I'm finally done. The chapter's rubbish but it's finished.

Home time :-)

Today I have set myself the challenge of finishing my final dicussion chapter before I'm allowed to leave my office and go home. I'm approximately 60% done with it, but still have about 3-4000 words to go...

Wish me luck!

I'm submitting early april, and still haven't got a full draft. Saying that though, my sup has seen eveything I've done as I've done it and so what is done is pretty much in its final draft, if that makes sense.

4 months is a long time. At most, about 6 weeks is sufficient.

I'm not big on TV, mainly because I have no time to watch it, but I do quite like my Aussie soaps (Home and Away in particular), and I LOVE documnetaries. Especially ones about weird body deformaties, disease, sub-cultures. Anything like that really. :$

I agree with Sim, although it's best advised to not take advantage of the leniancy in the amount of time you take off, especially if you plan on getting your PhD finished.

I tend to take 2/3 weeks holiday away each year, maybe a week or two off for Christams, and then I have odd days where I either do no work at home, go away, or just have "rest days". I always let my supervisor know if I'm planning a long holiday or planning on taking more than a few days off, but otherwise I'm free to come and go as I please and no-one checks up on me. I work from home quite a bit as well.

As long as you get your work done all is fine, but just make sure your supervisor isn't one who checks up on you if you're planning on taking a lot of time off.

======= Date Modified 25 Feb 2010 13:35:33 =======
Ooooh... I like this thread... here's mine...

Title page = done
Acknowledgements = done
Abstract = 50% done
Contents page = 80% done
Silly quote from poem = done
Preface = 70% done
Ch 1: Context/ Introduction = done
Ch 2: Lit review 1 = done
Ch 3: Lit review 2 = done
Ch 4: Methodology = done
Ch 5: Findings and discussion 1 = done
Ch 6: Findings and discussion 2 = done
Ch 7: Findings and discussion 3 = done
Ch 8: Findings and discussion 4 = 40% done
Ch 9: Conclusion = 0% done
References = done
Appendices = done

all data collection done and analysed.

2 papers published, 1 paper accepted and in press, 1 paper being submitted shortly.


Whooooop... I have very little to finish off. I like that! Although I've only given myself 3 weeks max to get it finished! Back to work!

Hey,

I'm funded so not sure on exact costs, but know that yearly fees for my uni are around £3000 per year. If you go over 3 years and are writing up, there is a writing up fee of around £500 per year (I think). I also get conferences, etc paid for and we are able to order new books into the library.

Your fees seem extortionate.

======= Date Modified 25 Feb 2010 11:32:20 =======
I'm nearly finished writing up, and my thesis is going to be around the 400 page mark (including appendices, references, etc). I'm also going to hit the 100 000 word mark! I'm in the social sciences though and as far as I'm aware 80- 100 000 words is expected.

Eeris, in response to your original post, by the start of this year I'd completed 3 chapters of my 9 chapter thesis. I think it's definitely possible to write 7 chapters in 6 months. At the moment, I can get a chapter done a week if I work in it solidly. Two weeks max for a chapter. But that relies on you having done all your reading, and having all data analysed and ready to go.

I talked to my sup yesterday about the whole job issue and he thinks this is all down to economic decline. Doesn't leave me/us with many options really. In terms of applying for research grants, he gave me some advice about where to look and it seems I can still apply for them through my institution even if I finish my PhD.

Problem I'm finding now though, is that a lot of grants want the institution to pay half of the salary fees, which I doubt mine will because they're cutting budgets.

I've now started to apply for posts abroad... any advice on good websites to find overseas posts would be great!! Especially in the USA, as I'm resorting to looking on individual uni websites which I don't think is the most effective method!

So, I'm onto writing my final discussion chapter for my thesis... and I'm finding it hard. I feel drained of all writing ability. Must. Keep. Going. The end is in sight....

Well at least I know I'm not alone!

I'm going to check out some funding boards and see what they have on offer but think I'll be in the same position - no institution to tie myself too. I may have to beg my supervisor to keep me on as a dogs body or something, so I can get some work.

If all else fails i figure Tesco's are always hiring. ;-)

Hi KB,

Thanks for your reply. I figure a post doc would generally be more suitable for me, but my major problem is that there just aren't any post doc positions out there which would be suitable to my area of expertise, or even a similar area. Most of the post docs I've come across are for science-related subjects or very much statistical, and I'm a qualitative researcher (although can do some stats).

My supervisor in the past has mentioned bidding for funding to keep me at my institution, so i think I may have to go down that route, and bid for money from a research council to do research in my current institution. Short of that though, I'm really not sure what to do.

It drives me mad when you apply for jobs to get experience of the thing that they want you to have experience of. If no-one gives me the opportunity, how do I get the skills. It's an annoyance. Grrrr!!

Good luck with your funding application!!

======= Date Modified 23 Feb 2010 16:18:06 =======
double post... oops

Hi guys,

So I'm in the final stages of writing up and will be submitting soon, and so have been applying for jobs... both lecturing and research.

So far I've heard back from two of the posts I applied for, and both were unsuccessful. These were two research posts I applied for, and as I'm not overly keen on going into lecturing just yet, I was really interested to hear why I wasn't short listed. So I emailed the designated professors for feedback, and got the exact same feedback from both - that they were really impressed with my application, and my experience and knowledge in my specific area, and that they felt my skills would be useful for the projects, but that I didn't have as much bid-writing and experience of securing funding as other candidates and so was not short listed.

I'm not upset or anything, because the feedback I've had has been really positive, and I have a "plan B" in place for if I don't get a job by the time I finish, but what I'm interested in finding out is, how do I get more experience of writing bids, and securing funding, etc if I'm not in a research position? Obviously I'd like to improve my applications to include more experience of this sort as it seems this is what employers are looking for, but I'm not sure how to go about it. Do you think I should be applying for research assistant posts to try build on my experience first? I think I'll chat with my sup about this, but just interested in what your thoughts are, or if anyone is having similar experiences?

I'm in the social sciences by the way... might make a difference?

One thing I can't stand when I read other people's work is when people try to write in a very complex academic language which can only be understood by the person who invented and wrote the dictionary, who later ate a thesaurus. This drives me nuts!

If I have to reach for a dictionary when I read something, I quite often put it down. It just comes across to me as "try-hard", and I think the essence of the arguments these people are trying to put across is often lost. I much prefer more simplistic writing styles.

That was a rather random rant. I apologise.