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Overview of rewt

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Overview

Username: rewt

Signup date: Friday, 3 November 2017 at 1:37pm

Last login: Sunday, 8 December 2019 at 1:57pm

Post count: 595

To view the blog of rewt, please click here

page 1 of 40 recent posts

Thread: Scholarship

posted
12-Feb-20, 12:17

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 4 months ago

I am on 14.5k in Manchester and living okay. You aren't rich but the bursary being tax free massively helps. You can also do teaching assistance which can boost your wage during term time.

Thread: Publishing

posted
12-Feb-20, 12:15

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 4 months ago

Quote From Emp001:
Is there anyone that has been writing and publishing with ease. Please advise how this is done.

Thread: Phd Admission Interview Cancelled ?

posted
12-Feb-20, 12:15

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 4 months ago

Contact the postgraduate admissions department. They will make sure the application process is done properly and arrange an official meeting.

Thread: What is the role of your second supervisor?

posted
12-Feb-20, 12:13

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 4 months ago

Quote From PhoenixFortune:
My second supervisor during my MA was in name only, as they were randomly assigned and were only meant to be contacted if our supervisor was unavailable/if we had a dispute.

That sounds like my second PhD supervisor! I think the second supervisor roles varies drastically depending on circumstances, nearly as much as the main supervisor role. It all depends how much you need them, how interested they are or if they are just a placeholder etc. There is no way to predict the relationship beforehand but you could try and set your expectations early in the process. Ie meet at least once every 1-3 months, they are going to help with certain things. The more involved they are at the start the better.

Thread: PhD application - the more they background check you, the higher chance of accepting?

posted
06-Feb-20, 17:27

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 4 months ago

I wouldn't try and guess what they are thinking/doing? I know it is hard but there is nothing you can do at the minute.

A multitude of things can hold up the final decision and you have no idea knowing which. Such as finalizing funding, waiting to interview everyone, filling in paperwork etc. I got a formal offer 3 weeks after my interview, they had made the decision a couple of days after my interview but waited for all the paperwork to be completed. Until they contact you don't know and shouldn't be paranoid. You sound confident and qualified, so I hope you get it.

Thread: criminology research thesis

posted
30-Jan-20, 20:38

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

What is the research question you are trying to answer? I think it is a bad idea to choose your topics and methodologies before deciding what you want to answer. You have done lots of reading, so think what do you not know that you want to know? Or start with a hypothesis and try to prove/disprove it. I hope that helps you get started.

Thread: Self Fund for 1st year or Wait

posted
30-Jan-20, 20:31

edited about 6 seconds later

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

Quote From overthinker:
Stigma against being self-funded when the course is complete and how this may impact future prospects.

I don't think there is any stigma attached to self-funding. How can you tell whether someone is self-funding or not? Yes it is great if you have funding but no-one really cares, in my field at least (engineering)

Quote From overthinker:
I also know my planned institution offers teaching work to doctoral students from their 2nd year onwards.

That sounds odd to me as a lot of universities I know want students to do more teaching support. You might want to query this with your potential supervisors. They might know a work around or let you do marking contracts.

Quote From overthinker:
I would plan to spend the first year applying to funding bodies to ensure the security of the rest of the project

Have you had a serious conversation with your potential supervisors about funding? As I don't want to dash your hopes but you might get funding for your second year. What then? Like is your research in a hot topic, priority area or a dead zone? As funding is highly competitive, you should have an idea where you can apply and what are their research objectives. Your potential supervisors might be able to guide you but don't assume that you will get funding.

Otherwise, good luck! This is a friendly forum and we can help as best we can if you have any other questions.

Thread: Shortlisted for a PhD Interview

posted
30-Jan-20, 20:08

edited about 1 minute later

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

You can still talk about your previous research experience even if it isn't relevant. There are a lot of fundamental research skills that are transferable across fields. You can talk your original idea, how you developed it, how it fit into a wider context (lit review), what you, how you analysed the data, was it successful, what you would have done differently. The method on how you tackle your research question can be very insightful.

You mention that the topic is fairly new to you, then do some cramming. They aren't expecting you to be an expert but you should have some insights and be able to talk about areas/topics that interest you. If they challenge you in the interview about the topic, be honest and say you don't know. They can smell BS a mile away and respect you if you are honest about your limitations.

Goodluck!

Thread: I might have been terminated from uni [anxiety disorder]

posted
23-Jan-20, 12:31

edited about 13 seconds later

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

Have you talked directly with your supervisor? They might be sympathetic and will want you to finish. A lot of the admin departments will see you as another student who needs to follow the process but your supervisor should genuinely want to help you. Depending on the situation your supervisor could possibly pull some strings so that you get re-accepted. So I think the person you should be seeing is them, as they will want you to finish.

Thread: Bench fees for coverage of expenses

posted
23-Jan-20, 12:26

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

Ask your supervisor about it. The account is probably already set up and you won't need to apply for it. Ask for a budget code or who in finance can book flights/hotels.

Thread: Bench fees for coverage of expenses

posted
23-Jan-20, 11:12

edited about 7 seconds later

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

I don't know if this differs between universities and fields.

Bench fees, are a pot of money to fund extra costs associated with your research. So like lab consumables, software, conferences etc, that are part of your PhD but have costs. I am in engineering and get £5k a year for to cover all my lab work and conferences. So when I want something, I ask my supervisor for approval and the money comes out of the bench fees. You can think of it as a pot of money that you can spend on your PhD.

Thread: doubts about applying for a phd, any chemistry phd students here?

posted
22-Jan-20, 00:05

edited about 3 seconds later

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

To add to pm133's point, a good mark in your dissertation can partially make up for 2:1 grade.

Thread: Have you seen anyone who got a postdoc job without a first-authored paper?

posted
21-Jan-20, 19:49

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

Quote From sciencephd:
Thank you so much for your advice and encouragement, Jamie!
My supervisor cares only about his own career but not my development. His indifference to my needs has made me lose my confidence. I've already reminded him that I need more advice on my development, but he couldn't care less and just told me to follow his instruction. Well, at this moment, his instruction is that I have to tailor my data to other people's papers. I'm struggling to find enough rationale to convince him to give me a chance to write my own paper.

You don't need his permission to write a paper. Your rationale can be that you have already written it and you want his feedback before you publish. As you have taken the initiative he will have to give some reason for not wanting you to publish from which you can work with. He might tear your work to shreds and further dent your self confidence but he might decide to include other people's work in your first name paper.

Thread: Salary bands / Grades / Pay scale

posted
19-Jan-20, 00:22

edited about 27 seconds later

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

I don't get what you are asking? Are you asking if the exact same role could be a grade 6 at one university or grade at 8 at the other? If so, the the grades do differ. As the grading system is an arbitrary system based on the lowest level in the university with arbitrary levels. The grading system is based on primarily on pay and doesn't say much apart from that. So I don't think you should worry about the job grade except about pay.

Thread: Abstract For Conference Poster Without Results

posted
15-Jan-20, 17:00

by rewt

(view my blog)

posted about 5 months ago

I completely understand your problem. I applied to many many conferences with few tangible results, so can somewhat advise. I didn't have specific sections and I would regurgitate my PhD proposal in 1 or 2 paragraphs. So, I would explain the topic, the aims, how I will achieve it and then end by re-explaining the importance. It got me a lot of poster presentations and a few flash presentations. If you really want a results section you can also use stock phrases such as "this study is ongoing" or "preliminary results are positive".

page 1 of 40 recent posts

Overview of rewt