Overview of Mackem_Beefy
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i can't focus ;(
You've just started. I know this is early, but can you suspend studies for a few months to at least deal with the family problems and reasses the situation come January?
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
I will add to the above that most people need a 'running in' period and all projects are different. It may be yours takes a little more background reading and work than others.
I wouldn't sit at the literature review solidly, as you can find if you do that you stop taking information in - let's face it, literature review can be a daunting, boring task. Do a bit reading then when your head is done in, go off and do a little preparation or other early work on your PhD research if possible. It would be genuinely helpful will be if you do something related to what you've just read, depending on you structure your approach. A properly structured day with time out for yourself is important too at this early stage. I disappeared to the gym on a lunchtime for example.
I was lucky I got off to a flier and started generating original data straight away (science / engineering based), thus I had less of the running in period of literature review that for me was an ongoing process. That made the early stages far more palatable.
As regards my earlier remarks, I've no idea how bad your family issues are and you are the best judge of that. If it is something that can seriously impact on your life and PhD, then it is better if possible to deal with these sooner rather than later. You've three or more years of PhD ahead of you, which is a sizeable demand on you in itself.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
i can't focus ;(
You've just started. I know this is early, but can you suspend studies for a few months to at least deal with the family problems and reasses the situation come January?
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Is there any way for new PhDs to actually get jobs / post-docs?!
I'll also add having a fairly large number of publications didn't really help me that much as I ended up outside academia, where there is indeed a general lack of understanding of what a PhD actually is. In my case, trying to sell it as "a highly technical materials engineering project with potential future ramifications for transport technology" was still not enough to overcome the stuffy, ivory tower perception of a PhD.
That said, I would still do a PhD if I could turn the clock back as I really wanted to take one on and for the right reasons (the chance to do a challenging research project that would add original, ground-breaking data and information to my chosen field) though I would be a little more careful with my choice of post-docs.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Is there any way for new PhDs to actually get jobs / post-docs?!
I read your predicament and see myself only six years ago. For me it was find a job, any job, whether in academia or the real world - that was despite being from a science / engineering background. My situation was compounded by a very bad second post-doc experience (they employed me, didn't actually want me, but were stuck with me as I'd signed the contract), meaning I didn't have a reference from that position. I also live in a bad unemployment area and personal reasons meant I couldn't move.
I agree that people do PhDs with little guidance as to what follows and not realising there is little prospect of a post-doc after. There is an oversupply of PhD graduates for available post-doc positions and if you want to return to the real world, then you have to overcome the labels "overqualified, will get bored" and "will be away the moment something better comes along".
I don't regret my PhD, though it has been of no benefit to my now real world life.
General points:
1) Persevere - keep trying and don't give up.
2) As mentioned, look outside your field. Is there something else you can do with your skills set? Many people end up in jobs that do not match their Uni. skills set.
3) Loot at your CV and see what your main selling points are to a prospective employer, both general and specific to the job you are applying for. Taylor your CV and cover letter to focus on the qualities you have that you feel would bring something to the job. If you've significant works experience prior to your PhD, bring this to the fore for a non-academic job moving the focus away from your PhD.
4) You mention the words 'cultural' and 'empirical'. How about 'quantitive' and 'qualitative'? Is there any extra training that could give you extra empirical, quantative skills?
5) Talk to your Uni. careers office, who may be able to give you more specific advice.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Two masters- makes any sense?
Hi everyone,
I am studying a Masters in Philosophy after years working in another field and would like to apply for a PhD to pursue a job in academia (yeah, good luck with the Humanities... I know). Problem is, and I have read this in a couple of threads, I will have to apply before January/February for any hope of getting funding. With an undergrad in a not very good foreign Uni, in a different field and with a 2:1, should I just give up hope and wait for a year until I have my (hopefully brilliant) Masters results?
I really don't want to do that because I am 29, so I was thinking of applying for another masters in a lower-ranking uni and see if I can get funding for that. I am now in a top-10 UK university and one of the options I had in mind was Reading. I really like their graduate program but I am worried it will affect my career later. Another question I have is whether funding options are better in low-ranking universities -as I won't be able to self-fund.
As you see, there are many questions in one. Any advice would be really welcome as I'm completely lost.
Thanks a lot!
You are 29? I started PhD at 30. Do what is right for you and don't worry about a number.
A 2(i) plus a relevant Masters is more than enough for consideration for a funded PhD. I would start looking at PhDs. Concentrate on ensuring you do your best possible with your current Masters. You will probably gain conditional offers, however.
Alternatively, complete your Masters and apply for next year, hopefully finding short term emplloyment in the interim period. An already obtained Masters is probably a stronger selling point.
Take a look at my blog for more information including what I know of funding and funding bodies (link below).
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Should I tell my supervisor about someone else's plagiarism?
First make sure first that the material being presented wasn't the product of some kind of collaboration that the presenter was legitimately involved in, or that he had permission from the researchers to present the material. You could probably only find out this from the researchers whose work you say the presenter plagiarised. If it's a provable case of the researchers' material being plagiarised then the researchers will probably want to be the people to make the decision on what action to take.
Additionally, if the researchers who were being plagerised were to 'get together' to complain, then the University would see it was a real problem and not a 'trouble maker' complaining about someone else over an isolated incident or 'one-on-one' problem. 'Moving on' multiple complainants at the same time as dealing with a wrong doer just isn't feasible.
Sorry about sounding so cynical about University politics. :-/
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Help! Should I get this Mphil?
If your health and the wellbeing of your family are now major issues, then perhaps you are making the right decision.
It's clear from this last message you have no further heart for it. Looking at your 'either job or PhD' remark, it seems it was just an option rather than a passion or desire for research. Whilst I know of one person who passed after drifting into a PhD but had no passion for it, it is a lot harder to see it through if your heart was not in it from the beginning - most people of this frame of mind tend to quit fairly quickly.
Many decide academia is not for themonce well into the PhD but see the PhD through. Both my predecessors were of that frame of mind. That said, you describe an absolutely miserable situation and I thus feel perhaps the best is for you to call it a day.
If you can at least see through the next three months to gain an MPhil, at least you'll have something to show for your time.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Help! Should I get this Mphil?
Two years is not long to be honest and you are 28. You'll still have career opportunities at 30 as you do now. A PhD just doesn't happen and is a long slog for most of us whatever happens. People need to realise this before they start and want to be there for the right reasons. Ask yourself again why you wanted to do a PhD.
The self-funding is a big issue. Did you not investigate funding when you started? You could ask what funding options are available for the next year or even two years.
You're talking about settling for an MPhil when you've already a Masters. I've two Masters pre-dating my PhD in different areas (long story) and to me it is how you sell your skills to a potential employer. If the sales pitch is right, then the MPhil can be seen as an asset alongside your original Masters.
It's your decision whether you quit and you know yourself how you feel. Will the extra year and £7,000 take you over the line for a viable thesis? Talk again to your supervisor about your progress and where you're at.
If you really feel it's not viable to carry on or you do not feel it is right for you, then perhaps you need to quit for you and your family's sake. However, it's coming across as perhaps others are moving on with their lives and you are still stuck with the PhD. Why worry about what other people think? Do you think that at a given age you should be at a certain point of your life and the PhD is holding you up?
I came back at 30 from the real world for a PhD to do some original ground-breaking science, giving up a reasonably paid job to do it. I didn't worry about what I "should" be doing, but because it was right for me. I finished aged 34 and age just didn't matter.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Doctorate / PHD query
You really don't understand what a PhD is, reading the above. If you're not prepared to "learn too much", I doubt you will achieve the "original contribution and addition of new knowledge to your field" that is required of a PhD. It is a marathon, not a sprint.
Take a look at my blog for my take on things and then think again.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Should I tell my supervisor about someone else's plagiarism?
Really tricky. If they have delivered this at conference then others might pick up that it's not their own work. I get that you are worried if your sup doesn't pick up on it and it comes to light it might reflect badly on the department but it should have no bearing on our PhD. I guess you might be worried about having your reputation damaged by association (plus you might like your sup and want to protect them) but I think it would be really remote that this would happen. Not the ethical thing to do I suppose but I would probably distance myself from this. Whilstelblowing can still cause more damage to the whistelblowers reputation than the reputation of the unethical party! Unfortunately :(
Yup, my own supervisor openly said to another person after I finished (I happened to be in the room doing something else) that Universities tended to close ranks against whistleblowers. I've seen freeze out tactics used not just for whistleblowers, but for people that were considered surplus to requirements or "in the way of other's plans".
There was a beauty of a story from a German University about the treatment of a whistle blower there. A student was faking data and a senior academic realised this after the student was awarded his PhD. As the University decided to award the student for an outstanding contribution to his field, the academic questioned the student's results. The academic twice fell ill and although it could not be proven beyond doubt, it was suspected a substance had been put in the academic's coffee by the spiteful student. In order to cover up the incident, the student was allowed to keep his PhD and awards. The academic was 'moved on' and in his own words is trying to live a 'quiet' existence in another German University (i.e. not rock the boat or draw attention to his past).
I'll try to look for the link to the article.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Two Discouraging Verdicts on Publications
Is the impact rating that important anymore? When most of us look for papers we use the internet to search for papers relevant to our topics of research, then download and read them with a cursory nod at most as to which journal they were printed in.
I personally think in the days of the internet, too much attachment is made to impact ratings. I'm more interested in the quality of the document and there's some decent documents with good research even in lower impact journals.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
work full time, part-time PhD that I don't like - REALLY need advice
A full time job with a part time PhD will mean you have very little time to yourself. I do not envy your position.
Can you obtain a suspension of say six months to take time out from your PhD? I'd suggest you use such a period to consider if you actually want to continue with your PhD. I note you are some way off finishing and seem to have taken four years just to reach what I see as the mid-point stage.
Possible options include:
1) Gaining a sabbatical from your job to have a real go at your PhD. However, time for your sabbatical may be limited.
2) If you gave up your job, could you obtain a bursary or sponsorship to financially sustain yourself.
3) Settling for an MPhil or MRes and writing up for that. However, you already have a Masters.
4) Consider giving up the PhD and getting your life back. However, you may find yourself wondering "What if?".
I cannot give you a definitive answer as to what you should do. You know your situation and how you feel. However, I sense you consider the current situation as unsustainable.
Have you talked to student counseling or a friendly colleague?
I'll finish by saying you need a life outside work and with the workload you currently have, you may find your health may suffer if you continue with the workload (full time job plus part time PhD) you have.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Helping out other PhD Students
The project a PhD student undertakes is the PhD student's project. Bar bits of general advice, it is not up to you to do their project for them. When I was doing my PhD, I expected minimal input from other students and post-docs with the main interaction as regards guidance being with my supervisors. Whilst I expected to be shown the ropes by my predecessor and others, it was very much a case helping me to help myself.
If there are problems with supervisors, then lending an ear is okay as regards how to resolve any situation and sometimes some students do need help as regards supervisor or colleague relationships. You may want to give general help as regards how to handle a given member of staff (such as a supervisor), but you should avoid becoming directly involved in any disputes for your own sake. It can become too easy to be identified with a 'problem person' if the dispute blows up and find yourself tarred with the same brush.
Unless the other student became a personal friend of mine, I would not be calling by their house on a weekend to discuss a problem. Keep any interaction within Uni. ours if this person is just a colleague and not a friend.
Can I ask if you are a woman? I note the other student from your message is male. Could his demands on your time be because he has developed some sort of attachment to you? If so, tread carefully.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Viva date too far away
Hi wowzers. I have been in contact with prospective employers and they have stated that I should complete my PhD prior to starting working for them (whether this means viva + corrections I don't know yet). I think to most people it won't matter that certificate says june 14 instead of 13, but personally I find the whole thing very frustrating. I have had a very tough year, with 2 deaths and a cancer to deal with. 1 month prior submission my grandfather became seriously ill and sadly passed away 1 week prior to submission, which was seriously difficult for me to deal with but I put all efforts into making sure I made the deadline. And for all that effort, and some serious unfairness I have experienced over the past 4 years of PhD, I am very unpleased and angry at the way the situation has been dealt with. Obviously if I knew I wouldn't get awarded 'till June 14, I may have not submitted when I did, considering the personal hardship I was experiencing.
At my Uni., if you decided NOT to go through with the graduaton ceremony then you would just have your certificate posted to you when it was ready. This may be quicker for you and you can but ask.
However, after your viva and once you have carried out any corrections (if any corrections are minor and do not require a further viva) you will receive a confirmation letter that you are being awarded the PhD. This should be sufficient proof for your employers that you have satisfied conditions for PhD prior to you receiving the certificate. I received this letter 13 days after minor corrections were approved.
As regards your bigoted colleague, I would complain as a parting shot once you've been awarded your PhD. However, ensure you do not need employment references from the Uni. before you do.
I also had a long wait for viva with my supervisor hosting a seminar. I used it as extra preparation time for my viva.
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
Should I tell my supervisor about someone else's plagiarism?
I'm tempted to say stay out of this, as I've found out the hard way that if your face doesn't fit or you upset the status quo you're just as likely to be frozen or edged out as the guilty party. To carry through a complaint, you need solid, irrefutable proof of what is happening. If you don't, knowing Universities, you yourself can end up labelled a trouble maker.
However, there's the possibility he/she is going to claim someone else's findings as his / her own and damage this other person as well and that just isn't right.
Is there anyway of anonymously letting your or their supervisor know, or someone else in the department, this is happening?
Ian (Mackem_Beefy)
