PhD support group?

cupid_stunt wrote:

Another PhD student here. I'm having a big stress about my second year report. And i don't even know why cos it doesn't really matter that much. I am just getting bad writers block.

I have already resigned myself to the fact that i'm going to majorly overrun. The funding at our uni is now for 3 years 6 months to incldue half a year for writing up. Why didn't I take an extra year or 2 out?

One problem is that my husband is also just about to go into his third year. So we'll both overrun and I can see us having no money at all for 6 months and I just keep stressing that we wont be able to pay the mortgage, and then these crazy ideas keep running around my head.

And my western blotting hasn't worked for about 7 months now. Grrrrr. Any trouble shooting tips DrFluffy?

The key to writers block is like anything that stops you working, do something, anything now.
Try doing a mindmap or a chart to structure your thoughts that might be a good way round it. Money wise, is there no lecturing work going whilst you do the final write up? Some universities employ a lecturer in the final stages of PHD. Assuming you want lecturer.

ollyshaw wrote:

Hi everyone,

Looks like this may be a good thread! I am tidying up at the moment, submitting on the 31st August. After reading studentphil's post, I am going to turn off the internet and get stuck in again!

Olly

I suggest that you always timetable in some fun time at the end of the day. But really doing something is vital be it ideas on flash cards and play with ordering them, draw a mindmap, anything that gets you thinking and thinking in different ways, Sitting there looking at document on word is not always best.

studentphil wrote:

The key to writers block is like anything that stops you working, do something, anything now.
Try doing a mindmap or a chart to structure your thoughts that might be a good way round it. Money wise, is there no lecturing work going whilst you do the final write up? Some universities employ a lecturer in the final stages of PHD. Assuming you want lecturer.

In my subject you cannot become a lecturer without at least 2 years post-doc work
I'd love to lecture but there are so few lectureships it is never going to happen sob sob.
I could try to get a post-doc job whilst writing up but i could only do that in the final stages or i wouldn't get the writing up done in time. And a major problem is that i don't want to stay in this city any longer than i have to so getting a job for 2 years would kinds screw that up

ffeindadifyr wrote:

You don't need to become a full lecturer - some unis will employ teaching fellows (sometimes referred to as a lecturing post) which basically means that you give the odd lecture/tutorial/seminar on a pro rata pay - with no research so you can manage your time without having to worry about the next experiment.

Have you asked within your dept? Does your supervisor have any money in the "pot" to keep you on as a Research Assistant (part time or full time) - this is what I did - Told my supervisor that I had about 3-4 very good papers that needed writing up and it would take years if I went away to another uni to do a Postdoc so he employed me for 3 months and in that time I published 1 paper submitted another 2 and handed in my thesis.

Worth a try!

I would have thought most departments would employ part time teaching assistants.

It's my introduction i'm really struggling with at the moment. And piecing the bits together in the discussion. My results bit is going ok (after help from OH)

There is undergraduate demonstrating and I'll do as much of that as I can and it pays quite well. I'll only have to do about 15 hours per week to cover bills and mortgage as long as OH does the same. As for teaching assistants it's the postgrads who do most of that anyway but it is given out on a first come first served basis whereas last year it was given to those who knew the practical class organisers best (which was me and OH as we did our undergrad degrees here also).

I will speak to my supervisor a bit nearer the time and ask if there's any spare money in the pot. But unfortunately the year I started there was a big intake of PhD students in our department. In my husbands lab there are 3 due to finish when he is so they'll all be fighting it out for a research post there. And in my lab there's two of us due to finsh at the same time, and unfortunately the other persons work is more publishable as there is more current interest in what she's doing.

I know there's no sense in worrying now. And to be honest I think its the incessant worrying that's giving me writers block. But worrying is what i do best and I can't help myself.