Congratulations! All the best for the future.

If your mother is in her final year of the phd, she should (at many universities) be paying reduced fees because it is her "writng-up" year i..e minimal supervision etc. At my university (large northern redbrick) the fees for the writing up year (i..e fourth year full time) are much reduced i.e. £250 as opposed to £3,700 for the normal rates. The nominal fee covers library usage etc. You should fef make sure you mum is paying for completion rather than the full rates.... even if she didn't get a waiver for that, a smaller amount is perhaps possible to pay?

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I would take the job, absolutely. I recently finished a PhD and have found that the title Dr in no way substitutes for work experience. And actually the joy of signing "dr" was virtually non-existent and transient. The world did not change.

I have a temporary lectureship which obv. has a doctorate as a pre-requisite. But once that is over in the spring, I am out on a limb with a PhD that is not valued in the workplace.

Take the job. Then if after having a salary and work experience you feel like the PhD in 2 years time, do it. I often look at the PhD and the papers I wrote, and yes there was a degree of fufilment beyond a £, but with realism I am 27 now with very little chance of getting a stable job. The PhD could have waited and I should have spent my early 20s getting work experience, not 2 graduate degrees.

I can't imagine not having the degrees now - but if I coud choose again, I would choose the job.

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I lived with two scientists for a year. They were lovely but spent most of their time in the lab (final years) and were not familiar with the vaccum cleaner or dishcloth in that period. In defeat I just got used to it. I hoovered about once a month and made sure that it wasn't filthy. But the flat was never tidy.

Good luck!

"because its pretty obvious. likewise, its pretty obvious that there is a god out there.. and we all instinctively know that. the issue then should not be if there is a god, but who is the true God"

I disagree with this for many reasons.

Walminskipeasucker, PhD student and investigative journalist.

;) :) (up)

Apart from the fees mess I am also very worried about teachers training for lecturers. a) I don't know how an earth I could do another period of training after my phd to secure employment b) i don't think teachers training is neccesary or appropriate for university level teaching. Sure, we have all had a few dodgy lecturers - but extra qualifications on top of already onerous research, admin, and teaching work is ridiculous! More ad-hoc teaching reviews as part of good practice with relevant workshops would be better solution. Of course it is all about spoon-feeding the student customer and also creating extra revenue for teachers training. Indeed, who will pay for this? I certainly cannot afford any more. I'm so sick and tired of it all (government).

I hope things are more manageable for you soon. Best of luck - you're so so close now! keep going! :)

It is Herr Doktor, actually ;)

I am utterly relieved it is over. It seems unreal. My post PhD life is a sheer relief and I feel mentally and look physically different.

Good luck - you are almost there! keep going!!! :) (up)

I reccomend that you seek medical help as soon as possible. Perhaps your university has a counselling service or somebody you can talk to? Or you will need to see a medical practitioner.

My ex-boyfriend had (or has still, I don't know) depression and got angry too with his phd and life in general. I would encourage you to seek help both for yourself and (by extension) to help your husband.

On a positive note you say you have done your experiments and what remains is to write. This is a good position. See help to gain control of the depression and it might make work more bearable or seem achievable.

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Chuff is a PhD student at the University of X. Her research is a Y of X in W. This project was funded by X and supervised by. (if applicable)

3 weeks is not a long time and there is not a lot you can do to subtaintially change the thesis at this stage. So focus on making sure your references are correct and taut. Then focus on intro and conclusion. I had to take this approach and it worked.

Take care of yourself, Regular breaks, but not too many, and no deleting of material to change it. Saying that, I did delete half a cjhapter the night before submission and didn't replace it. It worked better that way. In general stick with what you have - deleting only the dire and not the "hmmm couldbe better". Good luck.

I find reciting pi to 100 decimal places a pretty swoon-worthy party trick! heh