Hi there MissusMop,

Try this website for information on net wages after tax/NI http://www.listentotaxman.com/index.php

My advice, for what it's worth, is to call HMRC and talk to them about it. They are really the only people that can advise you properly. From my own experience, the law will be applied fairly depending on your personal circumstances, so it's better to know the true situation rather than spend time worrying about it. In my own experience, searching forums for advice on this sort of thing only leads to confusion and stress (that may just be my personality though!)

I hope you can get the information you need, and well done on getting the post!

Hi there,

I just wanted to chime in at this point. I think that shuffling working hours around to make time for the PhD is a good idea...

I would caution against using sick leave though. It is not as difficult to dismiss someone for being off sick as wowzers post suggests (sorry wowzers I am not trying to be argumentative, please don't take it as that, as I realise you are suggesting it as a last resort anyway). It is relatively easy for an employer to argue a case that an employee cannot fulfill their duties as laid out in their contract due to sickness, even if they have a valid medical certificate. Of course, this all has to be done through official routes with written confirmations, chance to arrange union representative or independent representative etc. but this process can be surprisingly swift.

I do not mean to cause friction here, but I just wanted to caution against going down the sick leave route during what is already a stressful time.

All the best, and hope you work it out.

Hi redmond89,

It is obviously entirely up to you what you do, but I personally think you would be making a mistake to turn down a fully funded place when the situation at Uni B sounds so indefinite (what are the chances of enough people turning down scholarships to make way for you? how far down the alternates list are you?) From past experience, a place on the waiting list is as good as a 'no'. I would take the offer at Uni A and work with the topic and supervisor as I would for any other job (calmly, thoughtfully, professionally etc. etc.)

Best of luck with making your decision xx

Treeoflife - good for you, that's also a valid perspective, it's just different to mine :-)

Eeek! Maybe a translation error?!

I agree with Reenie and will add:

I often quit surveys if it asks me irrelevant questions. So if a survey about iphone apps asks me my gender and marital status I will immediately quit. Equally, if a survey assumes information about me based on gender, age etc I will quit.

If gender is relevant, but I am given only a male/female option I will quit. The same if I'm asked my marital status and there is not a 'other' or 'no answer' box.

If a survey is poorly worded, difficult to understand, contains spelling and grammatical errors I will quit.

Finally, if a survey says "This will take 15 minutes" and 16 minutes in I have still not finished I will quit.

That's not to say that your survey has these issues, but just stating reasons why I quit surveys without finishing them.

Is there a particular compelling reason why you don't want this supervisor? (It seems to me that 'never wanting someone to supervise me' is really saying 'I don't like them' rather than 'I don't think they are a suitable supervisor').
I have heard of people asking for a different MA supervisor before, but to be honest, the time spent on the MA dissertations in the UK (usually about 4 to 6 months) is so short that I'd advise sticking with who you are assigned.
There are probably very good reasons why you have been assigned that supervisor, and asking to change could be a lot of hassle for you and them.
I also suggest checking how much time your supervisor is expected to put aside for your supervision. If it's only a few hours, I would seriously just get on with the dissertation and not make any trouble.

I am no expert but I would say:

What I want to do
Why I want to do it
How I am going to do it

A minute on each with 30 seconds intro and 30 secs conclusion. That gives you a minute spare to breathe between sections and smile.
Although I presume they will have read it, this is your chance to give them an idea of how passionate you are about the topic, and how well you cope under pressure. Hope it goes well xx

Hi there,
Just to offer my two cents - the resentment that would result from you quitting the PhD in an attempt to make him feel happier would grow into a far bigger beast in your relationship than facing this head on straight away. IMO, and I know it is just that, you can't live your life to make other people happy, as you will eventually grow to hate yourself. I agree with satchi that your partner's unhappiness is less likely to be about you and your PhD and more to do with the way he feels about his job. Try not to confuse his unhappiness with your own feelings of empathy for him being in a bad place right now.
Hope you both take care and work things out xx

Hi Montanita,

Maybe I over-did my point, apologies for that. I understand skimming and do it myself when needed, I just think its important for the OP not to feel pressured to read at a certain pace that may affect concentration and worsen what already sounds like a bit of a panic situation. Everyone reads at their own pace is my main point, and although skimming may be a good strategy at certain times, another good strategy is just to relax and go at your own pace :-) I don't know about you, but once I get into that panic frame of mind nothing goes in my brain anyway! haha.

Hi there,

I too am a slow reader - it takes me about 3 or 4 days to read a full book and I can read about 3 papers a day if I am really going for it. At first this used to make me panic a lot, because others around me would say that was slow. However, IMO part of the literature review process is getting to grips with what you're reading, not just skimming it and mining for quotes or facts. If it takes me a little longer to read than others I try not worry because at least I know I can talk about pretty much everything I read and understand how it all fits together. If my supervisors says "What did you think of X", I can give my opinion and link it to things that Y and Z may have said, which I think is more useful than just clocking up a massive bibliography which I have only skimmed. Personally, I think the first year is the only time you will have to read in this way (broadly, whilst thinking and processing what you've read), so I am trying to make the most of it.

Well, that's my approach anyway. I may well be wrong, but as Mark Twain said "Comparison is the death of joy".

Hi Claire,

Having studied my Master's part-time, I have some things you may find helpful, but I think a lot of it you will figure out along the way.

The issue I have found to be hardest to deal with is that the majority of your course mates are going to be full time students, not working, and probably most of them will be doing the master's right after their undergrad. You can't manage your time and workload in the same way they do, so don't even try. They might be able to get away with drinks after lectures, but I had to manage my expectations regarding the social side of things and understand that I couldn't go with them all the time. Also, as they won't be there as long as you, you'll have new people to meet, friendships to form and working relationships to develop as one intake leaves and the next comes along. I found that quite tough.

As for work/life balance, I agree with the sentiment of pjlu, and my advice is to guard your time. I mean really GUARD it, like a lion or something equally scary. You're going to have so many time pressures in your life that you will need to be selective with what you say yes to. I made a habit of setting aside one day every week that was 'my time', when I only did what I wanted to do at my own pace, and nothing else. If you're anything like me, its quite hard to say no to things but this is a word you may well get quite used to saying.

Studying part-time is the best thing I ever did. There have been a few tough moments, but the good points far, far outweigh the bad and I would do it all over again.

Good luck!