Overview of pm133 on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of pm133

Signup date: 08 Jan 2016 at 12:02am

Last login: 30 Mar 2021 at 8:40pm

Post count: 1246

Recent Posts

Choicing a School

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From Tudor_Queen:
Surely rankings do provide an index of how highly a particular institution or school is ranked?

Othr than the likes of Camridge or Oxford how would that help this person?

Quote From adamlevine:
Learn accounting course
I've just finished University in business administration. I want to learn more an accounting course, someone can share with me some effective course?
Thanks everyone.

Asking the person who ran the accounting module would be your best bet.

With an Unconditional offer can I FAIL my MSc???

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

It certainly wouldn't do any harm to check but they should have made the offer conditional if there were any restrictions such as this.

A lesson of manners with examiners

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

To be honest, I am having a lot of trouble following your posts but it seems clear to me from your initial posts on this subject that you had problems right from the start. The examiners are in no way forced to ask you about your entire thesis. I was questioned on only a section of mine for example.
It appears you failed the viva so badly that by the time they had concluded this, it was reasonable to bring things to a conclusion without going any further.
I think you are going to have to wait for their comments before you can clear this up.

With an Unconditional offer can I FAIL my MSc???

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From hello137567:
Hello everyone,

I'm doing an MSc in Theoretical Physics and I obtained an Unconditional offer for a STFC funded PhD starting in September. The minimum requirement to access a phd in this university is a 2:1 undergraduate and I got a first.

I'm having some serious family problems and I don't know if I'll be able to complete my MSc. Since I got an unconditional offer, if I fail my MSc or suspend it will I still be able to start the PhD in semptember?

Thanks for help,

James

An unconditional offer means exactly that. You are in regardless of your Masters grade.

Choicing a School

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From Benton:
Hi,
I am interested in Molecular biology PhD programs. Does anyone have advise on how to narrow down schools and what to look for/where to look for it? For example, i want to see how papers do at one school compared to the other but am not sure if there is a place that would compare or rank this information for me. Any advice is appreciated:)

This would be a terrible idea. Just because others are getting published at a uni doesn't mean you will.
There is no reliable ranking system of any kind anywhere in the world which you can rely on.

A lesson of manners with examiners

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From lucedan:
Hello everybody,

I am waiting for my reports from my examiners for a revise and resubmit. In any case, it is my intention (or better, I would like) to talk with my examiners about what they did not understand about my submission.
I have prepared a file with some questions & answers that I believe would help understand what were my objectives, and I would love to understand how to manage this situation (I have found this answer on quora which is quite positive: https://www.quora.com/What-should-I-do-about-my-my-PhD-psychology-thesis-coming-back-with-a-revise-and-resubmit-because-the-examiner-did-not-understand-my-statistics)

Can you give me your suggestion on how to behave and what not to do?

Best
Luca

Why would you think your examiners didn't understand your thesis?
Have you considered the possibility that either your thesis or your performance wasn't good enough?
I ask because on another thread you gave me the impression that your supervisor had chosen your basic PhD approach for you and you had blamed your supervisor when criticised for that.

What should I do if I have lost faith in my work?

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Fair enough. It looks like you've made a decision here in which case best of luck for the future.

Your best years are all ahead of you.

When to start writing thesis

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From Jane92:
Hi all,

I've hit that point where i'm feeling overwhelmed, out of my depth and don't know where to start with my thesis. I am 6 months into my PhD now and so far I have only done reading (a lot of it) and my ethics.

I'm getting the feeling that I should have started writing by now as my confirmation is in Oct. The aim is to start my literature review soon but I just wanted to see when everyone else started writing?

Should I have started by now?

The more I think about it the more I worry.

Thanks for your support!

It depends on your PhD.
I started writing my thesis in earnest with 6 months left of my funding although I had written 30 pages of theory the previous year. I also had several published papers which I knew I could easily re-write into seperate chapters.
Having said that, it seems odd to be writing a thesis within the first 6 months unless it is a literature review section.

What should I do if I have lost faith in my work?

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From EliseM21:
speaking from my personal experience and looking at my friends' experiences, I can say that as a generation we are quite consumed by the words such as 'contribution' and 'meaning' and 'believe'. it's quite normal to feel insecure and question your actions and thinking. try to remember what was the thing that made you start believing in it at the first place. working on reviving that passion might just be the key.

Enormous damage is done when you consider things like "contribution" and "meaning" in terms of what other people think and how they judge you. When you find meaningful work for example, most people consider things like medicine, charitable work etc. but that is a route towards living other people's dreams for you. What you do must be meaningful to you - possibly only you.
Evidence of this damage is seen with the first poster who is so obsessed with what other people think of their work that it is making them seriously unhappy.

What should I do if I have lost faith in my work?

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

What makes you think your best years are your 20s and 30s?
Honestly, that is a very odd thing to be thinking. Assuming you are reasonably active until you are about 80, you are less than 9 years into an active adult life of 60 years. Around 15%. Its a bit early for all this doom and gloom.

As for the rest of your post, in my opinion, you worry way too much about what people think of you and your work. You need to be thinking about yourself only.

Advertised PhD projects

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From Tudor_Queen:
Presumably because the deadline is imminent...

I didnt read it that way but you might be right.

Applying Phd with mediocre Masters with Dissertation + conference paper

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Deary me :-D
Maybe you should go to bed and come back in a less touchy mood tomorrow.
It would help if you stop taking things so personally. It's just an exchange of ideas.
That massive chip on your shoulder is not really conducive to a decent discussion.

Advertised PhD projects

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From Wejdans:
A friend of mine who did her PhD has told me that she picked her PhD project title from FindPhD and was not asked to submit any research proposal. However, whenever I find an interesting project, it says that I must submit a proposal and I have no time to write one. Can anyone explain this to me? Thanks.

Only you can explain why you have no time to write a PhD proposal.

What are PhD supervisors for?

pm133 1246 posts
6 years ago

Quote From sara91:

Quote From pm133:
What sort of thing are you asking for advice on?

I can say that I asked her for her opinion on almost everything I have said/suggested/ recommended so far. Knowing what others think just helps me look at things differently.

Yeah there's your problem right there. You need to stop looking for reassurance on everything you are doing and start taking ownership.
This is the hardest thing for people to understand about a PhD.

Your supervisor needs to be taking you to one side and being frank with you about what is expected of you. Just like I have done here. I suspect she wants to avoid conflict but this is just cowardice. She has a responsibility to give you a nudge over the edge of the cliff and tell tou to get on with things without pestering her. It's hard, it's brutal and it's terrifying but it is absolutely necessary. Tough love I'm afraid.