Hi, nobody wil laugh at you, we are all splendid people here who write splendid stuff !!! LOL!! :) Be confident...

Hmm, first day, well I am a starting PhD too, though I am in the social sciences, am continuing in my Masters institution, with the same supervisor who I have a fantastic rapport with, and email so often...so, what i'm saying is in my case, we have a date fixed up for the first phd meeting, though we've been meeting at conferences over september, many times..

why dont you email you sup and ask them? all univs have phd inductions, orientation events blah blah where you get to meet your research people, people also entering this yr, meet the faculty, current students etc....the induction week is meant for that...for example, in my dept, 1st oct has the departmental phd induction meeting, and the departmental phd welcome party as well...so, given that i am the only internal cnadidate and the others are all newbies, we'll all be going to these things ont he 1st...

apart from the schedule thats drawn out i think you can always go check out the department, and emailing your sup (in case they havent raised the issue of a proper meeting themselves) isnt a bad idea either..

above all...theres a long walk ahead mate...keep happy and brave!!! :P

hey all,

how productive are you on an average? uhhhm...these can be guidelines:

1. How many journal articles do u usually manage to read a week?
2. Books?
3. How much writing?
4. How much writing do you hand in to your sup and how often?


I know we all have sparky spells, low spells, slow spells, urrrgh sloooow spells, but yes, this is when we averaging around a 'normal'... :)

love to alll.......


:)

I am wondering....in the UK the examiner is always decided on the suggestions of both the supervisor and the supervisee, so why did this debacle happen in the first place? The supervisor usually tries to personally and professionally know the examiner and their work, so does the student, such that a 'suitable' examiner is identified...correct me if i am wrong...

Me too. I agree with Jouri and H, in fact if I start listing people who've made it big from god forsaken places, from academics to entrepreneurs to what nots, the list wouldnt end.

Individual above institution. Period. get on with good work.

I agree with Juno. I'm far from a native speaker, though I admit, my country was British ruled at one time, and well, my mom's a professor of English literature, so 'technically' I'm a non-native speaker from a "developing" country...But my point is, that first, style is infinitely a personal issue and it varies infinitely as well! Second, there are loads (and believe me, LOADS) of native speakers who write pathetic English, grammatically correct but otherwise arrgh...

So, what matters, i guess, is the ability to put across your thoughts in a precise, concise, crisp and coherent manner that is comprehensible for people who would turn up in the first place to leaf through the pages of things as obscure as we deal in: The Annals of the Academy of Germanic Letters in Philosophical Physics or The Proceedings of the British Academy of Physical Philosophy or something on those lines!!!!!!8-)

Will it be live chat? OOOOH!!!!!!!

Will it be group chat? WOWOWWOW!!!!!

Will it be Fb style stuff? Uhm!!!!!

Will it be..oh what will it be?????????????

:-x8-):$:p(up)

Hi, sorry for the brief reply, but not too well actually..

1. MS Word doc.
2. Writing this is the last thing I do before bed each night.
3. What all I achieved goes in. Including new thoughts, ideas, conversations, readings, writings etc etc. All academic related stuff.
4. All that confused me/bothered me in the day and didnt achieve.

Thats it. makes sense actually to keep one...

Guys, clearly, the person concerned has no inputs relevant to the contexts of this forum, and maybe we shudnt be taking his stuff (and all the endless rubbish available in all media forms, not just the net) seriously, let alone "discuss" it like rational humans, like PhD people.

Second, any of the two Andys could perhaps now do something abt it?

This site made me laugh....so hard.....

sorry for the horrendous typos....:)

Uhmm i maybe wrong..but I am in UK HE, and I am presuming ur questions are about a UK phd..sont know for other schools, but its probably the same for most schools in UK HE, but a phD entry probably needs a Masters and a 65% plus on that...

May differ, others can help...i go one of the 'trinity' as some say/said of US HE institutions for academics, and its that way for us...I did my mSc from here, and went on with a phd in the same dept, but my offer was conditional tilll yesterday when my 65% or above overall and distinction was confirmed (marks will be released later)...

Hi b,

some things work for me (and I should say I am one of those people who prolly 'only' read/write/study LOL)

1. Reading time, writing time (moderately) separate.
2. 10 hour time slots each day. Divided into 2 to 3 hr bits. This is solely for your 'own' work, at your desk.
3. DAILY writing. YES. thats the best answer, breaks it up in bits, the whole writing tasks, and a weekly compilation of the best out of it. and dont trash any writing.
4. STRUCTURE. which is you most appreciated, favourite, most tightly written academic book? READ IT again. Cover to cover. how does it structure itself. So, what if your phd document were a book. Write out a fantasy abstract. Write out a fantasy structure, break every bit down to three levels. Start working on each.
5. Forget the person who is your sup, since he doesnt read stuff, and has next to nothing informal interactions on your interests. Its YOUR Phd, and if its become somebody's job to make it tougher, its your job to make them fail.(up)

why rnt the reply and "post" buttons working? in the original thread? arrrgh...

here goes my reply to bonzo

Hey Bonzo,

CHIN UP!!!! You've been giving good advice to all of us here :-) so nows ur turn to get it!

I am only starting, I know, but a couple o questions:

1. Does your sup want you to write more (implying u rnt writing enuf?)
2. Does your sup not read what you write (in which case No 1 is redundant?)
3. What worried me is that he meets other phds more often...tell me, is it that their areas of work are more related to his core interests, and urs a bit further away? Sups sometimes are partial and unfair based on these things...
4. What's been your non-formal interactions? Do you guys email often, write to each other abt conferences, etc, and so on? I mean is there 'thought sharing' on? If there is, then try to take things out of those sessions...If there isnt, maybe u shud find out if he,s interested really...
5. Treating it like a job...i am not sure thats a good idea...sups hate students who drp out and those who delay...so time management is a major issue, yes...but it requires much more actually than 9 to 5 doesnt it? So in that sense, its great if you arent actually treating it like a job...

Pressing the submit button on your application form isnt really applying, i think, so the 'process', as far as i would imagine takes a year. there are many who have done it in a few weeks, as technically the package takes only a few days to create. However, if you indeed are to spend some thoughtful time on your research interests, what 'really' appeals to you, who you would 'really' like to work with, and how you would get all oft his funded and from where, not to say approaching potential supervisors and schools, making a few phone calls and/or visits, and so forth, a year sounds good enough time.

You would probably look to join a phd in october 2009, so now seems a good time to do some soul searching abt what you would like to do, where you see yourself fitting in (depatmrments, research groups etc), drawing out a cv, writing introductiory letters to potential suoervisors reading some of their work etc. later, once the new 2008 session begins and the first few weeks of the mad opening term is over, you could start by contacting the people youd like to work with.

Then you may well have the early part of next yr to finalise the UK proposal, (keep in mind many fundign deadlines are in march, and they usually need a supoort note from the supervisor)...

P'Bug is feeling like digging a hole in the ground and dying.