List of contributors, xi
About the editors, xv
Foreword, xvii
Preface, xix
Acknowledgements, xxi
Chapter 1: Introduction, 1
Ashton Barnett-Vanes and Rachel Allen
A PhD, 1
Perspective, 2
Why a book? How to use it, 5
References, 6
Chapter 2: Deciding on and finding a PhD, 7
Jonathan C.H. Lau and Ming He
Background, 7
Routes of entry, 8
How to find one, 11
Choosing a project, 13
Making an application, 16
Interviews, 17
How to fund one, 18
Reference, 22
Further reading, 22
Chapter 3: Anatomy of a PhD: Where you fit in the academic world, 23
Laura Lambert and John Tregoning
Background: Welcome to the new you, 23
You are here: PhD research versus undergraduate studies, 24
Lab types: A field guide, 25
Its tricky: The student]supervisor interaction, 27
Check out my massive organogram, 28
Other dull, but important stuff, 29
Conclusion, 31
Reference, 32
Chapter 4: Core techniques, principles and statistics, 33
Andrew John Walley, Kyrillos N Adesina Georgiadis, Adel Benlahrech and Fiona Reid
Genomics, 33
Metabolomics, 38
Flow cytometry, 40
Statistics, 45
References, 49
Further reading, 49
Chapter 5: Take off: Year 1, 51
Ashton Barnett Vanes and Rachel Allen
Background, 51
Understanding your team and project, 52
The literature, 53
The research proposal, 55
Starting experiments, 56
Data management and record keeping, 57
The transfer, 58
Conclusion, 59
Common pitfalls, 59
Chapter 6: Dealing with problems, 63
Rachel Allen and David Salman
Background, 63
General problems, 64
Academic problems, 66
Common PhD problems, 69
Conclusions, 72
References, 73
Further reading, 73
Chapter 7: Breaking ground: Year 2, 75
Ashton Barnett-Vanes and Rebecca Ingram
Background, 75
Taking ownership of your project, 75
Shaping the research direction, 76
From preliminary to publishable data, 77
Supervising junior students, 79
The end of Year 2 review/assessment, 80
Conclusion, 82
Common pitfalls, 82
Chapter 8: Presenting and publishing as a PhD student, 85
Ashton Barnett-Vanes and Henry D.I. De Ath
Background, 85
Presentations, 85
How to present, 87
Publications, 89
Writing an original research article, 90
Writing a review article, 93
Narrative reviews, 95
Final steps, 95
Managing the process, 96
Other considerations, 98
Conclusion, 98
References, 98
Further reading, 98
Chapter 9: Landing and writing up: Year 3, 99
Manu Chhabra and E. Allison Green
Background, 99
An exit strategy, 99
The X Factor results, 100
Before you start writing, 101
Writing your thesis: Part 1, 102
Writing your thesis: Part 2, 105
Conclusion, 111
Common pitfalls, 111
Further reading, 112
Chapter 10: The viva and moving on, 113
Rachel Allen and Kate Gowers
Background, 113
An examiners perspective (Rachel), 113
The viva, 115
Corrections, 117
Career routes, 119
Conclusion, 123
Further reading, 123
Chapter 11: PhDs in veterinary science and medicine, 125
Fiona Cunningham, Jonathan Elliott, Fiona Tomley and Kristien Verheyen
Background, 125
Is it for me?, 126
Your project, 128
Presenting and publishing your findings, 130
Post]PhD, whats next for me?, 131
Conclusion, 133
Possible concerns, 133
Acknowledgements, 134
Reference, 134
Chapter 12: International perspectives on medical and clinical science PhDs, 135
Celia A. Soares and Paul Langford
Background, 135
Choosing a country, 135
Finding a department, 136
Full PhDs versus dual]PhDs, 137
Interviewing in a lab abroad, 139
Funding, 140
Administrative issues, 140
Conclusion, 143
Common pitfalls, 143
Further reading, 144
Chapter 13: What Im really thinking: The post]doc, 145
Adel Benlahrech
Background, 145
It is great to be a post]doc!, 145
Is it really that great?, 146
A post]docs advice, 146
Conclusion, 149
Further reading, 149
Chapter 14: What Im really thinking: The Professor, 151
Michael Dustin
Index, 153
