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>> 29.01.04

PhD student support
Having written before about the possibility of failing a PhD, two articles reminded me of a very important aspect of postgraduate life: student support. Before I move on to that, a brief look at the two articles in question is necessary. The first article, written by John Wakeford, concerns the failure of a PhD at the point of the viva, which is to say the oral examination at the end of the three years: "The questioning was off the topic and aggressive. One examiner tried to do his best to... {>>}

>> 28.01.04

Headphones on/head down
This week has seen a concerted effort to establish a good working routine and has achieved a small modicum of success. As I am sure many people can appreciate, the need to check the recent headlines at the BBC or check for mail has on previous occasions proved to be a distraction — to the point where I have considered adjourning to the library for a while; steadily, though, I have grown out of these habits and this week has been the first time I have noticed a difference, which... {>>}

Perhaps this is the point?
Although a slight departure from the themes of the PhD diary, it would be difficult to ignore the vote on the Higher Education Bill that took place this evening; instead of concentrating on the intricacies of the bill, however, let's consider telling arguments can be found elsewhere: from Linda Colley on the Guardian's education section: "The arguments over top-up fees have been so fierce that the really vital point is easily missed. Irrespective of whether or not the bill passes, fundamental changes in organisation, resources and, above all, attitudes must... {>>}

>> 27.01.04

Excitement in AA
Universities do give silly names to their buildings, presumably with the intention of making it difficult for new students to find their way to lectures and thus establish some sort of subconscious understanding of one's place within the overall scheme of things. The logic on behalf of the student presumably being: "If I can't figure out how they number the rooms and buildings, how on earth am I going to get through my degree?" It's understable, I suppose. The numbering of rooms and buildings at the University of Surrey is... {>>}

>> 26.01.04

Students around campus
It's the second week back after the Christmas holidays and I've just noticed the difference: the undergraduate students are back. As a postgraduate, you sit in your little office every day, working away at some sums or other without the slightest idea of what is going on in the world around you except that which you can gleam from the BBC news website. On occasions, you hear someone walk past your door or overhear a conversation further down the corridor, but in general, that's it for social communication. Until some... {>>}

>> 22.01.04

Is a degree enough?
The title of this post is a common enough question and increasingly the answer is "no"; hence more and more students are turning to postgraduate degrees. The reasons for choosing a PhD, however, are becoming more and more varied; where once it was the course of action (excuse the pun) for those students wishing to learn more about their subject and move into academia, so we hear more about students undertaking a postgrasuate degree in order to "stand out from the crowd" and increase their employability. Quotes like the following,... {>>}

>> 21.01.04

Postgraduate study in the Higher Education sector
In the current climate of uncertainty facing the UK's higher education sector as a whole, little focus has been placed on how funding of universities affects postgraduate study, from both a student and a university perspective. Since this section of the website is designed to provide prospective postgraduate students with information concerning what it is like to continue studying after a first degree, it seems pertinent to widen the scope of this diary slightly to incorporate the higher education sector and the issues affecting it — and thus postgraduate students... {>>}

>> 20.01.04

Depth
I've been struggling to contain my excitement at being back in lectures of late; in order to bring things back to a mathematically acceptable level of emotion, I thought I would discuss what has changed in the lecture theatre since I was there last (which is around 19 months ago). By "change", I do not mean physically, more how being a postgraduate has affected my approach to lectures As an undergraduate, a student displays a justifiable reverence towards the lecturer: there is the required state of trust, which is to... {>>}

>> 19.01.04

Back in lectures
It is with great pleasure that I can inform you of my return to the lecture theatre once again! As part of this semester, my supervisor thought it would be a good idea for me to attend his course on manifolds and topology; I'm afraid I cannot fault his suggestion in any way and attended my first lecture for nigh on two years this morning. It was great to be back in a chair, taking notes as the lecturer wrote what he had to say on the board and I... {>>}

>> 15.01.04

Applying for teaching duties
Conscious that I haven't written about funding for some time now, I shall quickly revisit the possibility of providing teaching support during semester-time. (Other information concerning marking and the such-like is here). In the maths department of the University of Surrey, one of the members of staff is charged with finding postgraduate students to offer teaching assistance. An e-mail came around at the end of December in which students were asked whether they would be able to help with marking and/or labs. Upon our return from the Christmas break, a... {>>}

The possibility of "failure"
It is natural for any student on any course to consider whether they will navigate the full length of their course and achieve the desired goal at the end of it. With "crucial" exams starting in the United Kingdom at earlier and earlier ages, and despite failure no longer being an inherent quality of examination in today's target-driven, politically-minded environment, any individual that wishes to undertake a course of learning considers whether they are going to be good enough to finish. Undertaking a postgraduate degree is, of course, no different,... {>>}

How things used to be
One of the books I picked up off Amazon has come in useful today for the study of the Frobenius method; though this is good for me, this is not the point I wish to make. Instead, I'll mention some of the blurb that is on the back of the book. The title in question, E. L Ince's Ordinary Differential Equations, has this written about it, or rather the materials of the book, on the back: "We have made every effort to make this the best book possible. Our paper... {>>}

>> 14.01.04

Frustrating inability
The majority of today has been spent trying to avoid checking e-mails as a result of my continually banging my head against a brick wall and thus progressing at a rate similar to that of a static caravan. Things started off well enough, until I realised that the result I had meant that either everyone who had come before me was wrong or else I was; it seemed only fair to assume it was the latter. From that point on, belief in my abilities dwindled to the point where I... {>>}

>> 13.01.04

Tea facts
You shall have to excuse the digression, but given that I have opened a new brand of tea this morning for consumption in the "office", I though I would share with you the "facts about the nation's favourite drink" included within the packaging (the nation referred to being the United Kingdom, presumably). "The people of the United Kingdom consume nearly 15,000 tonnes of tea a year. 68% of the population enjoy a cup of tea every day. 90& of cups of tea brewed are made with tea bags. Most of... {>>}

What to do in a day?
It seems at the moment that I am being pulled in several academic directions at once. In no particular order, I am acquainting myself with the topological approach to symmetry methods, recapping a bit of lost knowledge of ordinary differential equations and working on the initial value problems that I spoke about before the holiday. Each requires the same amount of attention (perhaps the latter deserves more, actually, given that it is the original work, although it is helped along by better knowledge of the other two areas) and so... {>>}

>> 12.01.04

Other PhD weblogs
As a slight aside, it is worth noting that there are plenty of others keeping track of their PhD studies online. Although these can be found individually (through google searches), there is one resource that brings together many PhD weblogs from many different areas. It is PhDweblogs.net, which has the advantage of being international in the sense that it has students from all over the world registered. When time allows and once the new year has settled down a little bit, I shall include a list of thos weblogs that... {>>}

Holidays at an end
The new year started today in terms of my normal PhD routine, following my return from the christmas holidays and the three week break. With the intention of fitting in work after the main christmas period, I had packed my bags expectantly with two text books and plenty of notes; although the reality of juggling lots of people to meet meant that not as much work as I would have liked was achieved in the first two weeks, the third week of the holiday was very productive. The last week... {>>}