- holy crap - after over a month of waiting for a response from an interview, I actually got offered the post :-)

That's probably the LONGEST waiting game ever. Thanks all for feedback and keeping it real, seems like the HR were rubbish afterall and the professor couldn't confirm till they had thoroughly checked my records. (up)(up)

...are there any career development fellowships around in your field of work? They don't pay much, but it is a good way to get your foot in the door and get some cross-discipline experience?

tough call - I would say the earlier you start looking, the less likely you are of getting the position - about 3 months before submission is a good time. I just spent 1 month waiting for a reply for a post doc (thankfully I got offered it) - but it is on the condition I submit in the next 2 months.

Preparing for interviews and presentations is always good practise prior to a viva anyway so I don't look it as a waste of time. However, waiting for a month to hear if you have a job is a real killer and absolutely distracting! Good luck :)

Hi Sari,

Do you have a progress review panel in place at your institute? Please arrange a meeting with them to discuss the feasability of changing supervisors at this late stage. They are meant to be impartial and there to address exactly these issues, and to help you complete your thesis.

I have gone through this personally so know exactly what you mean, but have taken it as one of lifes lessons... On ground level, you are the expert in your work - and you will have to defend your decisions by way of your viva - your supervisors are only there to advise, they may/may not be the experts they claim. And there will be times when you will completely disagree with them. Everyone will critisise your work, be it at conferences, meetings etc, but you will have to DEFEND your decisions. I found group meeting with my 'technical' supervisor followed directly by a generic meeting with my other supervisors very useful in this scenario. Please don't doubt yourself - you know more about the technicalities of your experiments more than anyone of them :-)

It may be worth keeping in mind some open access journals charge the authors £££ to get their work published. In contrast, as a subscriber, the costs are recovered from the end users so the costs are much lower for the author...

Yup! ...the assumption that you will be working 24 hours/day would be crazy - So work out what time of the day you do things best - I write constructively between the hours of 4 - 7pm for example. If you give yourself a couple of hours of constructive time each day, you'll still have time to do things without having to worry...

thanks all for helpful feedback...:)

Cheers,

Jo

Hi all,

I am currently on phd continuation, getting the final chapters organised etc. However, I went for a postdoc interview about 3 weeks ago. All went well - best beta-blocker experience yet :) ) - but they haven't got back to me. I have emailed the guy requesting feedback after almost 2 weeks of not hearing back, and got his out-of-office reply saying he won't be back in the office till 22nd (I had interview on the 5th). I then contacted proceeded to contact his secretary, who replied to say they were seeking references. I contacted my supervisors, and they had received request for references (due 19th). This is good so far (I think)...

I have now given him a week to sort himself out after not being in the office for a couple of weeks etc. But assuming he does offer me the post, I am hearing warning bells here - is this a good way to start a post-doc experience if he can't sort his shit out? Is it normal to be left hanging for 3 weeks? Or am I just being paranoid - hell I've been told 'no' faster than this before.

Should I contact him again? Or assume I haven't got it and move on?


Cheers,

Jo

Hi, I am nearing the end of my phd, but am not sure if there are any financial support for me whilst I am writing up - apart from a job that is. Not that I am lazy, I have been working, but it's absolutely draining not being able to write after working long hours. I would like to just finish up quickly - Any advice??

I agree with Sheena. However as an alternative, do you need to add the two methods at the beginning in the first place? Normally a 'method development section' can be added if you are evaluating multiple methods - however if it doesn't add anything further to the overall structure of the thesis, it may be best to leave it in as supplement perhaps - to demonstrate that you have done this but it is not directly relevent to body of the work you have covered?

Hey Alex,

Just focus on the end goal (PhD). Having phd friends is a definite form of therapy in my books. Hang in the buddy!

thanks Go :)

Not sure if I want to put that idea in his head just yet. I have finalised a draft contents page and divided my results into chapters for discussion with a retired professor from my dept. Am meeting her on friday to show her the results and seek impartial advice on where the project could finish.

The conclusions I draw from my expts are just as valid as my supervisors' but mine will generate more meaningful conclusions from my current results if I continue with my designed expts. If the professor arrives to the same conclusion as my supervisor, I may have to bite the bullet and do it but will wait till then.

Thanks for posts bytheway. I have managed to change my very negative stress into a very constructive process thanks to you lot. Cheers you lot !!:-)

thanks for feedback. Your idea of talking to the head is a good one, which is exactly what I was thinking of doing. My experiments are technically very demanding so having a good grasp of the area is a must. Half my problems involved lack of expertise and having to re-invent the wheel somewhat. I don't mind that at all, but I need my project to tell a coherent story at this moment, which it does not at the moment.

My supervisor and I are in the ULTIMATE disagreement regarding the final experiment. He wants it more inline with what he is doing so he feels he has contributed a level of input to my project. So far he has not! However his techniques are completely new to me and some of my data which is inconclusive can not be answered through his methods, therefore leaving me with many more unanswered questions.

I would like to do my final experiment in an area so I can tackle some missing links directly and have made many suggestions - however it is once again not in his area of expertise, but what I have been doing for the last year and his objections seem purely based on that and not my ability to have a coherent structure in my phd.

The ultimate decision should be mine I feel if I am defending my experiments, but as he is my supervisor he can pretty much do what he likes and has the final say alas!!

Hi. I am not sure about how to tell my eager supervisor to stop piling on experiments in the last 4 months of my phd?

My phd is in sciences and I have had to jump between departments - for the last 2 years. Not sure how he managed it, but he wrote the grant for my phd in areas that he himself does not have ANY expertise in

It's the usual story of the ambitious supervisor trying to extend their wand of skills but as he doesn't have any direct expertise - all the experiments end up taking much longer than need be.

At the end of it, I have to have a level of expertise to confidently defend my experiments, but as I keep jumping not just techniques, but departments every 6 months, it all feels a bit disjointed and I don't actually feel I know any of my experiment well enough to defend it effectively - esp when the examiners are experts in one field, where as I have to defend 3-4 different fields.

Is putting myself in the throws of yet another unknown department/ experiment in my final months a good idea? How can I tell him to bugger off?

Jo