Thanks for pointing me to that thread, MeaninginLife, i just read it.
As I said, I haven't sent it to her yet, but I do understand that, as people said in the thread here, that potential appointers will want to see some of my work. In this case it has to be my thesis, as the postdoc would be an extension of my phd. It's a bit of a dilemma, and probably one will have to weigh several things, or rely on one's judgement of other people. Knowing her from the conference, I wouldn't think that she would be capable to plagiarise, firstly because of her personality, and then also because she works in a different field, which would be combined with mine in a potential postdoc. My phd would not be of much use to her and would not fit her research profile/list of publications. But of course, this could be naive and I can be mistaken about her..

Thanks for your answers, guys, that really helped.
In the end I offered the lecturer lady to either attach an electronic copy or post her a paper copy, emphasising (as happyclappy suggested) that it is pre-viva. I was hoping she would get the hint and she did, she just emailed back saying that she is happy to wait until after the viva :)
Regarding other people interested in the thesis, I will tell them that I'll be happy to give them a copy after the final draft is approved.
Thanks again for your opinions!
Lexika

Hi everyone,

I found this wonderful forum about a week ago and have posted bits and pieces here and there, but now I'd like to take this chance and ask for your opinion.
I submitted my phd thesis 2 weeks ago and will hopefully defend it in December. So far I have only printed 2 softbound copies for the two examiners and one for myself. My supervisor only has an electronic version of it. Since submitting the thesis I have attended a conference and visited several people who have helped me in the process (research participants and agencies), and many have asked for a full copy or a print-out of single chapters. Most of these people are non-academics, but now a university lecturer has also asked me for a full copy. I met her at the conference and discussed ideas about a possible postdoc with her. She said she would greatly appreciate a copy of my thesis and discuss things further.
Now, I don't know what to do. Talking to these non-academic friends, they understood that I would like to wait until I have defended it and completed all corrections. Even with that I think I will still feel bad giving away copies before my work is actually published, but I can see that they are eager to read it. With the lecturer, however, I don't know what to do. She could be a key person for my future career, and I have got to know her as a very reliable and honest person. Is it a good idea to send her a copy?

Thanks very much for your opinion.
Lexika

I used the concondancer AntConc (http://www.antlab.sci.waseda.ac.jp/software.html) and the qualitative analysis software TAMSAnalyzer (http://tamsys.sourceforge.net). Especially the latter was very useful for coding, but it can do a lot more. Both are freeware.

Hope that helps,
Lexika

Hi toneitup,

Maybe you could see it as 'testing' this model by doing this narrow case study? In the end you may come up with ideas for how the model could be improved. Your topic is surely original already by doing the case study in connection with this model, but enhancing a model and suggesting improvement will certainly make it even more original and innovative.

Cheers,
Lexika

wow, I'm starting to get jealous hearing what students in other parts of the world get ;) No, just joking. I can see that it is frustrating and that you are feeling exploited. Here, rent is around 350 euros, so I had 300 for bills and everything else. It was certainly not much, but people manage here with that amount of money. And we do have fun here as well, going to restaurants and for drinks once in a while ;) Over in Canada, you seem to see PhD students as academics in normal and decently paid positions. I actually like that idea very much, but it is not like that everywhere. I don't know if I can speak for Europe in general, but PhD students are treated as normal students, maybe with a bit more respect than MA students. It certainly varies greatly in the different subject areas. When you have your diplomas and your PhD, then you can talk and negotiate salaries. Of course, your point of reference is Canada, and from that point it is very frustrating. What I'm trying to say is that the most important thing is your motivation. If you leave your position now and start at zero again, you will lose years and will start earning a decent salary later. Try to leave the financial worries aside. After all it's only for a year. You will survive AND have fun for sure! After that year, will you be able to return to your normal stipend again?

Regarding your supervisor, yes, I think changing the supervisor within the department would cause a war everywhere, and I wouldn't do that either. I would rather try and get someone from France on board as well. That can be easily justified as necessary in front of your supervisor, e.g. by saying that they have the specific expertise that you need, and that they are right there in the place where you will work, so there won't be any time delay when you need help via email.

Hi lucieinthesky,

sorry to hear that you're so down at the moment.
To be honest, I wouldn't throw away 2.5 years of work. I know supervisors can be a pain, but you see, you are not doing it for him, but for yourself. I had a similar experience with mine, though mine didn't have to make any financial decisions. If you love your project, I think you should go ahead with it regardless of the support you have, your own motivation is everything.
Re finances, I'm not sure if I understood you right, but even after putting away 464 dollars for the fees you will still have 1000 Euros? I understand that you had more before and that it is a huge cut, but it's still a lot of money.. my stipend was 650 euros, and I live in Ireland, where the cost of living is considerably higher than in France. You should be fine so, but sorry if I interpreted the figures wrong.

Things might turn around for you in France while working together with scientists etc., which may compensate what your supervisor is not giving you, you never know :)