It creates such a horrible work atmosphere when people make comments like this. My sister has experienced a similar thing (not in academia, but she has co-workers who have gone to the manager and complained about how much she is paid). Basically, it's none of their business and is between you and your employers - you and your boss know how much you work.

Hi clairaN

If you are working full-time and keeping up with the schedule of a full-time PhD, I would say you are doing incredibly well! I would be tempted to take a little break as Pjlu has suggested, to see if it helps to re-set things in your head. It's possible that you're not considering the bigger picture with your PhD (ie the research is nearly done and just the writing up to go) but are focusing on the fact that things feel hard and your supervisor is being a bit tougher on you - it's so easy to see the little bit of negative and lose sight of all the stuff that's going well. It is going to take a big push to the finish line, but I think you are in a really good position with everything you've already done.

Sounds like a good opportunity, and there might be a chance to put your own stamp on it as well - research rarely pans out in exactly predictable ways, so who knows what interesting results you might get and what angle you might end up taking within the bigger project!

Congratulations! It's always so great to hear about success stories on here!

It depends on things like whether your research question can be answered by using student participants (I personally am skeptical of the number of studies that use only student participants and then try to generalise the results to 'people in general', as students are a very specific group). Your ethics assessment will depend on things like how much risk is in your research design, as RinaL pointed out, and also things like who is to be included in the study and how you will protect their well-being - for example, it might be a good idea to say you will recruit only people who are not classed as vulnerable, and to show how your research design should not put people at any additional risk.

We'll lose the weight again when we have PhDs and can't afford to eat!

Hi Tetraselmis

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you're having. I'm hoping that your uni will be supportive and will help you to explore all the options, but I really just wanted to say please put your health needs first at this time and get whatever support you need. When you're at a crisis point, it's impossible to keep going with other stuff as usual. I hope your department will get back to you quickly, but my advice to you would be to look after yourself first.

I had a similar issue - not with an MSc transcript, but with a previous PGDip that I'd done - the department had closed down and I couldn't get anyone at the uni to respond or even provide a letter to say what I'd done. To be honest, I wasn't asked for much in the way of proof of qualifications when starting my PhD - I had only partial MSc results when I applied, and they've never asked to see any proof of my final MSc results, so it may well be that it's just taken on trust for you too, especially with all your other experience and qualifications. However, it is deeply annoying to be short of your MSc transcript, and I think I would keep pursuing it with the uni as there must surely be a record of your time there.

It sounds like a very good job offer. I would only do the PhD if you feel driven to do it for other reasons (e.g. it is a lifetime ambition) - academic career prospects are not reliable enough for that to be the sole reason for doing a PhD.

Hi

Is your study for people living in Thailand? I got to the last page and realised it did not ask me for my country, and the final question asks for income in Thai currency, so perhaps it is only for people who live there?

I know what you mean about thinking your data might be rubbish, tamecat - I haven't even started organising any of my data yet because I'm scared to look at it :) Good luck with your writing - I'm doing a mix of various bits and bobs at the moment - still recruiting participants and collecting data, writing, transcribing and so on - it is nowhere near the linear process I expected at the start!

Congratulations - fab news!

Good luck - hope you get the best outcome!

Hi Glossy

I'm sorry to hear you're going through a tough time. Lots of people have concerns about their mental wellbeing at times during the PhD process, so please don't feel you are alone in this. How much to tell your supervisors will be your decision, but I would encourage you to get whatever support you feel you need and if you need time off, make sure you take a break - supervisors will be more than used to students being sick from time to time. The PhD is a long process and it can withstand the odd time when you're not able to work to your usual
capacity. I think the early part of the PhD can be such a difficult time - I found it a complete culture shock and spent my first semester being stressed all the time. I hope things improve for you soon.