Eska, that's a good idea. They've already got a findapostdoc section on this site, so it makes sense to at least try a post-doc forum and see how it goes. Friends have told me that it took them at least a year to sort themselves out after completing to make their transition from PhD student to researcher, so there must be specific issues or hurdles one comes across in that situation....? It should be useful to anyone doing a PhD, as well as people like me right near the end of their doctorates who want to carry on in academia and research.

Eska, I totally agree with you, and those types of unhelpful comments sound more like a problem with the person responding than their doctoral status. I feel like we should remember the horrible stuff from our own PhDs and use it in our own teaching in a positive way. I think it makes me a far better supervisor for undergrad dissertations, or so I was told :-). If I ever take on my own doctoral students in the future (though goodness knows what my future holds right now) then I hope my own serious ex-supervisor problems and my other low points help me with that too.

Hi Rick,

Do you think it would be more like a conversation if more people read older threads on this forum and responded, instead of adding new 'quickie' questions that are over and done with in a few days? There are often recurring topics on here, so that would be a way to keep a conversation going.

Or maybe it would be a good idea to have a few more off-topic threads occasionally that aren't necessarily focussed on the PhD. That might help people get used to it here and start posting, without feeling that they don't know enough to respond, or are nervous as they don't 'know' anyone. It was ages ago now, but it used to happen more when I first started posting on here, Olivia, who doesn't seem to be around any more, used to post off-topic threads or games that made it more like a chat in a pub and less serious 100% of the time.

btw Eska, is there a point at which one officially become the 'voice of the opposition' in expressing opinions on student/supervisor relationships? Is it the alternative opinion you object to, or is there a particular cut-off point in the PhD process when all previous PhD experiences become irrelevent and shouldn't be expressed on here? Personally, I've found it useful to hear other points of view - I've found Badhaircut's comments helpful sometimes and he's not the only one. Alternative viewpoints aren't necessarily related to having completed a PhD. If one is doing a PhD (so officially a student) but also happens to sit on research committees, have good friends who supervise students or who work in research in various capacities, then it's very difficult to not see things from both sides of the problem. It's just life, we all have opinions based on our own experiences.:-)

Maybe a post-doc section would be useful on here, although I don't think people should stick to one forum or another if the threads are relevant - you get BAs and MAs joining in the PhD section, so divisions aren't exclusive or rigid boundaries anyway.

Hello accountable people, you all sound like you're doing well!

Lara, they're good revision questions you're working on, I did them and I got asked some of them too, so it really was good preparation. You can't do any more than that.

I've been a grumpy so and so today, sitting in front of the corrections on the computer and not doing them. Well, I think I wrote ONE sentence.... Absolutely shameful, if I say so myself. Sigh... I think it's such an effort because I find them a bit boring. They're not things I'd choose to write about, so I've got no interest in it, other than getting it finished forever. It's stuff the examiners find interesting and want me to add, rather than bits I find exciting. Aaaaahhh well, it's still got to be done. Probably a good idea to get used to people telling you what to write, I suppose, as I'd imagine editors do that too, so maybe it's good practice. Well I never, I think I've just found a silver lining to this weekend's PhD cloud of tedium. Fancy that. I guess on that mildly positive note, I should do something - just one tiny thing - that's useful, shouldn't I. Yes, so virtual monologue over. :$

Good luck with your work this weekend everyone.(up)

I don't really know about translation services, but would the Spanish Embassy in London be able to suggest anything? They must be used to dealing with that type of request. Good luck anyway!

I'd do what your second sup suggests, as he's head of the postgrad program and also is most likely to know how individual supervisory staff work, including their holiday absences and any peculiar work habits. Don't forget it's the start of the academic year too, so staff are likely to have a big workload to catch up with right now, including other PhD students. I'd see how it goes and ask your second sup for advice in a few weeks if absolutely nothing happens.

Hi Karoline,

Have you received any official information from your university about enrolment yet? If you haven't, you could email your sup saying you haven't heard anything yet re enrolling and wondered whether there were any introductory events scheduled for new PhD students, and if not, could you arrange to meet up with him briefly to plan ahead for the term. I wouldn't worry about not hearing from him since July though, the summer is probably the slowest period of the year in universities, with staff starting to return about now for the new academic year. Also, if you have contact details for any of the postgrad research department (other than your sup) you could always give them a ring and ask about enrolment, it should be their responsibility to help you start, sort out any admin and get you settled, to some extent.

They're not daft questions either, btw!

Hi Magictime, as the others have said, try not to think about the surgery and just about the new improved vision. I had to have some eye operations during my BA, but it turned out ok in the end, despite my worries. The idea of eye surgery sounds a bit revolting, but when it happens, you get over it quickly enough and it is such an amazing relief to be able to see properly again, like normal people. Like magic, actually!!! Another good thing is that you don't mind your eyes being poked around so much by medical people afterwards as the squeamishness goes, if that's a good thing?!

My mistake (a seriously bad move just before an eye op, but I was going to see a lot of independent films then) was to have recently seen a surrealist film by Luis Bunuel that had a scene with an eyeball being sliced. Best avoided if you're having eye surgery imminently....

I'd add 'don't pay someone off the internet to write your essay for you' to that list. No wonder their essay writing 'strategies' are crap.

To read this at the start of a new academc year is quite depressing actually.... I had to mark an essay once that was virtually nothing to do with the seminar I'd run, from a student with poor English language skills who rarely attended class. Tutors do spot these things, regardless of the essay writers checking their work with plagiarism software before flogging their wares. We know!!

Sorry Mr Peasucker, I've got a few minutes to kill here...

404, I had one as well, PhDs seem to go on forever sometimes.... aah well, hang on in there and the end will come! (up)

To shift the subject away from bodily functions, if I may, and it is still breakfast time for me.....

404, did you submit ok??

That sounds a horrible situation to be in, a PhD student's worst nightmare (or one of them). I think you should speak to your supervisor about it first of all, as it obviously affects your PhD work, what you've planned to do and what you can do next. Depending on what he/she says, you might find the students union useful if there are IP/plagiarism issues and you do need legal advice about this or avoiding future problems - they know the uni procedures and have your interests at heart. They might have experience of similar issues, I know of one where the SU acted on behalf of a student in a staff plagiarism case.

I was wondering though, did your sup know about you doing that grant proposal, and that you were sending it that person, or was it your own initiative? You definitely need to talk to your sup very soon if the other person is doing the same work as your proposed thesis chapters, then you can decide between you what to do about it.

Hi Lara, thanks for your nice words, it's made me blush!! :$ I think I just say what anyone else would really.... Nice about the stars though, it must have happened recently, I didn't know anyone still used them! :-)

I didn't do any more corrections in the end yesterday, couldn't make myself do it, for no particular reason other than lack of enthusiasm. I had a horrible dream last night that woke me up and still made me upset when I woke up in the morning later on, so maybe that was a bit of PhD anxiety creeping in. Which means... I MUST get on with it!!! :-s

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Lara, I know how you feel, sometimes I just felt sick before my viva, as if I knew nothing, and my hair started falling out again, like it it did before I submitted my first complete draft.... it's horrible!!! And because the whole PhD is a personal choice it all seems quite peculiar... I don't know what to say really, except that the examiners will know loads, that's why they're examiners and we're students, but I found the prospect rather daunting. You know what you wrote though, and why - even if you think you don't, it's probably in your head somewhere, for you to draw on if you need it. You can't know everything, but you can know your own thesis, its flaws and its highlights (ie the original contribution to knowledge, the papers you've written etc) so if I was you, I'd focus on those things, it should boost your confidence in what you've done. Do try not to panic too much though, but it's easier said than done as I know only too well.

I might sound a bit weird here, but I found Aloha's reference to Viva las Vegas rather helpful when I was waiting to go into the viva, it's quite a perky song to play before something potentially not very pleasant happens! Better than The Final Countdown! Other people suggested It's Now or Never...

Then afterwards you can join the corrections procrastinators!! I don't seem to have any sense of urgency any more with these corrections, I spend far too much time on Youtube playing early Animals stuff...:$ :-x Aaaah well, maybe I'll force myself to finish off one tiny bit more before dinner..... one day it will all *really* be finished. :-)