Hi all,

I'm currently in the 9th month of my PhD. I saw a call for papers a couple of months back for a new journal (only one previous issue) published by an institution in Romania - they say it is peer reviewed. I submitted my MA thesis just on the offchance and they accepted it. It is on a subject that i'm not pursuing in for my Ph.D, and the institution that the journal is based at is probabaly relatively unknown/doesn't have much prestige.

I thought i'd just put it forward anyway to have something on my CV next to publications, as i've presented at a couple of conferences but nothing published yet.

Is this likely to make a different when it comes to TA positions etc?

Thanks for all the replies - i've decided to take the plunge and see what happens!

I never felt this concious of it before - my fellow PhD students have actually made 'jokes' - that i found a little offensive/made me uncomfortable , especially a couple of people whom have actually referred to it in a negative way.

BUT, i guess people just like to pick flaws!

Hi all

I'm just finishing the first year of my Ph.D, and i'm thinking it'd be good to get some teaching experience. There are positions going for next year and im thinking of sending my CV - however i'm feeling kind of inhibited by the fact i look really young.

I'm 24, and im constantly being told how young i look, ppl being surprised im doing a phd etc - and when i say young im talking being mistaken for anywhere between 18-21.

So, i'm not sure how i'm going to take a class where most of the students in it will be looking older than me!

Usually it doesn't bother me, but, in a teaching situation, surely one must have to look older than the students in order to be the 'authority figure'?!

:-s

======= Date Modified 18 Sep 2008 01:08:19 =======
About the whole academic snobbery thing for not being funded, would it be balanced out by any/all of the following:

1) I'm in a Social Sciences subject where there isn't much funding anyway
2) I went straight from MA to being a Research Assistant on a project that is part of a very highly regarded initiative, which i've been a part of for the best part of a year and have another 6 months left
3) I have some solid contacts already within my field and in policy circles as a result of my post on that project
4) I was offered funding but by a lesser institution so I chose not to take it
5) My research within the discipline has wet a lot of academics' appetite at this early stage

How formal is everyone with their supervisor? Do you meet over coffee or is it mainly an office thing? Can you call them / have their home number?

Just interested in the different levels of formality between supervisors and their PhD students.

======= Date Modified 03 Sep 2008 14:54:39 =======

Thanks all for the advice- it is appreciated.

What do you think of me and this academic having one more meeting to try and 'sort things out', and if not, then I take my other offer at a different Uni with diff supervisor?

Thanks all for the advice- it is appreciated.

What do you think of me and this academic having one more meeting to try and 'sort things out', and if not, then I take my other offer at a different Uni with diff supervisor?

It's a complicated situation - we DID get on very well, this academic and me are intellectually a great match - we fell out recently over some issues to do with grant applications for funding

im in the social sciences btw

My issue is basically it's my first choice institution - i've had my heart set on it, love the facilities/library/location/campus/research that goes on there. I can handle the supervisor thing - my concern is just the failure part

Hi all,

Recently relations between me and my prospective supervisor seem to have taken a downturn. I won't get into the details as it would take forever.

Basically, my question is, could a supervisor - if spiteful enough - fail your PhD without good enough reason? Do they have the power to do this? or would it affect their reputation to have failed PhD student on their record - even if they were already a senior/well known academic?

======= Date Modified 15 47 2008 22:47:27 =======
Hi All,

Just wondering, how hard is it to get a Phd place at a top uni? e.g Oxford, Warwick etc

I'm asking as I have had some success with apps, however a friend of mine and equally good candidate in my opinion is struggling in this regard.

So yes, out of interest, how hard do you think it is? Particularly for those in the social sciences/IR