Hi Pineapple,

I have been supervising the practical bit of 2 MSc dissertation students because their research was similar to mine. Apart from that, I also becae friendly with them and helped them out a bit more in my own time.

a) Check if your uni has an MSc dissertation guide. My College specifies that students (BSc and MSc) are entitled to an average of 1 hour direct supervision per week. I used to spend more, because it was direct supervision in the labs, but I did get rewarded with fantastic international cooking!
b) As I am a graduate teaching assistant, it was sort of assumed I would do it, I did however log most of the official work into my teaching hours, so I did get paid for in, albeit indirectly.
c) 4-5 times per day, but actual experimental supervision was dependent on the stage of their research. They used to ask me for advise during meals and such, which I didn't mind giving as they were very enthusiastic about my/their topic
d) Occasionally I did if it was for procedures and analyses, but generally my supervision was lab based
e) I do put it on my CV, and I think it has definitely helped my relationship with my supervisor. Also, I get to use parts of their results for my thesis and now have contacts in international organisations with research monies. And ofcourse it does count as managing experience!

Hope this helps :)

Congrats!! Dr Dunni!

Yay Dr Pineapple! (up)

Good luck!(up)

Yeah, I am from the Netherlands, although I'm doing my PhD in the UK ;-)

Yay, thanks Batfink!

can I have my second please? ;)

Yay, well done Emmaki! Those are proper achievements! :)

Hi DX,

I'm in my first year of an animal science PhD. I receive a Graduate Teaching Assistant studentship paid for by my College, so part of my work are the teaching related duties (which cover everything from teaching, running practicals, tutoring, marking etc.). My contract states I have to do 6 hours per week, but in general it is a bit more because I quite enjoy it and have noticed that the students appreaciate my extra effort. In my first semester I assisted 1st year degree practicals, in my second semester I ran 1st year biochemistry practicals and tutorials and assisted 2nd year nutrition practicals. Besides the practicals I mark all the biochemistry lab reports and design and mark the quizzes. To top it up I regularly lecture in subjects related to my BSc or MSc and supervised MSc practicals and the practical work of a undergraduate dissertation student.

It sounds like a lot of work, and at times it is, but on average I do 7.5 hours a week, so 1 day per week really. And it's fun :)

I have a desk in an open space office which can house 16 people but currently only houses about 5/6, so I'm not complaining. I come in 5 days/week between 7.45 and 8.15 and leave around 19:00. I try to come in every Saturday as wel, normally 10:00 to 16:00 or so, because I hold a GTA position and need some extra time to catch up on admin and stuff, which I otherwise would have to do at home.

During periods of labwork my working hours are obviously dependent on the labwork.

1. Can't seem to find this one, only Food and Nutrition Bulletin, which is Food Nutr Bull
2. Can't find this one
3. Qual. Res. Psychol.
4. Int. J. Qual. Meth.

Hope this helps

PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus

Congratulations!!! Enjoy the ride!

Congrats!

Congratulations Dr Walminski!!! Well done!