Or you could use a drop-box or other more sophisticated system.

The need for it was evident so, as one of my PhD students approached the end of his project, I made notes of everything that I said to him about thesis writing.

Youwrote that line of code for a reason: at the end of the line explain what the reason is.)You have probably read the theses of previous students in the lab where you are now working, so you probably know the advantages of a clearly explained, explicit thesis and/or the disadvantages of a vague one.

Then put all the folders in a box or a filing cabinet.

It may also be appropriate to ask other members of staff to read some sections of the thesis which they may find relevant or of interest, as they may be able to make valuable contributions.

Once your thesis has been assessed and your friends have read the first three pages, the only further readers are likely to be people who are seriously doing research in just that area.

Examiners have to be nominated and they have to agree to serve.

Here follow some comments on the elements Materials and Methods, Theory, Results and discussion which may or may not correspond to thesis chapters.

For other theses, it might be appropriate to discuss different techniques in different chapters, rather than to have a single Materials and Methods chapter.

Obviously your examiners will read the thesis.

But it would be crazy to give up at the writing stage, after years of work on the research, and it would be something to regret for a long time.Writing a thesis is tough work.

More commonly theses are now stored in an entirely digital form.

One anonymous post doctoral researcher told me: "You shouldtell everyone that it's going to be unpleasant, that it will mess up their lives, that they will have togive up their friends and their social lives for a while.

These may be stored as .pdf files on a server at your university.

30-60 minutes of exercise per day is probably not time lost from your thesis: I find that if I do not get regular exercise, I sleep less soundly and longer.

The short answer is: rather more than for a scientific paper.

The Health Service, professional keyboard users or perhaps even the school safety officer will be able to supply charts showing recommended relative heights, healthy postures and also exercises that you should do if you spend a lot of time at the keyboard.

The reader can probably find out via the net or the library.

Nevertheless, they enjoyed having a copy of my thesis.)"In the ideal situation, you will be able to spend a large part – perhaps a majority – of your time writing your thesis.

"I prepared the sample..." is clear.

At this stage, think hard about the logic of the presentation: within chapters, it is often possible to present the ideas in different order, and not all arrangements will be equally easy to follow.

They do not care about elegance or efficient communication.

The following comment comes from Marilyn Ball of the Australian National University in Canberra: "When I finished writing my thesis, a postdoc wisely told me to give a copy to my parents.