Well done, Grumpy. Sounds like you're doing great and definitely doing the right things to look after yourself (such as taking a break from here if it's not helping).

You've all been such a wonderful help and support here for me in the past few months. So, I just wanted to let you all know that I submitted last week!!! I have to say to everyone: do keep going - it feels amazing to have submitted and well worth all the pain and heartache!

Keep going everyone, you can do it!!!!

Congrats Grumpy and Glowworm! Well done!!!!! I am very happy for you!

As for me, my chapter is not finished yet. I am working on corrections and really hoping I need only a few more days before I send this paper to reviewers. It is very frustrating that my progress is so slow. I find writing papers is extremely difficult. However, my sup is interested only in papers and says chapters and papers are the same thing. I disagree with that, but I cannot do anything about it. My chapters are more like separate stories, and my sup reviews them as papers.

I agree with Grumpy, posting everyday about my progress may actually slow me down. However, I feel like I am socialising here :)) I skip meetings with my friends, because all I have in my mind today is PhD and academic life. So, I want to thank you guys and this forum.

Good luck and let's keep posting!

OK everyone, thesis has been submitted!! I never thought this day would come. After a very very very thorough (and painful) revision from my supervisor, he agreed that the thesis was good to go. Everything started with an email he sent me last week which subject was" Thesis ready to go. Time to bind"

The thesis has now been sent to the examiners. Apparently it takes between 6-7 weeks, but my supervisor says that on his experience it takes longer than that. I ended up with eight chapters, 181 pages. Chapters 1: intro, Chapter 2: lit review, chapters 3-7, journals and papers I have published/submitted, and chapter 8, conclusions. Out of those 5 chapters (3-7) I have four already published (3 journals, 1 conference paper). Not sure if I should feel happy or nervous, it is honestly a combination of both.

BTW, my area is in informatics/telecommunications.

Fingers crossed!!

aleruri well done! 5 papers sounds like you have done an amazing job!

Thanks Nautilus for your kind words!!

Congratulations the both of you! I hope you enjoy this feeling as much as I envy you =)

My article was accepted with minor revisions only two weeks after I submitted it, so now I'm doing the (extremely boring) work of adding a few paragraphs to the article. I was supposed to submit a final version by early august, but the editor asked to submit asap as he wants the article in the next edition. On the one hand, I'm happy it got accepted and all (I put a lot of effort into it), while on the other, this fast track publishing bothers me. I feel like they don't really care. I think my article is good enough for publication, but I expected them to dig deeper to find the improvement potential in the article. My concern is founded on the fact that none of them addressed the core of my article, and one reviewer only commented on typos. The editor and my suggested reviewers are respectable academicians, so I was hoping for more elaborate feedback. Either they didn't understand it, or worse, they didn't care. I guess it's not such a big deal, but I'll submit my future papers in more highly rated journals to make sure my work is properly scrutinized.

Next week I'll be travelling with friends. It's a bit ignorant when all I should do is write, but I need a break from my concerns. Going for a holiday with worriless friends is the best remedy for me right now.

I wish you all a great and productive week!

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted here so thought I'd check back in. Congratulations glowworm and aleruri on submitting!! I'm so pleased for you and so envious at the same time, I cannot wait to be in the same position! Marg - I hope you enjoy your holiday and come back feeling refreshed! And Nautilus, I understand what you mean about socialising here, I feel the same. I find that now I'm in the final weeks to submission I don't have much time for small talk with people and just want to get on with work. It's nice to have the forum to find people who are in the same position and therefore are more understanding.

I have until next Thursday to finish my literature review before a job interview on Friday, so I'll be working over the weekend. After that I just need to add a few sections to two results chapters and write the second half of my discussion chapter, then I will have a complete draft!! I'm trying to balance writing with job applications and a few other things (part time work/driving lessons/plans to relocate) at the moment and I seem to go from being stressed one minute to really excited that this is nearly over the next. We will get there. Good luck to everyone else working and have a great weekend!

Tulip

Hi Everyone,

Reports from the examiners came back, advising only "minor corrections" for my thesis. I managed to finish those corrections in less than one week, and I got the word yesterday that these final corrections have been accepted!!! Party time!!
I am seriously considering to change my username on this forum from "aleruri" to "DrAleruri". Just kidding :-)

Feeling over the moon at the moment!!

Thanks to everyone on this forum for taking the time to answer me when I was in very difficult times. To all of you still in this PhD journey, hang in there. I have been there and it is possible.

Woohoo!!!

aleruri

Congratulations Dr Aleruri!