You could start by not playing the positive discrimination card.

Hi,
Just a quick one....
1. I think it's normal to feel like you're treading water until well into your first year.
2. Are you actually being lazy? It's worth asking yourself this, as I'm constantly convinced that everyone else is doing more work than I am.
3. It might be worth setting up a supervision to enable you to chat to your supervisors about your concerns about both of your expectations meeting.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, I do think it's normal though!!

I think this post has really had it.

Key things to learn for future rental situations:

1. It is necessary to outline expectations in advance of moving in with someone. While this may sound very formal, it's likely to ensure that unsuitable co-letters don't get to the letting stage; i.e. if Person X wants a party twice a week and Person Y wants quiet study time every evening, there are going to be problems!

2. Pragmatism and negotiating skills (sometimes of UN proportions) are key to a successful house-share. This means dealing with things maturely. I look back on some of the disagreements I got into with flat-mates at University and am extremely embarrassed!!!
- Writing notes to one and other is never the best way of ensuring co-operation.
- Pay bills in a timely manner and agree how things are going to be split. If one of you intends to be away the whole Summer and doesn't think they should have to pay (much in the way of) bills over that period you want to discuss this IN ADVANCE.

3. Try not to get your Landlord involved in petty squabbles. You may have to rely on him/her for references in future, you want to be able to move out in a timely and efficient manner. If you nark them unreasonably then this may well prove an issue.

The key proviso is whether the 'reasonable person on the street' would agree with what your saying. Tenancy agreements can be widely interpreted so it's necessary to ask yourself:
(1) whether an ordinary person would feel it acceptable for a partner to stay over three nights a week (suddenly you're suggesting four days a week now.... let's get this straight, you need to keep a diary of these things). I don't think this is in any way unusual. Presumably she stays with him sometimes also meaning any additional bills are at worst, negligible.
(2) she has to put up with your friends coming round too, and trusts that her things are safe..... and lets face it, your friends are likely to be people you know less well than she knows her boyfriend.
(3) if he has a key that's another matter; if she has had a key cut for her boyfriend then you should make your landlord aware of that.
(4) there's no way you can really class him as 'residing' at your flat. As far as the reasonable man is concerned, the fact he hasn't moved his possessions in and isn't their constantly means this isn't the case.

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what your bug-bare is. You suggest that merely by him being there you feel threatened, in which case your flat-mate is in a no-win situation. She could be having the pope over to stay, but according to your criteria this would be against the rules.

I can't see that you have any reason to suspect that this guy is in any way 'dodgy'. As far as I can see he's only be reactive (and if you phrased the things to him as you have on here then I can sort of see why).
I don't see that you inviting complete strangers in (even if you're suggesting this in jest) is in any way equivalent to her bringing round her boyfriend. When you move in with someone you have to be sufficiently good friends with them to trust that the people they invite around will be decent people.
I'm afraid this strikes as a touch of immaturity (on both your fronts -- I don't think your friend has responded in the most compromising situation ever)....
I've had not dissimilar situations myself (actually -- probably worse, my flatmate at undergrad used to have sex with her door wide open, that I had to walk past to get to the bathroom!)... but with the benefit of hindsight don't believe I managed them particularly well.
One of the things being married (or living with a partner) teaches you is that you have to see certain behaviour as situational rather than personal. You've managed to suggest that (a) your flatmate cannot choose a suitable partner and (b) that she can make up for this, but only by paying.

Oh and ultimately the 'try not to let him find you' option is unlikely to be a good one.
(a) he's likely to be able to trace you
(b) it could seriously affect your credit rating

I think you need to take a deep breathe and step back from all of this.
First of all: it isn't your landlord's problem and why should he intervene in a situation that isn't of his making? I totally see why he has done what he has, and is asking you to pay the costs associated with bringing another person in.
Secondly, when you're in a situation like this everything can quickly get very out of hand. Reconsider how your attitude has been with your flat-mate and her boyfriend. Passive aggressiveness often arises out of such situations. Can you come to a deal, which would be cheaper for all of you. Maybe if you can put some limits in place that fully take account of issues like why he's there during the day when she isn't, then you can make this work until July.
Three nights a week isn't particularly excessive in my book for someone's boyfriend to be around, and in terms of extra electricity/water etc used the impact really is negligible. Even the being-there-during the day is something of a side issue if you can limit it (once per week? when really necessary?). It's nearly April, you've only got 3/4 months left. Try and be pragmatic about it and it will save everyone alot of issue.
The previous comment about your flatmate being liable for the full amount if you leave is incorrect; you're jointly liable which means you could both get taken to court. Mind, shoving in her face statements about legality is unlikely to get a favourable response.

Here goes my bit:--
I think it's ridiculous; I've heard of a (possibly worse) situation where an Institution was applying for awards under the BGP, but not for a specific department, which as such rendered this department ineligible for the Open Competition.
The fact that your University plainly cannot be bothered putting people forward for AHRC awards in the Open Competition, unfortunately, is probably a reflection of their standing with the AHRC (= not very good). The main issue with you contacting the AHRC is thus: applications are judged not only on you, and the project you put forward, but also the ability of your Institution to provide appropriate training/ access to members of staff/ facilities. Therefore EVEN if the AHRC said that your situation was unfair (which it plainly is) you'd likely be stuffed as they'd take the University's non-compliance as evidence of their inability to fulfill obligations towards their postgraduate students.
I hope this makes sense, unfortunately you're in a no-win situation. The only thing I can suggest is that you try and rush an application in elsewhere, though I suspect this would have to be another Open Competition Institution as most Unis (that I know of) are well into the process of allocating their BGP awards.
Sorry I couldn't be more positive!

(1) You start with the number.
(2) Reprints don't count but editions do. You want to cite the edition that you've been working from, rather than the latest.
I.e. you're citing from page 5 in the 57th edition of Why the Human Race Is Doomed, published in 1963. The most up to date version is the 90th edition, but you effectively ignore this (though it's good practice to cite from up-to-date versions in case things have changed, like the end of the Cold War).
So your reference in your bibliography should go (assuming you're using the Harvard system)...

Morbid, I. A. M. (1963) Why the Human Race is Doomed (57th Ed.), Mars: Galactic University Press.

In the the main text:

Morbid (1963:5)

HTH

I think you're very behind the game, and ought to consider whether doing a rushed job on the application (which two months is if you've not got a research question) is really a good idea; have you thought about a year out?
You're better asking a supervisor whether they're INTERESTED rather than ABLE to supervise the topic. Supervisors are often theoretically able to supervise on a given topic, it doesn't necessarily mean they want to.
Also, you need to know if a topic in X area has legs, it's worth providing a bit more information that demonstrates your knowledge of the topic, even if that doesn't involve narrowing it. You're unlikely to get a response in the affirmative unless you've shown this much.....

Hehe I'm very lucky, we live in a cottage rent-free on my in-laws farm in Bedfordshire. I don't drive so there are disadvantages (i.e. being isolated) but it's lovely to be able to have all this space to go on long walks! We even have a bluebell wood!! Believe me, I realise how fortunate I am -- when I did my undergrad I lived in a series of mice-infested houses in Brixton!!!
My other (and completely different) favourite place to work is the British Library!

I thought that given it's very easy to get motivated, it might be quite nice to start thinking about things we enjoy about doing a PhD (not necessarily 'for the love of my subject' type things)....
SO I'll set the ball rolling:

1. I love that I can sit at my desk with freshly cut flowers, looking out of the window onto farmland on a beautiful sunny day, drinking a cup of coffee -- and knowing that I can go for a walk in the sun later, at whatever time I want.

I'd second that, but only because I think you already know that you haven't got much of an option.
This is how I'd approach it:
1. Look in your diary and plan some time off after these deadlines. For me it needs to be at least four days, otherwise I just about manage to switch off from my PhD (and PhD related dreams) before trying to get going again, which is somewhat counter-productive.
2. Print off some timetables for the intervening period. Try to plan realistically, allowing yourself some time for breaks or else you'll get so demotivated you're unlikely to get done. In this wonderful weather I'm planning a walk later. Also, prioritize things in terms of their likely impact on your future if you dont get them done, i.e. long versus short term unpleasantness.
3. Get going.
Good luck, my friend (who is thinking about doing a PhD) went to a presentation by a well known how to do a PhD book writer (crikey my grammar is awful there!)... he said every PhD student must expect to have AT LEAST three major crises. Sometimes it helps to set things in context.

Good luck!
xx

Undergrad? MA? PhD?
You need to go and talk to your supervisor/ members of staff working in the areas you're interested in and see what they suggest....

MA in Material and Visual Culture = probably the best in the country in that area. I'm doing an archaeology/ anthropology PhD at UCL and have plenty of contact with the Anth. department. Not only has it got plenty of the 'big names', who are all really nice people too. Danny Miller is amazing.
I did a similar masters at Oxford and if I could go back in time..... feel free to PM me if you want more information about UCL....