Get a PhD

Today in the mail I got a letter from the university reminding me that I was supposed to finish in four years, and that I’ll need the Dean’s permission to continue. It’s probably routine, but I’m not happy about it.

It’s time for a holiday. Last week I measured 3 volt where I should have measured 220 volt, and there was no emotion. No anger, no curiousity, no frustration, nothing. This implies that there is no motivation.

Since then I’ve fixed this little problem, but I have very little stamina. I’ll spend the next few days tidying and cleaning up so that I can start fresh in the new year.

Today I got the instrument working again. It’s been many months that I’ve been busy with this, every time digging down to a deeper level in the electronics to find what’s wrong, going three steps forward and two back. I have the feeling that I’m on solid ground now, having identified one of the last worrisome problems today. (Who would have thought a lose little bolt could have such an influence?)

I am now where I was in April or sometime.

OK, I think I have enough presentations to work on for the next six months or so, if all the abstracts get accepted.

This week I proved that I did not make a mistake when chose my supervisor. I had a problem with my experiments, and by looking a the data he figured out what probable cause was. I did the tests and he was right.

Not only is he brilliant in this way, he also never made me feel stupid, and I am left with the feeling that we did it together.

This week I found a wonderful resource. It is Sunil Patel’s LaTeX Thesis Template. It is an instant thesis; just add content. One does not have to know much about LaTeX to start using it, and I don’t think anything is left out. Together with JabRef, I think I’m all set for thesis writing.

Except the content, of course.

Today a fellow student of mine got her PhD. It was the final step of the process, the thesis defence. This consisted of a public lecture, followed by a closed session with the examiners.

It was a deserving piece of work.

For me it was good preparation to see the process in action, and also good to see that my supervisor’s students actually graduate!

“The financial assistance of the South African National Energy Research Institute towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to SANERI.”

I was awarded a bursary by SANERI to fund my subsistence during my studies. The award is ample and the conditions generous.

It seems my scholarship application to the NRF is actually being processed: this week I got an email from a person at the NRF saying that some of my supporting documentation is not adequate and that I should send better stuff. I quickly did that, and it seems OK now.

I’ve applied for a scholarship at the National Research Foundation. I have little hope of getting anything: last year only four applicants from my University was successful.