I agree with the other ones, I see nothing wrong with this. Just enjoy it, I think there is nothing here to be ashamed of :-)

If you open the EndNote program and click on this citation, how does the list of authors look there? It should look somehow like this:

Smith, H.
Jones, B.
Cunningham, D.
Blake, W.

(I just made up the H. B. D. and W., those are the first letters of the first names of the authors)

If not, I would suggest that you would change them to this format and see how that goes...

Hope this works
:-)

So... let's say you have studied a particular topic during your PhD. Are you then "stuck" with that particular topic (or a particular field) for the rest of your life, or "how far away" from that field can you go if you apply for a post-doc?

Hope you get what I am asking about:-)

Why can my supervisor not just be honest!! Instead, he becomes sulky without explaining it, while I have to figure out what I‘ve done wrong this time (or not wrong, sometimes I just haven‘t got the slightest clue on why he is sulky). I‘ve come to value honesty greatly. Even though I may disagree, I at least know what the problem is!

Not sure if he is trying to use this in some manipulative way, or if he is just like that in general...

But to be fair, he has these moments, but he is generally a good supervisor :-)

Those of you that have graduated, or are about to do so... Did you give your supervisor any gift to thank him for his guidance? Do you know if that's the habit?

I was in a similar position some time ago, and I was pretty frustrated about how late I was on my work, nothing seemed to get done. But somehow, it helped when I realized I just had to give myself some slack. Instead of thinking how useless I am, I started thinking about the reality, that I had been through hard times, and that this reaction was normal. Somehow, by just relaxing a bit, being „better to myself“ and just accepting that this would take longer time, things started moving again, and by the time I finished, I got very good feedbacks on my thesis.

So, my advice: be good to yourself and give yourself some slack, you deserve this after everything you‘ve been through! :-)

Hi!

I meant PhD BY distance learning :-)

Hi!

Do you know if it is possible to take PhD in distance learning? How does it work then?

LouMck, is there a possibility for you to check the supervisory style of these supervisors? Seems to me from the replies below that the supervisory style is more important than the number of students.

I have a rather busy supervisor. I am, however, always welcome at his office if I have some questions. But it can take a long time for him to read drafts.

I think it all comes down to the question „how much work should be involved in a PhD thesis?“ and also, „how well should it be done?“

According to the link Linguist gave above, the author of this book seems to conclude that we use too much time in revisions, to produce the perfect thesis, so if I quote from the link linguist gave:

„In the end, as Cahn points out, "no one will ask you whether your dissertation was passed with major or minor revisions. All that matters is that you have fulfilled every requirement for the degree."“

I don‘t agree with this.  I think it is important to do a good job, and if I were to hire someone for a postdoctoral position, I would consider the one that does his (or her) job well, although it is important that the person knows when to stop and actually publish something.

Although I‘m a bit suspicious about this 12-18 months thing, I think that this could be an interesting book, might be some good suggestions there...

If I understand this correctly, you were under a lot of stress during your PhD. study; both due to long term illnesses and due to the study, and this affected your relationship with your supervisor.

It seems to me from your post that you agree with your supervisor that there was something wrong with your communications and that you had something to do with that.  If so, can you maybe apologize to him? Tell him that you recognize what you did wrong, and that you are willing to improve?  You then must be honest about that; your supervisor might think that you are only apologizing to him to get better references. Is there any possibility to work with him again, so you can show that you can do better?  Or, can you find another referee?

I hope you will find some good solution for this :-)

I‘m on my first year of a Ph.D. and I think I‘m not very critical either. For me, I think it‘s for two reasons 1) I‘m not used to be critical and 2) I think all the other ones are sooo smart, so if I have one opinion, and they have other, I tend to think that I‘m wrong... I guess critical thinking comes with exercise??

What are the main skills you want your supervisors to have? Then I mean both the main supervisor and co-supervisors?



1. Good communication skills?

2. Has written a number of peer-reviewed articles (is this necessary for co-supervisors also?)?

3. Experience in supervising PhD students?

4. Interested in the subject?



Etc....



Do you think it's a great disadvantage if your co-supervisors have little experience in being first authors of peer-reviewed articles and have not been supervisors of a PhD student before?

Thanks for your replay, Vince
No, that‘s the difficult part, I cannot find any interesting Phd project here, at least right now.

Hi all!

I‘m facing a littlebit difficult situation right now. I‘d like to start a Phd, but I‘d have to go abroad, which I really am not very facinated about, as two of my three closest relatives have been diagnosed (and cured) for cancer in the last three years. This process, involving chemotherapy and radiotherapy, somehow changed my priorities, and I would dread to go away from my family. I‘m also worried that doing a Phd is a very lonely project, especially if my friends and family are not around.

I‘ve finished my masters degree, and my supervisor is advicing me to go abroad (he had previously offered me a Phd project, but I rejected it), and I‘ve got no idea what to do. What would you do? Any comments?