Hey all!

So I had my 3rd year review today, which went fine, my committee were happy with my progress etc.

However, I have a dilemma on my hands. Recently a call for funding came up (fellowships), but it turns out you needed to have passed your viva by the middle of September to apply for it. As my submission date isn't even until 30th September, and I was expecting a December viva, I just forgot about it. But today, my second sup asked why I wasn't applying (he thinks I would have a reasonable chance), and when I explained the deadline situation he suggested I bring my submission forwards and try to arrange an early viva.

Basically this would mean that I would have to submit around 6 weeks from now, instead of 3.5 months. In that time I would also have to apply for the funding, since the deadline is the end of July. This completely depends on whether my external examiner is able and willing to bring my viva forward to August/early Sept, and how long she needs to examine my thesis before the viva, but my sup thinks it is likely she will be okay with it, and I will know within a day or two anyway.

In terms of the thesis I've got all but one chapters written, with several accepted for publication and three more due to be submitted for publication in the next few weeks. I just have one chapter to write from scratch, although the intro and discussion need refining. So I could probably do it. My committee said today that they were confident I could submit in 6 weeks and get a pass, but the difference might be in how extensive the corrections are. And of course I would have to put together a fairly complicated application for this fellowship in the meantime too.

I'm worried about sacrificing the quality of my thesis to put in an application for something that I only really have a slim chance of getting, although my sups say I have a good chance compared to other funding calls at the mo. But if I don't apply for it this year it won't come round for about another 3 years. Would you go for it?

Help! KB

It's a tough world eh?! I think I'm gonna just apply for anything that looks suitable, regardless of grade/level for now. There are a few research assistant posts that look really interesting, although they are in a slightly different area to my PhD, but I guess it's worth a shot. I'm sort of hoping if I don't get funding to stay at my current uni this year I can work somewhere else for a year or two and then return to my current uni when there is funding available for a research officer/fellowship, but it probably won't work quite like that! It's frustrating because we're quite a big team here with lots of different project grants, but it just looks like there won't be anything turning up this year- any other year and I would have been fine! :( Best, KB

Hey Kirstyvale, I wouldn't assume anything until the 4 weeks have passed. At this time of year lots of people may be away or have a lot on their plates with exam marking etc, so it's quite possible that they just haven't got round to short-listing yet. For funding my PhD I applied for a one-off scholarship I had never heard of until we all got a random email about it; 2-3 months later I had almost forgotten about it when I had a letter telling me I had been successful! So hang in there until the 4 weeks are up and try to think positive! Best, KB

What type of academic jobs are you applying for?

I'm starting to apply for academic jobs for after my PhD ends (Sept) and obviously, there aren't many around. I've applied for funding to stay at my current uni but it's pretty unlikely I'll get it. I could do to start straight after my PhD (couldn't we all!) as I don't have a lot of savings to live off, and nor does my boyf.

However, I'm fairly flexible on location and am free to move around within the UK (no family ties or children etc). I just wondered whether people are restricting themselves to post-doc jobs and research officer/fellow positions, or whether you're all going for research assistant jobs as well? As far as I can see from the PhD completers on the forum I should be grateful for anything I can get, so I hope it's not too stupid a question!

Cheers, KB

Pineapple, that's absolutely awesome news, you must be ecstatic! You've been an inspiration on this forum with your guts and determination and I'm so glad things have gone your way- you absolutely deserve it! Hope you celebrate for a very long time! CONGRATULATIONS DR PINEAPPLE!!! KB

I'm with sneaks- I thought it just meant an investigation that you would be collecting data for (whether quantitative or qualitative) as opposed to theoretical work, such as lit reviews etc. Could you just ask for more specific feedback and explain that you're not quite sure where you're going wrong? Best, KB

Ah, it's not just my sup then! I didn't think it would be!

To be fair, my sup is very thorough in her reading of my work and with her feedback, and also very prompt- I think the longest I have ever waited for feedback was 10 days, and that was an exception. But she has the memory of a sieve! So many times she has suggested a change to my work, only to change it back again one draft later, assuming it was a mistake that I had made- I hardly dare tell her that a lot of the time she is commenting on her own changes to my work!

I don't really blame her though- as you say Mackem, these guys have so much on their plates that I don't really expect her to remember every single little detail of our discussions, and I know from other members of the team that the same happens to them too, right up to fellow level! I go from being mildly amused to mildly irritated and back again!

Best, KB

This isn't really a whinge as my sup is being pretty helpful at the moment. It just amuses me!

Last supervision:
Me: I was thinking of Journal X for this paper.
Sup: No, no, I don't think that's the right place. They're very picky there.
Me: Okay, how about Journal Y?
Sup: Yes, that's a definite possibility- have a think about it.

Yesterday:
Me: So am I okay to go with Journal Y for this paper?
Sup: Hmmm- have you thought about Journal X?
Me: Well yes, but you said they were very picky and you thought it would be rejected.
Sup: Well Journal Y is also very picky. I think you should go with Journal X.

Last supervision:
Me: So roughly how long would my thesis discussion need to be?
Sup: Well that depends on what you have to say.
Me: Yes, I realise that- I was just looking for a rough guide.
Sup: Well, you should be finding these things out for yourself. Your office mate completed her PhD last year- look at her discussion.

This supervision (after looking at my office-mate's discussion section in the thesis that was passed last year without corrections and spending a week writing mine):
Me: So here's my discussion- would you mind having a look at the headings and see if I'm on the right lines please?
Sup: No, no, this isn't really right- you don't need to include sections X. Y and Z. You need to start again really.
Me. Oh, right. Well I looked at my office mate's thesis as suggested and based mine on the structure she used.
Sup: Well I don't really like that discussion. You shouldn't be looking at that as an example.
Me: Right. Thanks.

Arrrgh! I'm sure it's not just my sup but these profs are like the kings and queens of contradictions!
Any other sups just like mine?!! KB

Hi Bluespace- I can't answer all of your queries I'm afraid, but fairly recently a prof from my department moved universities and his staff and PhD students were given the option to either move with him to the new university or be happy to have long-distance supervision from him as well as a new supervisor at the current uni. That was a situation out of their control really, so I can't say what the options would be if you actually wanted to change supervisor because you found one that you thought might be better! That might not be so straightforward! KB

Loads of luck Pineapple- really hoping for some good news from you on Friday. Your supervisors are not your examiners so go in there and wow the ones that matter! Best, KB

Hi! It depends as well on how much input your sup had on your masters project. Was the idea for the project yours and did you design the study yourself? Did she comment on drafts or just the overall grade at the end? If she designed the study and you just followed the protocol then I think she would need to be an author. Equally, if she had a lot of involvement in the thesis write-up then she should probably be an author- even though you've written the paper yourself, if your thesis was influenced heavily by her feedback/input then this will be evident in your paper still. If you're not sure then ask another member of staff who supervises masters students and see what his/her response is! Best, good luck with the submission! KB

Hi Ap1303! I think it's definitely a positive thing- they obviously think you are capable of doing a PhD and would like to have you on board. It looks like they're trying to find extra funding for you- they may be applying to research councils but this would take a long time so it could be that they are trying to get the department/university to fund you. Quite few people in my year are funded by the department, and when I applied for a external scholarship for my PhD my sup had a word with the department and they then offered to fund my PhD if I didn't win the scholarship- in the end I got the scholarship, but obviously there was a bit of extra funding floating around for people. It depends on the subject and the department (some departments dont fund any PhD students themselves), but my guess is they're trying to squeeze some funding from the department for you. Good luck with it! KB

Hi Healthpsych! I'm a final year PhD-er in clinical psych, and although my research project was initially all quantitative, I deliberately added a small qualitative study too, because I wanted to have experience with both. Lots of people have no idea how rigorous qualitative work is, so you might have to get used to a few ignorant individuals making derisory comments about qualitative work, if that's what you stick to. Although I was initially quite ignorant about what qualitative work involved, having conducted a qual study I really appreciate how valuable this type of research is now. When it comes to publishing there are some journals that will turn their noses up at qualitative work, but you get to know which journals these are, and there are some especially for qualitative work anyway. I had no problems getting my qual study published, even though it was quite small. Just one word of warning- in terms of a career in academia (if that's what you want!), then you are going to limit yourself somewhat if you can only do qualitative work. Most posts will require evidence of a good background in statistics, and very few posts are purely qualitative (from what I can see- I am job-searching at the moment). I really would be very wary of doing no quantitative work at all- I can appreciate that stats can be a bit scary, but presumably there will be support in the form of statistical advisors/workshops/drop-in slots in addition to guidance from your supervisor at PhD level, so I would definitely consider brushing up your skills whilst you still have the time and resources!

In relation to the work question- if you are gathering a lot of data (I don't know a single PhD student at our department whose PhD isn't based on empirical work), then it is going to take a lot of your time to do so, especially end of first year, all of second year, beginning of third year. If you bear in mind that you will also be writing, entering data etc then I think you will struggle to fit in a full time job as well, especially if you plan on finishing within 3 years. A full time PhD in psychology takes more time than a full time job, and again, if you want a career in academia then you are going to need to get some of that work published and presented at conferences. Flexible part-time job, maybe, but full time I think would be impossible (or at least in this subject- where the PhD is entirely literature-based then it's probably more do-able).

Good luck! KB

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Hi Dafydd! I empathise with you- my participants are a clinical sample and recruitment has been very difficult. It is very common in my area of research to use some sort of financial incentive (clinical psychology). I didn't because I didn't have the funds to do it, but a lot of the bigger non-
PhD studies in my team pay participants in either cash or vouchers. I have also been paid to take part in other clinical research in the department- I actually didn't want to take the cash but the researcher insisted I took it or else I would be 'different' than the other participants and it would mess up his write-up!

I think one thing worth bearing in mind is that to some extent, all people who participate in research voluntarily might be different from those who decline, in terms of personality characteristics and motives for taking part amongst other things. This is something I have had to acknowledge in my work. Unfortunately, since I can't force everyone with a particular diagnosis to participate in my research, there is absolutely no way of getting around that one! So even if you don't use financial incentives then this would be an issue. I suppose whether you decide to use financial incentives or not might depend on your research participants and what the aim of your study is- is the incentive of money to attract your participants likely to attract people who might be different in respect to something you are investigating? If for example you were investigating how hard up students are during their undergrad degree then obviously paying people to take part would skew your sample and affect your results. But if it's completely unrelated then there might not be any harm in doing so. Certainly in the clinical research undertaken in my department offering cash for people to take part has never been questioned or made an issue of by reviewers or other researchers etc.

Either way- good luck with your recruitment. I don't know who you are recruiting but is there any way you could make the invitation more personal? My participants are recruited through clinics, but the initial invitation to participate actually comes from their consultant rather than the researcher, and then the contact details are passed on if they consent to being contacted by the researcher. This seems to work quite well, particularly since their consultant (my second sup) is lovely so they all like to feel as though they're helping him out!

Best, KB

Hey Karac! I'm in exactly the same boat as you- 4 months to go and emotions all over the place!

I posted on here last week because I kept bursting into tears, yet this week I've not been as bad...logically I know things aren't too bad and I've got plenty of time to finish off etc, but it's the what-ifs that haunt me! I think part of my emotional rollercoaster is the uncertaintly of what happens after the PhD, when in reality I should just be concentrating on getting the PhD to start with. Got a meeting with the statistician tomorrow and I'm nervous about that- the last thing I need is to be told my analyses are dodgy or something.

So you are not alone!
Best, KB