Sounds good to me :) I certainly wouldn't go as far as trying to include all your variables in the title, as you say this could be very long and confusing. I'd keep it simple, and add the detail in your dissertation. I'm sure that's the norm, my PhD thesis title is very high level compared to the nitty gritty details :)

Excellent, thanks. It's just one of those things, you're so close to it you can't see it :)

Hi Tt_dan,

Thought I'd add my experiences/opinion to the mix. Something I wish I'd realised sooner in my PhD is that the reading part is never "done". That is at no point did I ever stop looking for literature and reading it. I'd say the bulk of your reading will be done in your first year, and I certainly advocate writing as soon as you start reading. I also recommend some form of reference management. I use Mendeley as I like that you can search all your pdfs for words in the text, and words in your own reviews/tags. Don't worry that you have to keep reading more, though do make sure you're reading relevant work (you'll get better at identifying this as time goes on). Eventually you'll get to the point where you've read the majority of work which relates specifically to your area and it will just be a case of keeping on top of it.

Hope this helps.

Hi folks,

I've been putting the finishing touches to my thesis and I've been told there are a few times I use "we". I have managed to remove almost all, but one is giving me difficulty in rephrasing. How do I rephrase "we call this..." in such a way that still makes it clear that this is created for the work and not a term in common usage? Any ideas?

Thanks

Hi,

I'm in agreement with clupea. I believe R is based on the S programming language, but it is open source. It does take a little effort to learn how to use, but once you write scripts to do what you want it makes data analysis much easier.  Especially if you have to repeat the same task multiple times. There's also plenty of online examples e.g. http://www.statmethods.net/

Hi Button,

Just my opinion, but I wouldn't apply. Ignoring possible conflicts with funding, I'm coming to the end of my third and final year and have found it to be the most stressful. I can't imagine what it would be like with a 20 hour job on top of that. I'm not saying it wouldn't be possible, especially considering it sounds like you are further ahead than I was at the start of my third year. Even so, I think it's a lot of pressure to put yourself under. As I say, it's just my opinion.

All the best

Hi,

I may be alone in this, but I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. What do you mean by productivity solution?? Personally I'd love someone to do the work for me :p but I doubt that's the answer you're looking for. I don't mean to be blunt, but it seems like a rather vague term and if you're looking to help PhD candidates it might be more useful to ask if they would find the specific services/solutions you offer helpful. Similarly I'm unsure what you mean by productivity challenge. As for what people are afraid of, I'd like to think I'm not alone in saying failing the PhD is the root problem that keeps me awake at night. I think most PhD issues boil down to wanting to get it right so you don't fail.

I hope this allows you to provide a little more information, which might let us help you more.

Hi Button,

I don't know if this will help, but as I understand it, the background section basically provides the basic information someone would need to understand the problem area. This might be particularly relevant for an examiner who might not be directly in your precise field of study.

Does that make any sense?

Hi Paola,

I hope I can help, at least a little. Firstly I would recommend actually talking to a specific University. As I understand it, in the UK in general you need to have at least a 2:1 so I think you'd need to make your case to a specific department. I know at the university I'm at they sometimes let students into a Masters course with a 2:2, but I think it's on a case by case basis. I'm not sure about being funded part time, it depends on the funding body and what you apply for. I don't think you're too old, or at least I hope not because I started my PhD at approximately the same age. I also know at least three people who have started at a much older age (10+ years). I've attended careers fairs in the past and didn't find them particularly helpful as you were essentially pointed to a website to apply. I certainly wouldn't travel to Scotland for one (though Scotland is lovely!). As far as being employed by the University I can only go by what my experience and understanding is of my university, here we allow staff to take courses at a reduced cost, but the entry requirements are still the same.

Overall I'd suggest talking to a specific department/university.

I hope I've helped at least a little, as I say this is only my experience of things, other people may have different opinions.

Hi, I've often had this type of situation. So here's my humble opinion. Normally I would point them in the right direction rather than providing a sample of unpublished work. If he is unsure how to discuss his results, maybe point them in the direction of stuff you used for inspiration? Just an idea.

Hi Docmartini,

For what it's worth here is my opinion - don't quit!!! You obviously want to see it through, so hang in there. I felt how you're feeling for about a year, I also couldn't talk to my supervisor as he just pacified me and fobbed me off. I did however also try speaking to other people, this gave me some perspective and allowed me to make progress. Try not to get so scared you're stuck. Perhaps try to set yourself little goals each day? When I was struggling I often took a piece of paper, wrote my thesis statement at the top and wrote down everything I'd done work wise. This allowed me to see how what I'd done matched my statement, and what I still needed to do to achieve it. From there I could split up the remaining work into manageable chunks and get moving again.

Hope this helps

Swetchha, I feel your pain! I have similar supervisors, not bad people, but not really always giving their full attention. This results in them telling you you're doing well, then realising you're going to submit and telling you there's some flaw they didn't tell you about when you were running the experiment or when you first submitted a draft. I have a couple of suggestions, feel free to ignore them :)

Personally, I would fix any typos and the like first. These can be quickly fixed, build up your confidence again and are the things that everyone notices. Next I'd try to fix any larger issues, like the flow of your lit review or something similar. Anything beyond that is a bonus. Plan the time you have left and do as much as you can. Remember that you might not actually agree with all the comments made :)

I hope this helps, even if it is only in knowing you're not alone. Good luck!

Hi,
Just wanted to add another perspective to your thread, feel free to ignore it :) I agree with AlleyCat, if you can't get a hold of him now what would it be like to have him supervise you? I have a supervisor who happily agreed to take me on as a PhD. He also didn't reply to emails (he was my supervisor for a 3 month taught MSc project). He still doesn't reply to emails and it's an absolute nightmare to get any constructive feedback from him. Your colleague may just be bad at replying to emails, so maybe the best thing is to knock on his door and make a decision based on a proper discussion. I agree with the other comments on the relationship being two-way, pick your supervisor carefully!

Hope that helps

Satchi,

So sorry to hear you're having such a hard time of it. Is there perhaps a counseling service at your university? Or maybe going to see a doctor might help? In terms of being critical can you see how your work fills a gap left by others? For example, say researcher A did and experiment E, was there a question related to experiment E which wasn't answered? Aside from looking for potential limitations in experimental design (which I mentioned I improved a little by reading on how to design experiments properly), looking for gaps in what was evaluated or errors in how results were evaluated are the only approaches to critical analysis I can think of. Perhaps someone else can suggest other approaches?

Ahh, sorry I couldn't help.