ditto, I got the invalid survey code too at the end. Your research looks interesting though.

Does anyone feel that a major theorist doesn't deserve their place in the literature?

I've just passed the confirmation stage of my PhD, however, I am not all together happy with the institution I have enrolled in. My main concern is there are no real "experts" in the field that I am basing my topic in. This means that I don't have anyone to bounce ideas off. So I am seriously considering applying to continue elsewhere.

Has anybody else changed institutions? How did you find the process of doing this? What advice would you give?

i wish i could just sit down and do a PhD 9-5 with a proper lunch break. Instead I have a strange work pattern that is all over the place . . . :p

I wish I could fly. (robin) That would be a great way to destress after all this study.

I've got an MBA and am doing a PhD - straight without going through the MPhil. Your thesis will be seen by some universities as equivilent to an honours thesis (although I think you have to do more than an honours thesis, at least at my uni you did!).

If you can get RA work it will boost your chances too as what they tend to want to see is research experience more than anything. I had a good years worth of RA work and it seemed to do the trick for me. Also if you can take on tutoring etc during that time too - it gives the impression of a clear career path.

good luck:-)

Hey there

At my uni you can apply to do an MPhil and if it is good enough get it upgraded to a PhD (this happens approx half-way through the MPhil). It is definitely a strategy worth taking if you want to end up with a PhD. Just make sure you get a supervisor who is sympathetic to your ambitions.

Oh yeah, I went through this recently.

My supervisors both told me to do other things. As one said, maybe I had read too much and needed to synthesise everything in my head. They both said to go do other things like walking as I would find myself thinking about my PhD anyway. I also started gardening. It was very mediative just to be planting things or watering and pondering my thesis as I went along. Other PhD students in my school said they spent big chunks of their time not doing anything - either procrastinating or deliberately taking time off reading. One even spent whole days on the ferry going up and down the river pondering her thesis! A friend's brother even said he didn't read anything for a month in the middle of his literature review and he still graduated.

My other "treat" or motivation tactic for when I don't want to read is to watch a couple of documentaries about my topic. Docos tend to be holistic rather than focusing on specifics and it helps me to look at the big picture every now and then rather then the minutae of different aspects. I find this motivates me as I remember why I am studying my topic. Also I tend to find that I still take notes as watching them triggers off ideas.

As everyone said to me - it is just a phase and a very normal part of the PhD process. Good luck.:-)

Hi

I've been offered an opportunity to work as an RA on a journal article (8-10 pages total length). I have to conduct the literature review and understand the parameters (I've been given old articles by the researcher and told to update her references and write a new review).

Problem is the researcher is away for 6 weeks and I want to check that I am doing the right thing.

Basically I am finding papers, writing summaries for each paper I find, then writing the lit review with the papers I found relevant.

This is all expected to be within 20 hours work. Which doesn't sound like enough hours to me (just like tutoring or marking!).

Am I approaching this right? This is what I did with my PhD and it worked for me, but am unsure if it is what is expected of an RA.

thanks
Io

Thanks for the replies. Meeting went quite well. Some of the other PhDs at my school said I sounded like I had done a lot so that made me feel better!

Hi all

I've just started my PhD two weeks ago and am starting to have my first panic. I have an appointment with my advisers (supervisors) tomorrow and I need to show them what I have been doing over the last week.

I am really worried that I won't have done enough research. I am in communications and have written notes on about 10 papers from the last week. These notes will of course be the foundation of what I put in my literature review. And I have looked at other stuff and dismissed it. How do I justify. Oh dear, do I sound a bit panicked?:$

Thank-you

Got it back and she said it was strong! There are a few bits I need to sort out, but nothing too major. Once it is approved it has to go through the bureaucratic process, but I should get in now.

my advisor to be has said she will send it back with comments later today. Am nervous that I have gone about it all the wrong way, but then there doesn't seem to be any way that anyone can tell you to go about it! I'm in Australia so it is like the British system.

I think I will go chew my fingernails now.