That sounds like an invitation for nominations sixkitten! rightio everyone - time to name those hot postgrads students (male or female) you have your eye on / drooled over at a conference / just think are generally hot.

Number one - a friend of mine - Claire Darbyshire at Salford Uni. She's seriously sexy, and single... and so much fun!

Why are the male PhD-ers so down on themselves and each other? You can't have been away from women that long!
I think we need to get a Hot PhD Geeks groups going.

Hi all, thanks for your messages.
I've spoken to my main supervisor about the role my co- plays, but she does not see any problem at all, instead saying it is important to have a critical voice. I completely agree, but first of all I need support! My thesis crosses two subject areas, my main supervisor covers one, my co- the other, and because my main doesn't know the other area, she just accepts what my co says.
In the end I have resorted to contacting a friend of a friend who lives in Australia (I'm in the NW UK!) who has offered to act as a supplementary supervisor. The thing is, I know of another students who is supervised by my co- who has also had problems with him refusing to engage with any work that does not adhere to his analytical framework. The guy is not doing his job properly, he accepts PhD proposals on the idea that he will change them! It's simply unfair on the students.

Ok, I'll give you that, but yeah PhD geeks are hot!
I don't need rich, but funny would be cool. Or at least an appreciation of Peep show/Curb your enthusiasm/mighty boosh (with a preference for Howard rather than vince).
And my only photos are on facebook, which may give away too many clues about my mental health far too early on.

ooooh, that is somewhat superficial. You don't question where I live, what I do, or whether I have a history of mental illness, you just want to know what I look like!

Does anyone want to be my new boyfriend? Basically all my friends are getting married / having kids and I need someone to drag along to social occasions so that they can make sure I get home safely after caning booze all night. Any offers?

Whenever I feel a bit rubbish or as if I'm losing a grip/feeling less than confident in my work (quite often), I go back to the original stuff that made me interested in doing the PhD in the first place - looking at the literature that inspired me, then work stuff out from there. Everyone has to do crap stuff as part of their research, but this gives you a bit more focus.
Alternatively, go on a huge bender with your friends, rant against everything you hate, then get them to tell you how crap their office/shop jobs are, and realise why you are doing this in the first place.
Or find someone who thinks you're great - or that your work is great - and harrass them for compliments. I have a friend of a friend I met during a very drunken night in the pub. He told me my research was 'sexy', and he's been a point of reference ever since!

Cry.

I have on very rare occasion been told that my ideas are not completely pointless, and that my chapters sometimes have "some" good stuff in there. That has been the highlight of my PhD. Not being laughed out of the building. Whoopeedo

Not to support everything that Otto has said, but yes, I agree, there does need to be a much fairer system. Bepe has been extremely offensive on a number of threads (none have been directed at me), but if the team is banning users, then at least it should be done across the board.
At least give bepe a warning!

Don't tweeze! They come back so vehemently - and you get worse ingrowing hairs than if you thread / wax. Depending on the type of hair (if it's just thin but dark) you're probably best of bleaching it. If you start tweezing they will become thick, and that won't be an option.
If they are already thick, you are best using Nair or threading. If you don't mind doing it 3-4 times a week, then go for Nair. if you want (painful) but great results, you need to thread it. Most beauty shops will do this for about £5, and you'll need it around once a month.
However, if this is really bothering you, it's worth investing in getting electrolysis - it is the only decent option, and it's permanent. It's only around £10 per session and although you will need to go over a few months (Once a month) to finally get rid of them - it's the best solution.

Hi
We went on Uswitch and did a search on what's available in our area, linked to people's reviews of the companies, prices, and speeds. I would really recommend trying it out.
We also then rang a couple of companies. We chose to go with sky - but they messed up big time and forgot to tell BT to upgrade our phoneline meaning we didn't have broadband for nearly two months (and ran up a huge dial up bill as we can't live without the internet). We then plumped for AOL - who I've had before. They set everything up very quickly - well within the 10 days they said it would take, and their helpline was really easy to get through to with staff who knew what they were talking about.
I've heard TalkTalk is very cheap, but I know a few people who've had problems.

I learn Serbian and Croatian - I just drift into Cyrillic when I have to (reading Belgrade street signs!). Very lazy about it though!

Oh and just in case you were wondering, most of the internally-funded PhDs I know don't have MA disctinctions, they have Merits, but just very good proposal ideas that the Uni is enthusiastic about.

Hi Amy
Just something you may not have considered - the AHRB isn't the end of the road. A lot of institutions offer internal funding - which is tied into (the same as) the research boards. I know that my uni offers internal funding for PhDs in Literature at the usual rate, but in return you will have to teach for around 4 hrs per week (but this is great training if you want to do that anyway).
S