hiya,

I'm one week in and don't feel i've achieved much. This week has been induction, meeting people, generally finding my way around as new to the uni and dealing with the fact my instituation is attached to two parent universities, and noone knows how to deal with us as there are currently only half a dozen PhDers here! I've got three supervisors and only managed to meet two, and it's the lead supervisor I've not seen. But feeling positive at the moment, though the whole thing seems a ediculously huge task right now!

hi pinkneuron,

I've got all this coming up in a few weeks and i'm pretty nervous too! I've only met my supervisors for half an hour and that was while they were interviewing me! PLus my Msc was 2 years ago, and though I've been doing some reading it's all a bit rusty.

Just thought I'd let you know you're not the only one nervous about actuallly starting. Sure it'll all be fine though. Or at least it will be in the beginning!

I'd use a one way ANOVA.

percentage correct scores are interval/ratio data and therefore suitable for ANOVA.

You'd get them same answer (as to whether it is significant) with a CHI Square (though you'd have to use the raw scores and not percentages)but you can easily do post hoc tests using the ANOVA to find out which of the four condition differened from each other.

I had seven interviews before getting my post, and they've tended to be quite different, but in general the main questions tended to be usual interview sorts:
- why do you want to do a phd?
- what attracted you to this particular phd?
- what skills have you gained in the past that would help you?
- what have you been doing over the past year/few years?
- tell us about a piece of research you have done?

They also asked a few questions about the topic, but these been quite general:
- what do you know about the topic?
- what background reading have you done?
and maybe one specific question about methods or statistics.
Good luck with the interview, best thing to do is try not to worry. In the interview I got they asked me a specific question about the topic which I didn't know, so i told them I'd been doing reading on other parts of the topic and they let me talk about that instead!

hi i'm a new soon to be phd student.

just wondering how much reading background knowledge people had before they started? I applied for an already existing project, and consequently have met my supervisors for all of 30 mins, and that was during an interview! I don't want to disappoint them when i start but really don't know what they'll expect. They've basically told me to relax over the summer as they're really busy/away.

I'm due to sart in september and relocating 300 miles across the country. I've lived in this city for 7 years and gotta move all that stuff. That said i don't own my own house which makes it easier. Not sure if this helps, but wanted to let you kow other people are in the positon of having to relocate short notice.

Hi Can' offer any advise, but wanted to say hi, and I'm new to all this too. Starting PhD in September/October and going through the same feelings of excitement to dread! I've done quite a lot post graduation as finished 4 years ago, but still don't know if I'm prepared... Are you at the same institution? part of my worries are based around the fact Im moving to a new city, anfd have met my supervisors for all of 20 minutes and that was during an interview!

I've just looked at my post and realised i used their instead of there! cannot believe I've been that illiterate!

it works if you transfer the table into 'paint' or 'draw' (or whatever they call the art package)and then copy and paste from their. It does tend to make the font look a little blurred, so someone else may have a better way, but that's waht i do.

don't see why it should hinder you, i got shortlisted for a PhD interview when working full time in a bar! and am currently working full time, and due to start a PhD this Autumn. That said if you can afford not to work, who would?!

can't give a difinite answer but i have had a few phd interviews, and the number of interviewees ranged from 3-5. However I have had a couple of interviews where i havn't got a clue how many and they could have been much more.

i got rejected from the neuropsyc msc at UCL and Birkbeck a few years back! anyway did my MSc at Liverpool, and have been offered a funded PhD this year. I think any good masters looks good, though it does depend if there is anyone specific you would like to work with at either of the universities, as getting to knwo them during the MSc may give you a foot in the door to get a PhD place.

fMRI

Hi I've been accepted to start a phd this autumn, which is gonna involve magnetic resonance imaging, and from the sound of it the scanning will be starting fairly near the start (it is an existing project where i applied to be a phd student attached to project) anyway i want to bruch up on the background of mri, but struggle with the physics side, so does anyone know of a good textbook that is easy to understand?

PinkNeuron, out of interest, what is your PhD on? (sorry if you've said before) about to start a neuropsych phd too, well waiting for the official offer anyway.