Two thoughts which may or may not be of any use:
1) Try to think of when you last had to show the certificate for employment purposes - someone would possibly have photocopied it and it would be worth seeing if your staff file has the copy on it. If you could trace a copy you might be able to get the university to deal with it more easily.
2) Have you tried the actual registry at Glasgow Uni - if the college merged with it, the records must have gone somewhere and someone working there is more likely than your ex tutor to know where.

Oh and is there any chance the certificate is at your parents' house? That's where my GCSE certificates were tracked down...

How on earth are you spending twenty hours a week on two hours actual teaching (especially if you spend a hour with the module leader who presumably is telling you what you need to cover in that time? Are they getting you to teach something you know nothing about? Secondly, no-one can make you work without pay, unless this is in return for some reduction in tuition fees or something like that. If you are genuinely not getting any reward, just say no.

But to your wider point - you are seriously deluding yourself if you think hourly paid teaching i.e. what you need for the experience is properly compensated anywhere. Just look at UCU campaigns on the topic. If you worked elsewhere you would be expected to do an awful lot more than two hours contact time a week to make it worthwhile hiring you. The hourly rate might look OK until you realise what it doesn't cover - then it works out at nearer minimum wage if that. And nothing during the holidays.

I agree that universities take on too many PhD students given the academic job market but where would you draw the line? Insist that only those with a first can do a PhD even if they want to self-fund? Ban any self-funded students? A lot of people on this board will be ruled out by that. Equally we're all adults - it's not hard to do the research before starting a PhD to get an idea of what the job market is like. I feel sorrier for the 17 year olds trying to decide whether or not a bachelors degree now makes economic sense if I'm being honest.

For me, given I'm in a subject where postdocs are few and far between, it was the oddness of negotiating the difficult ground between not being a student any more but also not feeling properly like a member of staff. And the realisation that there was so much going on that I'd been unaware of as a PhD student in terms of the different and conflicting pressures on staff.
My top tip - don't avoid PhD students neccessarily but don't get drawn into their complaints about their supervisors - keep a slight distance.

Ditto to the responses so far but I just wanted to add something on the 'feeling young' issue. I'm really sorry that one of your students was mean enough to ask your age and to doubt that you were the lecturer - but remember it says more about him/her and their ageist assumptions than it does about your ability! After all, someone has given you a contract to teach because they think you are perfectly capable. I have though been in the exact same position - a class made up almost entirely of mature students, who were not happy to have late 20s me teaching them, and made this attitude clear on day 1. It did get better with the majority but there were two people who were difficult throughout (frankly by the end of that semester I was close to murder - to this day the words 'university of life' send shivers down my spine). My top tips from that experience - look as professional as you can in dress, communication etc - it gave me a bit of extra confidence. It's better to say I don't know when asked a question you can't answer than bluffing. Respect their professional backgrounds but never lose sight that you're there to deliver academic material and that's what they get assessed on. A bottle of water is invaluable not just for the dry throat but to give yourself a few seconds breather if you feel panicky. If you are worried about finishing earlier, take a couple of links of youtube films or similar that you could show if you feel your timing is off. And good luck - it will get better.

For option 2 try the EU's Marie Curie programme: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/people/

In the UK it's mainly about your publications for permanent posts. Short-term contracts seem to have more of the 'do we know this person' character. But as you've written in US English, I'm guessing you might be asking about the USA. I've heard that there the institution you attended and who writes your reference letters play a much bigger role.

Could you work elsewhere when you really need to concentrate? I had similar issues with the people I shared an office with and found something that worked for me, was to plan my week so that for days when I needed uninterrupted space I worked in the library stacks where no-one went, and then used my office desk to catch up on admin / do fairly monotonous things like formatting, checking bibliography etc. I found that enabled me to be less irritated by interruptions.

I'd just avoid them socially if it only ever turns out as a bitching session. A cathartic whinge every now and then is fun but there's limits after which it's not healthy. There's nothing saying you have to go to the social events.

I may be projecting my own thoughts onto you so apologies if this is way off the mark.

I wonder if you've subconsciously or consciously bought into the 'academia is the only successful outcome for a PhD' myth? In which case, knowing how hard it is to get a job, you'd feel very grateful to the person who employed you and feeling like leaving would let them down. It's just I've just completed my first year as a lecturer and frankly the workload, expectations etc have been much heavier than I ever anticipated - makes my PhD look like a walk in the park. Everyone is telling me it gets easier and I'm going to give it another year at least but it's not the dream job people sometimes make it out to be - it's as you've noticed a long hours, stressful profession and all the changes coming next year means instability is the rule. But I bet your mentor has also had thoughts like that. I'm in a successful RG dept and you know what the perennial pub discussion (apart from moaning about work) - what our ideal alternative careers would be. I'd be he won't be as shocked or upset that you're looking elsewhere as you think.

Anyway as to other jobs - no brilliant suggestions but even though it sounds a bit careers servicey have you tried writing down what it is you like about research. Getting at what you value might help you get somewhere in thinking outside the box. Also try vitae.ac.uk - there's some good resources there.

Probably if all universities are as chaotic as the ones I've studied in and now teach at, you won't get the timetable until your induction. THat said the person who will know and who might be able to find the previous year's one to give you an idea is the secretary / administrator for the MA - it might be worth a bit of a nose around the website to identify someone. Often for practical issues such folk are much better informed and reliable than the academics!

You are nuts. Seen from the materialistic outside world anyone doing a PhD at present without clear benefits is nuts but like most people on here, it's probably something that really matters to you. There are others out there - you are not alone. (This is presupposing it is still what you really want - if deep down it's not, there's absolutely no disgrace in finding out how to quit with an MPhil or just walking away.) But I think for your sanity you need to meet likeminded people / sufferers to enjoy a whinge and also just as a source of useful information about how things work careerwise. How about attending some departmental research seminars or anything put on for research students - even if they are not at convenient times, if you at least went a couple of times, you could put some names to faces and get emails / phone numbers to try and arrange coffee with others when you do go there for supervision meetings. Or is there a uni nearer to where you live as an alternative networking location? Most advertise their events and don't mind visitors.

Just a couple of other practical thoughts...Could you not ask for a change of supervisor from the one who doesn't respond to any thing? Could you 'invent' a shift in direction away from their expertise and towards someone you've heard better things about, to disengage with the minimum of grief? As you're part-time in humanities, I think the once every 8 weeks supervision with the other supervisor is probably about right, but how about emailing an agenda for meetings just beforehand and then if he rambles you have something to get him back on track with? Hope this helps a little.

I'd have to say Sarkis is probably right. There are very few longterm academic contracts these days so if she wants to stay in academia she probably cannot afford to be choosy. Maternity leave would depend heavily on the funder and university rules but a look around a) the funders' website and b) the uni HR site would probably get some answers, but that said she's right to think the PI might be less than impressed given the length of the contract. I would add that when you are moving between short postdoc contracts, some publications will almost invariably be written post contract - if you do not want the publications as you don't intend to continue academically, then there's no obligation but many see if as useful obviously.

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Mona,

Definitely check your timetable - it might end up being more complex than you think to cover the training the ESRC demands you get - I had various blocked two/three day courses for example in addition to the standard weekly meetings. You might end up missing compulsory taught sessions and that could be a progression issue for the ESRC given how crazy they are about research methods training. Another thing you might just want to consider is whether you would want to / are likely to be asked to take on any university seminar teaching. When I had an ESRC award that counted for the 6 hours permitted work, and if you are hoping for an academic career then it would be more useful. THat said I know my university didn't allow anyone to teach until they'd finished the first year of the PhD proper (I don't know whether that's the norm or not) so it might be some way off for you.

No an Oxbridge PhD is not going to help you particularly in the academic job market - the cachet might help with non-academic jobs if they don't object to the PhD as others have already mentioned. You would be better waiting and trying to secure funding. You will like everyone else be predominantly judged on what you have published, taught, funding gained etc rather than the institution attended. In fact, as very few Oxbridge PhD students get the seminar / lecture teaching experience increasingly expected by academic employers, they can be at a slight disadvantage. It's not like the USA where the institution is the most important factor.

It's all about getting more and more out of fewer people. The academics who have posts have a much greater workload than was once the case. Also I think an increasing use of hourly paid / short contract staff to do teaching has had an impact as such people are cheaper and easily sacked as universities use multiple temporary contracts that prevent people building up employment rights. The management know they can treat people badly because of the numbers of underemployed / unemployed PhDs desperate to get a foot in the door. There are though lots more non-academic managers than there used to be.

I think it depends whether you are in a sound financial position or not. If you are, so long as you are realistic about the employment outcomes at the end i.e. statistically most PhD graduates will never get permanent academic jobs, and will not resent the financial sacrifice if it doesn't work out, then why not. If on the other hand, you are going to struggle to survive, then I think you have to think very hard about whether it's worth it for you as an individual. Today's Guardian had an article on some things you might want to think about:http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/aug/12/careers-phds-beyond-academia?INTCMP=SRCH