don't worry, i'm pretty sure absolutely everyone feels like this to start with! i started my phd 4 months ago and the first week was awful, i felt like i had forgotten everything i had ever learnt! my phd is in a subject that i'm not too familiar with so i felt like a total fraud when i arrived, but during my first meeting with my supervisor i basically told them i was feeling really lost and overwhelmed. they were really helpful and gave me lots of things to read (books, journals, theses etc) which made me feel much calmer! your supervisor will understand that you feel like this to start, and you're not expected to know everything from day one - if you did you wouldn't need to be doing a phd in the first place!

another tip i found helpful was to start a phd journal from day one (writing down aims/objectives for each day, jotting down ideas, etc), and also to make a note of everything you read, by creating a refman/endnote database straightaway, which will save you a lot of time in the future

good luck :)

Smoobles is determined to achieve something useful today

my phd is fully funded by the BBSRC (and a small industrial case award). I was initially offered 3 years of funding, and was told that it would be preferable to finish (and submit) within that 3 years whenever possible. however, a month before i started the BBSRC changed their minds and decided to extend my funding for a 4th year. i have now been told that i am expected to finsih all my work within the 3 years (my phd is lab based) and then use the 4th year to write up and submit.

i have been told that many of the funding bodies are starting to do this, as they tend to find that people who only get 3 years of funding are having to work and write up at the same time during year 4, meaning that they take much longer to submit, and in some extreme cases (usually if the job is very good/well paid!) that sometimes people simply abandon their phd and never submit, which is obviously a complete waste of time for everyone.

i can submit at any time i like within the 4 years, but knowing that i have an extra year to complete if i need it (and i probably will!) is very nice! i don't have the worry of having to get a job and write up at the same time.

the directions on how to find the place on lcuck.ac.uk worry me:

"Turn right, into an alleyway, immediately after the Oxfam charity shop, which is approximately 150 yards from the station. You are now in Victoria Gardens . The college campus is on the right hand side. Proceed through the car park to the ground floor reception."

it would definitely be worth going and having a look first i think!

i am a scientist doing pharmacokinetics/pbpk modelling

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i would like to think i'd finish my phd, but would prob take a long break (say a month) to travel now, and then get back to it after that. would also buy a series of big houses for me and my family, a nice car, and an exclusive parking space right next to uni!! or maybe just a helicopter that could drop me right onto my builidng every day...... right, really need to go and buy a ticket now!

my university runs an online academic writing course that allows you to work through it at your own pace, with sections on grammar, punctuation, style etc. i found this really helpful and it may be worth seeing if your uni does something similar?

i find the best writing (in journals, books etc) is the sort of writing that you don't have to think about as you're reading, if you know what i mean! the sort of writing that catches your attention (use of too much 'fancy' vocab, over-long sentences etc) doesn't flow very well, and i find that getting someone else to read your work (even someone who hasn't got a clue what you're writing about!) can help, as they can point these things out. i get my sis to read my writing (i am a scientist, she did languages, so she doesn't understand a word but is v good at grammar!) which is really useful.

Hi,

I'm about 2 months into my phd and i have kept a 'journal' from day 1 as I did this for my masters and found it really useful. mine is basically just a plain notebook, and every morning i write down what i want to achieve that day, e.g. read a certain paper, complete an experiment etc. then during the day i add pretty much anything that pops into my head, such as ideas, other things i need to do, emails i need to send... then at the end of the day i go through it and check off tasks i have completed.

sounds pretty time-consuming but once you're into the habit its pretty easy, you don't have to write much and it can even be just a few words jotted down to remind you of something. i find it much better to have all my scribbles in one place rather than on loads of random bits of paper!

i also use it to write down anything that hasn't gone so well (or things that have!), things that annoyed me etc as i find writing these things down really helps.

sylvester - thanks for the tip! i am only 2 months into my phd but already had piles of papers all over the place! i used your system to organise it all and so far it is working great - took me almost an entire day to do it but should be really easy to keep up the system now i've started. thanks! ;-)

I started my PhD in July this year, and am struggling to get things underway - I just wondered if this is common for the first few months?! My PhD is part funded by Astra Zeneca so I spend half my time there and half at Uni - this makes things a bit confusing as I have 2 uni supervisors and 1 at AZ. Basically I don't feel I am making much progress yet, especially as my PhD is not in my original field (I started in biochem and my PhD is pharmacology) and seem to be spending all my time reading papers and not doing much else!! My supervisors all seem great but don't communicate much with each other so I feel a bit lost at the moment and my project is sort of drifting! Is it normal to feel like this at the beginning of a phd?!