I'm part-time, and nearing the end of my 6 year period. My university deadline is end of March next year. My funding council puts a 7 year limit on things but I'm working with the university's shorter 6 year period. So, barring university extensions, I'll be submitting by then. My thesis is nearly finished, but I'm finishing off a last piece of research to plug in to fill a gap. That's taking longer than expected, plus I lost the last month due to oink flu, but getting there, slowly.

In terms of workload I've managed on just 5 hours a week if I'm lucky. I'm seriously ill, long-term, knocked out for much of the time, and wouldn't be able to put in extra hours. It's made doing the PhD somewhat difficult, but I've become good at making the most of limited time. In some ways I've had to cut corners, not being able to do as much research as I would have liked. But I've done enough, and hopefully to a high enough standard, which is what counts.

My best advice is to keep working regularly. Don't wait for a better period when you can put in many more hours. If you're fitting a PhD around other things that's unlikely to happen. It's better just to keep plodding away regularly, each week. That way you get through the workload, though it will take much longer than a full-time equivalent student. Have you found a PhD working schedule by now that works for you, fitting around the rest of your life?

If you have very little time in the week it's really important to make the most of it. I find it easier to work in short bursts, maybe an hour and a half at most (largely due to my illness: I can't work much longer). But I try to make the time really count. Then I build that up over a few days to reach the 5 hours or so maximum I can manage. If you're working for a whole day do you have a clear idea at the start of the day what your goals are and what you want to achieve? Could you grab extra time if need be, particularly in the later stages when writing up can become very intense?

Do you have any teaching commitments as a part-timer? Or any other commitments from the university in terms of obligatory training courses? I found those difficult to fit in practically. I got a little teaching experience, but not as much as a full-timer. Still I'm not aiming to work in academia in future (far too ill for that). But if you do want to work in academia you may need to fit this in to get the extra experience. Just make sure you focus above all on your thesis.

Completing a part-time PhD is probably even more a matter of resilience than for full-timers. Hopefully your subject will still excite you as much at the end as at the beginning. But keep going, that's the key.

I work from home too. I'm only 5 miles from the university, but for disability/illness reasons I very rarely go in there. I'm lucky if I see my supervisor 3 times a year.

I get by by drawing up lots of to-do lists of things to be getting on with, so there's always something for me to focus on. And I set myself goals of working so much on specific days. I include rest/reward time, but try to get things done as well.

It's seen me through my part-time PhD very well. I'm in the closing stages now. Just a bit of research to finish off.

If you're working with just a PC does that mean you'll be studying from home and would it be part-time, fitting around a job? Most computing PhDs are full-time, and based in an office/lab. If you're not going down that route that will narrow down supervisors/universities, not just potential topic choices. But obviously it would have an impact on topics.

As someone who was a computer science PhD student (before falling seriously ill and having to leave on health grounds) I would recommend that you tailor the topic more to your interests. What did you enjoy most in your undergraduate degree? Software engineering, programming, AI, graphics, theoretical stuff, logic proving, hardware, or what? Then look at the key journals for that area (use your nearest large university library) and take it from there.

The danger of just plucking a topic that someone else has recommended is that you might latch onto it and get on ok at the start, but not have the enthusiasm or closeness to the topic to see it right through. A PhD is a very long slog. You have to be 100% dedicated (well probably more like 120% to be honest!) to get through.

So can you maybe help people who might be able to advise by advising on what your favourite areas might be? Otherwise it's a very broad question.

I've heard of people who leave PhDs after upgrading to PhD student status, but still leave with a Masters because they left before completing the PhD. I'm not sure what your supervisor is saying is right. Don't rush into a decision.

Yes but your original data/findings has to be by far and away the biggest part. Not the literature review. Otherwise it's not fulfilling the requirements of the thesis.

What stage are you at since you're worried about getting the data? Do you still have plenty of time to get results? I wrote my literature review in the first few months of my part-time PhD then spent the remaining years doing the research.

Huge congratulations! Hope you'll be very happy there.

I'm actually in favour of the extra year, though for cost reasons it isn't so good. I was offered the chance to go straight into second year at uni too for my computing degree, on the basis of my Highers and CSYS exams (the latter taking things at least to A Level standard and possibly a bit beyond). But I wanted the first year to find my feet at the uni, and the chance to study more subjects in breadth. Economically not so good of course.

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The Scottish Highers system has quite a lot going for it in terms of breadth of coverage. It's possible to cover a much broader range of subjects than at A Levels, allowing pupils to pursue more interests and not specialise so quickly. It's a tradition that's followed in the first year at Scottish universities (out of a 4 year degree) where breadth is still the name of the game. I was glad I could study both arts/humanities and science subjects at Higher level for example, though I was being pushed very much towards the science line. I took 5 Highers in my 5th year and another in my 6th. It's also nice to get firm university offers (not provisional) on the basis of the Highers results, allowing another year if wanted to study other subjects flexibly, either at CSYS (Certificate of Sixth Year Studies) or more Highers or whatever levels. On the downside Highers aren't quite as in-depth as A Levels, but I think that's a price worth paying for greater breadth and flexibility.

Can I join in, even though I'm a Scottish student so had Highers and CSYS's instead? I do remember my exam results - Highers 20 years ago, CSYS 1 year later. I was a nervous wreck waiting for them. The final year's results weren't so critical because the Highers came the year before, and got me into uni, so then I had another year at school studying CSYS knowing I was going to uni. But it was still a nervous time waiting for any results.

Of course now I'm doing a PhD I'm not even doing the subject I did at uni when I started 19 years ago. Things have totally changed for me, including a change in direction, albeit a very good one. It's not what I planned, but then I didn't plan on falling seriously ill and having to leave the first PhD. But it gave me a chance to re-evaluate my life, and study the other subject I adored, albeit part-time this time. And hopefully will shortly finish in PhD form :)

I actually lost my school certificates in a house move, so a few months ago I obtained replacement copies from the Scottish Qualifications Authority. It was quite nice looking at them again, remembering back to school days. Very fond memories of that time. Life was much easier as a school pupil. But then I am happy now too.

Glad you have a viva date at last Lara. It sounds as though you are well prepared, and have plenty of time to polish things off. Good luck with that, and good luck on the day!

I'm another with a positive outcome. I had to leave a full-time PhD 13 years ago after developing an incurable progressive neurological disease. I didn't set out to start another PhD, let alone one in a completely opposite discipline, but one thing led to another. I had to study part-time, I constantly thought I wouldn't make it, and 2/3 years ago I was close to dropping out for years on end. But I got very good support from my supervisor and university authorities to make it through, including extra DSA help, and extra flexibility with deadlines etc. And now, nearly at the end of the 6 year part-time PhD period, I've nearly finished, and expect to submit within the next 8 months. Basically use all the support mechanisms available to you, starting from your supervisor(s), and including university counsellors, even a chaplain if it will help (I'm agnostic and it helped me, given the life-threatening situation I was in just a few years ago), and certainly the medical authorities. I agree that taking a break for medical reasons can also be beneficial. I did this 2 years ago. My funding council would only allow a break on medical grounds, which wasn't a problem in my case, and only 12 months total throughout the PhD. So I just took 5 months in the end, saving the rest in case I needed it later. That 5 months gave me a chance to recharge my batteries and come back and - just about there! - finish.

Good luck.

What's on your medical records shouldn't affect your job prospects at all. It would be confidential, between you and your doctor. If you're that depressed you should seek medical help, whether you plan to finish the PhD or not. I would also recommend a frank discussion with your supervisor about how far you feel behind and whether it will be possible to catch up and strategies for doing this. It's no use them thinking you're doing fine, and you getting more down. Good luck.