======= Date Modified 14 Oct 2008 17:42:03 =======
I quite agree PhdBug - I was chatting via email with my supervisor today and having a mild panic attack at the amount of work I have to do. Piles and piles and piles of reading - we are talking approaching a year purely of reading about and around the topic before I even begin to start analysing data (in my case the victorian censuses and occupational records), that will take a good year if not more in collation, analysis etc and then and only then can I start writing - he's suggesting a 6 month write up, maybe more. The thing is, that although the research and my interpretation of that data will be my contribution I can't make any sense of anything or describe how my research can fit in until I have a full understanding of the field in which I'm working (if that makes sense). Of course I can describe in a couple of sentences the argument and where I fit in, but to turn that into something that would begin to warrant the title Dr and the highest degree that can be conferred on a student (as far as I'm aware) in this country, there has to be so much more to it. I know that where I am fitting in is something that has not been done before using data as yet untouched and an approach that hasn't been tried - we'll see. But part of me, and maybe its just me, and no offence intended to those who could do it quick, but I'd want to think that to be awarded a PhD I'd done something pretty special that had taken up a lot of my time and that I had really worked for so hard for a long time - otherwise surely it stands a chance of being declared of little worth?

Just my opinion

I think so much depends on your personal supervisor. Mine is very informal, but then I've known him now for 4 years through BA (diss sup) and MA (sup) so we have a lot of years of supervision behind us. But then that is his style anyway - he's very informal, very chatty, he was the first lecturer I heard use the word cr*p in a lecture, but you mess with him and he'll eat you alive ;-) I had my first PhD meeting with him last week. We went through that admin stuff, then made some plans for the next few months in the run up to the first supervisory board meeting and a general - we'd hope to be doing this by yr 2, this by yr 3 but lets see how it goes type discussion. He then asked me if I had any more questions - some stupid, some not had a chat about life, the universe and everything, gave me another telling off about my lack of confidence, arranged the next meeting and generally went over everything. I was in there just under an hour.
If this is the first time you've met properly then it will be different, but within our uni and our dept the emphasis on the supervisor/student relationship is on a close working relationship - you're part of the dept, not a 'student' (although of course you are, but its not like BA), and from what I've seen of students further on they have a very friendly, chatty, almost like mates with one who just knows a damn site more and will ritually sacrifice you if you miss your boards lol lol lol.
Some are great, some are awful, mine is the former, absolutely fantastic and wrote the original hypothesis I'm testing so has a vested interest in my work - even if I prove him wrong lol lol lol 8-)

======= Date Modified 13 Oct 2008 12:24:24 =======
no, we're meeting on 4th Nov - we're meeting roughly once a month, but I have access to him anytime I need it via email, phone or can drop into his office. He said once a month as that gives me time to have a nice lot of stuff to talk over each time for a formal meeting thing. It kind of suits me as I get on really well with him and have been working with him for the last year during the MA so am used to his working patterns I'm ok with chatting via email inbetween full meetings :-)

Lol lol lol - yep, I joined the facebook group and cannot work out who ANYBODY is lol. Sigh, am I alone in finding it virtually impossible to get motivated to get going? I envy you that work in labs and have to - I have reading to do in prep for my lit review and see my supervisor again in November some time (can't remember date - in diary lol) so its kinda do some by then and come and talk to me about it - arrgghhhh- I need to get going but somehow I've already learned the fine art of procrastination and we're what 2 weeks in???? This is gonna hurt lol

It sounds as though Phds in the science fields are very different to those in humanities. It must be good to do something like that. Mine is in history and has to be 100% original research - ok, so the field I am studying is an ongoing argument, but it has to be viewed in a new way with a completely different approach.

I do think half of being a researcher though is, as you say, accepting that your study could be (most likely will be) rubbished or argued strongly against within hours of publication lol - I suppose that it is in that way that knowledge grows and we are fortunate to be in a position to be able now to contribute to the fields in which we have a passion :-)

I can't see how its' possible to do the majority in 6 months... I dunno, maybe it is, but I know that my literature review and reading around the historiography will take that - that database creation will take around 6 months before I even begin doing my study - I'm looking at a good 2 years of solid work minimum before I can even consider writing up. Maybe I'm doing something wrong...

You've already done most of your Phd work??? Wow! I plan to take it steady lol.

At my uni we have 2 reviews a year, one in Jan and one in June - I met with my supervisor to discuss our plan of attack and we're starting unsurprisingly with reading around the topic and creating a literature review and updated proposal which will be presented for my Jan Board, then we'll take it from there. Each time we have to present a paper which is then discussed by the board in a mini viva situation. The biggy for me will be the end of year and then the first of the 2nd year which is when the decision will be made whether or not to upgrade from MPhil (which all new Phd students are placed on initially) to Phd. Its an odd situation, I'm down as a Phd student, and am working towards a Phd, but have to prove myself lol. Nerve wracking!

I think everything depends on your topic, the project and your supervisor. I understand a lot of the people here are in sciences and work in labs, therefore on site, however, I've just started my history phd and have been told that it would be nice to see me in the dept from time to time - we have a research student's office for our use (noticably empty every time I pass lol) and they like to see us once in a while, but it does seem that its pretty much work where you want, when you want, meet up with your supervisor regularly, ask us if you need anything, door always open etc etc, see you at the next supervisory board lol. The grad director said if you're gonna be away from the uni for more than 6 months please let us know! So for me its very much a case of work where I feel most comfortable - for me that is home as well, I love my campus but I work so much better here - constant (free) tea, my own surroundings etc. There are times I work well on campus and if I really need to remove any chance of procrastination its sometimes best to go out, but normally I work here, and do my best work here. I have a caravan converted to an office which is my space, why go to campus?
Obviously I couldn't say what your prospective dept would be like, it may be much the same - 9-5 does not work for me, more like 10-3 and then 9-12pm (I have kids), in the run up to submission for the MA it was more like 8am-3am most days - ahhhh the joys of study ;-) Ask them I guess, I'm sure they get asked, research study is different to taught and for those of us not tied to a lab then I think that the ability to be very flexible and just make sure that work is done by the time its required and that we keep up with our committments is all that matters - we just show our faces once a week or so and show willing at training, seminars etc ;-)

======= Date Modified 06 Oct 2008 16:02:15 =======
I'm also just starting out on my Phd, I have a four year old (nearly 5) and two teenagers. I'm hoping the Phd will be a bit easier as my little girl has just started school, but throughout the BA and the MA I've combined childcare and study quite successfully. She was only 11 months old when I started the BA and it is hard. I was very lucky in the my husband is a nurse and worked night shifts so we shared the parenting, but with good childcare and assistance its quite possible to do both, lots do :-) Some sups are strange about it, when I went for my initial interview to go to uni the prof who interviewed me said how very hard I would find it with 2 children (they were 8 and 9 at the time) - I carefully covered up my new little bump and kept quiet lol (I differed as she was due a week after term started!!).

That sounds really excellent Phdbug! Looks like you've got a great supervisor there :-) What field are you studying in?

I think a collective panic section for us newbies is a great idea ;-) I've just had my induction meeting (nice - we got wine, pastries, yummy food and then were expected to understand what the graduate director was talking about lol lol) but its kind of half calmed me down and half freaked me out totally!!! At our uni we have twice yearly supervisory board mini vivas with our supervisor, a chair and another academic for which we have to produce a paper - it is our performance in these which dictates whether we are allowed to continue or not - no pressure!!!!! So basically we're on a constant 6 month trial period...... I suppose in some respects it is helpful in that it ensures constant contact with your supervisor and also ensures a constant work output and supervision of your work by several academics which can only be useful. The Grad Dir did reassure us that booting is very very rare and it is more a case of assisting us and spotting issues early, still, the idea that in January I have to have a paper prepared for submission and then what she said is basically to be viewed as an exam is quite daunting. She said first one is normally a detailed proposal and a lit review so that's ok, I suppose...... I also have arranged my first meeting with my sup for next week, and also have a training course to attend next week so its calmed me down a little in that I will then get the momentum going. I've also enrolled on a course for the spring term. Its an MA module that my sup does that didn't run last year on quantatitive methodology in history which is directly applicable to my thesis and my sup asked that I enrol on it. So....... here we go, hang onto your hats lol.

Oh, and to further put on that tiny bit of pressure, from this year we have a set max of 4 years to submit - extensions only in extenuating circumstances...... not sure if thats the norm or not, but its changed to a definate 3 year min, 4 year max from the date of initial registration so this time in 4 years it WILL be all over unless something drastic happens in the meantime :-)

Oh my goodness! I wish you the best of luck with your appeal, this all sounds like a really nasty horror film! I'm beginning to wish I hadn't read the thread. I'm just starting this week and in some naive and dumb way thought that the sups wouldn't let you submit and go to the viva unless you were pretty certain of a pass. The idea that externals can come in and shred you like this is quite horrifying. I also didn't realise quite what a viva entailed, I'm scared already - I can write, but I find talking very hard, to explain myself under barrage is difficult for me and I get all tongue tied, so the thought of three hours of it is just too much. It makes me wonder when there seems to be so much luck involved with who you get to examine you whether its worth the agony of 3 years of work to be slashed by someone who just doesn't like you in the end? :$

Count me in too!!! I started this week, well, I registered lol. I have an induction meeting later, and have yet to speak to my supervisor, although I will see him today. He was my supervisor for my MA and banned me from contacting him or thinking about the Phd at all (yeh, lol) until after induction so I guess it will all start for me next week. I'm terrified, I can identify so readily with 'imposter syndrome' and think they'll suddenly realise they've made a huge mistake and will boot me off the course, that I won't cope, that I just can't do it. I've been funded by the dept, by people who I've gone through the BA and the MA with, I should just accept that if they think I'm up to it then I am, but there's that part of me that just can't accept I can do this and am completely overwhelmed by the enormity of it, probably not helped by friends who've decided not to proceed from the MA (I'm the only new Phd student in the dept this year) informing me that I'm totally mad lol.

We'll get there, in 3-4 years time we'll be frantically writing, and i hope that we'll all go though to graduation together and get to wear those mad robes lol. I think that standing at the brink and peering into 3 years of solid research with the size of the thesis we have to write is what does it for me. I'm going to try and take baby steps, not look further ahead for the first few months than the next submission or the next task whilst making notes and ensuring that I keep on top of things so I can bring it all together in the end. I'm not sure if that's wise or not, I just can't cope with the thought of 80-100K words!!! lol lol.

Hi :-)

Everyone's research all sounds so interesting! I'm also starting next week - I feel kind of in limbo - I'm staying at the same uni I did my BA and MA at with the same supervisor so it should be a nice, easy transition, but I feel quite lost! Every other year there have been timetables and room numbers to check, you know what's coming - this time - well, it feels like register next week, then submit something huge in 3 years time lol :$

Having only submitted my MA dissertation in the 15th it feels like its not time to catch my breath again - I'm a history girl - does anyone know how full on things get and how fast? I'm hoping that maybe I can continue to be in my collapsed heap stage for a few more days yet ;-)

This is very exciting, but also absolutely terrifying and I did have an 'omg what am I doing????' moment yesterday lol

======= Date Modified 17 Sep 2008 09:48:21 =======
Wow!!! I am now moving over to this forum from the MA one - I've just completed and submitted my MA dissertation and start my Phd on Oct 6th - I'm soooooo scared, but so excited. I was planning to start a thread just like this - and here one is! This advice is just amazing - thankyou so much for this!



I will no doubt have tons of incredibly stupid questions over the next 3 years - I have my first now if someone doesn't mind spoon feeding a techoidiot - what is endnote??? ;-)



Can someone also tell me what I can expect in the first few weeks - I know that all courses and unis are different, I'm starting my Phd in history - so I'm a humanities sort of girl :-) The BA and the MA were all laid out - induction, courses, lectures, classes, submission dates - this time I feel kind of like I'm going into the unknown, short of submit a massive thesis in 3 years time! I'm very lucky in that my supervisor was also my supervisor for the MA and is wonderful, but he's told me not to email him and not to even THINK about the Phd until Oct lol (yeh right) as I need a break after the mania leading up to the submission ;-)



Thanks - and looking forward to getting to know you all 8-)

Amanda