Hi,

It's my viva this week and I am procrastinating right up to the end. I have just done a CD of music for the car journey. Here's what's on the CD:

Run to you - Bryan Adams
Wonderful life - Ace of Base
Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
Nothing Else Matters - Metallica
LIttle Lies - Fleetwood Mac
Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes - Beck
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
Wasted years - Iron Maiden
Big Log - Robert Plant
Things can only get better - Howard Jones
Let the Sunshine in - 5th Dimension

Mmmmm...

Why not just raise it as an issue - say you like to discuss frequency of meetings with him and give him the chance to say what he wants to say? Then you could agree on future meeting dates.

L

Hi,

Hope you're not offended by this - but I thought it was really funny. We've all been there...!

http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1047

Absolutely not! I couldn't live with myself if I did that!

Hi,

I would either say Dear Professor Smith or just address it as "Hello,".

L

Hi,

Thanks for your responses - don't know about the job yet!

I think you all raise some interestings points - and I agree that libraries have become more noisy, and there is too much eating! I also agree with satchi that it would be nice to have more course-related films etc, or audio. I have in the past borrowed quite a few DVDs - but only for entertainment purposes! This can be quite useful, particularly if they have a large cultural studies department..

jepsonclough - re more books. In the past I have made recommendations for books for them to buy and they have bought them! So maybe that's something you could try?

NapoleonofCrime - yes, using other libraries can be a good idea, I do that too.

joyce - a suggestion for when your library doesn't subscribe to the online journal you want - I ask a friend from another uni to get it for me. This is probably illegal though! Quite often I get what I want in the end!

L

Hi,

I'd like to ask fellow PhD students about their use of the uni library (this is to help me with a job application, but it might be useful and interesting anyway...).

Basically, my questions are:

- what advice would you give to new PhD students about using the library?

- what do you find useful or not useful about the library?

- what things would you like the library to offer that they don't do at the moment?

If you have anything to say about libraries which doesn't relate to my questions, I would be very interested to hear about it too.

I'm just after some general ideas - I won't be quoting anybody or anything like that!

Thanks very much,
L

I am also close to submission and am sick to death of it. I want to get it in and then forget about it - well, after the viva anyway. But I am sure that I will feel a sense of loss when it is over. Maybe in a strange way, that's what you're feeling as well?

Hi,

It depends on where you are up to in the PhD and the conditions of your funding. One option might be to stay registered at your current uni but still have the same supervisor. Your current uni would have to pay for this. It also depends on whether your current supervisor wants you to move with him/her. I would ask the institutions about what their policy is - see if each option is possible and what would be involved before deciding. One issue for you might be where you want your PhD to be from.

Yes I agree, Keep_Calm, but on the other hand, I think I agree with her when she says that the best PhDs are small. Even if it is an ambitious topic, I think it's still possible to be focussed and direct about it. Some of the theses I have read as examples to help me with mine are so waffly and uncertain about what they are trying to say. Too much stuff can detract from the weight of argument rather than add to it. But of course, it is a lot easier to pontificate about this than it is to do it ...

Tara Brabazon in THE - obvious, but worth reading:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410208&c=1

Yes, a big tin of roses - laced with rat poison! How many years in prison would that be? I could be there in a nice cell / study bedroom finishing my PhD at the tax payers' expense after all! I could exchange one kind of prison for another!

I know what you mean about financial problems. I possibly have more leeway than you, but I did work PT in my first year. ESRC really should fund for 4 years! ... and PhD students should have more say about how universities treat them!

Does anybody get their PhD done in 3 years? A fourth year of writing up is expected - and the ESRC should fund this I think! At the moment I'm living on savings (in the fourth year and paying writing up fees) - a worry since I don't think I'll be walking into a job afterwards!

As far as I can gather, universities are under massive pressure to get ESRC funded students to finish within 4 years because completion rates affect how many studentships they will get in the future. Maybe you could use that as part of an argument, Sneaks? i.e. if you get some additional money or a job, you could finish in 4 years? I don't think you can get additional money, but you can get an extension I think, or you could intercalate for a bit - which might mean avoiding paying fees...?

Teek, I did get agreement in writing that I could buy the thing before I bought it, but they are refusing to pay for it anyway! There are complicating factors though - some months passed between agreement and me buying it, and there was a change in administrators (decisions being passed to faculty instead of department because of money scrimping). THe woman I am dealing with at the moment is a total witch and I have done everything I can to argue the point with her. At the moment, she is ignoring my (very polite) emails. I feel quite insulted by the whole thing - disempowered. I may complain officially later - at the moment, I think I should try not to get too upset about it... I am trying to get my thesis to the point of submission (in both senses) and am pretty frazzled already!

Thanks for these responses - sounds like the situation is similar at your places - if they are different universities - after all, we don't know!

heifer, blood out of a stone is right! The ESRC does have a list of things you can claim, but it is open to interpretation - it says it shoud be for things like consumables, transcription, conferences. I can't lay my hand on the list of criteria at the moment.

sneaks, it sounds to me like they should have paid for your membership! I think if MPs can employ members of their families, then you should be able to as well!! I did claim for quite a few printer cartidges in the past - and paper - so maybe you could do that!

I am sure though that they get to keep the money if we don't spend it, which makes them tend to deny claims - annoying! Also, my uni has cracked down on claiming recently - trying to save money, but I think this shouldn't affect what can be claimed.

I might see if can get my PhD first, and then complain later....

ESRC funded PhD students get an annual research grant of £750. If, like me, you are lucky enough to have this funding, please could you let me know what kind of things you spend it on? Are the criteria strictly applied or not?

I am asking because I claimed for something - but my Uni are now saying that it is not eligible and won't pay (although they said it would be OK before I bought it).

I am feeling quite stressed about this - feel that this situation is unfair, and the Uni is just trying to save money (they get the keep the grant they don't pay out students I think). I am obsessing about it somewhat, and think I should officially complain, but I'm scared of doing that since it will make me even more unpopular(!), and might affect any job application to the Uni.

My supervisor, doesn't want to get involved.

Thanks.