illuminating science

So, you might have noticed that I’ve been a little quiet over the last week (or not - it depends on how meticulously you’re taking notes here…) It all comes down to that pesky little thing at the end of every postgrad’s life - my PhD submission date is approaching rapidly. Well, rather, the date that my money runs out is approaching, which is nearly the same thing!

In Australia, most (but not all) PhD students are on scholarships from the government - Australian Postgraduate Awards, or APAs, which provide a not insubstantial living allowance. The scholarships are for three years, but almost without exception, PhD students apply for, and recieve, a 6 month extension. After that, Universities get pretty uptight if you don’t finish within 4 years, as their funding is tied to you completing within that time.

My 3.5 years approaches rapidly, with Thursday September the 14th being my cut off date. Ideally (by which I mean, it’s essential) I need to find another source of income which starts pretty soon after that date (by which, I mean the next day) so as to support my extravagant lifestyle of pasta and bread. As such, I’ve been rather busy the last week trying to incorporate the journal papers I’ve written into my thesis, as well as searching around for jobs which might be of interest. I’ll relay some of those endeavours in subsequent posts, but for now, if I disappear for a day or two, it probably reflects some particularly stressful deadline (e.g., a meeting with my supervisor!) Anyway, 4 months 28 days. But who’s counting?