I don't see that it would hold you back. How are they to know that you hadn't spent those two months turning down other posts until this perfect one came along? Or making minor corrections, or organising your move to France? 6-8 weeks is nothing in the grand scheme. Besides, far better to take the break you need and come to work fresh. If you've got the funds then I say go for it.

Stand your ground Sneaks, it does indeed sound as if you've made the right decision (that said, I can imagine the awkwardness of repeatedly saying no).
And I can sympathise with you on the tradesman-induced-guilt as well, despite paying such people to be there I always feel extremely uncomfortable and as if I must flap around offering them constant tea and sympathy for their task.

I got up with the husband at 5am today and am on my third breakfast and fourth caffeinated drink of the day already, oh dear. I plan to finish this experiment, do another and then having everything prep'ed for what should be last last experiment of its kind tomorrow! My writing has totally floundered recently but I'm kidding myself that once the lab work is clear I will be able to focus and write like the wind.

Can you say what subject you're in EmmaB? Might help people tailor it a bit.

I'd say that your intuition is probably about right regarding first and second year. In third year (if it's a three year funding) your aim would be to perform follow-up experiments to clarify your results, finish analysis and begin writing.

Ideally you might spend most of the first year on literature, setting up protocols and defining the research question. If any work requires ethics and/or sample collection then you'll want to get started on those asap as they always take an age.

Fantastic!!! I'm so pleased for you :-)

And 1h20 - that's super quick!

Thanks Tennie
Funnily enough my uni sent me an email about that just last week. Unfortunately I can't really afford the time or travel - Manchester is quite a slog from where I am.

======= Date Modified 03 Feb 2010 15:12:32 =======
Bwad, I don't think they'd quiz you on the UK in general (unless it was aspects of the UK you plan to study) and I would doubt they'd perform any formal test over the phone, especially if you only have 30 minutes.
From my own experience, questions vary but tend to include;
Your proposal, how it would work, why it matters, logic behind the methodology and how your previous experience would contribute.
You may be asked how you've dealt with work or research situations in the past; dealing with conflict, prioritising workload and so on. General questions about the field you're going into are always fair game.
Have an idea about why you want to work with this department specifically (their past research, the professor's publications, etc) and what your own aspirations are for a research career.

Good luck!

Well done for keeping going! Keep copies of those emails Mlis, youre supervisor is clearly shirking and she knows it. Regarding appointing a second, even a less relevant supervisor or one at a different site would at least give you someone to go to and who could read drafts for general style and so on, I'd say grab whatever you can get (you can always ignore them if you feel they don't know enough).

I think you should go to a second GP about the depression, it's not their specialist subject and I've had more than one utterly useless response myself (usually involving a course that meant them doing nothing, funnily enough). While I have seen people focus too much on their problems (and hence be unable to move on), the fact is that you sometimes need to work through things and learn new coping skills in order to break a pattern. We're not talking about someone who's had ten years of psychoanalysis and simply doesn't want to leave the comfort of the couch, you're genuinely struggling. CBT can be very useful for re-structuring your thinking and for learning new coping skills, and I think you need some support to get through the next few months, did you find out if your uni had a service you could access?

I think a lot of this "just get on with it" stuff is a backlash against the massive over-prescription of prozac and co in earlier years, doctors got the balance wrong then and they've careered to the other extreme now.

I can't stand being unemployed, not working always sounds lovely but within a week I start to feel my self- esteem eroding. I think I'm just trying to weigh up too many Ifs and Buts. Thanks for the offer of a Pfizer crash pad btw (snowman)

======= Date Modified 03 Feb 2010 11:37:20 =======
My phd is funded by a charity and that's been great, getting a role within a genetics charity itself though would be challenging without a media related Msc or a lot of voluntary work first.

My location (due to hubby's work and his daughter) is one of the reasons I'd struggle to get research work, so I could be looking at living away even if I stay in academia. I'm lucky that my sup has asked me to stay on after the phd, but he can only promise me 6 months part time, after that we're all dependent on grant results and I could easily end up looking at checkout work myself. I'm very fortunate that the husband is the main breadwinner and is willing to support my Msc idea, but it will cost us in both monetary and relationship terms.

======= Date Modified 03 Feb 2010 10:12:07 =======
Thanks mathkitty. I've already done some work experience with a team, but it was just odd hours here and there. It's as much as I can get given how busy they are, and while I enjoyed it, I don't feel it's given me a realistic impression of what the daily grind is like in that field.

I really did enjoy it though...

The course may reject me without a year out doing full-on care work anyway, but I'd though of applying this year because I just want to get on with things. Another year with more thinking time, experience, and just abreak from studying intensively may be wise. Sadly though there are no concessions unless your prior experience is actually working properly in a relevant caring role, with two years minimum to train I'm just so impatient to get going! Hope your own dilemma isn't driving you too mad ;-)

A run of certain Dell models have a faulty component which leads to overheating and requires replacement of the hard drive - thankfully a forum showed me that this was the cause of my own "chopped up screen of death" and Dell replaced mine under extended warranty. The laptop I got from Dell has been nothing but an expensive pain, I wish to God I'd never wasted the best part of a stipend on it!

Hope IT can be more help than me and that yours does turn out to be something simple badgerspy. :-)

I'm in a quandry about my future career, do I stay in academia, or transfer to another profession through further training? To give a little background, I did my undergrad degree in genetics, worked in genetic testing for a year (felt frustrated by being a tech and not a researcher), started a phd in genetic research, but always wondered about science communication or a genetically related caring profession. I've decided that full time media probably isn't for me, that I don't want to be a clinical scientist or routine lab worker. I'm contemplating the more clinical/caring role, but it requires a 2 year masters away from my family and with the obvious financial losses. I am enjoying the research just now but I don't see myself giving over my life to academia with all of it's hard work for little job security. I don't feel I'll ever be really "good" at research, but that could just be the old imposter syndrome kicking in. I've been interested in the clinical/caring role for years but wonder if I'm just seeing it as a soft option where the grass looks greener from afar. I'm rambling, can you tell I'm stuck?

This is hopelessly vague and I know no one can make this decision for me, but any insights would be so welcome. Has anyone started post-docing and found they love/hate it relative to the phd? Did you work in a different role and find academia better for any reason? Are you studying away from partner or family and finding it a struggle? Are there any obvious career options I'm being blind to (all I can see is a routine industry job, endless postdocs, or fighting tooth and nail for a lecturing post which I don't feel bright enough for)?

General debate / me toos / stop whining comments all welcome! (mince)

Nice idea indeed mathkitty. We did have a spate of positive stories a while back, but recently it's been a bit more sombre. Come preen yourself anyone who's lived to tell the submission tale!

======= Date Modified 03 Feb 2010 07:08:54 =======
Hi Bunytu

Different universities have different policies on this, but your intended supervisor may well have reached his maximum. What exactly is your situation, have you been taken on and now had your supervisor back out, or are you currently looking for a studentship? Is there no one else in the department/university whose research would be relevant enough to supervise you?