======= Date Modified 17 Aug 2010 20:22:11 =======

This is a tough question Nakatoy and it is the subject of much debate! There are no hard and fast rules, so the final choice will have to be yours. But I'd been asking the same question for a long time, and from the various academics that I spoke to about this, my final conclusion is that "it's a bit of both" and "every little counts"!. Meaning, if you do an amazing job at your PhD, then that puts you in good stead. If you also managed to do it with a brilliant sup, then even better! Now if you add an excellent list of publications to that, and top it off by having worked with a great group, and at a world-renowned uni, then you're laughing. I tend to consider each of these components important:

- a good supervisor (i.e. a nice person!)
- a supervisor with a good academic reputation and standing.
- a good group/lab/department/faculty (in terms of environment and reputation)
- a good university
- a good PhD programme
- a good PhD project/topic
- a good list of publications at good journals
- a good teaching portfolio (if that's the avenue ou want to take in future).

Very few PhD-ers will have all of them. Think of them as 'brownie-points' - the more you have, the better. But remember that few people have all of them. So, all of those components are important and each makes a difference in its own way. I know one person who has managed to obtain all of them and she is (obviously) a rising star in her field. That doesn't mean that others who don't match her didn't get a job! Good thing is, you can compensate for one missing component by working on strengthening another (e.g. not so renowned group, but can offer you loads of teaching experience vs. internationally renwoned group but no teaching opportunities. If you want to teach in future, go with the first but then work on publishing in good journals to make up for the small group). The real question is, which one of them matters the most to you and which one doesn't. If getting into a world-class uni comes at the expense of living somewhere really awaful, will you be able to stomach it? What about if you're living in a lovely city but the environment in the department is not that great? Different things appeal to different people, I think. If you can have all of them - have you're cake and eat it - then go for it! But if not, then you have to do a balancing act and see what counts most for you.

Depends how much reading and research you've done already. When I've done the reading, I can write approx. 1500-2500 per day of usable material. So 10-20K words will take about 2 weeks to write up. You can do it. Go for it!

======= Date Modified 16 Aug 2010 21:46:05 =======
I've been working 20 hours per week so far and studying the rest of the time, which means no social life. But I guess if you're desparate to do a Phd (like me), then you'll cope. I've chosen a job that's flexible and which allows me to do overt-time when I have extra time and need extra cash. Try and look into teaching posts too. Most departments offer PhD students some teaching work on their undergraduate programmes. The benefits are two-fold: you earn cash and you gain teaching experience (which'll come in handy when you'll be job hunting after your PhD). Ask the research students' administrator/professor at your department if there are any such opportunities coming up. If there aren't any, let them know you're keen and ask them to keep you in mind as and when there is room for you to teach.

======= Date Modified 16 Aug 2010 01:42:51 =======
Not all academic circles. Even non-Marxists will still have to admit that Marx's critique of capitalism is pretty accurrate. One may not agree with his proposed alternative (Marxism) but that's another story. I don't think you're old-fashioned at all, and come to think about it, trench coats and polo necks aren't either ;-)

======= Date Modified 12 Aug 2010 18:06:15 =======

Hi Phd_Girl,

No need to panic - this matter can be resolved providing you keep an email trail. First, universities are under obligation to report to the UKBA (UK Border Agency) not because the student can't be working away from the UK. Working away from university (in your home country) as far as I know is not a problem for UKBA, but might be a problem for Registry and your department. Some universities require a minimum of (face-to-face) contact time between the student and supervisor in order to allow the student to progress from one academic year to the other. Registry might be hitting the roof about this in particular. If their regulations state that you should do your phD in a minimum of 36 months full-time (as is the case at my uni), then they also expect a minimum x amount of contact time with your supervisor each year. So it sounds like Registry are now not willing to count the time that you've spent in your country as part of this required 36 months where you had to be registered as a full-time student. This might be why they're asking you and your department to compensate for your absence from uni by adding another 12 months to your registration period before you can submit.

With regards to UKBA, there have been tighter monitoring procedures implemented recently requiring universities to report an international student's attendance regularly to the government. The whole point of introducing tougher measure is so that (as Bewildered mentioned) international students don't enrol onto universities courses but then work in the UK instead of studying (which is what they should be doing and what the student visa was issued for). Some students in the past came in with student visas but stopped attending their degrees and worked in the UK for that period instead. Universities did not report attendance to UKBA so a lot of students got away with it. Now things have changed and your attendance has to be reported regularly. You weren't in the UK so you couldn't have (obviously!) been working here, as your passport stamp will show. From that point of view, your university's not in trouble. What they may eventually get in trouble with UKBA for is if they've been reporting you as attending your degree the whole time you weren't. This will show that their system is inaccurate and will alarm the UKBA that they might have made similar mistakes in the case of other international students. But don't worry about this - it's really not your problem.

To enter the UK you can do so on a visitor's visa or a student visa - but don't try to obtain a visitor's visa and bypass Registry because your university's regulations might require you to be in the UK during the whole period of your degree (something your supervisor obviously didn't know). Did you keep an email of when she told you it was OK to study from your home country? If so, call the Head of your Department and explain to them what's happened. Tell them it was an error (they'd probably want to cover for your supervisor's error and help smooth things out with Registry) and that your supervisor though it was OK but now Registry say it isn't. Ask them for their help and ask them to let you know what you need to do next to resolve this. Keep an email trail (send this in writing and follow up by a phone call). That way, if push comes to shove, you can always show Registry that you did what you were told. It might turn out in the end that you don't have to do an extra 12 months in the UK; but if the university's regulations state that you must, then you may have to go along with it just to get your PhD done!

======= Date Modified 10 Aug 2010 20:18:27 =======
Hmmmm... Curious! Something similar happened to me recently, although the person replying to me was nice about it. But I do remember thinking what on earth is he doing being awake at this time of the night and reply to my email?! Then my other half reminded me that perhaps the Blackberry phenomena has hit the academic world; and that some faculty-members might have their emails diverted to their phones, beeping right into the early hours of the morning whenever someone (in the US or OZ) sends them an email - he he he he .... But even if this were the case, honesly Keenbean it's not your fault that she forgot to turn her phone off. May be she was in bed already when you emailed her (when her Blackberry beeped!) - this might explain the grumpy reply you got, but doesn't justify it. Blackberry or not, it's not your fault either way. Perhaps asks her next time you see her (and catch her in a good mood) whether she has her emails diverted to her mobile; let her know that (because you work soooooooo HARD during the day) you only get to check your emails late at night :-( and now that you know her emails go to her mobile phone, you'll avoid beeping her so late ;-)

You can find some good(ish) books on postgraduate research skills at most book shops and on Amazon. Some of them are specialised so you might find one for your particular field. If you're still at a loss, then speak to the postgraduate course director at the department where you're doing your MA. They are there to offer guidance on all aspects of your academic progress, including research skills. Most (though not all) MA degrees will also include one module on research skills; try and find out whether yours will be offering this.

Glad I could be of help. Good luck with the applications and do keep us posted on how things go. All the best.

p.s. forgot to say, some institution will accept your prposal as it is (initially) but suggest ways of narrowing it down later once you've enrolled onto the degree (i.e. the negotiation part takes place later). Others do it up front before they take you on (like this one). Both are standard practice, it just depends on the supervisor/department and how they like to do things. It is perfectly normal, therefore, to get a supervisor responding as this one did; it is equally normal for the potential student to voice his opinion as well. Don't worry, it shouldn't be treated as a 'death warrant' - it's simply 'negotiations' of the terms of your future contract ;-) Anyways, you're applying to do a PhD, which means that you should be able to - at this stage - demonstrate independent and original thinking, so of course you're allowed to sometimes disagree.

======= Date Modified 06 Aug 2010 11:04:24 =======
Well done for writing the proposal and getting the application underway. It's hard to comment on how this particular academic might respond to your reply.

As you mentioned, different academics will have different responses, so there’s no telling how this particular one will. Their response may depend on various things – e.g. is the suggestion to abandon the approach you’ve proposed simply one way of narrowing down your topic, or did they specifically suggest that the approaches won’t work? If the former, you can still negotiate (perhaps bypass Admissions, and just drop the academic an email with a brief alternative way of narrowing your research without abandoning the approaches). If the latter, well....I’m no legal expert, so you have to decide whether that just them not seeing what you see, or whether you think they might be right.

I know others might not agree with me, and there certainly are many whose experiences might counter what I’m about to say, but from a personal point of view I think that an ideal supervisor should be someone who knows what they’re doing, is known for it and (this is important, I think, at least) is enthusiastic and interested in their PhD student’s work. Don’t be afraid to be picky at this stage about who you want to work with; 3-5 years is a long time, so it’s reasonable to be picky. Then again, do allow for some flexibility since supervisors often suggest things we may not initially agree on, but which we may later be grateful for. Find the golden mean, hard as it may be!

What about the other institutions? Have they told you who’ll be supervising you? Did you check out their online profiles on the university’s website? How do you feel about those, and will they be equally as good? If yes, then go where they accept your proposal as it is. If not, and you specifically want to work with that particular academic who suggested you change your proposal, then it might be worth being flexible just to get them to say ‘yes’. But by all means, there’s nothing wrong with sending them an email at this stage and trying to negotiate things. It’s a long-term commitment for both of you, so you’d be totally justified in getting in touch with them.

You sure about this Sneaks? OK, here goes....

Got thesis back with corrections ALL over every page, but I probably mean over every single sentence. That's fine, I appreciate my sup's effort. Trouble is she thinks it'll take me two weeks to do it; having gone through it, I can definitely say it will take 5 weeks, at least - that should take me beyond the submission date. Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh....

The other thing is that I've recently developed an addiction to this postgrad forum. Is this: (a) because I no longer have friends and a social life to due to being a research student, or is it: (b) because I'm a lazy person who's simply trying to avoid doing work - or both?

Finally, I've put on a lot of weight since this whole degree started and it's really p*****g me off! It's not like I eat huge amounts, but the weight keeps piling on for some bizarre reason. Also, there's a fly colony in my study. It's hot so I keep the window open, but that's no invitation to annoying flies - they keep buzzing around me and it really breaks my concentration when I'm trying to focus really hard. Any suggestions?? (p.s. I've had a shower this morning, so no need to suggest that one).

Oh, and one more thing: have you guys been reading the news. It's depressing :-s I keep complaining about my life, but have you seen what's out there???!!! Ok. I think that'll do for now. Thanks Sneaks. My cat is meaowing for food now: it's just take, take, take in this world!

======= Date Modified 28 Jul 2010 17:19:14 =======

======= Date Modified 28 Jul 2010 17:13:38 =======
Yes, I did something similar. I'm doing the final polish now. I'd say allow a few days extra towards the end just in case one of the tasks takes longer than expected. Also, allow enough time for formatting the thesis, printing, binding, etc. - they do seem to take longer than one thinks they will. Are you using a software for the Bibilography or does it have to be all typed out by you? If the latter, allow a day to go over the references and Bibliography to make sure it's all OK. Best of luck (up)