PhDMums

[PhDMumof1]

Anyone want to start a PhD / support thread?

Oooh, friend of mine in Italy did s'thing on that, only in English lit (postcolonial women and madness...). In what period? Sounds fun... in a warped kind of way...!

I checked out the 'childless/not working' thread very quickly. Hysterical!

I had an early night last night - that was midnight! Mostly I go to bed at 1 or 2 a.m. Hate it, but it's the only way I get things done. Would be better if I stayed off MN... but there's the last vestiges of my sanity to preserve....

Aaargh! DH phoned - he's 10 mins away! Couldn't he have driven a bit slower?

Back tomorrow (no doubt!)

Yes, it can be a bit of a conversation stopper ... ! Have a good evening and spk tomorrow no doubt!

Spent Sun morning at screen supposed to be working but got worried about DS, who is taking 1.5 hrs to get to sleep at night ... he is 22 months and is noticing, I think, the fact that I am not around as much at the moment ..... so I just have to keep thinking:

ONLY ONE MONTH LEFT TO GO BEFORE THIS THESIS GETS SUBMITTED!!! HURRAH!!!

Hi PhDMum

You are right. You have to just focus on the end result.

Also, try not to worry about your ds. IME their sleep patterns go through different phases so he may just be adapting to a new stage of sleep/wakefulness.

You are on the downhill slope now, so grit your teeth and get on with it.

Thank you ElBell. He has woken up from his nap with a hideous rash so maybe he has justbeen sickening for something. Off to the doc's with him now.

Hi PhDMum

Have been staying off here for a few days due to pressure of work (and an RAE-related crisis!) but have just seen your message. Hope your ds is OK and that you are making progress with the thesis.

Elbell - that is really nice of you to ask. DS's rash went down in an hour and was bad eczema due to crazy temperature changes (ie vv cold) we have had down here.

What is RAE...I am sure that I should know but I don't read the THES....!

PhD is coming along nicely >>drum roll>I can't quite believe it

RAE = Research Assessment Exercise. It's the thing where all University Departments are assessed on the basis of their research (and the funding that they get for the foreseeable future depends on the grade awarded). Lots of pressure. Lots of stress! (Remember the thing about chemistry being closed in various places and architecture in Cambridge? It was because they hadn't got top marks in the last RAE.)

Have to dash, but glad your ds is OK. (Not that eczema isn't horrible, of course, but you know what I mean.)

Well done on the PhD... Hmmmmm the pub... I think I used to go there at one point in the dim and distant past - I have a vague memory of something like that.... Have fun!

Yes - sorry it is not referred to by acronym here.

I don't belong to this thread as I completed my PhD over 6 years ago, long before DD arrived, but just wanted to give you lot all my admiration because it was hard enough then! All I can say is, RESPECT!!!

Oh, and I found this book invaluable, especially towards the end - DH found it great too for his MD. I see it now comes as part of a PhD pack , which might be even more useful.

Go for it - I cannot tell you how utterly wonderful you'll feel when it's done

Franch - thanks for those recs, look really useful. I have bought a copy of the book, to make sure my final version is 101% A - OK!!

DO you use your PhD now?

Hi there phdmums - I've just joined this site, having recently become a phdmum (ds1 is 6 weeks on Wednesday) - & probably discovered the ultimate distraction in this site...closely followed by ebay?! Sad, I know...
Am a year into phd on C18th women's writing at York, now having 12 months maternity leave & wondering whether I'll ever read a book again
Does it get easier?? (Not that I'm not enjoying it - with my tiny boy asleep on my chest here - blissfully happy if tired!)
xxx

PhDMum - no I don't use it at all now really, although I do work in the kind of the same area as my research topic came from. ('Work' being a somewhat theoretical term at the moment as I'm really a SAHM to all intents and purposes for the time being )

Hi hope this thread is still going on...I just joined mumsnet too and I'm hoping to start Phd next year - currently doing MA in English part time - so could use some advice. My dd is just one and i'm hoping she'll be in nursery 3/3.5 days per wk, would this possibly be enough study hours plus some evenings and weekends? is 30-35 per wk ok?
one more question- i've heard academic jobs are temporary for first few years and may mean moving around alot? anyone have any experience of starting out in arts/humanities and how practical is it with small kids?

Welcome, Ronniec. Academic research jobs are indeed temporary but a 12 month contract can sometimes be extended for another year or you may get a 3 year contract etc. I've been on short term contracts for the past 10 years. Not ideal, but not all that bad either. At least there's always the end in sight if you don't enjoy the job or place.

Hi ronniec

Good luck with the MA and PhD. It's true that first jobs are often temporary, but this isn't exclusively the case in Arts and Humanities and research-only posts (though nice work if you can get 'em!) are few and far between (I know a couple of people who've had British Academy post-doc awards, and if you're in Oxford or Cambridge there may be college JRFs or something to keep you going), so you are probably talking about applying for jobs once the PhD is done or nearly done. If want to get a permanent job, you really need to think about having some publications out before you finish the PhD (or at least to be able to show that there are some in the pipeline) and if possible also to get some teaching experience (even if it's only one seminar once a week or something). Talk to your department and see if they offer teaching experience to postgrads and make it clear that you are interested (some departments don't offer teaching in the first year, though, which is fair enough). It all depends on your personal circumstances, of course, as to whether a temporary job is workable. If your dd is not yet in school then it'd be easier. Otherwise you might prefer (if you can afford it) not to apply for temporary jobs and to concentrate on publishing and doing any part-time teaching that your 'home' institution can give you until you get a permanent job. At least English is a subject which is taught everywhere, so there are plenty of potential posts out there (...unlike in my own field, which is a bit of a 'minority' subject so I have always been limited in where I could go).

Good luck with it all, anyway. Are you in the throes of AHRB applications at the moment? I am going nuts with all the form-filling! Keep us posted as to how you get on.

Ellbell

PS PhDmumof1... have you submitted? Are you still in the pub?

I have been away for ages and today I log in and so nice to see this is not a dead thread.

Elbell, thanks for asking, the thesis is at the binder's and will be picked up and then submitted tomorrow - 24 hours early!!! How exciting.

I hung onto it for a while just so that I could take a break and re-read with a clear mind, also to send some chapters to eminences grises whose opinion I trust. So I got the nod from them, from super supervisor and wahey, tomorrow c'est tout fini!!!

Party Fri night round at my gaffe, bubbles to drink only. Raise a virtual glass for me!

Yippee PhDmum! Have been thinking about you, but haven't been on here much myself. Trying to break my habit!

Felicitations!

I will certainly be a virtual presence at your party, with my virtual glass of virtual bubbly! (Hmmm... have just re-read that and it makes me sound a bit like a scary stalker... sorry... didn't mean it like that!)

Enjoy the lull before the viva! But if you have a good supervisor and s/he plus the various eminences have approved the thing then you should be fine. (I got accused of heresy in mine... but was still fine!).

Many thanks - I had a rather scary moment last night when one of my ex-profs finally got in back in touch after having had 2 chaps for ages, and gave me a really robust set of issues to think about - luckily after clarification this morning she still thinks that I can hand in, but a real fright given that my supervisor is away on a research trip and uncontactable .. aargh.

But heresy sounds great, I'll try for that one too. All in all I am prepared for a robust viva, as I am far too "bold" (according to the late advisor) with my crazy kaleidoscope ideas, and always expect everyone to come along for the ride ...!

Anyway, I am planning the book now so I will have ample space in which to develop some of the themes that I have left gaily scattered by the wayside.

Just need agent, contract, advance (for childcare!). Can't afford to keep nanny after viva, and if the gods are on my side, I should be pg again vv soon.

Don't worry about the comments from your advisor, PhDMum. These are the kind of issues that can be discussed in the viva. And forewarned is forearemed - at least you now have some things to think about when preparing for the viva. Also, I think it's a good idea to leave threads un-followed-up in the PhD... it shows that you know that what you have said so far is not THE last word on the issue, and that there is more to say... AND that you still find it interesting (which is no small thing!).

Do you have a publisher in mind for the book? I've been working with Maney's who publish the Legenda series in Mod Langs. An advance? Now that WOULD be nice....!

Good luck with the 2nd pg, too.

Ellbell

Ellbell and Cristina thanks for the advice, that's actually pretty encouraging after a rather virulent talk from an aging academic who tried to discourage us all from phd study unless we enjoyed torture and penury. gotta concentrate on MA thesis title for now - anyone into postcolonial literature, specifically india?

Don't have a publisher in mind - both book ideas are v different from one another. I will look at Maney's series to check crossover of interests. AS for an advance, I think I have one idea that is "sexy" enough, as it is not academic at all per se, but involves lots of research. I have no idea to send emails to people on mumsnet but if you do, then email me and I would be v happy to bore you with my ideas!!

Oooh can I join ineven though I'm just at the humble Masters stage?

Welcome Pagan. What's your Masters on?

PhDmum - Have never tried this before, but will try to 'CAT' you with my email address. You have to have set up your mumsnet preferences or whatever they are called to 'allow' other talkers to contact you, though, or it won't work. If it doesn't, get back to me on here and I'll try something else.

Hiya PhDMum
OK... that didn't work. Apparently you don't allow other talkers to contact you. You need to change your Mumsnet profile to allow other Mumsnetters to contact you. Then I can send you my address.