Hi,

I have two pharmacist friends and so I get to hear their moans and groans regularly. They say that there's now too many pharmacists being trained and so not enough pre-registration places or hospital or community jobs any more. If they are correct then I imagine, quite a few people will be thinking like you and so it might indeed be rather competitive to get a funded PhD place. I think if you're looking long term at industry, you want to be careful in thinking through what MSc might be the best next step, if you do go that way. It might be worth looking at trends in the industry and trying to ascertain what are the growth areas and choosing accordingly.

I think things are very different in the sciences (at least where lab work is involved and so PhDs are used more as research assistants) than elsewhere. I'm in the social sciences and the university that employs me has told us to decrease the number of PhD students as we apparently actually lose money on the PhD programmes. We are now being extremely selective - at a time when PhD applications have rocketed, the last figures I saw suggested that we were rejecting about 80%. I don't think some of the reasons others have given work for us either. In my area, it's fairly rare for PhD students to publish with their supervisors, and any publications they have on their own don't count for the REF (and only REF-able publications benefit the university). Student complaints about PhD students teaching them are also going up massively. I teach a first year module and have just this morning fielded a phone call from a furious parent claiming that their child had only failed because of being taught by an unqualified person (not true at all but there was no way it could be the student's fault). I have a strong suspicion that in an era of £9k undergraduate fees that it will not be defensible above first year level for much longer. The really sad thing is that our PhD students get paid the same as other hourly paid lecturers and there is a long queue of people with PhDs desperate to teach for us, so it's not really a problem if they do stop PhD students teaching.

One problem is that if graduate schemes are sifting on the basis of having a 2:1 first degree, then your postgraduate degrees don't get you past that point - it's often an automatic reject so an LSE / imperial MSc won't change that. Like the others, I'm not convinced adding yet another qualification to your cv is going to make the difference you think it will. You say you have work experience in your home country - is it worth trying to either get a foot in the door there and try to move into a UK-based job in a couple of years, or targetting firms that do significant business with that country so that that experience is of direct value? Or try something less competitive to get some work experience on your cv.
Do you need a work permit? If so, the government changes are making it really hard to hire anyone needing one so that may also be a problem.

You don't need to go straight from undergrad into a PhD so you might be better served to wait to apply for another academic year until you have a stronger transcript at the end of your degree. If your academic record isn't going to be the strongest, some industrial experience might also be helpful. I'd strongly suggest having a talk with a tutor about your plans at the start of next term and get some advice on your plans.

OP - if unsuccessful I'd get as much feedback as you can, and if the feedback is about things you could improve eg not your past academic record but your proposal or something, then I'd be inclined to take a year out and reapply.

One thing I don't think anyone's mentioned yet but that really messed up a couple of friends who self-funded p/t PhDs was the inability to get a job that pays well enough to cover surviving and the tuition fees. Particularly with the economy how it is, it's not a given if you're not already in a decent job. NMW jobs are survivable of course but fees and any fieldwork costs on top were the downfall for them.

I'd think you might be OK then but conventions vary quite a bit between subjects. If you wanted to be on the safe side, you could wait until next week when your 2nd supervisor has been told, and then ask him/her.

I think it might depend on your funding situation. If you publish data that was generated using funding from a larger project especially in a lab, you might need to include the supervisor if that was who got the grant. I'd try and seek advice if you are in that situation.

It's ok to give the same paper twice (although it will look a bit odd on your cv) but not to publish it twice. Try googling the name of the conference and proceedings and see if they do publish them before getting too worried. It's quite discipline specific - in some fields it's very rare, in others common.

Get some scales for weighing luggage and be clear about your airline's rules on luggage as this is the time when you want to carry as much as you can. I've moved country a couple of times and it is tricky. Ship your books, any furniture, kitchen stuff - use this as a time to clear out unwanted things but don't be too ruthless. It takes a while for your shipped stuff to arrive, normally just about the time when the novelty has worn off and homesickness kicks in, so it can be really nice to find some reminders of home in your boxes. You might want to go on expat websites and find out what products people really miss and if shippable stick some supplies in.
For the luggage that comes with you, think through where you will be living at first eg do you need to pack 1 set of bedding and towels, and then your daily routine. What do you need to wear for work and at home? What do you need to make sure is on your laptop / memory stick to ensure that you can start work? Any medication needed? What do you like doing outside work - what can you pack to allow you to continue those things in Australia? And pack a few little things that will make you feel at home - photos etc. It might feel like a waste of space but the feel-good factor on arrival is amazing. Ask expat forums about electrical goods - what is worth taking and what is better to buy cheaply there. And then documents - make sure you have certificates, ID documents, details of bank stuff etc. It's amazing what you will need.
Don't forget to tell the inland revenue you're leaving - you'll probably be due a tax rebate. Ditto council tax, utilities, give notice to your landlord etc. It's that stuff that I always nearly forgot to do!

Hyperborean,

I'm going to dissent slightly as I work in a similar discipline to you and think it works differently for us because we have to write our own proposals for postdocs and apply directly to lectureships post-PhD. Unlike the examples below for science, you will almost certainly need to get your first job and publications in the field of your PhD. To try to claim expertise in a different field without publications / teaching experience to back it up, is likely to be a non-starter simply because the job market is so overcrowded that universities have no need to take chances. Once employed hoewver, while you might need to keep teaching Ethics (as I understand it's popular with undergrads) you can gradually shift focus without a problem, so long as you keep generating strong publications. The way most people do this is to find ways of linking the two areas initially and then move across.

Harry where are you applying for postdocs? If it's in Britain then it would be normal to have your supervisors as references and while it's always poliite to ask for their permission, it is a part of their job so I doubt they would refuse (even if they are not prepared to write a good reference for some reason then they will at least confirm your PhD is near completion and the topic). As sneaks says in the British system references are unlikely to be a particularly important part of the decision. But not giving any names to be approached for references is a very bad idea as it basically says that you think that no-one in the academic community is prepared to support your application. If though you're in N America, I understand that reference letters are sent with the application and are viewed as very important. You have to have them and they need to be good. In that case, I think you need to think through all the possibilities carefully and approach those most likely to be supportive and reliable.

My younger sister was a student there until about two years ago. It's a pretty safe city with low crime levels - probably one of the safeest big British cities. So I wouldn't worry too much. From what I can remember from visiting her Jesmond / West Jesmond / Sandyford / Quayside / Gosforth / Heaton / Fenham (in descending order of rent price) were the student areas. Avoid the West End eg Elswick - we got lost there once and it was seriously dodgy, I didn't think Byker was that bad but it wouldn't be my first choice. I would suggest contacting the University accommodation office - my sister rented a flat through them in her second and third year and you had the assurance that the housing met certain standards and that the landlords weren't really dodgy. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/accommodation/private/nustudenthomes/ for details. I seem to remember my sister also saying something about the student union having some sort of list of good agencies - it might be worth looking on their website. I'd be careful about renting anything online sight unseen - there are some dodgy people out there.

You might want to have a look at http://versatilephd.com/ - it might help generate some ideas. Given the new fees I think teaching is going to be more and more important, so if it doesn't appeal then I think you're probably making the best chioce for you. There is no point doing a job that makes you miserable. For fellowships, you're probably looking at Leverhulme as the best source - they're hideously competitive but someone has to get one.

I think this is a very common thing especially as a thesis nears completion, and not something to panic about. Your supervisor is trying to second guess the criticisms that the examiners could make and forestalling them. It's also when they start seeing full draft chapters, or even worse the draft thesis that they start spotting inconsistencies that need sorting out. Think of it this way - would you prefer it that they told you everything is good and then it got failed by the examiners? Better the criticism now so that you have more confidence going into the viva.I think it shows that you've got a supervisor, who wants to make sure you get through with the minimum amount of corrections, which while it might not be fun now, is probably something in a year's time, you'll thank him/her/them for!

Beth,

the key thing I think will be to compare the original report with the one failing the resubmission. Are they failing you on the basis that you did not respond to all the points in the first report in the resubmission to their satisfaction, or are they raising new issues? If it's new issues (assuming they are not obvious related to academic dishonesty) then I think you would have good grounds to appeal. Definitely go through the reports with your supervisor and whoever has overall responsibiilty for PhD students in your subject. I'm guessing the professor who proofread it for you is a close friend or family member (as I can't imagine anyone else voluntarily proofreading a thesis!) but if you think he can take a step back and evaluate the report objectively then ask him too. Then I think like others have said, if there are grounds to appeal, you need to make sure you understand the process and treat it as if it was a court case. Rely on facts not feelings - try to think like a lawyer when assembling your case.
I'm not sure it's a good idea to try and submit it overseas. I have no doubt that there are some dodgy diploma mills out there that would do it, but then you wouldn't want to put that name on your cv. I'm fairly sure nowhere reputable would do it. I have one last thought - you say your academic career is established & flourishing so I presume you have good publications - if this is irrecoverable, might it be worth investigating the PhD by publication root? I know some universities have this for staff only but it might be worth checking if anywhere is open to others doing it.