I guess this depends a lot on the field of study. I've had to suggest reviewers for all my papers, and I never found it to be a problem - you pretty much always build on someone else's work in sciences, and naturally they are likely to be good reviewers. Usually, googling the names is a good idea because most journals prefer to have someone with some experience of academic publishing as reviewer - a first-year phd student who has a single publication is not likely to be chosen. Remember that it is always the editor who chooses the reviewers - what you might do is just poke him/her in a certain direction.

Hi everyone,

I'm coming to UK for an approximately three-month long research visit, arriving in two weeks. I've tried to find a furnished room using spareroom.co.uk, uk.easyroommate.com and gumtree, but tend to receive few answers to my e-mail queries. I wonder if you could give me some insight into the usual way of finding a room in the uk, I mean if I should rather try calling than e-mailing (more expensive!) and if there are any additional sites it would be worth the effort to take a look at? Or should I simply wait until I get there in order to be able to view the rooms right away?

Faerie

Hi,

I am not sure to which countries you refer to as "northern Europe" but I'll assume you mean Scandinavia :). In general, the athmosphere in the Nordic countries is quite relaxed, for instance I've never had a formal supervision session. I think it's quite common that the PhD student and the supervisor are on "chitchat" terms with each other. Additionally, I do theoretical work in another (but still a science) field, so I can't say anything about the lab technician part. I had one summer studentship doing experimental work, but the apparatus was already set up for me.

As to the structure of the PhD, in general you are expected to have a Master's degree before you start it, this meaning that you already have written a thesis and done some research. A Master's does not, in principle, need to contain original research but quite often, if the student is good, it results in a publication (in sciences). What comes to the structure of the PhD, we do not usually separately write a literature review; instead, we are expected to produce publishable work, and in my lab the requirement for submission is somewhere between four and six journal papers, depending on the number of first-authorships. Quite often the thesis is then an introduction to these papers.

This all having been said, if your supervisor is a head of an institute, he will be extremely busy and I somehow doubt that he will not be your everyday supervisor. I suppose one could talk to the head of the lab if (s)he has time but one more or less ask anyone that knows something on the topic. The assignment of project depends on one's funding. If one is funded in a project one typically has little freedom whereas if one has a grant/scholarship/other sources of funding (supposedly your case), there is likely to be more flexibility.

I wish I was of some help!