Hey guys n gals....i was wondering what you all thought on this subject...is it better to have a phd goin into secondary school teaching or not? do u think its a waste of time doing the phd if you know u want to teach or will it leave you in better stead? just some questions rattling around in my brain!

hi guys, i had my transfer recently and i dont know what to think. i was already quite doubtful about continuing my phd....ive been told that my report was written well and that my talk went ok but then came the questions section. the people that were at it were quite harsh in their questioning...it wasnt an "im interested in what your doing" kinda questioning...it was more like i want to catch u out and make you look a joke questioning. i dont know what i expect you guys to say cause i know that it trains you in defending your work...but then again im only less than a year through my phd and am still finding my feet. guess i just want some comments?!

hey there, well i def feel the same sometimes but u gota think whether this is really what you want or whether you are just goin through a bad patch...i went through one last week and really didnt want to do this anymore...but after a break at easter and gettin away from it all for a few days it has sorted me out. Anyway...the way i look at it is to think how it would make you feel if someone took your phd away from you. i thought about it and i wouldnt be too happy so i figure i want it! that prob doesnt make a lot of sense but hope it helps!

hi guys...i just wondered if you all ever thought how the hell have these people came up with the methods im using....i was sitting doing a western blot today and anyone whos ever done one will know there are a few steps to getting an end product with lots of optomisation. Fair enuf u sit and fiddle with concentrations of buffers and antibody etc to get things right but the general idea is mind boggling to me that i could ever be in a position to make up an assay like this...this is science specific example but im sure other disciplines have ideas and formulas which they just think....how the hell? not sure if that made sense at all...but just a thought while i was working away!?

all depends on whether its north or south of ireland as funding is totally different?

what u need to know about MALDI TOF moomin?

hey...yeah im heading away for 5 days to spain in jan just after my first year talk! im all excited...will b cold but dont care...just heading for the break! yipee!

just to get to know everyone better.....what are you all getting up to this weekend no matter how boring or cool it is....im watching blunder at the mo...think its fab...and tomorrow im going to go xmas shopping for the day b4 my pay all runs out... and then head to a housewarming/pissup at nite!then maybe....just maybe...write up some data!...or not!haha!

Thats great guys...at least i know im not alone...have my second meeting tomorrow and ive just made a list of the main elements of my experimental designs and the companies i can use to get them...hope itll all be ok!haha

had my first meeting with the prof of our group this week. is it just me or do they expect you to know stuff!? know thats a bit of a stupid question but im only getting familiar with my topic of research and hes expecting me to have all the experiments i need to to in the next year planned, written up and the materials i need ordered. thing is no1 else in my group is having to do this because their phd's are based on topics that have been running for years while mine is a new topic and needs a load of new methods to start it up?! im spending a LOT of money and afraid of mucking it all up...also not being able to answer all his questions as he doesnt know my area of research very well....think im jst rambling now!haha

hi guys, im a bit of a bad one for box sets and just got hooked on greys anatomy series one (if u havnt seen it buy it!!hehe!) was just wondering if anyone knew when the 2nd series was on dvd here cause i dont have sky to watch it on living tv. its on the US amazon website but dont really wana go through the hassle of buyin it on there!god ya'd think this was more important than my phd....hmmm!hehe

grr stupid work eh?wouldnt it b great if a nice little monkey came through ure window every mornin n handed u a wad of cash! oh well ive fallen into my cornflakes dreamin again!

ive only got 2 weeks left until i start my phd and all the guys i will be working with in the lab have text me and asked what ive been getting up to with my LAST summer of freedom! truth is i havent done anythin exciting at all except work...and then spend that on goin out at weekends and the odd weekend away!all good i suppose cause the summers gone quite fast so i musta been enjoyin it!was just wonderin what all the newbies have been doin "in their last summer of freedom" and what all the phd guys have been doing to see what we have to look forward to!?:-)

cheers for the replys guys....to add on i just broke my hand playin drunkin rugby over the weekend.....i really shouldnt b supervisin any1 should i eh>?!i still have one typin hand tho....yipee!no pipette hand tho!.....yippeee/boooo...dont know which one!

Hi guys..new on here!ive got a bit of a fear among loads of others!hehe!just startin my phd in middle of sept and its in the uni i did my undergrad in. the thing is the phd students are used to supervise the final year undergrads in their honours projects...thats all fine and dandy because my phd student was into his 4th year and i gleaned loads of info from him and he carried out any radioactive stuff i had to do. anyhoo, what im worried about is that my supervisor has told me that a final yr will def b doin a project with me because theres no-one else to do it. they start their projects in late november...by that time ill only be getting to grips with a few of the techniques and the subject in general and the undergrad will be expecting me to be an expert etc and to do bits and pieces for them......was just wonderin if anyone has had same experience or what other uni's are like for this!cheers:)