getting a cephalopod-y PhD!

robyn

Vampyroteuthis
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Jan 19, 2007
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So this is a bit off-topic, but I was wondering if anyone on here felt like offering advice for my thesis defense? It's on this thursday, and I am nervous!!

My dissertation is called "Behavioural correlates of learning and memory in Nautilus pompilius". Hopefully I will be able to get some papers out from it quite soon and share with everyone the surprising fact that nautiluses are in fact not completely brainless lumps of mucus as I have frequently suspected....

I will post an update next weekend. Fingers crossed!!

(and apologies for the slightly 'hooray for me' sort of tone....)

Robyn.
 
congrats, or pre-congrats if you prefer...

I'm not really qualified to give "real" advice, but I'm sure everyone here will use the :fingerscrossed: and :shamrock_t: icons until we can use :grad: and :party: for you. I don't think you need to apologize for saying "hooray" at all, though, which may mean that "be confident" is good advice, too. I know a few PhDs who have mentioned that checking in with each member of the committee to make sure you're on the same page in terms of expectations is helpful.

Of course, I'd love to read about your results as an interested geek (as opposed to a qualified faculty member) too, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that...

Good luck! :fingerscrossed: :shamrock_t:
 
robyn;106160 said:
Hopefully I will be able to get some papers out from it quite soon and share with everyone the surprising fact that nautiluses are in fact not completely brainless lumps of mucus as I have frequently suspected....

Robyn.

I'm sure you will do fine, remember that you know more about this topic than anyone else, including your thesis committee. Glad to hear that Nautilus have some brains. I have always been partial to Nautilus, there is nothing cuter than a baby Nautilus, I even think the embryos are cute (I'm a closet developmental biologist...).
 
Best of luck, Robyn! Please let us know how it goes (and fill us in on sticky questions that others of us might also have to field in a couple months :wink:).

:thumbsup:
 
Good luck Robyn, I'm sure you'll be fine, just remember you are the expert on this. I would take time to consider each question, before answering even if you know the answer immediately ( As I'm sure you will) but it will allow you to catch any tricky ones. Talk to your principal supervisor about what can be reasonably expected. He or she should be with you for moral support, even if they have to wait outside the door! I must admit I'm telling you my interview technique as Otago does not routinely run defences (only if either the student ........why would you??.... or one of the examiners asks for it!).

Let us know how it goes. Don't worry about the "hooray for me" tone, it's deserved.......I've been doing that for a few weeks now, I graduate with mine this coming Saturday!

J
 
thanks guys! And congrats to Jean - enjoy the graduation.

Today I got some very 'definite' feedback from a couple of committee members.....I think Thursday will be an interesting day!
 
Surely any question or concern that any party had about the research/dissertation has been dealt to at this late stage, so don't worry.

Research snowballs; you may once have seen a clear beginning, middle and end, but I'll wager $ that you've identified new aspects of research that you simply don't have the time to pursue. You have to stop somewhere, as per whatever you wrote in the initial thesis proposal (that the Uni would have agreed to ... as in a contract), so should someone query why 'you didn't pursue this or that', just respond 'in the interest of completing this body of research in a scholarly AND timely manner, this could not be pursued'.

Just take in a couple of bottles of wine, all will be fine, start drinking at 9, and have a great time!
 
robyn;106333 said:
got it! thanks everyone. Now to sober up...
:glass:

Have another. And congratulations Dr.

Robyn, why don't you go place a few of your chapters online, or a synopsis of your research. This would make for mighty interesting reading, and would be appreciated.
 

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