I would have thought that it is perfectly possible to "recycle" your own proposal and use it to apply to a different uni/institution. Depending on how small the field is, the people from the first uni might find out and might not like it, but I dont think there is much they can do about it. It's just competition in research - or am I missing something here?

No doubt, Sneaks, it can be variable as to what is required for a PhD. And I think that there is a fair amount of luck involved, not just with the project itself, but also the support of the sup(s) etc.

My two cents on your post: I have already gone past the 3 year mark and I am focussing on making it for the 3 1/2 year one. In my field, most people finish between 3-4 years, but some manage to do it in 3. Those who do, fair to say, have worked their a** off to do it - no holidays, long, long hours, limited social life. I suppose all us PhDers go through that at some stage, but there are certainly degrees of sacrifice, and I think that if you are willing to sacrifice probably about everything in your life to get the PhD done in three years, you will get it done in three years. Question is - do you want to do that?

That's how I see it, and because I want to stay sane and remain a functional person, I am taking longer than 3 years, that's my excuse anyway. (and to be fair, I still have some grant money to get me by, otherwise it might be another story..)(sprout)

Yep, it's hard to focus with all the lovely things one could be doing! BUT, I will keep going to uni until the 24th, because I want to take time off completely during xmas/new year. My aim is to work hard now (until xmas) and then play hard (during xmas/new year). I think it is important to take time out and for me xmas will be such a time - hence, now is work time, huhu! All the best, (robin)

======= Date Modified 11 Dec 2009 09:47:46 =======
Thanks guys for your responses. Definitely has given me some ideas what to write or what to rather leave out.. (up)

Hi everyone

Although I am months away from submitting my thesis, there are times when I contemplate what to write in my acknowledgements.
I have read really boring ones where people have just named and thanked all the sups/co-workers who somehow contributed to the PhD project/thesis, without making it special or any personal touch. But then there are some which are full of insider jokes, making it weird to read for anyone not understanding the hints/references/jokes.

I would like to have a bit of all: the formal thanks to sups and colleagues, to friends/partner for general support and maybe adding a funny/thoughtful(?) quote on science/life/universe.. Or is trying to put one's emotion in one A4 page a bit over-engineering something that should be just plain and focussed on acknowledging other people's input to the PhD work?

What do you think? What are you planning to write in your acknowledgements or what did you write (for those who have already submitted)?
What do you like/not like about other people's acknowledgements?

(robin)

Yes, that is what keeps me going at the moment too. "Plodding along" is the perfect wording. Or I like the idea of "chipping away at it". I am trying to stay focussed, not worry about the xmas break, the presents I have not bought yet and all that, and I am unwilling to let me end of March deadline go, but deep down I know that it is sooo unlikely I will be able to make it. Maybe May then?

The idea that at one point I will have submitted this thesis is so amazing, I am reminding myself of it every day. This day will come! Hopefully soon, but (tree) and (mince) and (gift) first!

We can get through this together - mm, and a virtual party afterwards sounds excellent, Sue!

I love my subject. Yes, now at the finishing stage, I does get a bit tedious, but actually seeing things finished, and conclusions on paper, makes me proud of my work. I cannot imagine what it must be like to work on something that you are not really enthusiastic about, but I guess not everyone has to love their subjects. To be fair, I love my subject, but I do go home after a day's work and read fiction, watch telly etc, and not read more papers... I don't breathe and live the PhD topic 24/7, so maybe I am not quite up there with your hilarious lecturer in terms of passion?!(sprout)

======= Date Modified 03 Dec 2009 17:07:46 =======
A headache is an acceptable reason for not getting much done. Yes, it is not a great reason, but still.. better than laziness.



Spot: plaster sounds good. I would put a antiseptic on the spot, neat tea tree oil does a treat for me/my spots.



Peculiar reasons for lack of progress, my one is: inner resistance to do the work. Hard to tell you supervisor that, he?!

OMG, this is so funny8-)
And I am just responding to reviewer's comments right now, and it was the third reviewer who made some similar comments! Hilarious!

Thanks for that, LeannePhD - you have made my day!

When will it end? Yep, very good question/statement.
I have also looked at the diary today and there are only a few weeks left before the xmas break?! Argh! My aim was to have a draft thesis finished by then. Well, that is unlikely to happen BUT I know that I will be able to finish some things off. So, yes moving some goalposts allows me to not go insane, but not moving others, will hopefully give me some sense of achievement (when I will have done them by 23rd Dec-ha!).
As usual, I think it helps to work out what to do on a daily/weekly basis and stick to it as much as possible. So, maybe you will not manage to do both chapters well, but maybe you can finish one, or at least make signifiant progress with both, which you can pick up on with fresh perspective in the new year.
Feeling ridiculous -yes, it is all a bit of a farce, right;-)

Ceruse, if you are sure that quitting the PhD and starting a new one somewhere else is the right thing to do, it is better to do it now than later (why wait?). Your supervisors will find annoying at first (no doubt about that), but if you are doing a PhD, you are in for the long haul, and you definitely have to be motivated to do it, if not love your subject. (and if you are funded and leave at this stage, your department might be able to give the position to someone else?!? - so don't let that be a consideration).
Lots of people have posted similar stories on the forum, and some excellent advice has been given on how to help making up your mind, so I'd recommend to browse/search the forum a bit.
Good luck.

Hi there.
What you describe is not too untypical, I suppose: your supervisor has not done the work himself yet, so of course he does not know whether it will work or not, and obviously he's not done extensive reading on it. I understand that you obviously have done some research on the topic and now know that the chosen approach wont work. Coming to your questions, and stating the obvious, you have two possible options now (and many variations to the option..) - either stick to your project and see the work done so far as part of the literature review. In that case, think about what would make the project work, what would make it worthwhile? It's all about ideas, and hopefully you'd get some input from your sup, but it will take your initiative on this. We all have to make changes/adjustments to our originally planned topic/approach and this is normal in research (to a degree at least). The other option is to quit your current project and supervisor and do something else (different project/sup). This obviously very much depends on how many other opportunities/sups etc are out there in your department, and I can't say whether this is a viable option for you.
I understand that you have lost confidence in your sup, but remember that now that you are doing research, there is more uncertainity involved in the project and part of learning how to do research is to learn how to deal with unforseen obstacles (and forseen ones, too). I believe that if you manage to get something semi-decent out of your project, you can be proud of yourself.
Whichever way you are taking your MSc forward, all the best.

Hi Walminskipeasucker

I so know what you mean - I am also in for this for another 6 months or so and it is just not fun anymore. Not even rewarding (at this stage). I just read some reviewer's comments on a paper I had submitted, and whilst I know that the difficult to address comments are not the end of the world, I feel so low and soooo fed up with this paper/study. I came onto the forum to look for the motivational thread that you had started(?!!) and Teek had put it well:

"If you are going through hell, best keep going".

So, this is how I have to see it all now, best keep going. I am also tired, my relationship is suffering because of the mounting stress, it is all shite really, but we must keep going.

Come on Walminskipeasucker, WE CAN DO IT!:-)

======= Date Modified 18 Nov 2009 13:42:12 =======
I think impersonating you is not on and from what you say, your sup could be a bit sexist. If your department/research group is male dominated, I would not be surprised, if that is just the way he interacts with people, and most guys find it completely normal to hear feedback in a kind of joke, but maybe women interact/communicate differently, and hence find it offensive. (Have you heard of the book "Talking from 9 to 5: Women and Men at Work" by Deborah Tannen?. It discusses this kind of thing, and afte reading it, certain interactions with the opposite sex seemed to suddenly make sense to me.)



About the presentation skills, remember that the feedback itself might be valid, and it is a good idea not to twiddle with you hair and be as professional and focussed on the presentation as possible. The idea to video yourself and watch it back is an excellent idea, I have done it and it works well and helps to understand how you appear/sound to others.

This sounds tough, but just so typical of a PhD experience. My feeling is that you will just have to work around those supervisors.

Your sup A sounds just a bit like someone in our department. One of his students also felt that he did not read his material properly and hardly found fault with it, which scared the student when it came to thesis submission, but actually he just passed his viva, so in the end it worked out ok, and obviously the standard of the work was sufficient.

Keep at it, don't give up, I say, and count yourself lucky that someone (Sup B & C) do read your work and give some feedback. It might be annoying, but fact is that different sups just have different attitudes to making comments/criticising. If you sup A has lots of good ideas, great, and you "just" have to work out yourself what is worthwhile doing and what is not, what fits in with your work, what does not. As long as you can justifiy why you did what you did, you should be fine...

Also, I think your stage of the PhD can be hard, try to work through it without getting too upset that maybe sometimes there is no clear end, it's the journey that counts!

All the best:-)