Personally I'd always prefer to be too smart rather than too casual, so for an academic post such as lecturing I'd wear a suit. A nicely cut, modern one doesn't have to be too corporate, you can actually get away with quite a bit of detail and character because it's such a smart item already.

Phew! You're post had me worried for a minute Wally!

Oh Sneaks, hope both you and dog are ok. I can sympathise on the parent front, I made the mistake of calling my mother the other night, turns out my sister had told her I was a bit ropey. All well and good for the first 20 minutes, so I made the error of actually talking to her about how I felt - cue half an hours lecture that made me feel like an angry 14 year old!

And despite having the world's least ambitious goals yesterday I still failed, I spent about 10 hours sitting here, and achieved the grand total of sending a few emails :-( I'm actually starting to think that I'll have to tell my sups what's been going on, there's only so many weeks you can make no progress before it all crashes down.

Still, today. Today I shall do something about the first comment on my introduction. (if my goals get any smaller I'll need a damn microscope).

How about degus? Like gerbils, but bigger.
Ferrets are awesome fun but they are rather mischievious (and a bit smelly)

I'm in science and my supervisor's explanation was that many uni's will come to some arrangement (ie - share the spoils with the student) if there is a discovery that could lead to a patentable invention. If you haven't signed the rights away in your contract you could hold the IP, but what would you do with it? Certainly in terms of patenting the costs are way beyond the individual, a lot of universities don't even have the resources to patent their discoveries. In my field, unless you can sell your idea on to a substantial company, you'll probably get little out of your find. Both my supervisor's hold patents, but I know they've yet to make a bean from them directly.

Hmm, sod my course plans, I'm running away to join Walminski's circus!
I actually went to circus school as a child, so am a dab hand at plate spinning and the rolling globe (aka, walking on a giant ball), certainly better at it than science anyway.

First goal in a long time *deep breath* ...

I shall work out the title of my thesis and fill in those dratted submission forms.

Many of my friends have gone over (not saying you will!) and are now working part-time jobs in shops or the like as they continue to write up. They're applying for academic posts but it's not a quick process, so I think they'll be doing basic work until they can land something post-viva. Those who did secure a post-doc or industry job went straight in; one flew out a week after her viva, the other wrote up in the evenings around his new job - tough but he did it and has now submitted. If nothing else having a job lined up certainly adds to your motivation for finishing.

I'm starting a new course come September so will scrape by trying to write up until then. If I finish writing before I'll try and get casual work at my department or something minimum wage in town for the last of the summer.

By turning back into a hare, biting the VC's ear off and running out of the building.

Funnily enough Wally, I just got accepted into a masters (I know, totally back-to-front) that will enable me to work as a health professional in an aspect of my field. I'm still panicking about leaving research and academia - though I could of course pursue it for this other aspect I suppose - but I think it's the right thing to do. I'm sick of feeling never good enough, never officially qualified and the idea of fighting in the rat race of academia just makes me feel tired, I want to know I'm eligible for a job and that they won't take it away from me every two years. One of the things I worry most about leaving behind is the people; I love this forum, I love the people I work with, and I must admit, I'm concerned that dealing with the general public won't be for me after all these years locked in with bright science types (not saying Joe public aren't bright, but it's a very narrow field of humanity I interact with at present and I confess I rather like them). Still, hey-ho....

I can understand that keep_calm, if Karl's join date wasn't so far back I'd have suspected the antics of you-know-who :p
Just wanted to make sure GM didn't feel under siege.

The man got votes? People actually went to a polling station, took a ballot paper and CHOSE this man as their desired leader?
Whatever faith I had in democracy and the British public just died!

Eska, are you directing this at Karl or guitarman?
Just a bit worried that the latter is getting a bit of a slating for a thread he didn't revive, and where he's already acknowledged that people who were pro-phd made good points. :s
I always think that people instinctively gravitate towards the advice that rings true for them, whilst I'm constantly grateful for the "keep going" messages I get on here, I do think it's valid to have an alternative story such as this for anyone who really does want/need to quit and feels alone in that.

Woo-hoo! Go Jinkim :-)

......But before he did he apologised for Dr_Man_boobs, "he's not had much luck on the dating scene recently" explained the hare, "I had to confiscate this sex toy from him for his own safety"