I'm very sorry for your loss. I too lost a parent (my father) relatively suddenly when I was halfway through my PhD. It was tough. I decided to keep my mind busy by being active and presented at a conference 2 weeks later and another a month later, and continued with sports. I did, however, make sure that whenever I felt feelings of grief I'd not block them and I think that helped a lot. If I had decided I needed time away I wouldn't have hesitated to organise this with my supervisor. In my case, I felt I was enjoying the progress with my PhD, my father would have wanted me to carry on and so I did and dedicated my Thesis to him.

Also, sorry to hear about your situation with your supervisors. I would follow the advice eng has provided and try and work out a way forwards, particularly as eng says, by setting achievable milestones that you all are satisfied with, failing that then it seems the only choice would be to move on. Best of luck.

You could just be exhausted/drained from it all. How about a vacation and more hiking!?

I totally agree with pm133, I'd ignore nonsense such as it being frowned upon to do a post-doc with your PhD supervisor. Of course, it could be good to experience working with another in a different institute, but also that could not go to plan. If you work well with your supervisor then continue. it looks promising that you will be working on a different project.

I would spend the first part of any vacation totally switched off, and then when you feel ready, start to think a bit about your options in academia or elsewhere.

All the best,
J

100 is a bit steep. I paid about 65-70 for 3 copies, also an official copy was submitted electronically.

In our department, we all had to pay for our Thesis printing and binding.

Thanks Tudor. Yes, my friend is OK, thank you for asking. I was lucky that i was confident in my cardiovascular knowledge from my Pharmacy/Chemistry degree, had it been a burns injury I'd have forgotten everything I learned when I did the 1st aid training in 2011.

Congratulations. Well done!

I do, however, recall blowing up the contents of my savoury rice in the microwave at work recently. I put the sachet in for 3 mins without making the outlet slit to let the steam out. I heard a pop and the inside was rice covered. I had sufficient yield leftover for my lunch.

oh dear.

I don't recall breaking anything, but I once curiously sniffed conc. TFA (Trifluoracetic acid), reasoning that it must be like Salt 'n Vinegar crisps but quite a bit stronger as the 3x F atoms are very electronegative making it a very strong acid - actually it has an acid ionisation constant 34,000 that of Acetic acid, lol. On catching me do this, my supervisor exclaimed "Stupid idiot" as I almost took out all my nasal hair.

Dogged determination and persistence is a great attitude to have. I agree, not using negative labels would be a better way forward.

When I was a PhD student, one of the post-docs, a Belarusian statistician was telling me of his 10 year ordeal through 4 different attempts to start and progress a PhD. It involved Europe, Australia, Nova Scotia in Canada, financial constraints etc...Apart from amusement at all his travel (which he was recounting in detail in a thick Belarusian accent), I was really impressed at his determination and that he completed it. He is talented in his field, I read many of his papers, and it was clear that it wasn't his fault but life circumstances that got in the way.

So, good luck and I wish you all the best.

Congratulations on your new Postdoc. Sorry to hear you had to leave your role in the US. But, as you say, you can go back there in the future, when the timing is better for you. I can empathise with having circumstances, whatever they may be. Life can be a challenge.

The other week at my tennis club, one of our members had a cardiac arrest and I had to administer CPR. He's fine now thankfully, and just the other day I was able to tease him in hospital saying "well, that's one way of getting out of buying your round". So on this occasion we had a good outcome, but it really did make me realise how precious life is and how things can go very differently at pretty much every stage of our lives. All we can do is try our best and hope for the best.

Thank you again for your good wishes :-)

Thanks Eng, Tudor, you were right. It was just HR being slow and I kept hounding them this morning and it's all sorted.

I don't know why I get myself into such a frenzy of catastrophising, oh dear.

Thanks Tudor.

I called a HR manager at the close of play today, but they manage the second HR team. He did say he would chase it but it is worrying as tomorrow it'll have been 5 working days!

I have an offer for a post-doc subject to references. The new institute has obtained academic/employment references from my previous roles, but also need one from my current role.

HR at my current institute is organised into two teams. Last week, I emailed my team requesting this reference and was told to get the new institute to contact them directly. The HR lady replying to the team email assured me she would handle it and wouldn't give out any confidential information other than my role and employment dates.

It has been a week and the new institute inform me that they haven't received the reference despite contacting them. It appears they are delaying providing this. Given the institute I'm applying to is highly competitive, I worry that this will jeopardise my chances of formalising the job. What can I do in this situation? I've contacted my HR team again this afternoon but still haven't heard back. I also worry this makes me look bad to the new employer :-(

What does one do in this sort of situation?