[rab] Your experiences are uncannily matching those of one of my officemates ... (first reserve after fellowship interview, [I'm assuming that's what your thing was?] ended up with a job in Germany). Good luck with whatever happens.

oh the utter silliness of the Monday night e-pilg. Fair sets me up for the week, it does :-)

[rab,Brendan] Do they say that to all the unselected candidates?

[Raak] Well, if they do, it's particularly cruel -- my colleague seemed very much under the impression that he was in with a chance (albeit slight) and was well advised not to commit to anything else until he heard back from them. I'm sure you've had sufficient experience with funding bodies to decide whether malicious cruelty is part of their makeup.

In my case I was told over the phone that if a place were declined, it would be offered to me. I can't see any reason why the lady I spoke to wouldn't tell the truth. In any case, I seem to have a contingency plan in place, so whilst I would like a Fellowship rather than an ordinary postdoc (better support, apart from anything else), I'd be happy with what I've been offered so far.

There are many worse places than Saarbrücken, but you'll have to take your thermals.

well, I stuck my head around the door, then went and worked for an hour, and when i came back you'd all gone - kuh...

I hope it wasn't too whiffy.

1. Anyone else catch part 1 of the Goodies retrospective on Radio 4 this morning?
2. If any Doctor Who fans in here haven't heard, Billie Piper's been cast as the new assistant.

It raises the horrible suspicion that Chris Evans was, at some point, under consideration for the Doctor's role.

Bonnie Langford, can she?