Do you have a PhD? If so please advise!

[Academic1]

So I went back to uni as a mature student, did a diploma and then a masters in a social studies related field which I loved.

I would really, really like to do a PhD and take it as far as I can and maybe get into a research based role but I'm not sure how to go about this? Does anyone know where to start to apply for PhD funding or where you can get funding from? I'm not in a position to self fund and I'm a lone parent so I'm not even sure how that would work? Any advice on how i can make this happen or avenues i should look into? I'm in NI if that makes a difference.

come over to the 'university staff' board (under work) and you'll find lots of people with PhDs

If you are in social studies, i think that would fall under ESRC or AHRC as a research council. so you want to find a university with an ESRC doctoral training centre and then find a supervisor who can help you apply for ESRC funding. some universities also have internal funding, but not many.

do you have a clear idea for what you want to study and who might be a good PhD supervisor for your project?

Yes I have a good idea of what I'd like to focus on for the research and have a few contacts within the university I studied with before who would be a good supervisor, it's just how I could make it work in reality. Thanks I'll post on that board!

Best first step is to contact potential supervisors and sound them out about whether they would want to supervise a project in the area that you want to focus on and if they're interested then discuss with them which bodies you might apply to for funding.

You need to find a PhD supervisor who is willing to have you work on their research or apply for a studentship to work with them. If you are a parent, I assume this means you are settled and can only attend universities locally (ish). Look at those universities and find someone doing interesting research. I assume you have a master’s already? Someone you know from your master’s programme would be a good start as they already know your work.

Then I think you need to look into the financial and logistical aspects of it. Will you be able to afford to live on that income level? Will you have childcare in place? Will your research require non-standard hours or travel? I definitely worked on my PhD 9-5 and evenings and I needed full-time nursery, plus Dh around evenings and weekends. It also required at least 2-3 research trips overseas for data collection 1-3 weeks each. Obviously dh just took over at home, but the practicality is something to consider if you’ll need to be away for periods of time.

Beyond all that, what do you want to do with it? Have you done research before? Do you love it? I am very glad I got my PhD and I did it because I was driven by my love for academics and knowledge and because I enjoyed doing research. 20 years in, I’ve left academia and am re-training to do something completely different. Because actually a lot of academia is just budgets and reports and risk assessment and admin work and I lost my passion for it because of all the bureaucracy. That doesn’t mean it isn’t something to pursue, but make sure it’s right for you if it’s going to be a big sacrifice.

This is what worries me because I am the only income of my house so I would need to be able to do some other paid work while studying. I know others who have done this and when I undertook my masters I intended to look into a PhD but at that point my husband was still around and would have been able to take over with ds if needed whereas that's not the case now.

Long term I would love to lecture and I'm already involved with the training and supervision of students who are on the degree programme my PhD would be in line with at the uni I would like to study at (is the only uni in this country that provides this course) but I would need a PhD to be able to do that.

I have childcare in place, ds is in nursery every day and thankfully this is subsidised with UC to a certain degree. I'm used to working non standard hours, that's normal for my sector so that in itself isn't an issue and I can't foresee travel being needed as the topic I'd like to research is relevant to my location and there's probably enough information from other countries and approaches available online. My main worry is being able to work part time and do my PhD part time or via flexible hours or similar and I don't know enough about how that works.

Yes I have a good idea of what I'd like to focus on for the research and have a few contacts within the university I studied with before who would be a good supervisor

Start by drawing up a brief outline of your proposed research and speak to one of your contacts. If s/he can't supervise it for any reason, s/he should be able to suggest someone else.

Like pp, I'm glad I did my Ph.D. I didn't do it with the idea that it would lead to a well paying career, or because I had an eye on a career in academia, but for personal satisfaction. I love research and having done an MA I thought I was capable of going further.

My main worry is being able to work part time and do my PhD part time

I was registered as a part time student for my Ph.D. The fees were a lot cheaper. (It was a long time ago so it all probably works quite differently now.) I tended to put in a solid few months work on the Ph.D., then went and got some temp work for another block of time.

Be aware of how UC interacts with the stipend (assuming you got one). I don’t know the details, but I have heard that often funded PhD students are excluded from any UC, unlike UG and PGTs.

Are PT UKRI / charity stipends even possible?

And be aware of the lifestyle beyond PhD. It’s many short term contracts, people have to be prepared to relocate, and if you do end up with a permanent uni job you’ll probably get made redundant a year later because the sector is utterly awful to work in at the moment.

This is a good point. I only get UC towards childcare costs as we don't get funded hours here so I really can't afford to lose that.

This is pretty standard for the jobs I've been doing anyway to be honest and I don't expect it to be a lot more secure but probably it should be slightly more secure and better pay than what I've been doing. But mainly I feel like I'm capable and I'm interested and I'm passionate about my sector.

There is always the part time self funding route which would allow you to work and study. There may even be opportunities to pick up some teaching or MA supervision hours. Have a look at the PhD loan scheme.
https://www.gov.uk/doctoral-loan

I did my doctorate back in the early 90s. I was lucky in that I built strong relationships at my undergrad uni with people in the field where I wanted to research (human computer interaction). One of these who was very distinguished in his field agreed to be my supervisor. Even though I got a 1st I was not immediately successful in gaining funding to begin a masters. I began part time and self funding. I paid my bills by turoring work at the uni, dogsbodying for my professor and teaching computer skills in an FE college. I lived on a tough council estate because that was what I could afford.

I spent much of my first year on the masters gathering data and generating research questions. That won me a 3 year studentship from my uni to complete my masters and begin my dostorate. Eventually I got funding from ESRC and finished my thesis within 3 years. When I look back the 8 years I spent from being a mature undergraduate to completing my doctoral these were some of the happiest in my life. I was learning for the sheer sake of it. I was fortunate to secure an immediate academic role on completing my doctoral and spent a year in the USA on an exchange program. I ceased to be employed in academia at pension age but continued as a private consultant for some years. I now do private tutoring at postgrad level.

Becoming an academic is very difficult now and not for the faint hearted, Even in the 90s securing funding and a research role thereafter was becoming difficult. The UK univeristy sector is now declining rapidly.

iI didnt do too badly considering I failed the 11 plus and had only 5 O levels!

I did my PhD part-time, working full time as a course administrator and lecturer, as a single parent. It took 6 years, so you just accept that it’s a long slog. I did my active research work when I could find time during the day, at lunchtime and after work, and in the evenings when the kids were in bed - I got used to managing on less sleep. As the kids got older, my working window got later and later.

Once I started writing chapters, it was always in the evening so I could put in several hours without a break. I did the final editing and stuff in an intense burst during a week’s holiday while the kids were away with their Dad.

One unexpected takeaway was that as the kids got older, they assumed it was quite normal to spend a lot of time studying and writing, so they settled down to homework and got on with it without any nagging from me. But, and this is a big but for you, I self-funded - used practically all my savings to do so. It’s close to impossible to get funding for my subject area, so that wasn’t really an option.