It's a long film but I'm not sure it's THAT long! :D

Hmm, it seems that pm133 and others were expressing an opinion but also trying to glean more about the situation so they could offer advice / suggestions / support. They might have misunderstood you by the sounds of it, and vice versa. Perhaps this is also what happened with your supervisor? Not sure if you want the input but I've found that having an open and non-confrontational conversation can often be helpful in situations like this. Ps. Just read Jamie_Wizard's post and couldn't agree more.

I don't think this can be viewed as a big mistake. It is clearly a printing error. Is it possible to infer meaning from the graphs without those symbols? I would raise it with supervisor in case he / she is allowed to have contact with the internal and could send them the correct PDF (that shows the symbols). Otherwise, all you can do is print them and bring them along to the viva. This is the normal course of action when one spots mistakes/errors in the thesis.

Congrats! That's exciting! A poster doesn't need to be much work - only as many hours as you allot to it. You could make a poster in an evening if you already have your results and things and just need to think about how to present them nicely.

Agree with the above. No one cares - only about the science. Enjoy your talk!

This is more just trying to stimulate ideas than an actual suggestion - but could you ask them to only contact references if it is a job offer - or perhaps ask them when they would be contacting referees, i.e. at what stage? Then at least you have this info.

How about this... chances are they may make an offer if they go as far as obtaining references... so you have a lot to gain. If on the other hand they still end up choosing another candidate, you worry (understandably) that it could adversely affect things in your current role. Although your current role is good in some ways, to have to feel like this about a job isn't good at all... so it seems that really you want out anyway in the short to medium term? In which case - take the risk? They are going to have to know sooner or later that you are looking elsewhere, as each time you get close to an opportunity there will be this issue.

Not sure this helps at all. And by the way, the opportunity sounds very positive!

I am not sure there is much difference in practice between fellow and associate. I have had a position entitled research fellow and the job spec is similar to the one I am now starting which is entitled research associate. I can't see what the difference is apart from terminology in this case. Perhaps it could also be to do with where the funding is coming from and what the institution or funder likes to call their postdocs.

A research assistant tends to have a lower entry level although not always, and they may get paid less regardless of qualification level (but again depends on the specific job).

Thanks rewt. It's not too late, and that is a good idea.

I'm keen to learn more about the situation from drwubs. I think my opinion and the advice I gave got formed quite quickly on reading this:

I see no justification for this approach, even if drwubs does have strong weaknesses in every area (which by the sounds of it they don't). Perhaps pm133 and rewt are seeing more of the nuances in the situation. I do tend to see things in black and white when it comes to supervisory relationships - probably shaped by my own experience and wishing I'd been more assertive and changed supervisors earlier on when I saw that it wasn't a good match. I have a strong belief that mentoring / supervisory relationships should be positive / nurturing / encourage growth - as opposed to critical and negative - even though each person's styles and the amount and type of input will differ.

You sound confident and sorted about your working style and your work. Self-aware might be the word I am looking for! I think you need a supervisor who can get along with this and one who doesn't criticize and express doubts in your abilities - not healthy - even if you think it won't affect you at the time, it will, believe me! My only advice would be seek to change supervisor asap.

You can't change anything now of course, but it is great that you are aware of potential limitations and aspects that might come up in the viva. Be ready to defend what you have done and also ready to acknowledge where you think there are limitations. I think that's all you can do. Also, it is natural to go into panic mode and think the thesis has lots of problems just before the viva. So what you are thinking of as big issues and weaknesses might actually be much smaller in reality. All the best!

Cheers! I actually find it a bit strange... my question could just be answered in an email.

Hi there,

I'm working on some data (with a professor I've collaborated with in the past). The stats I need to do are pretty complex and so I'd dropped a line to an author of a stats book I'm using just asking him to clarify something (I often do this and usually get helpful replies from people). Anyway, he has very helpfully replied saying why don't we Skype and talk about it in more detail. I'm thinking, wow that is great and how nice of him. But then I'm also thinking since he would be giving his time to help me perhaps the expectation or implication would be that he becomes a collaborator on the project. I may be getting ahead of myself here, but the reason I am being cautious is that I wouldn't want to initiate something like that when it isn't my data and it is a joint project in collaboration with someone else. I'd have to ask my collaborator - but doing that now wouldn't be appropriate when it might not even come to that! So in a nutshell - I emailed this person asking for some general stats help based on a chapter in his book - he seems to want to help which is great - but I am worried that I might end up stepping on toes by meeting on skype and actually getting his input on the analysis. Help?

I hope this makes sense and I would appreciate any thoughts from those more experience than I am in this world of collaborations and potential collaborations.

Thanks!
Tudor

Yes I should think so. For example, if the examiners didn't think it was really your work (i.e., you couldn't defend it).

I think this depends on how much you need to rely on them for a reference. I think people are aware though that these things happen and it doesn't necessarily mean that the student is a problem-person if a particular working relationship did not end up working well.