Hi dotdottung
I am 43 and just started my PhD in September - never say never ;) I hope it works out for you.

I haven't done all-nighters as a PhD student, but I previously had a night shift job and studied for my Masters during quiet periods at work. I found that I did best by staying away from caffeine drinks and instead drinking things that would hydrate me (lemon and ginger tea was my night shift favourite). I can also say from experience that doing constant nights messed up my health (the PhD offer came along just as I was on the brink of being physically unable to do my job any more) - if you're awake at the time of night when your body is meant to be repairing and recuperating, you lose something that you can't get back. It can't be easy at all fitting in a PhD around a full-time job, but try to keep the night/day balance as well as you can!

I personally would plough on with more PhD applications rather than accept an MPhil offer, but others may be able to shed more light on the value of doing an MPhil! I've heard of people being asked to register first for an MPhil and then at some point convert it to PhD as long as they're making enough progress, but I've never heard of an MPhil being offered as an alternative at interview stage before. Do you think they are suggesting that you take a longer route to getting a PhD, by doing the MPhil to get more research skills first?
Anyway, good luck and I hope you get offered the PhD.

Hi Fitzy
I guess what I would probably do is try to incorporate some of the newer literature without drawing too much attention to the fact that it was published after my own data collection, if that makes sense. As Simon has said, the big problem would be if there had been a breakthrough with this new literature that made your study irrelevant, but if not, then I wouldn't think it would be a major issue. I'm thinking that this situation must arise more often than not with PhDs, as we spend at least three years working on them and a lot of stuff is published in that time. If we follow the guidance to keep looking for literature right up until the last minute, it follows that some of it will be from studies more recent than our own.
Hope it's not doing your head in too much!

I expect this must happen a lot. I'm intending to do a last 'sweep' of the literature when I get to that stage, which will mean reviewing literature that will be newer than my own data. I'd never thought of it like that before, but it must happen to lots of PhDs!

I know it's possible to do a Masters without doing a degree first. Years ago, I did a postgraduate diploma, and lots of my fellow students did not have degrees but had been admitted on the basis of their work experience. There was the opportunity to carry on and do a Masters from that.
Maybe your friend should start by contacting some of the places he is interested in and discussing his qualifications and experience? With a good Masters, I would certainly have a go at applying.

It's never nice getting a rejection, but PhDs are a bit like jobs - it's normal to need to apply for a few before you get something. If it's what you really want to do, don't give up - do some research into the opportunities available at other universities, and if possible put in a few applications. I was disheartened after my first interview ended in a rejection, but my second was successful. You've already had the experience of one PhD interview, which gives you some great pointers for preparing for the next one.

I had two PhD interviews, and in both cases I heard back within a couple of days - one unsuccessful and one successful. It sounds like the interviewers used a very vague way to tell you that you were unsuccessful in this case. If it's any consolation, at the end of my first PhD interview they insisted that I got references that same day, which caused me a huge panic and a lot of pleading with people to write me a quick reference. I was very pleased that I managed to get the references they had asked for, and as soon as I emailed the references to them, they replied saying they had offered the PhD to someone else anyway!
It is not helpful to get a vague answer in such an important and stressful situation. Good luck with your next applications!

Hi Richard

I'm doing a PhD in Psychology, but with the aim of being a research/academic psychologist. From what you've written it sounds like you are considering something like Clinical Psychology (an extremely competitive field). The British Psychological Society website is quite good for information about the different types of psychology - have you had a look at it?

Regarding becoming involved in people's problems, I can partially answer that, having spent a lot of years working in the addictions field before returning to uni to start a PhD. In a professional 'helping' career there will be support structures in place - formal supervision, employee counselling and so on, to support you in the work you're doing. However, a lot of it is down to you, your own ways of coping, your ability to keep a healthy routine going so you can leave your work behind at the end of the day, and your ability to seek help when you need it. Some situations are inevitably more stressful than others, and you need to be able to recognise it if you're at risk of becoming over-involved or burned out.

I'm not sure what stage you're at in your education or career, but hope this helps!

Ian - yep, it is better now it is clear who she's looking for with the questionnaire. I expect a lot of online research gets confounded by people clicking merrily through a survey to see what the questions are :-)

Ah. Except I see that the modification is that the survey now says it is for heterosexual women only. At least folk like me won't get to about the tenth question now and find we can't proceed!

Hi Cat

Thanks for your reply. I will be happy to complete a modified version of your questionnaire.

Hi Cat
I started to complete your questionnaire but withdrew from it, as you seem to have assumed that all women are heterosexual.

Sorry - was trying to post a link to a diagram that I find helpful on the topic of the original contribution, but I'm guessing this forum doesn't like links, and it won't let me do anything with the blank post now.

UKPhDStudent, I think it does all depend on the supervisor and on negotiating with them. Mine is fine with me only going into university when necessary, as it is a lengthy train journey for me to get there and I'm far more productive at home. We keep talking about it, so he's fully aware of how I'm working and is in agreement with it.