This week marks the twelve month point from which, if I had started my PhD at the beginning of the academic year, I would have begun.

However, despite my slightly late starting, this week was therefore also the point at which I was required to make use of the knowledge I have been diligently absorbing for the best part of the last year and submit what's known as a thesis proposal. My proposal was a roughly 12,000 word document laying out what I've learnt, how this has led me to a particular topic and what my plan of action will be for investigating this topic over the remaining two to three years. When I begun writing the proposal, it felt like quite a daunting task, though the requirement has actually been an opportunity to take a step back, focus and make a few decisions. It's also required me to actually write up about a lot of the literature which I've been reading; something long overdue. The result was presented to the school and my industrial sponsor yesterday, and with the addition of a few suggestions, was accepted. In case anyone is interested, the document can in fact be found here.

So, I'm now officially a second year PhD student, with a topic. The relief of having this part completed is actually quite significant. Now, onwards!