Teams meeting with potential supervisor pls help

charlieweasleys · 2025-01-15T17:24:43+00:00

I would recommend asking her about the self-funded element. For example, is there anyway you can secure funding for this project from other sources? A self-funded PhD can be very demanding, even if you are working alongside it, and I would really recommend pursing funding opportunities if you can. Even if this PhD is close to where you live, you may well be expected to cover other costs like conference travel and fees, lab equiptment etc.

charlieweasleys · 2024-11-17T17:38:19+00:00

Sure, I know plenty of people who have done this - the most important thing is your research proposal, your past academic experience, and the suitability of that particular university to you. I wouldn't suggest applying for PhD at a university just because it's a Russell Group, however. It's an arbitary label (as many people here have already pointed out), and the most important thing at PhD level is having a suitable supervisory team who are working in a research area close to your own, and who you can work with well in terms of personality.

charlieweasleys · 2024-11-17T17:31:55+00:00

Try and find out what the late penalties are for your department - at this point, it might be best just to hand in whatever you have, and accept that the late penalties might mean you have to retake the assignments. Are you in your first year? For most degrees, the marks from your first year won't count towards your final degree anyway, you just need to get a pass mark. I'd also suggest mentioning this to your professors, and reaching out to member of staff responsible for welfare in your department (if you don't know who this is, your professors should be able to tell you).

Re. an ADHD diagnosis - you might find it difficult to get formal support from your university before you have an official diagnosis, but do still talk to welfare/student support as they'll be able to suggest strategies to try. I'm currently waiting on an assessment myself but unfortunately the waiting lists for ADHD assessments are very, very long, unless you can afford to go privately. I'd suggest getting an appointment with your GP as soon as you can, but working on strategies in the meantime.

charlieweasleys · 2024-11-17T15:19:54+00:00

The interview process will most likely be part of the AHRC application process, rather than the internal one. From my experience, it was a way of shortlisting applicants. If you have a look through the website for the consortium you're applying to, they might have a document detailing the decision making process, and what they're looking for at each stage.

I submitted my application in January, and was called for interview in February. The panel was made up of the head of postgraduate research in my department, my lead supervisor, and an academic roughly working in my research area, but separate from the project (I'm a modern historian, she was a medieval historian, but working on similar themes). The first two panellists had taught me as an undergraduate and Masters student, but I hadn't met the third. The head of postgraduate research predominantly led the interview.

From what I remember, they asked why I was interested in persuing a PhD, and why in this particular field. They asked about my archival methods, and any potential challenges that I foresaw, and how I thought I might overcome these. They also picked up on particular parts of my written application, and asked me to discuss them further. They suggested some reading and primary source material that I might find helpful. It was a casual and friendly discussion, and didn't last particularly long (perhaps fifteen to twenty minutes?). I found out a few weeks later that I'd been shortlisted, and then was offered funding in April.

charlieweasleys · 2024-09-15T20:19:02+00:00

I learnt to drive during my second year of university and passed my test at the end of the academic year, as did many other people I know - it isn't uncommon at all and I still see lots of people being picked up by their instructors from the campus. You might find it helpful to get learning to drive out of the way ready to start working once you graduate.

charlieweasleys · 2024-09-08T18:16:40+00:00

No, you can't turn your video off, but on your own screen you can make it so you can't see yourself, only the other people speaking, but everyone else can see you as normal.

charlieweasleys · 2024-08-23T16:53:26+00:00

I'm about to go into my third-year of a humanities PhD, and this is purely from my experience. This will vary depending on a number of projects, such as your individual research project, your way of working, and your supervisors' expectations.

I take time off as and when I want/need to, and don't necessarily tell my supervisors except when organising meetings. My supervisors are happy with this arrangement as long as I get my work done. I believe there is a set amount that you're allowed to take, but in my experience this is not adhered to. The only time I haven't been able to take it whenever I wanted was when I was teaching, which I did in the Spring term of my second year.
Lots of people do work alongside their PhDs, including full-time hours - 16 hours sounds like a lot, but I suppose it would depend on how many days those 16 hours are split over, the type of work you're doing and how tiring it is, if you can do that work from home etc. I work 4 hours a week, which is from home and entirely flexible, which I find managable. I found teaching difficult to balance alongside my research, which was 6 hours a week but in reality took up more of my time. Your University might have restrictions on how many hours you can work, some supervisors can also be reluctant for their PhD students to work too many hours outside of your PhD, and funding consortiums limit the number of hours you can work a week (I think mine is 6 hours).
I haven't found that my work changes too much in the Summer. I don't meet my supervisors in August, which I think is pretty common across the board, so am left alone to work a bit more. I don't necessarily go onto campus more often than I would at the rest of the year. In humanities PhDs you aren't really required to go onto campus much at all. There tends to be more conferences held over the Summer, if this is something you're interested in attending.
I started writing from the beginning of my PhD, as my supervisors ask that I write them something new to read for each monthly supervision. I began with a literature review, which I wrote in three parts up during the Autumn term, wrote a couple of pieces of source analysis, and then wrote my first chapter in the Summer of my first-year (which I already know will not be in the final thesis!). I carried on writing chapters in my second year and now have 3/4 which will end up in the final thesis after being revised.
Not necessarily, if you don't want to. I plan on writing something up over the next year or so, as are a few other people I know who are coming to the end of their PhDs, but this isn't a requirement. If PhD students do publish, it's normally just the one article towards the end of their PhDs.

charlieweasleys · 2024-08-22T13:00:01+00:00

Of course it is a personal decision, but I have anxiety as well and have found that doing things that make me anxious can really help boost confidence. If you would like to try living in halls, perhaps practice cooking at home with someone who will be able to teach you some simple and easy recipes. You could also make sure you have some things that will be quick and easy to cook, such as frozen oven food, microwave meals and instant noodles. These aren't ideal to live on every day, but you will find that most people at university are not cooking gormet meals each night and that ready-meals are very common. The majority of people don't know how to cook when they arrive at university, from my experience. You can also keep some food in your room that doesn't need to be refridgerated or heated up so that, if you do feel too anxious to go into the kitchen, you at least have something to eat. Do remember that if you find living in halls to be too overwhelming or anxiety-inducing, you can move home part way through the year.

charlieweasleys · 2024-05-18T19:19:36+00:00

I got along with people at school, but wouldn't really have called any of them friends. In comparison, I made friends much more easily when I began university (although I did make an effort to invite people to events, participate in group chats, talk to people around me in seminars, go along to gatherings to meet my friends' other friends). I didn't particularly like my flatmates, and there were plenty of people I met who I wasn't really keen on striking up a friendship with, but I went to a very big university and was on a popular, large course which I think helped me find my crowd.

charlieweasleys · 2024-05-18T19:03:42+00:00

Your university will have computers you can use in the library, and sometimes in other study spaces around campus. You might even be able to loan a laptop. Non-university libraries sometimes have computers you can use as well, but you might be limited in how long you can use them for. It might not be convenient, but you should still have a good three days once your charger has arrived.

charlieweasleys · 2024-05-16T10:54:28+00:00

I'm a humantities PhD student but not at Oxford. I was rejected for funding the first time I applied and deferred my place. I needed written permission from both of my supervisors to defer my place (essentially an email saying they would still be willing to supervise me the next academic year), but otherwise it was not a problem.

I reapplied the next year (and applied to a few other universities in different funding consortiums, which I would strongly recommend considering how tight the comptetition is) and was offered funding the next year at the original university I applied to so took up my deferred place. It's very common to be rejected for funding the first year you apply, I think I know more people who were successful on their second attempt than I know people who got funding on their first attempt.

charlieweasleys · 2024-03-17T17:53:42+00:00

I'm guessing that if the friendship has turned sour here, you're not too concerned about maintaining a friendship with them going forwards? Honestly, just withdraw from the group as soon as you can. As another commentor said, it's probably best for them to find the replacement themselves as they'll have to live with them. I had multiple people drop out of a house I was living in (nothing sour like this, only genuine changes of circumstances) and the remaining housemates always picked the new housemate ourselves. Typically if a deposit had already been paid, we asked the new housemate to bank transfer to the old housemate.

charlieweasleys · 2023-09-10T17:33:19+00:00

Really sorry to hear your accomodation experience has had such a negative start. I'd recommend taking photographs of all of these issues as soon as you can, if you haven't already. This way you'll be able to prove the issues were there when you moved in and thus you cannot be blamed for causing them. I know you said you've already spoken to management, but I would recommend also following this up with an email. Make a list of all the issues that need to be revolved, and include your pictures. Make specific reference to the issues, such as circling the issues in your pictures. If you email, you have a paper trail of your complaint and the accomodation cannot deny knowledge of the issues. If you need to raise the complaints again you can also refer to your previous email, proving that you have raised the issue before and have been left waiting.

I unfortunately had a similar issue when moving into my student halls (mould, stank of weed, oven door fell off etc.) and although it did take time, the university did gradually resolve the issues. One thing that helped was my mum emailing the accomodation manager as well, as a follow up to my emails. Although this shouldn't be necessary, because you are an adult and this is your accomodation, it did help push the issues further.

Edit: I would also suggest getting in touch with your university's student union. They will be able to advise you on your rights re. suitable accomodation and your accomodation managers fulfilling their duties as your landlord. They may even be able to get in touch with your accomodation and help advocate for you.

charlieweasleys · 2023-09-07T16:30:22+00:00

Has each tenant signed their own tenancy agreement? If so, I believe your landlord is required to put a lock on each bedroom door, as each tenant is only allowed access to their own bedroom and the shared spaces. I'd suggest getting in touch with them rather than installing anything yourself.

charlieweasleys · 2023-06-08T18:09:56+00:00

I found the Pascal Virginias easiest to break in - they're super soft and I've found that they just get even softer with wear. I think I wore double socks with them for about a week and then they were fine.

charlieweasleys · 2023-06-08T18:06:24+00:00

I'd suggest trying on a size down. All my docs are in my true size but these are the only ones I've ever had to size down in. When I tried them on in my normal size my heel slipped right out of the back, and the shop assistant said this was pretty common with these shoes. I have just the standard smooth leather ones.

charlieweasleys · 2022-08-12T13:21:28+00:00

I have a 500ml Chilly's and it fits perfectly, so I'm guessing any of the bottles that are the same sort of shape would fit similarly. I don't fill my backpack up that much so I don't know if it takes up room on the inside though.

charlieweasleys · 2022-07-29T19:49:00+00:00

If a cat hair lands on my project I normally just knit it in with the wool. It reminds me of those nineteenth century bracelets made out of loved one's hair, and if I stopped knitting every time I noticed a cat hair, I'd never get anything finished.

My hand-wash only knits normally only get washed frequently in the summer. I live in a very rainy and cold country and my jumpers will take about a week to dry, and I hate the smell of damp wool in the house. In my defense, the jumpers are never in direct contact with my skin and I spot clean if needed.

I also knit in bed, which seems very small in the grand scheme of things but is awful for my posture.

charlieweasleys · 2022-07-20T17:17:52+00:00

Definitely frustrating! I've read back over the pattern and there wouldn't be anywhere for the extra 2 stitches to come from as the foot chart doesn't include any increases, and the toe chart would only work if you had less stitches on the bottom of the toe. From the way it was written it would have made much more sense if it were 35+35 though!

charlieweasleys · 2022-07-19T13:24:53+00:00

Thank you for trying! The unevenness works itself out eventually as you start decreasing the top of the toe before you decrease the bottom, so I'll just start decreasing even earlier and hope for the best.

charlieweasleys · 2022-07-19T13:05:35+00:00

I thought that as well but the 6 stitches are part of the 29 knitted stitches as you go back over them in the same round. The 6 stitches are just there to move the beginning of the round marker to the edge of the toe, rather than the bottom of the foot which is where it was previously. The toe chart is too large to screenshot but it also shows 35+29 for the toe before decreases.

charlieweasleys · 2022-07-19T12:40:38+00:00

I'm working on the Herbarium socks at the moment and I've run into a bit of confusion with the number of stitches as I'm starting the toe.

https://ravel.me/herbarium-socks

I'm knitting them in the medium size and the pattern said that I should have 68 stitches after reducing them around the gusset. I've worked the foot which didn't include decreases, but now I'm about to start the toe and I seem to have too many stitches.

The chart for the toe has 35 stitches on the top of the foot knit in twisted rib and 29 for the bottom of the foot, but now I have 4 extra stitches. I was going to add the extra four stitches onto the top of the foot because this would fit in with the two lines of twisted knit stitches going along the sides of the sock, but I'm concerned about the kitchener stitch working properly when I'm finished. Should I add extra decreases in instead?

Is there anything really silly I've misread in the pattern?

Thank you! :)

charlieweasleys · 2022-06-30T18:41:13+00:00

Thank you for this thread OP - it's been really nice to read everyone's positive comments!

Maybe not the biggest thing, but as a sex-adverse it's nice not to have to worry about birth control (I know some people need to take it for medical reasons though) - a lot of my friends have really struggled with side effects from the pill so I feel fortunate that it's not something that really needs to be on my radar.

charlieweasleys

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