PhD - submitted in 1990s - Is all lost?

[SunflowerSeahorse]

Hi,
Advice gratefully received.
I submitted my PhD in the 1990s, passed my Viva subject to completing some minor corrections. Then my failing marriage completely hit the rocks and I was going through a divorce. I never submitted the corrections. So I am not a PhD.
It is a source of huge regret to me, probably the only regret of my life.
Is all lost? Or is there anything I can do about it?
Many thanks

Email your old professor/head of department and ask them? Or the current head of department at the uni as they will surely have access to your records. I don't see why you couldn't do the revisions now and hand it in :)

My dh (an academic) says contact your original uni, it will depend upon their regulations, but he says they may well be supportive if there are extenuating circumstances. Good luck.

This made me laugh...I saw a similar post by someone who moved to Japan, had a good life, decided to complete this after he retired....and after a bit of e-mailing/chasing he eventually got there!

Go for it. Hopefully you'll hit lucky first contact, but just be aware you "may" need to go for a few people and don't take a first no for an answer.

(I mean university administration is very stressed nowadays, so I think it's feasible but also be prepared to be a little bit persistent ... you may need to find a few academics who are willing to give a thumbs up to the resubmission if your original committee has moved on).

I have no idea,
but good luck! I'm rooting for you!'

I've no idea but wondering will the research, data and evidence be out of date now

Yes, this is what I was thinking. Surely entirely possible that the original research has been superceded or contradicted by someone else's PhD research in the meantime?

It’s an interesting one.

officially o/p “passed” her viva. Pretty sure we addressed those coming out of a successful viva as “dr” straight away.

so her thesis met the conditions. It just wasn’t published.

i would say on balance if you submitted your thesis it should be accepted. Is there a time limit?

get in touch with your uni and see what they say.

That's not common when I did my PhD in 2015, unless you submitted your post-viva corrections you were not a Dr yet. The registry wrote to me as Mrs when letting me know about my deadline for minor corrections, but the letter letting me know they were accepted, then they addressed me as Dr.

The OP's thesis did not meet the conditions as it was, but would have done had she successfully submitted the corrections - there was a 3 month time limit for mine but perhaps the deadlines were not so strict in the 1990s.

OP the only way you'll know is to contact your university, but I would contact your original examiners first and get their agreement so you can present it to the administrator you get in contact with as something that is already in process. Good luck, I really hope it works out for you!

As a PhD has to be an original contribution to knowledge, will the data still be up to date? I'd contact your old professor or the HOD of the relevant school and ask for their advice.

A friend had to pause his phd just before viva due to health issues, he was out of action for about two years. When he went back to it his advisor said a lot of it was out of date now so would need to be redone in huge chunks before he could proceed, so I’m doubtful that you can just submit your corrections from thirty years ago and crack on. It took my friend about another year in the end (although with his health that was longer than it would have been for someone else).

However if you can self fund and find a supervisor I don’t see why you couldn’t register at your old uni and work to update your thesis and finish it that way.

I don't know but feel sure it should be possible.

To prove that unis can be flexible..There was a news story on the radio about a woman who had quit her veterinary medicine degree in the 60s due to becoming pregnant. She recently was awarded a degree by the uni (Liverpool) - not the full veterinary medicine, but a related degree based on the years she'd passed. She was in her 80s when she finally got her degree!

So I am interested in the published vs non- published PhD's and the right to be called Dr. If I wanted to search for a non published PhD from a Dr where would I look?

DP supervises PhD students and chairs vivas etc. He says that you've probably timed out and that extenuating circs are v unlikely to last 30 years.

@socialdilemmawhattodo The British Library has an e-repository of theses and hard copies of those that predate that. Not sure if all UK universities submit copies or just selected ones but it was a standard part of the process at my uni once viva passed and any corrections signed off etc.

What subject?

If you were asked to do corrections and never did then unfortunately no. The process (UK) is to submit the corrections which get approved by the examiners conducting your viva then you would be noted as having passed and given your degree certificate. The final thesis gets logged on the university system and is searchable.