Hey, just need to get this off my chest because I’ve been feeling pretty down since it happened. Went in feeling pretty confident - not overly so, but I felt like I submitted a really great piece of work that I worked really really hard on. My supervisor, who is great, felt the same way.

The assessors immediately and aggressively questioned the scope of my study, and I really tried my best to defend myself (as is the point of a viva!) but they were pretty relentless. The most frustrating thing was that they didn’t ask me focused questions concerning their specific problems! They’d give semi-rambling monologues, and then stare at me, at which point I’d lost the thread of the 'question'. Even worse, I kept getting interrupted!! I ended up speaking fast so I could make my points before getting interrupted again.

I had to try hard not to burst into tears because I knew how bad it would look. After this line of questioning was done, the rest was less stressful. After I left, however, I overheard one assessor say that I was trying to write my "life’s work!” which is *really* untrue! I know that a thesis is not meant to be 'discipline-changing'…but I guess that didn't come through in my work/defence.

Sorry, I know there are far worse viva stories out there. I just feel really on-edge now, after having spent years trying to tackle my PhD-related anxiety. I told my supervisor a 'cleaned-up' version of what happened (including the ‘life’s work’ comment). She told me not to worry, and that the worst case scenario was a ‘referral’, which wasn’t unusual in my uni. This actually made me worry more…so today, I’m wondering what work to do because the thought of working on my thesis right now is making feel a little physically sick…

Apologies for being a drama queen, thanks for letting me vent :)

Okay, thanks for the clarification! I thought that might be the case.

Hi everyone,

I'm creating an A1 poster for a conference, and I was wondering whether I should/could note my scholarship, or if it sounds weird/pompous. Something like:

Name
The rich-person-who-donated-money scholar
PhD candidate, University
Email address

Is that weird? I'm funded by my uni, not an external body and it seems odd to have a separate section where all I say is "Cheers for the funding, University" since I can't thank the actual donor.

Yeah, I kinda agree with you guys. Thanks for your input.

I'll find some way of mentioning it in the main body.

Hello all,

My thesis includes a lot of images and I refer to these throughout the text as (fig.1), (fig.2) etc.

Do you think it's okay to refer to new images in the footnotes? I have an interesting case that I want to illustrate but for various reasons, I don't think it's appropriate to discuss it in the main body.

I can put figures in the footnotes or is that considered bad form? Sorry, I know this is such a minor, pernickety question but my sup is very unresponsive to these minor quibbles and I don't have anyone else to ask!

Ugh, I don't know, there's so much information and it's really confusing. I think I might just find as high-res as I can and see what happens...

Hi all,

Technical question: when submitting a manuscript for publication in a journal, what on earth am I supposed to do about images? I’ve googled so many different options and am getting really frustrated because I can’t seem to find a straight answer.

I am submitting an article (for the first time…eek) and have a short list of four images to accompany the article. I’ve read the journal’s submission guidelines but they are typically incomprehensible and I don’t want to email them because I feel stupid/inexperienced.

Am I supposed to have obtained permissions for images first? I don’t have 300dpi versions yet either. Should I get these first or can I send along low-res (but still legible) images with my manuscript, with the promise of getting high-res ones to the journal later? They might not even accept my paper, and I know there are several stages before it gets published so I have no idea what needs to be done when.

Thanks for your help!

Hi everyone, thanks a lot for your messages.

Dr Jeckyll - Hahaha, that is a fab suggestion. Thanks for making me laugh even before breakfast!

Bewildered - No I didn't, for a few reasons. I asked his student whether I could send it along and she said it would be fine (he's not super sensitive, just very busy and maybe a bit of an ego). It seems from past experience some academics prefer you to send stuff along without the faff of an initial inquiry email but others maybe want the courtesy first. Since I know him a little and our department is small, I didn't think an initial email was necessary...but maybe I should apologise for not asking first? I also thought he might not even respond to that first email thereby prolonging the process even more!

Chococake - I would see him in person like any other faculty member but his office is in a separate building that only he has access to. He's also not in much anyway.

Tree of Life - it's looking like another email is the only solution...I'll wait a bit longer since I don't have time over the next couple of weeks to prepare it for submission anyway. I spoke to my husband about it and he said I should just submit it and hopefully the peer reviewer can give feedback if it's not rejected outright.

Thanks again for all your messages and taking the time to respond.

That makes complete sense, except it's pretty difficult to orchestrate a face to face meeting as his office is in its own separate building which students don't have access to. And he's hardly ever in anyway. Maybe I should just hope I bump into him soon?

Hi all,

A minor but annoying problem. I've written an article (6000w) which I need some feedback on...on the off-chance I'm talking complete and utter rubbish!

I've emailed a respected guy in my department who is not my supervisor but is very well-placed to comment since the subject is from work I did a while ago, and more up his alley. We haven't worked together loads but my department is small and relatively friendly.

I completely understand how busy academics are but I made it very clear that if he didn't have time to read it, I'd like him to say so. I sent the email three weeks ago and he hasn't responded. I don't know anyone else that I can comfortably email with an article draft.

Should I assume he's not gonna respond, or keep waiting? Or should I send him another email? I'm hesitant to bother him because he's not my supervisor and he has no obligation to me...but at the same time, I'm a student and I need help! I could just submit the article for peer review but I've already had a couple of rejections and a little bit of my soul dies each time...Any suggestions on what to say/do would be very much appreciated.

Hi Mark and chickpea,
Thanks for your replies. It's nice to know I'm not alone. I'm just trying to focus and not get bogged down by competition/politics (after all, the thesis is kinda the main part of the experience!) but it would be nice to have a few like-minded friends around.
N x

Just need to get this off my chest. Started my third year and thought I'd be able to be cool like a cucumber by now but I'm already feeling stressed even though nothing's really happened! Spent the last year living far away from my uni and really enjoyed it. Felt quite 'out of the loop' but seeing as I have no good friends here, it wasn't a great loss. Now I'm back in this pathologically competitive and hyper-critical environment. Every time I see an email from my sup, I feel like my heart has dropped into my stomach.

Every time I see a fellow PhD student give a lecture or publish something (no matter how minor), it makes me feel really inadequate. I've done a few things myself but - probably like a lot of neurotic students - I downplay my own achievements and magnify those of others. I feel like I've tried reaching out to fellow students but I haven't found anyone on my 'wavelength'. Also, conversation invariably revolves around academics yet no-one actually wants to talk about the elephant in the room of PhD progress. All of my close (pre-PhD) friends live in other places so I only get to see/talk to them every few weeks.

I know I need to suck it up but part of me wants to build a bedsheet fort in a corner and stay there for the rest of the year...apart from whining to my husband, this forum is my only outlet so thanks for listening!

This is very tricky. I think RinaL has a point but I personally would be reluctant to involve my supervisor *unless* you were feeling properly harassed, bullied or discriminated against. My supervisor wouldn't consider it any of their business. Obviously you understand your situation better than I do. If you feel like it's more than someone being a bit difficult then by all means, make a formal complaint.

Her actions signal a profound lack of maturity and self-esteem. She may have some tough personal issues that she's working through...or she could just be a nasty piece of work! How well do you actually know her? It sounds a bit cheesy but maybe it's worth getting to know her one-on-one? Ignore that if you've already tried!

Are you studying sciences or humanities? I'm asking because if it's the latter, it might be easier to just find a better place to work. I'm not in the sciences but I understand that there's more teamwork involved...so maybe it is important that you two find a way of getting along.

Obviously, in principle you shouldn't have to move because you have every right to work there but is it worth the time and effort to start a war with her? She could get even worse...or she could totally back down. There's no way of knowing. You can't control other people. You can only control your response. And the best revenge would be to not let her affect your work in any way, be successful in your PhD, and watch her crash and burn :P

Welcome tamecat! Best of luck with hitting your deadline. FYI, I've resorted to drinking invisible tea in the past in order to avoid the barista death stare.

Thanks for the advice, Chococake. I'm quite worried about morning sickness seeing as I get dizzy standing up too fast...

But "I am going to end up spending more time researching the country then actually spending time on holiday" make me laugh as I've actually spent the past week planning my itinerary down to the minute instead of proper work. Hopefully it's all out of my system now! Eugh, back to MS Word I trudge...