I LOVE the Postdoc/PhD relationship, as I teeter on the cusp: http://twitpic.com/63lcfq

Yep, but caring less and less. I took the teaching fellowship after learning that my ESRC reviews came back 'divergent'. My application will still go to to panel, but with scarce funding + increased applications for the final round, I made an educated guess at the likely outcome.. Start my new job next month. What are your plans?

Sorry to hear that Ellie. At least you can move on from limbo-land (and the rest of us can be assured that there's at least *something* happening over in Swindon..).

Thanks for your replies guys.

I've finished the PhD (linguistics) and after a short stint as a PostDoc RA, I'm now considering this Teaching Fellowship. I actually have 12 years experience teaching in Universities, so that's one thing my CV isn't lacking, hence the anxiety about finishing this 2 yr teaching contract with my CV looking pretty much the same. I love teaching so would be fulfilled in the role, but am all too aware that it's research that counts and what needs to be beefed up on my CV. I'm thinking it should be manageable with ~10hrs teaching a week - I should be able to get 1 or 2 papers out per year.

A job's a job,the location's right, and a lot can change in 2 years..

Is it possible to be a teaching fellow (around 10 hrs teaching per week + associated admin) without one's research taking a hit? I'd hate to come to the end of the fellowship with no lectureship in sight and have a CV with only extensive teaching experience on it. Anyone managed to teach and still get the publications you need?

The frustrating saga continues.. I have been in touch with my contact at the ESRC almost daily since being invited to interview at another Uni for a teaching fellowship, and after an unbelievable chain of events involving reviewers who no longer exist, reviewers who never received the documents etc etc, the have told me that my two ratings so far are 'divergent'. So, they're being re-reviewed.

I'm now in the position of having been offered the teaching position (yesterday) but am concerned that this post would mean that my research would suffer. Stick or twist? I'm impressed with the dept who have made me the offer, and its location, but the ESRC fellowship is a much better career move..

The RCs seem to be in disarray and the applicants are really suffering..

I lost my balance in the last 6 months of my PhD, which is easy to do when every hour counts trying to get through in 3 years. Foolishly, I didn't take a break between submitting and starting work in a different city (RA post) and am now off work with burnout due to residual stress from the PhD which I suppressed and ignored.

So, I strongly agree with the advice to compartmentalise as best you can, take weekends (or the equivalent) off etc in an effort to develop these good habits for now and life ahead. Oh, and one of the most important skills to develop is the ability to say NO from time to time!

Thanks! My Je-S says 'Awaiting Decision', which tells me that they're probably still waiting for the reviewers' comments. Quite annoying that the timescale which the ESRC provide is pretty much meaningless, although with this year being anomalous due to the axing of the fellowship, I guess anything could happen. No other applications in the pipeline (rejected from Brit Acad) but currently working as an RA so things could be worse.. I'd say be prepared for a long wait, but fingers crossed. Have you submitted other applications?

Yep, currently awaiting notification, which is late. I submitted the application Nov 1st, due to hear early April for start date May 1st. I've chased things up with the ESRC who tell me that I'll hear 'in due course'. So frustrating!

Goodbye thesis, channel of ideas and stealer of sleep. Inspirer of great discussions and filter of bullshit. Source of much angst, illumination, poverty and head-banging boredom. Shield from employment, scapegoat for odd behaviour and bad decisions, forger of friendships and excuse for social lameness. Total pain in the arse and battered badge of honour. I dedicate you to me. It’s been a blast.

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I feel your pain. I know how long these applications take to put together. I've had 10+ JRF rejections and have given up trying to reason why. The last one informed me that there were 900 applicants for the fellowship = lottery. You may be (dis)advantaged by your discipline, by arbitrary preferences for research approaches by the different colleges, by your internal/external status, hell - even by your gender. These things are out of your control. I've talked to current JRFs and I can't fathom any common characteristics behind their success. The best feedback you can get is from a graduate admissions tutor, but unless you know one personally, they're not going to give any advice freely. Sorry for the doom and gloom, but I'm quite disheartened by the JRF system. Shame, because they're a very sweet deal.

Thanks for the sensible and unified advice all. What you say is also in line with what my mentors are saying - that essentially there is no choice here, that I accept the offer and deal with later developments if and when they arise. I find work politics quite excruciating, but as you say, that's life. I also think that my new employers are being naughty in putting so much pressure on me to stay even before the contract's been drawn up, but hey.. everyone's gotta look after themselves I guess.

A dilemma.

I got a job offer today for an RA job. Good project, good people, though not strictly in my area. This job would offer me great technical and statistical training. Life-wise, it would work well for me and my husband, and hey it's 15 months employment when there's little else out there.

However, I also have an ESRC Postdoc Fellowship application being considered right now (decision due April), which if it came up l'd be mad to turn down. Needless to say, it'd be incredibly awkward to leave the RA project halfway through. ESRC won't let me defer or go part-time, although there may be a chance of withdrawal and resubmission for after the RA project is over, just waiting on an email with more info on that..

A lot of thinking to do today - can anyone help with advice or related anecdotes?

your situation is far from unusual. i am 33, submitting in a couple of months and surrounded by others skirting their 30th birthdays.

as far as auditing my possessions or other tick-boxes, i have no car, house, kids or dogs. i do have a husband. my marital status does impact on my career choices, but i would not change anything.

there has been a real air of comparison around this board for a while, particularly wrt what some see as major life goals. personally i find this approach both unhelpful and meaningless. it seems to imply that doing a phd is in some way putting your life on hold. it's not - it's as unpredictable and insecure as any other job, just with a damn sight more freedom.

You could have read my mind with this question - I sat down today to plan for the final push. I've decided to structure the final chapter like this:

Summary of findings and answers to RQs
Implications for linguistic theory
Implications for psycholinguistics (psychology)
Implications for methodology
Future research
Contribution of the thesis – how does it fit into the wider field?

With points 2-4 mirroring the major sections of my lit reviews.

I hear you re: the lack of enthusiasm for reiterating the discussion from elsewhere in the thesis, and I'm also mindful of my supervisor's advice about 'streamlining', quote:

a lot of the work involved in writing a thesis is
this very vague and most elusive of tasks "streamlining".
Generally, as I have found through reviewers' comments, not streamlining
is one of the major sins, right next to using your partner's toothbrush
etc. Your readership (examiners + the occasional buff) will at best read
each chapter once, and you should help them by not discussing the same
issue in more than one part of the chapter, unless of course this is
absolutely necessary.

My plan might change after tomorrow's supervision, but that's where I'm up to tonight. Would be good to hear of others' experiences.