Welcome on board! Perhaps this shows that I'm not doing enough work, but I make plenty of time for myself. I tend to work 'office hours', and very rarely do any work in the evenings or weekends. I suppose having a very laidback supervisor who doesn't give deadlines/pressure etc helps. Of course I may regret this later on, but most other students in my dept are the same. I guess it depends on your subject - maybe lab-based subjects need more work and less 'me time'.

Well I'm no expert, but MSc is Master of Science, MA is Master of Arts, MEd is Master of Education, MBA is Master of Business Administration, and MPhil is Master of Philosophy - it's a lesser degree than a PhD, and is sometimes awarded to PhD students who marginally fail. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Philosophy
for more info on that one.

I watched the film Happy-go-lucky today and thought it was great! Has anyone else seen it? It was such a feel-good film - I left the cinema with a spring in my step and a big smile on my face! :-)

golfpro, just doing the maths here...a 1st in 1926? When you would have to have been in your early twenties?

Congratulations Jojo, that's a wonderful achievement! Good luck with the corrections - at least they'll be out of the way soon!

I think it's a bit unfair that the people who speak up and try to take control (Claire, Alex, Simon etc) are always targetted in the board room. The ones who keep a low profile (like the other guy on Simon's team whose name I don't know because he hardly featured at all!) are practically ignored, so are guaranteed not to be fired. I think they're playing a game by not getting too involved in the early stages. But I can't wait until Lucinder is a team leader - I don't know if she'll be up to it! And what is she wearing?!
And I agree about Claire - I wanted her to go last night!

I agreee, sleepyhead. I guess it is our right to have a good supervisor, so if we're not happy, then we should be allowed to change, for whatever reason. it's just quite a difficult thing to do though, without offending your supervisor or falling out with them. But then I suppose it is my PhD at the end of the day!

Bellaz, I feel the same way when talking to others in my dept - they all seem to have supervisors who take an interest in their work and give feedback etc. The annoying thing is that my supervisor is very nice and always has time for meetings etc..it's what goes on in the meetings that isn't so helpful!

Thanks, it's good to know someone else has taken the plunge!

...I don't want to have to ask for a change, but I feel that if I don't say now, I may regret it later on...in fact, I'm regretting not saying something sooner. I just feel that it might be quite awkward if I did change, because I'd still see my supervisor around the dept, which could be difficult. If anyone has been in a similar situation, it would be good to hear your thoughts!

Has anyone ever had to change their supervisor because they weren't getting anywhere? I feel like I'm making very little progress compared to my peers, and am beginning to worry that I'll still be working away when everyone else in my year has graduated. My supervisor never gives me any feedback on my work, and never reads what I've written. I spoke to him a few months ago to ask about my progress, and he said I was doing fine, but I have a feeling that he was just saying that because he knew that's what I wanted to hear. I often have meetings with him and feel no further forward by the end of the meeting. I did speak to my second supervisor recently about my progress, and he was quite helpful, reassuring me that I had made some progress and would get there eventually. He also said that he would speak to my supervisor if I liked, but I don't know if that would really change much - I think my supervisor is rather lazy and work-shy, and will always be that way...

I think you may be mistaken Jouri. I am unique.

I feel exactly the same way - I look back on what I've done and kick myself for taking so long to do it when it could have easily been done in a couple of months. Then I get annoyed with myself for the times I've spent day dreaming/staring into space/time-wasting on the internet etc etc. I think we all go through periods when we can't face doing any work and feel completely demotivated. I guess most people get through it and move on - I find I have weeks when I feel very motivated to work (like this week fortunately!), and weeks when I just can't be bothered and feel terribly stressed about the whole thing. So I would say don't worry, it's very common and you'll get there eventually! And yes, breaks are good too, even a few days of doing no work at all.

Wish we had a kettle here - we have a hot water dispenser on the wall that I'm sure gives tea a funny tase

Well I'm off to one in Bournemouth in October - wanted to go to the Lake District but it was full