<< Main >> November 2003 »

>> 31.10.03

MPhil and the transfer report
The first year of a PhD is not strictly "the first year of a PhD"; instead, students are registered on an MPhil (Master of Philosophy) course and then submit a transfer report at the end of the first year in order to upgrade their degree course to that of Doctor of Philosophy, or PhD. It is usually at this point that a student will produce their first large piece of work — sometimes in the form of a paper and supporting project, sometimes just a project — and a judgement... {>>}

>> 30.10.03

Settling into the Chair of Inspiration(TM)
The first day was spent in a temporary office whilst some sound-proofing was installed in the new-ish PhD office. In a previous life, the new "office" was the undergraduate computing laboratory, from which — in a different previous life — I acquired the room number placard during some departmental redecorating. I suppose my new position within the department should really prompt me to return the sign to it's rightful place, but that would be to take away a valued possession from the wall of my room and with it some... {>>}

>> 29.10.03

Induction day
Now that some of the formalities have been dealt with, we can move on to what actually goes on from day-to-day. UniS is separated into eight different "schools", one of which is the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences (SEPS). Somehow, it is assumed that maths falls into this school, and as such, the induction day for maths postgraduates was with about 200 students from physics and all of the engineering disciplines (civil, mechanical, chemical and electrical). It was quite an interesting mix of individuals, although it was relatively easy... {>>}

Funding
One of the biggest determining factors governing the likelihood of undertaking postgraduate study is funding. Unlike undergraduate funding, which does not take into account academic ability in any way and deals out money (in the form of loans) left, right and centre, postgraduate funding is based much more on ability and aptitude. When I say that undergraduate funding is not based on academic ability in any way, I ignore scholarships and bursaries, which are of course based solely on ability. In such a way is undergraduate funding therefore very similar... {>>}

>> 27.10.03

Up to and including itself
arbitrary constant is a not-so-subtle hint when it comes to my subject matter: my PhD is concerned with pure mathematics; more specifically, the current working title is Structure Preserving Symmetries of Discretised Systems, on which there will be plenty of details at a later date. At this very early stage of a PhD, it is virtually unheard of to know the title of your project; it is more usual to know an area in which you like to work and go from there under the supervision of, erm, a supervisor.... {>>}

Some preliminaries
There is an obvious need for a little background to get this PhD diary started and I suppose the main points to cover are the normal who?, where?, when?, how? and why?, a task I shall endeavour to cover succinctly now. Who? is me, Richard Watts, proprietor of arbitrary constant, and where? is the maths department of the University of Surrey based in Guildford. When? is a timeline that starts roughly at the start of October 2003 and finishes in three years time, though whether that will actually be the... {>>}

>> 26.10.03

PhD diary
One of the main reasons for establishing this site was to keep a record of my progress during my PhD studies, and so here it is. Thanks go to Wrighty for setting this up late on a Sunday evening, particularly when you consider the fact that he gets to do this sort of thing every day at work and I'm not paying him anything near as much as his clients do. Progress may be slow, but — as I am led to believe — that is something I will have... {>>}