My PhD seems to be going really well at the moment, I’m starting to get to grips with my research topic and I’m heading in a definite direction with something specific to do now (first task is to define what I mean by ‘an event’, which is complicated in itself). I think I’ve settled into the role now, probably helped by the fact that I already know the department and a lot of the people in it, and I’ve already read and commented on a number of papers which may or may not be related to my research. My supervisor seems enthusiastic and has yet to say ‘you’re heading in completely the wrong direction’, and it sounds like my progress is at least at the same pace as, if not faster than, the other new students. I have to give a presentation introducing my research in four weeks, so I guess it’s just as well that things are moving along quickly otherwise I wouldn’t have much to say.
I’ve also started lab demonstrating, which is actually more fun than I thought it would be, though sometimes the undergraduates test my patience by not listening to instructions. The lab supervisor seemed to be impressed as well—towards the start she came over and said ‘you seem to know what you’re doing, can you run this section of the lab’, and I’ve also taken over making some of the announcements at the start of each session. Several of the undergraduates came over and said thanks at the end of the lab, so I guess I must be doing something right. The pay is good as well, and I even get paid for when I do training sessions!
So, everything seems to be going well at the moment, and I’ve even got some consultancy work and a free full-day seminar to look forward to next week. I have lots of papers to read this weekend though, so I should probably get back to the grindstone…