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I have been studying my Ph.D. in chemistry for five and a half years. I got married on the second year and had the baby on the thirds year and lost my mom after having the baby. The project was troublesome and I needed to have technical skills to solve the technical problems so that I could use a system to get reliable results. My supervisor has this habit of comparing the students to each other and keeps telling me that I am not one of the best students in his group, which bothers me because I know and he knows that every project is different and people are also having different conditions. I have told him that this discourages me but he keeps talking like that and I do not feel that he will be supportive in my defense. Now I am almost done with the experiments and I need to focus on writing but these negative feelings make me nervous and I feel I have nothing good to write in my thesis. Is this normal, does anyone knows of any technique to overcome such feelings and get focused and confidant? I have been sitting at my desk since morning but cannot even write one sentence .
I had a similar experience while writing my Master's dissertation. My problem was that I had no guidance at all. My adviser left the country for 2.5 of the 3.5 months I had to write my paper, and during the time was unable to field my questions. This was a constant problem through my program, but I'll just speak about the paper writing process.
What helped me was to take myself out of the situation for a while, and intermittently while I wrote the paper. I would go for a walk or sit outside and just think about things unrelated to the topic.
The hardest part for me was getting started, and I didn't end up writing the introduction to my paper until the very end. I just focused on the facts and went from there. So, I suggest you begin by writing the technical pieces of the paper and branching out from there.
I know a Master's dissertation is not on par with a PhD thesis, but I hope I've given you something to work from. I should be starting my PhD program next year, so I'll be in the same boat as you very shortly. I wish you the best of luck.
I had a similar experience while writing my Master's dissertation. My problem was that I had no guidance at all. My adviser left the country for 2.5 of the 3.5 months I had to write my paper, and during the time was unable to field my questions. This was a constant problem through my program, but I'll just speak about the paper writing process.
What helped me was to take myself out of the situation for a while, and intermittently while I wrote the paper. I would go for a walk or sit outside and just think about things unrelated to the topic.
The hardest part for me was getting started, and I didn't end up writing the introduction to my paper until the very end. I just focused on the facts and went from there. So, I suggest you begin by writing the technical pieces of the paper and branching out from there.
I know a Master's dissertation is not on par with a PhD thesis, but I hope I've given you something to work from. I should be starting my PhD program next year, so I'll be in the same boat as you very shortly. I wish you the best of luck.
Thank you. My supervisor is not any better He expects us to do all the work without any help. Your advice was helpful. I wish you luck too.
I have been studying my Ph.D. in chemistry for five and a half years. I got married on the second year and had the baby on the thirds year and lost my mom after having the baby. The project was troublesome and I needed to have technical skills to solve the technical problems so that I could use a system to get reliable results. My supervisor has this habit of comparing the students to each other and keeps telling me that I am not one of the best students in his group, which bothers me because I know and he knows that every project is different and people are also having different conditions. I have told him that this discourages me but he keeps talking like that and I do not feel that he will be supportive in my defense. Now I am almost done with the experiments and I need to focus on writing but these negative feelings make me nervous and I feel I have nothing good to write in my thesis. Is this normal, does anyone knows of any technique to overcome such feelings and get focused and confidant? I have been sitting at my desk since morning but cannot even write one sentence .
Don't take it personal. The professor wants what you want. The best! It is not about you or the professor. It's about the chosen profession.
Like when a writer has writer's block, start in the middle or even at the end. Do the literature review if that's part of your dissertation. Work on the conclusion. Make a grocery list or write a letter to your sibling--but write and then let your writing bleed into writing some part of the dissertation.
Use some of the ideas I give parents whose children hate homework. Set aside a certain place where the only thing you do there is work on the dissertation. It might be under a nice shady tree or in a less-favorite chair in front of the fireplace or while walking down a certain path or street. By writing or thinking, working on the dissertation in some way is the only activity that takes place there.
Or have a dissertation tablecloth. Open it up and spread it over the kitchen or dining room table, or a card table. Now work on your dissertation. When you are tired of thinking and writing, even after five minutes or perhaps a hour, close your books and stack your papers and fold up the dissertation tablecloth, then put it aside until next time.
There are other cognitive-behaviorial helps for writing. Thinking out loud is one. Hand printing instead of typing is another. Having soothing music in the background might be helpful. If you usually work to music, having NO music in the background might move you off the rock that you are sitting on. You want to change the usual way you do things.
Being a "best" student has nothing to do with your experiments and how you describe them and the conclusions you reach. Your experiments are doing the work for you. Poke around in them to get the most you can from them.
Don't discuss your skills or lack of them with your supervisor. Just smile wisely and move along minus any conversation with him. If you have to talk with him, don't let him get personal. If he doesn't stick to the chem stuff, thank him for his time and walk away. He will learn to respect you for that, that he can't get a rise out of you any longer. You owe him no apologies.
You've gotten this far in school and are almost at the end. You've done the coursework and even the experiments for the dissertation. Pulling it all together is a challenge but also an opportunity to show how much you've learned. I know you can do this! We are here for you to vent to. I envy you your ambition. I quit at the master's level. How I wish I had gone further!
Don't take it personal. The professor wants what you want. The best! It is not about you or the professor. It's about the chosen profession.
If only I were able not to take things personally… You are right. He is just worried about his reputation and wants everything to be perfect. Thanks for the advice.
Like when a writer has writer's block, start in the middle or even at the end. Do the literature review if that's part of your dissertation. Work on the conclusion. Make a grocery list or write a letter to your sibling--but write and then let your writing bleed into writing some part of the dissertation.
Use some of the ideas I give parents whose children hate homework. Set aside a certain place where the only thing you do there is work on the dissertation. It might be under a nice shady tree or in a less-favorite chair in front of the fireplace or while walking down a certain path or street. By writing or thinking, working on the dissertation in some way is the only activity that takes place there.
Or have a dissertation tablecloth. Open it up and spread it over the kitchen or dining room table, or a card table. Now work on your dissertation. When you are tired of thinking and writing, even after five minutes or perhaps a hour, close your books and stack your papers and fold up the dissertation tablecloth, then put it aside until next time.
There are other cognitive-behaviorial helps for writing. Thinking out loud is one. Hand printing instead of typing is another. Having soothing music in the background might be helpful. If you usually work to music, having NO music in the background might move you off the rock that you are sitting on. You want to change the usual way you do things.
Being a "best" student has nothing to do with your experiments and how you describe them and the conclusions you reach. Your experiments are doing the work for you. Poke around in them to get the most you can from them.
Don't discuss your skills or lack of them with your supervisor. Just smile wisely and move along minus any conversation with him. If you have to talk with him, don't let him get personal. If he doesn't stick to the chem stuff, thank him for his time and walk away. He will learn to respect you for that, that he can't get a rise out of you any longer. You owe him no apologies.
You've gotten this far in school and are almost at the end. You've done the coursework and even the experiments for the dissertation. Pulling it all together is a challenge but also an opportunity to show how much you've learned. I know you can do this! We are here for you to vent to. I envy you your ambition. I quit at the master's level. How I wish I had gone further!
Hi,
Thank you so much for your hints. Actually I am going to start writing very seriously tomorrow and have planned to finish in a month. I hope it works. It would be tough though. I spent three weeks in the lab doing experiments that my supervisor believed were necessary for my thesis, without getting any good results. It made me frustrated. Now I have decided to write whatever I have so far and give it to my supervisor to read and during the time he is reading it, I will do more experiments to make it better. Thank you again, your answer was so complete and helpful. I may come back to you now and then to report how I am doing, if it is alright. It makes me feel better. what do you think?
Hi It has been a long time, I finally made it! I could not finish my thesis in a month though, it took me more than I thought. And things came up that made it even more difficult for me. But the result was good at the end, the examining committee were very happy about my thesis and my defence presentation. The professor however was mean again and said things that broke my heart. I am happy I do not see hom anymore now I am taking some rest and spend more time with my little daughter who was diagnoised with autism last december. You cannot immagine what a shock it was to my husband and I. I am not going to get pragnent again since we are afraid that the second child might be even worse. She is in the active range though and we are working a lot on her speech. I just sometimes think life will never give me a break. maybe God thinks I am strong enough to bear all these things, the death of my mom right before I had my daugter due to cancer and then my brother being diagnoised with bipolar disorder and now my daughter ... I am strong though, yesterday I was thinking, it could still be worse.. I could have a bad husband, could be on a wheelchair .... sometimes I feel down though. happy to be able to talk to you.
my little daughter who was diagnoised with autism last december
Thanks for reporting back to us!
There is so much written about autism and so much is being done to give those kids and their families the best life possible.
My older son is high-functioning autistic (hyperlexia). I figured it out when he was 18 and just graduated from high school. He's had a good job working in the same place since then; it turned out to be the perfect situation for him!
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He expects us to do all the work without any help. Your advice was helpful. I wish you luck too.
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