Need advice: I am seriously considering doing a Phd having completed my Masters in 2002...

[Bluebutterfly]

before ds was born, before relocating to Luxembourg with dh's job, before alot of things.

I know in very general terms (and I appreciate that it is not good to be too general for a Phd) what it is I wish to research in the political science arena but I have no idea how to get started - I have so many questions:

Can I even study for a Phd from a distance -and is choosing to study for it this way even a good idea?

I have been away from an academic environment for more than 6 years (did my masters in 2001) and finished my BA in 1998, so how difficult will it be for my post-pregnancy brain to contemplate years of research?

My knowledge is out of date - plenty of new stuff has been written since I did my masters degree and I as I am currently about as removed (mentally and geographically) as I think I could possibly be from current debates - what can I do to ensure that I addressing this issue.

Sorry that this is such a vague post - I am happy to receive advice, opinion, experiences - any info that you can give me about embarking on a further study as a mother in her 30s, who lives abroad (and who is currently working on her language skills but is unable to speak French at a level that would enable her to access intellectual material in any depth!)

Can you do PhD study at open university? I would have thought it would be well set up for that sort of thing. To be fair, all i guess you would need is an athens password for the relevant journals to get them online so distance learning not a problem. Also not a problem for standard unis either i wouldnt have thought. My friends supervisor buggered off to america in her final two years for her PhD - (she couldnt have been more pleased about that, they didnt get on!) and it worked out fine.

Have you thought about funding? You would need to provide the relevant funding bodies with an outline of your research project etc. Maybe it would be worth tracking down some potential supervisors, their research interests should be listed at the uni websites. That way you can approach them with your general idea and they can help you come up with something more specific. Of course you would have to gear it towards their research interests and that can be frustrating but it is a means to an end.

I did my PhD in a science subject which was lab based so the position/project was advertised in the new scientist and other places. Not sure how it works for other subject areas but it might be worth looking about.

Good luck - doing my PhD completely changed who i am, for the better, i think

Have you contacted the OU? I know lots of Unis offer distance learning programmes but I would imagine they are the specialists in the field. They must have come across this situation before and could tell you the potential pitfalls.

I know from studying for my MBA that there are ooddles of articles and sometimes whole books that are availabe on the net for you to access.

I'm also sure that you'll soon get up to speed with it.. Good luck!

Yes its quite easy to do so. I started my EdD in 2000 and last year we moved to cyprus and I am doing it from here. I was previously an OU tutor and I am able to use the online library which is brilliant. My Uni is lincoln and several people jetted in from overseas for the taught component, but with the OU you would not need to do that. My OU staff tutor was tutoring 2 doctoral students in the seychelles and somewhere else far away...she was a bit miffed that it all had to be done by email/phone as she quite fancied a trip there.

I am almost at the end of my doctoral journey and am planning to come back to the UK for my viva

Good luck

I did a PhD in chemistry so it is probably a bit different but some bits may be the same. You don't technically 'study' for a PhD, a doctorate is a research degree so you should be contributing original research. The first thing to do is to try and narrow down your subject area. Then look for Professors and lecturers who share your interests, they may be able to help you come up with a thesis title and should help you direct your research. In the arts I can't see any reason why you couldn't do it by distance learning if you have a good university library nearby and internet access.

Thanks everyone - you sound like an interesting bunch! I guess it is the contributing original research part that I am already most worried about. I know the areas in which I have an interest and in which I have a reasonable depth of knowledge and level of curiosity, but I am worried about finding a theme or a subject that is "original" but not so obscure that even I will eventually lose interest in it...

You don't have to present your whole project as something entirely new and groundbreaking, although i guess it is a bonus if you do!! It is easier to a degree i suppose when your work is lab based so the results of your experiments give you that angle, positive or not. You end up feeling, at least i did, that you are contributing a non straight edged bit to a ten million peice jigsaw puzzle. I would guess that if you are considering researching into something where the data isn't necessarily new, then you would be looking at presenting a different perspective on what is already known. I can't say that my thesis was that good to be honest, but then most of my friends with PhDs tend to think the only thing their thesis is good for is a door stop. Actually gathering the data and collating it, then presenting it to back up your hypothesis is a huge learning experience. I don't think i truly learnt anything when i did my bachelors degree, it was only when i had to think for myself that things actually lodged with any permanence in my brain. So whilst it IS about presenting a piece of research that is interesting and relevant to others in your field, it is also about the whole learning process for the candidate, and i think it is more important that you show your examiners that you have gained those skills and can defend your work with confidence. Hark at me?? Talking like i know what i am talking about .

I truly think you should go for it. It is a job in itself and the most trying, exhausting, stressfull, REWARDING and FULLFILLING thing i have ever done. Apart from my children of course

kritur, having re read my post after reading yours it reads like im trying to contradict what you said. . I hadn;t actually read your post before i wrote that, i did a lab based PhD too (developmental biology) so was basing it on my experience. Everyone i knew tied themselves in knots about the whole, "new and significant contribution to knowledge" thing. I think that your research, being your own, is by definition new. I never really felt i made a significant contribution, not even a small one to be fair, but my examiners seemed to be happy, so i must have. Of course i was quite disappointed not to have unravelled whole genetic processes and pathways, but i bet i am not the only one to share that particular disappointment and to be happy just to hand the big pile of paper to the admin office to get the bastard thing final version printed

Go for it Bluebutterfly! [encouraging ]

Are you still in touch with (or could you get back in touch with) anyone at the institution where you did your Masters? I think that if you're working on Political Science, you should be able to do the PhD from where you are relatively easily. You might need to budget for regular trips to the UK to access libraries, but you'll be able to get a lot of material online and that will help. I don't think you need to restrict yourself to the OU (though they might turn out to be just what you need). It's certainly possible to do a PhD without being permanently in the place where you are registered. I have a PhD student atm who lived about 100 miles away for the first two years of her PhD (though she has moved locally this year in order to get a bit of teaching experience in the department), and my dh did a PhD in Wales while we were living in London/Berkshire. I know that's not quite as extreme as being in another country, but personally I wouldn't let that stop me if it was what I really wanted to do.

IMO the most important thing is to find a supervisor who is supportive and who knows her/his stuff. I'd look for the right supervisor (you may already have an idea of who you'd like to work with) and then approach them and explain your situation and go from there.

You might want to consider registering for the PhD part-time. This would reduce the fees and would give you more time to finish! I notice that this year the AHRC (which I know isn't what you'd be applying to for funding, but it's all I know!) will fund part-time study as well as full-time. I think this is a recent development. It may be the same for the ESRC (or whoever you'd apply to). Also look at what scholarships are available from individual institutions. My dh did his PhD in a similar field to yours, and got funding from the University. (His was dependent on him doing some teaching for them, which wouldn't suit you if you're in a different country, but there might be other possibilities.)

And don't worry for now if your ideas are vague. Your prospective supervisor is the right person to help you get your ideas in shape. I always say that it's unrealistic to expect a prospective student to come up with a coherent and original research proposal on their own. It would be a very exceptional person (and, yes, there are some, but not many) who knew enough to put that together 'from scratch'. So I'd approach people with your vague ideas and see what they say, and if they seem interested then ask them to help you come up with something more coherent.

Hope this helps and good luck.

When I directed DH to this thread he asked me if I needed help writing the letters that spell DON"T but then he has just submitted his thesis and found it rather stressful with a family and work obligations.

I will pin him down this evening and ask his advice about your concerns. He has a colleague who is currently doing his PhD at a UK uni from Vienna, Austria so it is certainly possible.

I am a part time PhD student who is living 100 plus miles away from the university I am doing mine at. I am in the social science field so there will be similarities. To be honest I don't really get that much from my supervisor apart from a little confirmation that I am on the right sort of track. At times it feels overwhelming and at others I feel groundbreaking.

I have three young kids and work full time too so I have to be very organised