Hi bellaz,
I think the role of daily exercise has been completely ignored or under-estimated by us students. If you come to think about it, it is as important as breathing fresh air and eating good food. It directly stimulates your mind, and what else does a grad student need really? 30 mins of cardio or aerobics should suffice I think. Staring at the computer screen for 12 hrs a day and then at the television screen for the remaining time can be quite a numbing experience for your poor brain.

thanks guys. I have always known that good food and exercise will help anyone get through stress better. Guess this time I will actually try it out. I feel so nervous, its such an important deadline...but I want to use this time as an experiment for myself. Life is so much fun when you stage your own personal little experiments.
:)

Hey guys, I am wondering what food habits fellow phds follow during crunch time. Not talking about 1-2 day stress but say you know you have to slog it out for a month and dont want to waste time cooking,but dont want to live off unhealthy stuff like pizza..any suggestions? also, does anyone here feel that exercising during high stress periods helps you focus?

Hi there,
you are not alone. I have experienced that too, but take that in your stride, they are jealous because they see you as a threat. Go to your advisor to discuss your ideas . This can also be an opportunity to establish a good personal and professional relationship with him/her. I am sure your advisor will give you honest opinions on papers etc...your profs are your best bets in such cases..and along the way you may impress quite a few.

Yes, cc..publishing and personal status are becoming the primary focus now. what do you do..? how do you survive? I dont want to leave academia...

Hi guys, I will answer H's question first and I guess that is where my original question and the frustration stems from.My view of science is that it is one field which can be steered to glory or just pure confusion depending upon the attitude or nature of people who play a role in it(from a technician to the head of the lab). When someone says that he or she is a "scientist", i automatically assign a lot of qualities to them: intelligence - of course, but along with it honesty, humility, passion and selfless work where the only aim is progress of knowledge, answering relevant questions. And of course, I have seen very little of that so far. So I wonder, are there any people out there like that..or was this something that existed a few decades ago...?

Hi..well , let me rephrase my question. I am a student of science, and I have seen many people around me who are also pursuing a PhD in a scientific field ...but when I look around, I feel that many of them should not be a scientist even though they may be intelligent enough but lack the aptitude needed for what science stands or used to stand for. what will be more beneficial for science?

Hi folks, my first post to the community... how many of us feel that not every PhD DESERVES to be a scientist and why?