belated Happy Easter!

18 months in I had...one 'result' (result = set of experiments that worked - I'm a scientist), and that had already been published.

So you are effectively six months behind where you want to be...six months isn't an excessively long time to have 'wasted' (for whatever reason - I'm not saying it's your fault). What I mean is I've had plenty of six month periods during my PhD where I've achieved very little. That said, I was at least TRYING to achieve something. And there's always the fourth year (where I am now)...

No, that's not the

Every time I see , I just hear him saying 'hey hey heeeyy' (if you can imagine what I mean)...

Are there any more PGFT?

(egg) (flower) (daffodil)

Now. (chocolate) (easteregg)?

Must learn smileys...but I'm glad you guys did all the hard work...

I don't really understand what point you're at now - do you have to submit the report again? If so, I think you should probably take heart. The friend I mentioned has found that her MPhil work is much more substantial than ours having been through the external examiners. Things will probably even themselves out - even though it's horrible for you at the minute.

My experience of the transfer thing was quite different - my report was read by one academic across the corridor from my lab, I had an interview (around two weeks after submitting the report) that lasted probably 3/4 hour and was told the same day that I had been upgraded. The process obviously varies from department to department. Actually, now that I think about it, a friend of mine had to actually be AWARDED an MPhil before they continued research towards a PhD (we had both been initially registered as MPhil). This involved an external examiner and the whole process therefore took a lot longer... Is this what's happening to you? Maybe I'm just confusing you - the point is, for me there was no period of waiting around, not being allowed to do research.

Yes, it's extremely frustrating, but (in my experience) it is always the case. I have a wonderful idea, need to order a part for my experiment, and can expect to receive it typically ONE MONTH later. This is one of the reasons I've decided that a career in academia isn't for me.

Assuming that I pass, yes, I'll go to graduation. I really dreaded undergrad graduation, but in the end it was quite fun, so I don't mind this time. We don't get hats at our uni

"Neightbours"?!! NEIGHBOURS!

I was always a fan of Neighbours and Eastenders, in fact, have watched Neightbours since I was six
As for new bad habits - checking the BBC news website too many times a day. By the time I get home and watch the six o'clock news, I could pretty much be reading it. That's a bad trait I want to cut out.