Ours is between 9000 and 14500 words (50 - 80 pages, double spaced) not including figures, tables, refs etc. It just depends on your uni and their criteria though so follow your supervisors advice, also it is useful to see if you can read some of the previous students reports to give you an idea of what is accepted. Good luck!

A couple of friends of mine have got mortgages whilst on PhD stipend, Northern Rock and Woolwich I think. They both just needed a letter from the University confirming the amount and duration of the stipend.

You generally seem to avoid the gun crime unless you are a drug dealer living in St Ann's or the Meadows!

Research assistant post for a 1 year contract attracted 50 applicants!

Good uni- Higher Education Institution of the Year 2006, Postgrad school has good support sytem with transferable skills courses you take in your first year. Nottingham has great nightlife and fantastic shopping, always a priority! Don't believe everything you read about the bad reputation for violence, it's just the same as any other city really, I've lived/worked/studied in Nottingham for the past 6 years and I love it!

We usually freeze them gradually in a 'Mr Frosty' (from Nalgene i think) - a controlled cooling container you fill with isopropanol that when put into -80 freezer reduces the temperature at a rate of 1 degree per min before transferring them into liquid nitrogen.

In my lab no one's partner is in science or academia and this doesn't seem to cause any issues (the majority of us are female grads, PhD's or postdocs) - it also means on nights out we don't get stuck talking shop!