Overview of cucaracha on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of cucaracha

Signup date: 07 Oct 2019 at 8:31pm

Last login: 13 Apr 2023 at 5:33pm

Post count: 67

Recent Posts

PhD Funding

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

why is there no option to delete comments oops

PhD Funding

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

ok i made a mess of this quoting business

The horrible wait for the Viva, humorous musings

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

love the harry potter dreams lol!

can the internal and externals not even give you some sort of time frame that they expect to come to your work? :/

i hope you can find a good distraction, i would try exercising everyday for the endorphin rush

What is a Ph.D. / The Ph.D. Game :-)

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

great website! tons of useful info there

Why PhD students fail their PhDs

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

great article!

so what do you do when the thesis clearly has all these pitfalls, do you still help them appeal the decision?

PostgraduateForum - new site feedback

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Thank you Tudor! Wish it was automatically the landing page

Anyone know how examiners read a thesis?

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Not sure how helpful this is but I believe 'How to Examine a Thesis' by Lynne Pearce is a well-recommended book to help PhD students understand how examiners examine, if you have time to read it...

I also saw an interesting twitter thread today by a thesis examiner @ VikiLovesFACS. She said she looks up papers and methods she's unfamiliar with (suggesting she does read carefully). But she also says the time limits of a viva mean she can only bring up a third to a half of the points she'd like to discuss (suggesting you can get away with things, though ofc you can't know in advance which things the examiner will want to discuss in detail).

My gut feeling is to write as detailed as you can manage, while staying sane :)

PostgraduateForum - new site feedback

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Wow the changes to the site feel uncomfortable and unnecessary, in all honesty. Can the 'latest' page be reinstated as the default forum home page please? People don't want to waste their time looking for the correct subforum to post in (especially annoying and pointless when so many of the subforums are ghost towns); it will only alienate users, including people that come to this site to help others, from returning.

I'm also confused why you'd put the barely-used Masters subforums section at the top of the subforums page, when PhD posts are clearly most active and recent. An attempt to re-energise Masters posters maybe? But you need to look at what is already working best and roll with that (i.e. this forum draws more PhD posters).

The changes feel like attempts to reduce engagement, not increase it...

Anyone doing a PhD in law?

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

I'm in the same boat confusedacademic! But I'm doing a masters year of social science research first. What stage of the PhD are you at?

Difficulty working from home

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Quote From CG2525:
I totally agree a change of scenery would suit me - to Motivate myself at undergrad and masters levels i would do exactly that, change my scenery, i worked (had a job in the library) and studied in the university - so i have never been in the situation where i have to motivate myself from my bedroom where i work, sleep and live, in the past it has been solely for sleep.

True, it is unlucky and unfair that you and many others (and me soon) have had to start remotely. It helps to focus on the positives of staying home but I know people have different situations and preferences.

Have you tried going on daily walks to get a change of scenery in that sense, so then you can come back to your desk feeling fresher? Maybe sounds silly but it can help a ton.

I agree it isn't my supervisors job to motivate me either, but i thought when i joined a new university i would have met more than one person.

You could ask your supervisor to put you in touch with other students. My supervisors have linked me to their other supervisees and a funded student in the year above, who's been very open to chat. I also contacted the course rep who's provided me with tons of info... it's definitely motivating to hear from other students

SFE Postgrad Loan?

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Yes, it sounds like a full scholarship so I'd assume the uni award would be relinquished if you try to get the postgrad loan.

You could email the uni to get their definitive answer on this just in case

High Performers Over Here - Please Give Me Some Insight

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Yep happy to help if you make a survey

Bit unsure what the 2nd question is after, are you asking what are your ultimate academic ambitions?

Difficulty working from home

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Quote From CG2525:
It was both great and not so great reading this. Great that people are finding themselves in my exact scenario, and not so great that you guys are in my exact scenario!

I feel i get nothing done at home, then at my weekly supervisor meetings i get made to look like an idiot. I am a new PhD student and I have not even been in the university for a single day due to the pandemic.

I have mentioned to my supervisor, took up student counselling and done a lot to try and organize, focus and motivate myself (i have gotten very lazy).

The same advice is continuously given - create a schedule and follow it (I have done this so many times, but i never end up following it for whatever reason). Set aside a designated work area (I stay with parents and work around a quarter of a yard away from my bed on my desktop that i use for my studies and there are no spare rooms in this tiny house). Talk to other PhD students (I have literally met nobody and know nobody so this is also difficult).

Sounds like a change of scenery could really help you... I think libraries are starting to reopen so you can work outside the house, even cafes - if it's out of the question to move out of your parents' and rent somewhere for yourself

I often say to my supervisor if i didn't hear from him on a weekly basis i would just be a guy who sits in his bedroom and occasionally reads and looks into stuff of somewhat interest.

What methods did you use to motivate yourself at undergrad and masters? I think at PhD level it is your responsibility and not your supervisor's to motivate yourself and make progress

Self-funded PhD this year or possible funded PhD next year?

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

OP it would be worth waiting for research council funding - or there is a resource called the Alternative Guide to getting funding, have you heard of it? It's at https://www.postgraduate-funding.com/. You send an email to altguide.pgfunding and they automatically send you the login details to access the databases and resources.

& here is some helpful info about applying to charities for funding:

https://www.findamasters.com/funding/guides/charities.aspx

https://www.findamasters.com/funding/guides/alternative-masters-funding.aspx

Self-funded PhD this year or possible funded PhD next year?

cucaracha 67 posts
4 years ago

Quote From sciencephd:
I've never seen any self-funded PhD student get funding from the 2nd year of study, so I don't know if they exist.
I'm against doing a self-funded PhD. When doing a PhD, you're a tool used by your supervisor to achieve their research goals - usually they don't care about your development as a researcher or your future. Even if you're paying, your supervisor still sees you as their tool, so why pay to be used? It's only your loss. Also, if you're paying, you tend to look for part-time jobs, which consume lots of time and you'll finish your PhD later than you planned.

Hi sciencephd, can you elaborate on how supervisors use PhD students as a tool to achieve their research goals? Are students expected to do some of the supervisor's work in some unis/subjects?