I think it would be common courtesy for the motorist to ask you if they could park in your spot, regardless of whether you own a car or not. It would annoy me as well; someone is taking a liberty and it's normal to have the feelings you have in these circumstances. Perhaps you could approach the driver and tell them that they are not entitled to park there, but it wouldn't be a problem if they asked you first. It's a bit of a cheek if you ask me.

'Magic-eye' pictures can kill many an hour!

A water 'puss'-tol could be your answer! Hope you don't have too much of a 'cat'astrophe.......meow!

I don't think you are being lazy Pamw, but do you think that a student (assuming undergraduate) could be truly attentive and engaged throughout a 2-hour film?  I know that in my university this would not be possible, especially with the prospect of a discussion at the end! I think that you are asking a lot from them.  Couldn't you split it up over a few weeks? I am sure they will learn more if it were shown in bite-sized pieces!  Good luck!

Hi Playground, thanks for a top post. I fully concur with Smildon; whilst I seem to harp on about a lack of practical supervision, I too cannot be micro-managed.  This happened to me on my first PhD attempt (am now on my second), whereby everything was over-scrutonised by my former supervisors; even break times were set in stone, and I lasted just a few months with them. In fact, I didn't even know my main research objectives until I was 6 months in; they were so secretive!  I think I am coping well in my current project, and I do love my work - it's a great life which I appreciate very much and I wouldn't change a thing.

I think the issue with a PhD is that it is a bit of a rollercoaster ride; some days are brilliant, others are just terrible - there seems to be no middle ground.  I have moments of genious, and times when I overlook the simplest things that my 6 year old son would spot. I presented my research at a national conference with gusto, only to die on my butt at the generic university research 'showcase' because of nerves.  I can't explain it - it's all ups and downs, but I love it all the same. I'd be lost without my PhD!

I have one library that seems to 'fit-all' ok; can't really see the point in having separate libraries. I do keep a back-up library on my memory stick though, just in case.

I'm in too far to do give up now, and I don't think I'd have started a PhD if I'd known what I was letting myself in for (I'm just being honest).  I dreamed last night I'd passed my viva with no corrections, and was severely depressed when I awoke to find out it was only a dream. That tells me I'm desperate to finish, and I am.  However, I suppose the most important thing to me is that I have achieved so much despite having been virtually unsupervised, and, even if I were to fail my PhD, nobody can take that away from me. Sorry to sound despondent.

I presented my work orally at a UK conference back in January of this year. I am due to present the same work and data at an international next month, but this time as a poster.  I declared this to the reviewers of the latter meeting, and they were ok with it. I have submitted an abstract to a conference (being held in August) with an entirely different methodology and data.  To me, it's 'horses for courses', but clarification and honesty to the organisers can save a bit of embarrassment and confusion later. Good luck!  Ginga x.

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I find myself disagreeing with Lara on this.  I suggest that you pull out all the stops and get everything done before the Easter break, even though it is evidently a mountain to climb. Get all the assignments marked and complete a first draft of your article that can be submitted before you go away.  With everything out of the way, you can relax on a well-deserved holiday without anything hanging over you. If things are left undone, your mind will still be on them and you will find it difficult to unwind. Best of luck!

If things are so disasterous, what makes you think that your research is worthy of a Masters? If I were you I would bail out now and find another studentship or similar. It bemuses me that people just assume they can simply submit a thesis and be handed a postgraduate degree. This devalues the qualification that many of us have worked so hard for, which is extremely annoying.

I think it all depends on what data you are analysing, as there are many equations and systems available. If you are simply comparing two datasets for significance levels, then the Mann Whitney U test is fairly straight forward. ANOVA (analysis of variance) is also a good system.

I agree with Bald_Monkey; Excel 2007 is very good.  I used to use combinations of Datview, Biomed, Prism and Fig.P to get decent graphs, but they were unbelievably time consuming and prone to error (and very old), and the significance asterisks were a pain to get in the right area. I just use Excel 2007 now, it's much simpler and quicker and you can get SD and SEM calcs in a flash. The graph software can be easily customised too, which can 'distance' your representation from a Microsoft application if you want to.  Best of luck!

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This was an awful post to read, and my heart goes out to Olivia1. I am bemused and astonished that the supervisor was present during the viva examination. I am sure this is against UK regulations, have you questioned this with the university's Research Degree Board? Sound most irregular to me.

Like Alice says, rewrite it, noting the reviewers comments, and submit it to another journal with a lower impact factor.  Don't give up, I've had some real slatings from editorial boards in the past but it's nothing personal! Good luck.

I love the fact that my supervisor is not involved in my work that much.  I know more about my project than he will ever do. He fully admits this as well, and is proud of it.  Isn't doing a PhD about being an independent investigator? My supervisor has so much confidence in me that he is has allocated £50k of his grant money to the PhD that I am involved in, and recently attended a conference that I was presenting at without even batting an eyelid.  I feel fully in control of my work and enjoy it so much.

I once PhD'd for over-controlling supers in the past; it lasted no more than a few months before I left them.  Each to his (or her) own though. I hope everything works out ok for you.