Hi Blueberry, I think you are right to be wary - I have never heard of this happening before. Are others in the department doing the same - or you will be the only one? Maybe it varies by discipline, but I really don't think this is common at all. Would be interesting to hear what others think.

My absolute deadline for submission is 30th Sept - less than 2 weeks to go! The coming days are going to be tough - a lot still to achieve (discussion to finish, tables to format, and comments on other chapters to deal with). Would love to hear from others in same situation. All that's keeping me going is that it's the final push!!!

Hi Flack - I am trying to organise a move from Glasgow to Bristol so I feel your pain! I have had my own flat for 6 years but decided to rent a room in a flat in Bristol initially as I thought that would be easier to organise. In terms of removals www.student-movers.co.uk are worth a look - and they have the option that you can travel for free in the van with them if you want so that saves additional travel costs and means you arrive at your destination at the same time as your stuff.

As others have suggested I used spareroom.com and gumtree to find a room - the problem I found was that most rooms were for immediate entry and I was trying to find one for Oct (this was a few weeks ago). So I decided to post 'room wanted' ads and found a really nice flat with a postdoc (through gumtree - although hers was the only relevant reply I got through gumtree so not sure how useful it is overall but worked for me). So that is organised but the thought of moving still stressful - and discussion chapter of thesis still needs to be finished!!!

Good luck with the move - and the PhD :)

Hi Franky, I read your post and it reminded me of my situation a few years ago. I did an MSc in Epidemiology and wanted to work as a research assistant before deciding whether or not to do a PhD. I graduated from my MSc at the end of 2004 and after many applications, I finally had two interviews and was offered both positions. So my first piece of advice would be not to get disheartened - don't give up!

Research assistant positions are highly competitive (where I work now it is not unusual for a research assistant vacancy to attract 80+ applicants whereas most postdoc positions are no where near that number). Several of the people who have been successful in my institute at getting RA positions, and PhDs too, have previously worked as temporary staff (employed via a temping agency) in the institute or have been fieldworkers on one of our studies - we frequently employ relatively large numbers of people for this kind of work. So if you live somewhere with a public health/epidemiology department it is worth contacting them to ask if they have any studies which they'll need fieldworkers for coming up, or if they use a particular temp agency to employ staff. Doing this kind of temp work gives you invaluable experience of research, shows a commitment to the subject area, and can give you the opportunity to make contacts. Volunteering in an area you are interested in can also be valuable experience.

Although you may have an 'ideal' position in mind, I think for your first job you just have to apply for anything which could be good experience. I applied for research jobs in the private, academic, voluntary and government sectors after my Masters. Public health is a very diverse area and there are many different career options available to you. Me and my masters friends applied for jobs all over the UK - if definitely helps if you can be flexible on location. Immediately post Masters I got a job in a research institute and of my three friends from the course, 2 got research jobs in the NHS and one in a university. It took us all many applications to get these jobs and we all had to move to different cities (to Galway, Birmingham, Sheffield, and Glasgow). But subsequently I think we have all found it much easier to get other jobs/PhDs. Almost 7yrs on we are all still working in epidemiology/public health so I hope that gives you some encouragement.

I'm in last month of PhD now and I start a postdoc next month (stressful times!) - I think my 3yrs RA experience was an advantage over others who 'only' had a PhD in getting my new job so I think your decision to try for a research assistant post first is a good one. Also bear in mind that for research jobs in sectors other than academia a PhD is often not needed and salaries are often higher and contracts longer - so no point jumping into PhD until you know academia is for you.

I hope that is some help - good luck :)