Peaches

I wonder if you've got someone like my former supervisor (I've now finished). She was a very nice person but really hated me springing discussions on her when I hadn't written it all down and given it to her ahead of the meeting, so that she could think it through and give me advice properly rather than off the cuff so to speak. She was very clear about this from day 1. She wanted written work ahead of each meeting and that was that. I found it quite hard at first as my MA supervisor had been a very chatty person. However, to give the PhD supervisor her due, her advice was much more concrete, directed and ultimately helpful than the MA supervisor's was. I just thought it was worth raising in case you've got into a communication mismatch and that's part of the problem: something like he thinks you're being lazy for not writing and just wanting to chat, whereas you want to agree everything with him verbally before you start writing.

Otherwise I guess it depends what you call abusive. Your post sounds like you agreed that your lit review wasn't really up to scratch; was your supervisor telling you that this wasn't PhD standard and that you needed to get your act together to pass upgrade or something like that? If so, and I thought it justified, I might be inclined to just get my head down and produce a brilliant second draft to prove him wrong. If though it was much more personal abuse, then I think maybe changing supervisor (or seeing if you can add a more emollient person as a second supervisor to relieve the tension) might be worth investigating. Can you talk to any of his other students to see what they think to his supervisory style i.e. is his bark worse than his bite?

If though you really are just not enjoying doing a PhD at all and this incident is just what is bringing a lot of doubts to a head, it might be worth a visit to the counselling service to talk things through with an outsider to try and figure out what the real problems are and whether they can be solved. A PhD is so different to u/g and masters degrees that I think a lot of people, who have enjoyed their earlier degrees, do find themselves hating the isolation of a PhD. If it's really the PhD not the supervisor that's the root cause, then there's no shame in deciding it's not right for you.

Well you always have to state any previous support from DAAD on their application forms, so while I doubt they have an official black list, I rather suspect that they would be unwilling to risk funding you again if you dropped out. As to repaying them: does it not say anything about this on your DAAD national office site? I think for some countries that if you drop out during the first semester you do have to repay the grant, but I'm not sure whether it would apply to all nationalities. The funding schemes vary so much depending on nationality that it's hard to tell.

Try the doctoral programme at www.zef.de They have quite a lot of information there too on what funding is generally available for people in your situation (it's variable depending on your nationality). That's the only doctoral programme in your field that I know of in Germany, that is English language. There probably are more though so try searching through www.daad.de . ZEF has a good reputation though and Bonn is a nice place to live.

Ben correct me if I'm wrong but a N was a fail wasn't it? So pedantically as it's not a qualification because you didn't pass so there's no need to mention it.

Magictime, the funding body in my area is the ESRC but I think the same applies for the AHRC. Back in the days when all studentships were awarded through a national competition, then yes it did matter for UK students, because frequently departmental money was given to people who didn't manage to get an ESRC place. Getting the ESRC funding was seen as a plus point on a c.v. when you applied for academic jobs as you got it on the basis of a fairly detailled proposal (before the 1+3 system came in). Now though with most ESRC funded studentships being decided on by departments rather than by competition, there isn't really any difference between those and departmental funding, and given decisions are often on the basis of 1+3 so before a student has a really detailled proposal, the old kudos attached to it, I think has largely gone. So no need to worry - it's an outdated prestige thing. Funding of any sort will be favourably regarded though so congrats on the departmental award. You're right to recognise how competitive it all is too, I'd suggest trying to have a chat early on with a young academic who has been on the job market recently, to get a sense of what is looked for in your particular field on a new PhD's c.v.. I can only say I'm glad I did that as frankly if I'd relied on my lovely but near retirement supervisor, I'd not have had a clue.

A bit off the wall, but is buying really a good idea? No idea how far on you are with your PhDs, but if either or both of you are interested in academic careers then, you are probably going to need to be nationally / internationally mobile, and a house then really can become an expensive millstone. I have a friend who bought during his PhD (wealthy parents) and he's now stuck paying mortgage and rent where his new job is, can't sell the house (in negative equity too), and is considering going bankrupt as the best option. Obviously if academia isn't an option and you're fairly sure you can both get jobs where you are then it's a different case.
On mortgages have you tried the teachers building society? Maybe an educational specialist might be able to get their head round your situation better.

Have you thought about putting in a speculative application to nearby universities at all? We've got several ex-polys near us, which don't really have many PhD students and so often they're keen to take on some of ours to do seminar teaching. You could just send a cv and cover letter saying what you could teach to relevant HoDs? It might be worth a try.

Hi,

In Europe we study 30 ECTS each semester with the idea being that 180 ECTS represents a completed 3 year bachelors degree. Many non-european universities have worked out equivalents with their own systems so it might be worth asking your university if they have. If not I think I'd put studying 7th semester of however many semesters your degree programme is. They should be able to work out from that how advanced you are in your studies.

If you're in science, from what my friends say two postdocs are very normal before you become really competitive for a lectureship, so I wouldn't beat yourself up. And if you're getting interviews for lectureships then the odds are that sooner or later you'll get one. Have you managed to get feedback on any of your interviews? Or is there anything in your interview performance that you have an uneasy feeling might be letting you down, that you could get any help with through the careers service? Maybe run your job talk past a knowledgeable and critical friend? Honestly, if you're getting interviews, then you're competitive on paper, so if you don't think you're messing up at interview then it's probably a matter of time before you get lucky.
But yes academia isn't great fun career-wise as a junior scholar. The early years appear to demand that you are willing to live anywhere, uproot regularly and exist on really bad money (OK not so much in science but for the rest of us, those part-time teaching stints rarely pay enough to pay the bills), in the vain hope that you might strike lucky and get a lectureship. Normally I'd say give industry a try (you can probably spin your academic time - let's face it there are nowhere near as many lectureships as PhDs who want them, so it must be doable) but as the wider economy is so bad and you look like you're within striking distance of a lectureship, so could you stand (and afford) to stay in your current job for one more academic year? Perhaps say if I don't get an academic job in the next year then I'm gone? And then in the meantime get as much advice as possible on making yourself an attractive candidate for non-academic jobs, so you have a plan b that you feel more optimistic about?

The Netherlands is much more open to foreign academics than the other two. Belgian universities in particular seem to favour their own PhD graduates. You're right to say, it can be a nice life: there's no RAE / REF so MUCH less pressure on the research front, but there are other snags, such as low pay and lack of independence in what you research depending on what your main professor is like. It really depends a lot on the place. The money isn't great either, even with lower costs of living. You might find this site aimed at Marie Curie post docs helpful http://mcfa.eu/site/public/welcomePacks.php - also somebody sent me a report by the European University Institute on academic recruitment in other EU countries that would be worth googling.
But the last poster is also right - unless you're willing to learn the relevant language(s) quickly (I think the Netherlands usually expects you to be able to teach in Dutch within 2 years), you would find it limiting and potentially isolating even in the few English-speaking programmes (often they're not that English-speaking behind the scenes!).

I'd vote for a German bank account. They pay almost all bills, rent etc by electronic transfer in Germany and are often unwilling to consider an alternative. This can really soon add up to a lot as your UK bank will charge you for each one (£7 per transfer at my bank and I think they're one of the cheaper ones!). Make sure you've registered with the local Meldeamt (registration office) before you try to open one though - you need that proof of residency normally.

It might be the knock-on effects of the recession. Apparently my department has had more than double the usual numbers of PhD applications and they are rejecting anyone with a 2ii, whereas last year they would have gone more on the supervisor's opinion, simply because there's no way the department can supervise the number of people who are applying.

My gut feeling is not to apply, as such roles tend to be MUCH more time-consuming than is reflected in the hours they pay you for, particularly if you are not an experienced teacher. The other consideration is the PhD applications. Depending on your subject and whether or not you want to apply for a funded PhD, then applications for funding can take up a surprising amount of time, and obviously, you want to get excellent marks in the MSc to maximise your chances. So I think it might be a little risky.

Maddie,

at this point, the supervisors will be under big pressure from the faculty to provide either convincing evidence that your mother has made sufficient progress to graduate within the maximum registration period. Universities are now set targets for submission and completion that will be publicised, and so everyone is worried about students who look like they might not complete in time. They have also been told by the official adjudicator for complaints in HE that they should not allow students, who are not progressing well enough, to proceed because that's unfair to the student. So with students like your mum, they are genuinely in a difficult area. Her supervisors may actually be trying to buy her sufficient extra time to finish by suggesting a nominal suspension of studies or they might as you think, be telling her it's not good enough and she should quit. She needs to find out which it is first. I know about this as it's recently happened to someone I know - in his case, the supervisors had to write a formal e-mail because the dean insisted, but were actually trying to find imaginative ways to avoid doing what the dean wanted and throwing him out.

As pamplemousse says it's unlikely. If two markers really disagree about your work, then a third person is brought in and those cases then tend to get sent to the external examiner too. So assuming you're asking about a UK masters degree then no I've never heard of this. I have heard it's much more common in other countries, where there's only ever one marker and your fate rests entirely in his/her hands.