advice about possible PHD

[thirtysomething]

I am coming to the end of a very long, vocational MA course and have realised I will miss the academic component.

I'm vaguely wondering about doing a PhD at my local Uni (Russell Group, v. good in my field).

I'm just wondering what the pros and cons are, what sort of an amount I'd be looking at for fees (presumably you can't get them funded these days). Also, if I want to do it in 3 years does anyone know how many hours a week I would need to spend on it?

I'd be hoping to work 2 days a week simultaneously, and have 2 DC (both school-age).

Many thanks in advance for any replies!

Hi
I have never done a phd but have looked at it as an option for when/if I graduate.

Funding might still be an option but the availability would depend on your area of research. When I looked at physics/maths about a year ago there were quite a few funded places each year.

If you could get funding then your fees are paid and you get a tax free grant of about 14k. This worked out to earning about 18k a year.

Fees have been about 3.5k a year when i last looked. Not sure if this varies for different unis or phds. For the uni a looked at all the fees were online.

3 years is full time study. I know people who have worked part time for an income but never with kids. I think it would be very difficult.

Thanks - i think i do need a reality check! All useful to know!

There is still quite a bit of PhD funding about, not as much as previously, but don't write it off entirely :)

Thanks Manatee - I need that kind of encouragement!

Hi, I'm a third of the way through my phd at the moment and the expectation for full time is 35 hours per week and complete in 3 years... Part time is 15 hours per week and complete in 5 years...

You may be able to get a funded phd, I did, they are usually advertised on the uni's web pages and typically pay £14-15k plus fees per year, paid quarterly and are tax free...

Might be worth asking around your department and be prepared to write a research proposal for your application...

I have an 11 year old ds and a 14 month dd.... It's hard but you can fit your hours around your needs and can take upto 8 weeks holiday but the reality is you think about it constantly!

Sorry meant 2 thirds way through! I have 12 -14 months left! Eek

Firstly, no 2 PhDs are the same - some take lots of time and some very little; assume you already know this, but the pass/fail is whether you make a 'significant' contribution to the field. Sometimes this occurs with a flash of inspiration and sometimes it takes many hundreds of hours of chipping away at a problem - although actually getting up to speed and understanding the existing literature will always take some time (about 18 months full time for me).

I did a PhD in 3 years full time and then spent a year writing up in the evenings while working full time. I didn't have children at the time, but did do freelance work. My instinct is that with them being at school you'd probably manage - particularly if you can read papers etc. in the evening. But... I think 2 days work as well would be pushing it unless you're willing to be working 7 days a week for 3 years.

I think also some funding bodies limit the amount of paid other work you can do, what area were you thinking of doing your phd in?

Thanks notremotely and neils - lots of really useful info and great to get a realistic picture of the commitment involved as quite frankly the academics supervising these things seem a bit vague on the specifics! They say things like it's a "considerable" amount of work!

notremotely sounds like you are an inspiration!

I have a very specific topic in mind (currently vastly under-researched)in the field of psychology

Ooh interesting! I'm doing a psychology phd in the area of palliative care/child development/death!

Psychology is a hard phd as it's field based so you need ethical clearance as well as time for data collection as opposed to the humanities where often it's library based.... My ethics took 10 months to go through! Just finishing data collection now and will be analysing and writing for the next year!

Good luck

Wow notremotely - that sounds really interesting! I imagine it's quite a commitment emotionally too.

Yes, I imagine the ethics part will take a looong time to clear, if my MA research proposal is anything to go by!

I'm glad it's field based though as I'm not keen on sitting in a library!

Do you have much contact with supervisors etc at your Uni? Or is it a turn-up twice a year kind of arrangement? Am wondering whether I should pick the highly-rated Uni closest to home (which doesn't necessarily offer the right conditions) or pick one further afield.

The supervisory relationship varies so much in our department, let alone across uni's.... The recent intake seem to have a weekly meeting where for the first few months they have to present papers they have reviewed in their subject area and then discuss in great detail their plans but most if these were recruited to a specific area/research question.... I was approached to do this as the area needed sensitivity and my previous experience had boded well so I knew a basic area (funded through a hospice) but I had to explore it totally as neither of my supervisors had worked in the area.... I think I had meetings once a month or so and kept them updated by email, I have never had weekly meetings and for about 6 month I had very little contact as I was interviewing and working at my own pace whilst both were off.... I took 6 months out for maternity leave and kept in touch by email and a meeting when I returned, now I think we are trying for 2 meetings a month....

Is worth finding out if you would have a dedicated desk at uni, I UAE mine 2-4 times a week for a few hours to keep in contact with the other students but also work at home and occasionally the library... Some of the phd students who were here when I started live 2-4 hours away.... The most important thing to do is pick your supervisors carefully.... You will have a love-hate-love relationship with them and you need to be able to work with them.... There is a good book called 'the unwritten rules of phd research' read that if you can before you apply!

thanks notremotely - all very informative and you have answered questions I hadn't even begun to formulate yet!

You have made me realise I need to really think this through and shop around! I guess I'm fortunate in that I have 6 really good Unis within an hour or so drive, which means I can really cast the net wide. It's fantastic to hear from someone with your kind of experience as I don't know anyone at all who's done a PhD in the last 10 years!

Hi another PhD student and mother here. I couldn't get funding via research grants/councils by the way so I work full time as a research assistant in my department while I do my PhD part time. I've been able to combine a little data collection with project work for my employer so that may be one route you could do. However, my salary, which is based on academic scales are set on qualifications (so whether or not you have a PhD really} and a Postgraduate (i.e. MSc, MA or MPhil) only came out as 25K a year at my Russel Group uni. As a bit of food for thought that actually works out as identical take home pay as those of my PhD colleagues who have scholarships/grants when my salary has been taxed. So less you can take home more than 25K a year by working two days a week I would try hard to get the grants and do it full time. You'll see most advertised as full time I think. Doing it full time also allowes you to be more emersed in your research which I can only imagine must be very rewarding. In my case I keep having to go in and out of my work. I'm very happy though and would make the same choice again. Full time students also get grants for child care and council tax is reduced etc so there are other advantages. Whether you would be able to work two days a week and also do your PhD full time entierly depends on your subject (and how familiar you are with it already) and your dedication. Maybe you could get a part time research assistant post in a relevant area in your department?

Thanks Snuppeline - all very useful advice. I guess at the moment I am thinking of starting up my private practice on those 2 days so will have erratic income! So your advice is very sound financially and is making me rethink the whole logistical side.

Do you mind me asking what field you are in?

I'm in Civil Engineering but in a very specific field called Human Factors, an interdisciplinary field where psychology, desing and engineering are combined. There's medical, military, traffic, aviation, cognitive...all sorts of Human Factors angles to take! What is your background? A private practice its at least something quite flexible and depending on your field you could perhaps do it outside normal working hours to attract quite a specific market? Evenings/weekends may get you wealthy but busy clients? Being self employed may be a different tax code than PAYE so perhaps two days a week would earn you enough to top the tax free bursaries universities can provide.

That sounds amazing - had never heard of Human Factors!

I'm in the psychotherapy/psychology field so would be practicing privately as a therapist.

Definitely look into the possibility of funding (I am doing research-council funded PhD at the moment, admittedly in a different field from you), there seems to be a lot more funding available for PhDs than there is at Master's level. The stipend is not a fortune but enough to pay my half of the mortgage plus bills, travel, food etc without dipping into my savings, so I'm not intending to do paid work (beyond a bit of tutoring or marking if the opportunity comes up).

I think it would be difficult (not saying impossible!) to do a full-time PhD while working 2 days a week, and still have time to spend with your family. Personally I would feel that was too much for me to take on especially if I was hoping to finish in 3 years, but you might be much more efficient and well-organised than I am!

No, Ephiny, I am the eternal procrastinator - so definitely not that efficient!

Do you know how to got about looking for funding? i.e. is it something each University has a special pot of money for, or do you approach funding bodies independently of the Uni? I had assumed in the current climate that it was pointless looking for funding, so it's very encouraging to hear there may be some out there!

Look at each university, they are awarded xx number if scholarships from for example the esrc or may have internal scholarships... But if you also google phd funding you may find some abstract grants out there...

Also have a look at the BPS website and Psychologist magazine for specific psychology opportunities...

Good luck!

It varies a lot between different fields I think, usually in the sciences the universities/supervisors will apply for funding for a particular research project then advertise for students to do it, this is how it was for me. These studentships are usually advertised on the university websites and/or sites like findaphd.com or jobs.ac.uk.

However I know people in the arts/humanities sometimes have to apply directly to the research council with a proposal, usually though I think you approach a potential supervisor first and you develop the proposal together. Not sure which side psychology would fall on!

Thanks both - really great advice ! Will start trawling through the websites etc you've suggested.

Great to have a starting point as came into this completely clueless (which perhaps suggests I don't have the intellect to be even thinking about this - but that's a whole other thread!!)

This is all really interesting... I'm currently in the process of applying for a part-time PhD at my old uni, and was interested to read notremotelyintofootie's comment that 'part-time' is 15hrs/wk. I appreciate the comments that every PhD is different, but would people generally agree with this? I've got a 6m old, and am also thinking of working part-time whilst studying part-time: would I be crazy?? I'd have childcare in place for when I was working so could extend the hours to when I was studying. Am I mad?

Thanks

You can access the esrc general regulations from their own website and I think it is detailed in there as 15 hours a week too... Although at times you may need to do more, depends what area you are in....I would love to be able to do some paid work too, teaching for experience but don't have enough childcare for Studying let alone work too! I dream of being able to work 9-5 on my thesis! Damn costs....

Ta - think I might be living in a dreamworld too...