yes I have

Also Queen - I want to break free

I received my studentship quarterly

ha ha worth a try!

You're welcome for the info. All supervisors and departments are different. I didn't hear from my supervisor until I arrived and then we arranged the first supervision so don't worry. He/she might still be on holiday! If you don't hear from them in the first week or two of term then send them an e-mail or go and knock on their door and introduce yourself.

Most departments provide some kind of welcome thing, although mine didn't! I was the only PhD student and it was very strange! You could e-mail your departmental secretary to see if there's anything you should attend. My main advice if you're going to a new place is go along to everything you can in the first few weeks and you will hopefully make some good friends to help keep you entertained along the PhD journey. Good luck!

In the month I registered, got orientated around campus, got library card etc went to induction talks, tried to settle in and meet people. These things (like registering) seemed to take ages and I remember being frustrated I couldn't jump right in and start properly. Had an initial supervision where my supervisor gave me a list of references to follow up and I was mainly reading a lot and taking notes and beginning to work out the key themes for my literature review. I remember always feeling I should do more, faster, and my supervisor was saying slow down a bit, a PhD is meant to be taken easier than that in the first year! But now I have to try to regain some of that enthusiasm/ drive and actually finish!

well done! how many words?

erm about the grade, it doesn't really work like that, by the time you get to viva it could be: pass, pass with minor correction (3 months), pass with major corrections (18 months)(please no!), MPhil (examiners decide no chance your work can get to PhD level) or fail.

well I know people who didn't pass their upgrade, although they were given a second chance...

'I Know', said Thomas, 'I'll write a PhD thesis on mooncups! Surely it won't take long, eveyone will think I am very intelligent, and we will be saved!'

If in doubt don't do it...if after a while in the workplace you really feel motivated to do a PhD you can always come back and start it then.

Katq's statement most closely matches my reasons for starting a PhD. No-idea - the reason you will read 'so much negative comments' is because the actual process of doing a PhD is damn hard. Not just hard as in finishing an undergraduate or masters dissertation but taking a bit longer, hard in ways that can only really be appreciated once you well into doing it! It is an endurance event and motivations may change over the years it takes to complete. In this last month or so before submitting I am motivated by finishing and not regretting done so much towards this and then giving up...this doesn't mean the motivations for starting aren't still there underneath the day to day grind. All PhD students are likely to encounter problems at some stage - those who have drifted into a PhD will (like the rest of us) either find the motivation to keep going or cut their losses.

20 minutes does seem short. This has the advantage of being less data to analyse but do you feel you will get enough depth? Are you asking enough open questions? I find that nodding or saying hmm hmm keeps people talking for a lot longer, or you could follow up something they said e.g. 'I was interested when you said X...can you say a bit more about that? How did that make you feel?' etc.

I think maybe our enthusiasms have gone away on holiday together. I haven't seem mine for ages!

Hillyg I have those forms too! It is scary...have you completed yours yet? I have been putting it off until I am certain about the final title and description of thesis...I know these things can be changed but it takes time and I don't want anything naff going to the examiners at this stage. I think the form should have been submitted months ago according to the university timescales! Hope it will be OK!