I had a skype interview for a post doc and you should treat it exactly the same as if it was in person. A good bit of advice is if the line is rather quite ensure you clarify the question as i ranted for 10 minutes with regards to a question that they didn't ask. But i still got it so didn't effect the out come.

To be honest you'd probally spend at least the first month of your PhD looking and trying to understand the literature getting a feel of what direction you are goign to persue (and probally bricking it feeling out of your depth! ha ha). So that takes you till probally mid october just reading so you'll only be without her for a month.....ish. In my experience your supervisor wont be the one actually showing you how to get on in the lab you'll be relying on your own initiative (what a PhD is all about, learning from ones mistakes lol) and most importantly kind post docs, they'll be more important than your supervisor if it's a well funded lab that is.

Firstly, talk to your b/f about it e.g. would it be a realtionship breaker if you move, if it is then the questions is how much do you want to do a Ph.D? You should bare in mind that a PhD is one of the largerst commitments you will take in terms of time and effort. Yes, relationships can work as in my case but it's hard work, so just be ready for a tough and stressful 3-4 years. However, i should say that although its hard in my case i loved doing my PhD and now couldn't imagine not being involved in academic research.

Well to be honest I wouldn't worry to much how exciting it is as realistically only your suprvisors, you and your examiner will every read it. if you are lucky and working in a hot field then a couple of people will get it out of the library to read. But, well done on writing!

Hi, im not sure if they have any PhDs but i know Plymouth university are very good in this field so have a look on their web site

Doing you PhD at a red brick/new uni will not make a difference in your future career if your supervisor is at the top of his game. However, if they are not well known in their field this will impact on your career be that at a red brick uni or a new on. So the most important thing is the reputation of your supervisor in thir field.

H go get the stats right actually, its a big myth that Nottingham has the higehst gun rate/crime rate in the country. Im not from Nottingham and so i am not biased so id choose notts

not sure what protocol you are using but fixing blood is easy and not that time consuing. If you think it truly is maybe science is not meant for you.

Just wanted to add one point to this post. Not only are you slagging of PhDs in the UK you say you know the status of UK scienece. you obviously dont! If you look back in the new scientist i forget specifiaclly which issue.....there was an article analysing scientific research from around the world. Britain punches well above its weight contributing, if i remeber rightly to 13% of all the worlds scientific liteature. Take note they anaylsed peer reviewed Journals you absolute nutter.

You should treat it as a time to impress as i know in my instituion when informal chats have occured with my supervisor, he has decided who he wants from these the interview later he used as a formality. So be preapred as if it were the real thing although it will be far more relaxed more of a chat than an official barage of questions. This is only form my experience i could be wrong as im not at cambridge.

Dont waste your time....a PhD wont help you achieve this.

Its fine to contact people on your own just be political with your supervisor. If he/she thinks your going behind there back you are asking for trouble. However, how will they ever knwo you've been in contact unless they have personel contacts inside the company you have been in touch with. Whos owns the knowledge you have is depndant if you signed intellectual property agreements.

Hope that was some help

Hi jojo

you are so not alone, my work is never up to standard it took about 12 total re-writes for a paper till my supervisor was happy but then he is an anal git. ha ha ha ha

It all depends for example last 3 weeks ive done about 20 hours a week. This week ive already done about 40 hours and still 2 days left of this week. But thats how i work, in sprints so to speak just find what works for you. Also remeber you will loose count of the amount of time you actually think about your PhD so although you might not be in a lab physically doing something. The hours put in thinking is quite mind blowing i find. Its there when you wake up and go to sleep. or maybe im just a weirdo. Who Knowssssssss!!!

Hi we went through the HSBC they took my bursary as a wage and gave us 100% mortgage. I think it can vary on the branch though so try and go to one thats in a heavy student populated area they tend to understand more.