Hi Lilbobeep, is it possible that you contact your internal and external, and inform them about the typo, maybe send them the pages concerned with the correction highlighted. I can not see that you would be failed your PhD on typos, at much it would be a minor correction. All the best

Let me start this off by saying that I am a person of the nervous disposition but at the same time impulsive. When I was younger I actually made myself ill through anxiety and worry. The University is in a large city, and as I have come from a rural location, I can not normally go into cities for a day let alone three years. Here is the problem, it is likely that starting at this place will probably make me ill again, in fact I have been physically sick over the last few weeks worrying about starting my PhD and I will being going down a route that will make me extremely ill again, and of course there is the worry about crime.

To some people this may seem a bit silly, how can living in a large city make you feel ill, well it may be in the head, but if I am this stressed up before I start the PhD, then it will not be a success as I will not be able to concentrate. I still can believe that I was stupid enough to take the offer, as it was the first one to be made to me, when I accepted, deep down I knew I was making a mistake.

My question is how do I tell my potential supervisor about this, after all I have accepted a place where someone else could have, and he will be left without a PG student for a year, add to that the fact that he may not be able to get funding for the project, and the fact that he was a first time supervisor. I feel really guilty and a bit upset that I have wasted his time
Sorry if this makes no sense

27pence

University C - Taken to supervisor by uG on sandwich year, go in room professor(tosser) half his students and his admin gal all in there, various questions asked, tour of lab by one of his lackeys, go out to lunch with him and post doc asked questions while trying to eat shepards pie!. Go back to uni, explains project, talk to his Phd students for an hour

University D - No tech questions asked, CV transcripts, referees and First Class degree, graduation awards mean that he does not need to ask typical questions, asks why I want to do PhD though. Tour of Labs, Lunch at South american restaurant (in the UK, obviuously!!!), go to place where I will be based, shown labs there, meet postgrad research admissions person, questions on why, and what I plan to do, informs me accommodation options and so on. End of interview.

Have a guess which University I accepted an offer, which was rejected, which came a close second and which rejected me, lol

It depends on the the University and the Supervisor, and whether it is funded or not, and whether you needed to make a proposal ( I am in the sciences so did not need to do one). I had interviews at four different universities, lets call them A,B,C,D

University A - Asked questions by Supervisor relating to basic scientific knowledge, his post doc asked all the difficult questions, - Tour around the lab - Two people "interviewed me"

University B - More technical questions, I did a little presentation, wherein I was the lecturer and he was the student, and had to answer various questions that an undergraduate might ask - tour of lab met one phd student

Hi there elmer

I believe I am indeed the other student, as he explained that the other student would be involved in the Biofuel from Algae project. (CPE department? super -R.V?)

Bit of an odd way to meet, on an internet forum!

Jonathon

Any other Advice?

Hi there - the area that the PhD is in is Mass Spectrometry Hypenated Techniques for metabolome analysis.

The supervisor was honest when I asked him about how many people he had supervised, and he said that he had not supervised anyone before but had been a co-supervisor?, on a number of sucessful projects before. I am not entirely sure about a secondary supervisor, (its the Uni of Sheffield by the way).

Other than that it is the best offer I have had, and I had a good rapport with him, and the place had a good vibe about it, thats the only downside that I am his first, but he would only have me and another student, so I will have great access to him, and the facilities are brilliant.

I did have an offer from another place but the guy who was a professor had nine students under him currently and in all honesty was a bit of a tosser.

HI there, I have just recently been offered a PhD place at a brilliant university. I have just one concern though, during discussion with my supervisor, it came about that I would be her first student that she has supervised. Of course all supervisors need to have a first student, but is this something to be overly worried about, or is it just likely that I will be in for a rough ride!

Cheers
27pence