Has anyone noticed that after a summer of not being in education, you feel like you've forgotten everything you learned over the past year?

 

I've just finished my degree, and am about to start my PhD in late September. But I can't really remember many facts at all about the subject! Even bread-and-butter lab skills like dilution and concentration calculations have escaped me.

 

It's as though summer has absorbed all the science in my head and replaced it with stuff about the beach, Pimm's and pizza.

 

What do you guys do to get "back into the swing" of things, after not being directly involved with science for a while? I'm very nervous about starting my new course.

Has anyone noticed that after a summer of not being in education, you feel like you've forgotten everything you learned over the past year?

 

I've just finished my degree, and am about to start my PhD in late September. But I can't really remember many facts at all about the subject! Even bread-and-butter lab skills like dilution and concentration calculations have escaped me.

 

It's as though summer has absorbed all the science in my head and replaced it with stuff about the beach, Pimm's and pizza.

 

What do you guys do to get "back into the swing" of things, after not being directly involved with science for a while? I'm very nervous about starting my new course.

 

In my experience after a long break things quickly come back into memory as you get back into the subject material. If you are nervous maybe try reviewing some of your final review material, and/or class notes.

I found that most of the stuff I did during my PhD required me to learn new skills rather than rely on old ones. the general gist of a PhD in my opinion is learning how to learn things.

Seconded. Also, the important bits are used repeatedly and hence, rarely forgotten.

I wouldn't worry about it. I have three new PhD students coming to work with me in October, and I am not expecting too much from them at the start.