Hi, I'd like to apply for a postdoctoral position, which I'm very interested in. But the subject is not the same as my PhD topic. So, do I need to read a lot of backgroud papers before I apply for it? Or will people have time to read papers after they start work?

And it says 'to function as a senior member of the research team', does it mean that the people in the position need to respond to other members and be responsible for the whole project, well, at least in some degree? I mean, He/She does not ask for the supervisor's advice for everything, does he/she?

So the post doctoral is supposed to be more independent, desige/conduct the experiemnts, analyse the data, report the result and write up all on their own? And then, what does the supervisor do?

Hi, Moomin, I had just submitted my thesis in Sep. I always had bad times when I felt really depressed. But believe me, you'll go through finally.

Thank you very much, ras31.

And thank you, Ann, that was what I would say.

And I usually have the original data in Excel, with all the variables, notes, etc, and copy those essentials to SPSS to run the stats. well, it's just my own personal way, as i'm not used to find a variable from a long list in SPSS

I hope I can say 'no'. But i would feel a lot of press from family, who is expecting me to get a good job, and academic is good from their point of view. Although, I hope I can work just as a shop assistant, etc and and could enjoy my life when i get home. I don't want to mix my life and work together any more.

Hi, anyone good at editing data? I've got a data set in Excel like this:
row1: M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6....M64
row2: A B C B C B ...A

how could I make the data like this in SPSS:
column1 column2
M1 A
M2 B
M3 C
M4 B
M5 C
. .
. .
. .
. .
M64

I didn't find any options I can choose when 'read text' in SPSS. could anybody give me a clue?

I'm in my 4th year. and I've always hoped that I had quitted years ago, but I didn't. I hope I can finally make it. But if I was British ( i think British people have more opportunities than non-british students), I would have quitted years ago, and got training on other areas and tried sth completely different.

to be honest, I don't have a motivation strong enough to keep me focusing on the thesis, and I suppose that's why I write so slow.

hi, I had a bf when I just started the PhD, and he became my husband one year later--I still don't know why I had married him. But, we lived in two different places, for three years! though we're now living together. I just want to say, that I would agree Piglet that it's good to have a bf who could help you take a Sunday off, etc. But, try not to keep a relationship with someone who is far away from you. Now I realize that all the three years I had lived was a misery, it didn't help me anything, but stress.

i have a friend who is doing psychology, i don't know the details, but he failed. I hope he could come here and tell us his story, and also other people's.

it's so nice to read other people's opinions, thank you so much.

I've asked our department about the deadline, and I need to submit the thesis before Oct and have the viva afterwards, a little bit relieved.

I got the funding from the university for 3 years, and our department is good at remindering us our responsibilities. But I was not used to work on my own, and I was too shy to talk to other phd students in our department because of my personality and also the language. So I didn't work as efficiently and as happily as I was in my own country. Now, I have to re-read a lot of articles/papers for the introduciotns and discussions in each chapter in the thesis, and also re-study some points of the statistics by myself, and I just realized that the chapters I've written up were just rubbish, well, not rubbish, but not good at all. That's why I got really stressed.

bty, if a student's viva is failed, does that have any bad effect of the department's RAE(RAT??)

Thank you all, very much.
I'll email my supervisor and talk about this when I finish the third chapter, hopefully, this afternoon.

Can I ask here, how many hours do you normally work on your thesis everyday? I get up 7.00am, go to bed around 10.30/11.00pm, and I try to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits (fishes and meat are not missed out), and drink herb teas, and I go to gym. I think I've been living a healthy life. But i still get tired very easily, and have to have a nap after lunch. To be honest, I could focus on the thesis only about 2-4 hours everyday, and I sit in front of the computer during the other time, but just day dreaming, surfing the internet, etc. I couldn't stop doing this, but feel guilty about this.

anyway, thank you again for your advice and support, i really appreciate it,

Hi, I'm new, how I wish that I had known this forums years ago.

I'm in my 4th year now, but I haven't finished my thesis yet, just half way i think. Do we have to finish it in 4 years? cos I once received a confirmation letter from Mphil to PhD, saying the maxmium period is till Oct 2007. I don't think I could have and pass the viva before Oct. Can I apply for an extension without any good reason? I just find it really hard to write. English is not my first language, but I don't think the language really matters, though it does make writing more difficult for me.

And I keep feel ashamed that I won't be able to finish it soon, and dare not talk to my supervisor. I really don't know what to do, could anyone give me any advice please? Thanks a lot.