I'm originally from St Andrews and jobs are to be had depending on what your girlfriend wants...the University is a big employer. Dundee is also only 30min from StAndrews and is much bigger. As I'm studying in London, I can't live close to the lab so have a 40min commute each day although in London it's normal to commute. Commuting can give you a chance to catch up on reading etc but it can feel like wasted time. St Andrews is 1hr from Edinburgh so could you live halfway between there and St Andrews? You'd probably need a car then though as public transport is a bit rubbish.

I've got a BBSRC/CASE in London and I think for 2006/2007 I got about £14,400 from the BBSRC and then the additional CASE money, which can vary depending on the company/department etc. I think for this year it'll be about £200 more for the BBSRC part. My CASE doesn't change each year.

My tissue is formalin fixed but I section, air dry then freeze and then when I want to stain the tissue I fix the slides in acetone after they've thawed.

Is your tissue fixed in anything like formalin before embedding it in a block for sectioning?

It definitely gets better and there are pluses too. I have a lot more input into and responsibility for my project now and I'm generally much more independent, which is not a bad thing.

Hi - sorry to hear your main advisor is leaving. I'm coming to the end of my 2nd year now and 3 out of the 4 supervisors I started my project with have left, including my main supervisor who left 18months into my project. I'm lucky because I still have regular contact with that supervisor and the head of my department has taken a much more active role in my supervision now. Will you still have contact with the advisor who is leaving? Will anyone else take over? Good luck - I know it feels like the end of the world at the moment but it does get better!

Hi - sounds a bit like a problem I had with reference manager recently when I had whole citations and code where each reference was supposed to be - my problem started overnight too! In Word go to tools options then look at the View tab. There's a box marked 'Field codes', which should be unchecked. If that box is checked it might be the cause of your messed up references. Good Luck

Hi - I live with my working partner and we share a small one bedroom flat. We pay £25 a month for electricity, £20 a month for water and our gas bill for 3 months was £145 (very expensive but it's a very cold flat!) The gas bill in the Summer was only £35 for 3 months...so gas probably works out about £30 a month. Hope this helps x

My working partner and I bought a flat together last year. When we were looking for a mortgage we went to an independent mortgage advisor who couldn't find a lender that would acknowledge my stipend as income. I have a Nationwide mortgage which was arranged on an affordability basis (i.e. takes into account all money coming in and going out to work out how big a mortgage you can afford). However, my Dad has had to act as guarantor. Good Luck x

Hi Jen. I had the same problem - I am funded by the BBSRC and just going into 2nd year and I didn't get my next installment either. I emailed the BBSRC and it turns out there's an annual confirmation that's sent to your supervisor, which must be signed and returned before you can get your next lot of money. the form was sent out at the beginning of August. I had the BBSRC fax over another and got my supervisor (who denies seeing the original in august) to sign it. I then got my money within a week. Hope this helps

Thanks guys. The past payments I've had have come straight from the BBSRC - it doesn't go via the Uni. Hopefully they are just bogged down with new students....

Hi - does anyone else have a BBSRC stuudentship? If so,have you been paid yet this month? Normally they've been really good at getting my payments to me but I don't seem to have received one this month and i think I should be due one on the 1st October....fingers crossed it'll go in in the next couple of days!

No...my boyfriend's Mum is very left wing, sun reading, who (however much I try to explain otherwise) thinks I'm going to be a medical doctor in a couple of years so thinks me doing a PhD is great....she's going to have a shock in a couple of years! Seems like it's just dodgy Sunday roasts they have in common

Pea - are you sure we're not seeing the same guy? My boyfriend's Mum's roasts are exactly the same as you describe - awful! Overcooked, nonrested meat and boiled to oblivion veggies AND she adds far too much salt to everything so I end up feeling sick for the rest of the day! Fortunately his parents live 200 miles away so it's rare I have to endure it!