This forum is starting to get a bit quiet - everyone, stop working!

How would you like us to help?

Also, it SHOULD matter where. You should aim to do a PhD in a department that is strong in your area, not just any old place that will have you.

I apologise if you get quite a negative reaction from this forum, but it is full of people who are in their 3rd, 4th, 5th year or longer!

Why do you want to do it in one year? I think you're missing the whole point of a PhD. A PhD is not about ground-breaking research and getting results out there as quick as possible and getting something else for the CV, it is about training, learning new skills and maturing into a competent and critical researcher. Can that be done in a year?

If I could tell you how much I have changed as an academic, and as a person in just two years, I think you will miss out on a lot if you aim to complete so fast with your head down, and not picking up the sort of skills, and the confidence a PhD will give you.

Plus pretty much every University has rules that state you must be resident and studying for at least 2 or 2.5 years anyway.

Oh dear mine sounds quite a bit different from everyone elses! I'm planning each chapter to focus on a different techique, so each chapter will have a short background, method, discussion and conclusion section. So that's another way of doing it I suppose.

Everyone in the forum, put your hand up if you have no publications.

Ozzy, most people on here won't have any by the second year, a lot won't have any by the time they've submitted, except perhaps the odd conference proceeding. Firstly because you need quite a lot of concrete data for a paper (which might only finally come together in the second or third year), and plus the peer-review process is so long that it might take a year or longer from sumbmission to publication.

It sounds like you might have a few more things worrying you, and a publication record is important in an academic career, but don't let it worry you too much. After all, somebody told me that publishing is what a post-doc's for!

Ooops, I never click on that green arrow before I remove my USB stick. I shall from now on!

What starts green but quickly turns red?

A frog in a liquidiser.

Mine never started as a CASE award, but was an opportunity to share data and expertise, with no financial commitment (just a time commitment!). You could use that angle I suppose.

Hendrix is annoying my office neighbours at the moment...

Why do you need that? You'll never get to use it

The PGFteam have been pretty quiet lately...stop munching those sausages and join in the fun!

I should have clarified - because I think they are only valid for a certain period of time, like Pineapple said, you won't have to do the check until your actually going to do fieldwork etc involving vunerable people (or the outreach work etc). I doubt they'd do it before you were accepted or before you started the work you needed it for.

I'm sure you'll be checked if your PhD involves working with vulnerable people (e.g. education), and I presume if you're in the healthcare/medical field you would too? I don't know, maybe one of the medics on here could advise.

You'll probably be checked too if you do any outreach work in schools etc alongside your project.

A smile is good