Whilst it varies from person to person I would say that you should aim not necessarily for a certain number of hours but to get into a good routine. The earlier you get into a good routine of working the better. Even if you find yourself procrastinating now, if you're in the position to do work when you need to then this will help. I think 10 hours is definitely too few hours for a full time PhD, it's only 2 hours a day! I'm guessing you've come straight from undergrad level, as there is no way you would get away with that in the "real world". (Not having a go, but it is true :-) )

As I say, don't worry if you spend time early on procrastinating or not knowing what you're doing, but I would say that you should spend at least the 35 hours (a working week of 9-5 each day with an hour for lunch) working on PhD/TA/Uni stuff. Once you're in the habit of doing that it'll be easier to keep it up when you really need to.

By the way, as CR1980 says "we can all work at different paces and in different ways - some people do less during the week but then spend Saturdays in the library, and others do little and often", so 35 hours could be split over the 7 days of the week however it suits you best. I know of people who prefer to work solidly for 4 days, then have a three day weekend every week, and others who take massive lunch breaks and work in short spurts, but do so every day. Both ways gets you 35 hours, it just depends on preference.

Sounds like your supervisor is happy at the mo, and that's the main thing!!

Good luck!

I've commented before on a similar thread, and the number one bit of advice I would give you is...

People (i.e. your audience) want you to do well!

No-one wants people to go wrong when they are giving a talk/presenting/teaching, so they will actually let you get away with going wrong quite a lot because they want you to be good. If you can remember this then it should help your nervousness. You will be fine because you know what you're talking about, and even if you make a small slip then that actually doesn't matter - in fact no-one will notice.

Here's the tips I listed on the previous post on a similar topic. That topic was more about a general presentation, but most is still true for teaching:

"#1 bit of advice in any presentation situation is that EVERYONE WANTS YOU TO DO WELL!!

People are not hoping you muck it up so relax.

Other than keeping relaxed some other tips I use (I'm weird and enjoy presenting)

- Write out your first sentence on a cue card in full. Once you have the first sentence out it becomes easier
- Speak slowly - most people talk too quickly and um and err a lot. If you feel you are speaking a bit too slowly you're probably talking at the right kind of pace. Doing this allows you to make less mistakes on tricky words etc
- Don't worry about silence! A couple of seconds of silence doesn't matter. It will feel like an eternity to you, but no one listening will notice. Knowing this allows you to collect your thoughts if you get into trouble.
- Don't use too many slides with too much info. People will read the slide and not listen to you! A good picture or graph is useful, as people will have something to look at, but will hopefully still pay attention.

The big one though is the first one. If you remember that, relax, and don't care too much what others think then you'll be fine."


Hope that helps.

Fenham is too shabby for my tastes, but you can get a huge house for next to no rent.
Heaton was where I spent 5 years and is the middle of the road option, with sandyford the slightly up market version of Heaton just next door.

High Heaton is a bit further away and is generally populated by people with jobs and families etc, but is not a bad option if you want to get away from the undergrads.

Jesmond is full of rah rah types living on Daddy's dollar, but it is nice (but very expensive). A further option if you're post grad is Gosforth, which is a bit further out, but is nicer than Heaton and not as expensive as Jesmond.

If I was staying there still I'd be in Gosforth, but that's because I know the area and am not bothered about going for loads of nights out. If you want to be within a 20 minute walk of town and not be paying too much, but not living in a slum then I'd say try Heaton, preferably on the city side of Chillingham Road. If you live there you are also near some of the best pubs (if you like indie music, good beer etc) in the Cluny, the Free Trade, the Tyne and the Chillingham Arms (these pubs are known as the Ouseburn Pubs, they are awesome).

In summary - If you want nice area and don't mind being further away and want to avoid undergrad types then live in Gosforth, if you want to live near town without paying too much then rent a house in Heaton.

Newcastle is awesome. You will love it.

Aye, got it. PM me your email and I'll send it.

For standards to be slipping they need to be high in the first place and to come down from there. So an inconsistency in marking across the board does not necessarily mean standards are slipping, so long as it has always been like that (I don't know if it has or hasn't)

Personally I think that all theses should be checked for spelling, grammar, format etc and there should be some kind of standard to do this to. It's all the same regardless of topic.

Moving abroad can affect your state pension (according to my Dad who lived in Australia for 8 years, but it may have changed).  It's all to do with National insurance stamps apparently! I don't think it has a massive effect though. In terms of a private pension, I can't advise you really.  I had one with my old job (before coming back to uni) but I'm now doing nothing towards my pension.

After seeing a family friend have his pension scheme collapse and have to work for an additional 5 - 10 years because of it, I'm inclined to try something else, but like you I haven't a clue what!

So I've not been massively helpful :p

Good luck!

#1 bit of advice in any presentation situation is that EVERYONE WANTS YOU TO DO WELL!!

People are not hoping you muck it up so relax.

Other than keeping relaxed some other tips I use (I'm weird and enjoy presenting)

- Write out your first sentence on a cue card in full. Once you have the first sentence out it becomes easier
- Speak slowly - most people talk too quickly and um and err a lot. If you feel you are speaking a bit too slowly you're probably talking at the right kind of pace. Doing this allows you to make less mistakes on tricky words etc
- Don't worry about silence! A couple of seconds of silence doesn't matter. It will feel like an eternity to you, but no one listening will notice. Knowing this allows you to collect your thoughts if you get into trouble.
- Don't use too many slides with too much info. People will read the slide and not listen to you! A good picture or graph is useful, as people will have something to look at, but will hopefully still pay attention.

The big one though is the first one. If you remember that, relax, and don't care too much what others think then you'll be fine.

Incidently, I doubt they will list people in order of best to worst - that is very demoralising for those towards the bottom and won't help!

Hope that helps.