======= Date Modified 08 Feb 2011 23:17:47 =======
Let me preface by saying I am using this forum as a place to vent the devastated state of mind I am finding myself into. I'm not looking for advice, merely understanding, or consolation if you will.

I have, as it appears, worked extensively on a project that has just resulted in a publication in a respectable journal. It turns out getting there was not easy, and the project was far from a piece of cake. Which would be normal, were it not for the following corcumstances: I am moving onto another project and someone else has been appointed to follow up where I left off on the other project. All good and well so far. Only not quite.

Knowing the project and how hard it was to get the results I got, I feel terrible for the next person who picks it up -- I sweated over those experiments, and even when they worked reproducibility was extremely poor. All of us in the lab know this, but the work is fairly novel the idea of improving it what motivated the decision to get someone else on it.

It may sound trivial, but I am depressed by it. If it turns out the other person cannot reproduce those results I will be devastated and will bring into question my own results. I dont know how to feel. All I know is I go home every night feeling miserable. The work this new person is doing is slightly different, so there may be many reasons why that doesn't work, but I am still terribly worried.

As I said, I don't need advice, but perhaps a sense of consolation to come from someone who has been in similar shoes... Or just the lie that everything will be ok and I won't be exiled from science.

Does anybody have any concrete knowledge or experience on what, generally, constitutes minor corrections and what makes major corrections?

I am aware minor usually tends to mean "slight restructuring" or small additions to sections, but does somebody know exactly? Such as, how much is one usually required to re-do if they are given major corrections after a viva?

Any experiences?

======= Date Modified 13 May 2009 14:37:09 =======
OK, I feel I should elaborate, as after re-reading my initial post now it all sounds much worse than it actually is.

The odd sentence in the otherwise long intro is never more than a line long, and is referenced, although not put in quotes. I am more worried if I forgot to reference one or two of them, which are usually no more than a simple statement or a short statement on a scientific process.

Second, the "report" I mentioned was my own work (experiments) that just so happened an undergrad ended up helping with. It was always going to end up in my thesis as this is how it was designed and intended to and my supervisor knows this fully. I also helped the undergrad write a report on it and I just naturally used some of that material.

All this in a 300 page thesis which is rather solid. I am a perfectionist so the 5 or 10 "cut and pasted" sentences that are not my own wording stand out a lot more.

I mean, how does everyone write a scientific introduction to a thesis? Isn't the whole point of a literature review to mention and reference other work?

======= Date Modified 13 18 2009 13:18:15 =======
So I have finally submitted my thesis - which due to a job I have had to rush - and looking back on it, I am hating it. Truth be told, I spent a long time writing it and while I used to be fairly happy with it as a whole, I am growing to hate it. It just looks like a rather weak piece of work that can be easily challenged thereby making all of my research useless and, well, crap. Although, funnily, everyone else seems to think I did an 'excellent' job.

In addition to that, little things keep popping up that frustrate and worry me even more. For instance, take the introduction - which now appears increasingly worrying. And to think that a month ago I thought it was solid and well written. In doing my literature review, I have lifted sentences here and there from review papers and while I tried to reference all wherever possible, I feel I should have rephrased everything. Don't get me wrong, most of it is my wording, but some sentences/lines aren't. Doesn't everyone copy some stuff in their Lit Review from various sources?

I also lifted a small section from a report written by an undergrad student I supervised - work we did, however, do together and I did edit and help write his report so it is my own work. How does everyone else go about using work done by undergrads?

I mean, I am probably being too hard on myself, but I am entirely worried that all these small things will be exposed during my viva and my hard 3 years of work will be exposed due to me being a fraud. I suppose going back to a thesis after you've submitted it magnifies things that otherwise wouldn't stand out, but still.

Has anybody else felt this way after submitting their thesis? Is it a common feeling or are people generally content with their theses? Or am I just being too hard on myself and overly paranoid.

======= Date Modified 05 53 2009 23:53:33 =======
Hello everyone -
I have a question I hope someone can help with. I am about to submit my thesis. I already hold an offer for a postdoc abroad which I should start fairly soon. However, in order to be given a visa I need to provide a letter I have completed all requirements - obviously. Now, seeing as I don't know my viva date, has anyone ever had experience about being given a postdoc visa based on having submitted their thesis and without having had a viva?

Anyone else in postdoc/job application hell?

I have noticed that getting in touch with prospective postdoc supervisors is a horrible experience. Sometimes they can be super keen, other times you don't hear back from them for months. See I've had a phone interview a month ago and while I was promised to hear back within two weeks, I've had no contact yet and it's really driving me insane because I really want the job but I have other applications I should pursue if this doesn't go well, asap.

How long before giving up? Anyone in a position of having to chase the employee, as it were?

On top of that, my thesis writing is going bad. I've written most of it but it's kind of officially crap. Bah.

I just wanna eat my own toes.

[continued]
At the same time I am trying to apply for postdocs – out of 20+ emails I send, I get almost no replies. And when I browse and read other postdocs’ publication lists, it makes me feel I will never get anywhere and no one will ever want to employ me because I haven’t got 15 papers during my PhD. An acknowledgment email is all I need – a “thank you but no”. But I am just being ignored. I invested too much of my life into this only to be told it was all worthless. Being left in the cold is hurtful and, with the feeling of having a crap thesis – it’s too much to take.

Another rant on here.

I am a final year PhD (lab based) juggling my life between writing up and slowly finishing up in the lab. So far, so good. Apart from that it’s not. My results, although decent as a whole, are full of holes – I can see all the flaws and all the tweaks I need to do to my data to make it look prettier, clearer, more like what I want. It’s bringing me down. To the point I have no motivation to do anything apart from sit and feel depressed because I feel my PhD isn’t up to par to what everyone else’s is. Everyone thinks I’m actually prettygood, but I know it’s all a fluke. I have had a hard project and I just think it’s all crap and I will leave nothing good behind me.