.
In particular when the guy started singing in the derelict synagogue at the end. Should make us aware of how useless and cruel human beings can be. I hope more have seen this and think the same.

Anybody just seen this on BBC One?

Quick answer: Acknowledgments (usuallystraight after title page). My ackn. (page 2 and 3) were 999 words long, my abstract (on page 4) was 400 words. Following abstract, starting on page 5 table of contents