Thursday, September 29, 2005

Choose your PhD Supervisor carefully

The rabbit thesis

One sunny day a rabbit came out of her hole in the ground to enjoy the fine weather. The day was so nice that she became careless and a fox snuck up behind her and caught her. "I am going to eat you for lunch!" said the fox. "Wait!" replied the rabbit, "You should at least wait a few days." "Oh yeah? Why should I wait?" "Well, I am just finishing my thesis on 'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'" "Are you crazy? I should eat you right now! Everybody knows that a fox will always win over a rabbit." "Not really, not according to my research. If you like, you can come into my hole and read it for yourself. If you are not convinced, you can go ahead and have me for lunch." "You really are crazy!" But since the fox was curious and had nothing to lose, it went with the rabbit. The fox never came out. A few days later the rabbit was again taking a break from writing and sure enough, a wolf came out of the bushes and was ready to set upon her. "Wait!" yelled the rabbit, "You can't eat me right now." "And why might that be, my furry appetizer?" "I am almost finished writing my thesis on 'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'" The wolf laughed so hard that it almost lost its grip on the rabbit. "Maybe I shouldn't eat you; you really are sick ... in the head. You might have something contagious." "Come and read it for yourself; you can eat me afterward if you disagree with my conclusions." So the wolf went down into the rabbit's hole and never came out. The rabbit finished her thesis and was out celebrating in the local lettuce patch. Another rabbit came along and asked, "What's up? You seem very happy." "Yup, I just finished my thesis." "Congratulations. What's it about?" "'The Superiority of Rabbits over Foxes and Wolves.'" "Are you sure? That doesn't sound right." "Oh yes. Come and read it for yourself." So together they went down into the rabbit's hole. As they entered, the friend saw the typical graduate abode, albeit a rather messy one after writing a thesis. The computer with the controversial work was in one corner. And to the right there was a pile of fox bones, on the left a pile of wolf bones. And in the middle was a large, well-fed lion. The Moral of the Story: The title of your thesis doesn't matter. The subject doesn't matter. The research doesn't matter. All that matters is who your supervisor is.

Source: from Professor Phil Ashworth ,University of Brighton.

8 comments:

Natalia A said...

I've been to Brighton once, and change my life forever. Every time I see "Brighton" writen I just miss it and hope so much I could return, someday.
That's all I have to say about that...

HardiJ said...

Hi Natalia,

Yes, Brighton IS a great place. Am pleased that you like it as well! Hope you could come and visit Brighton again someday. Give me a shout, if you do! ;)

Kat said...

Hehe. Good one. :)

My supervisor has forgotten all about me though. :( Sigh.

HardiJ said...

Hi Kat,

My supervisors are even so far away in Japan now for conference (*bummer*).

Am a bit slagging off now. Better work my arse off again when they get back.

Jon Choo said...

What the bloody hell. Why so much post one suddenly???

HardiJ said...

Jon: Feeling a bit restless! Might be too much caffeine! ;)Oh, well, student life!

Anonymous said...

Yes...absolutely true....it always matters who is ur godfather

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