Never come across any. However Birkbeck College do MSc courses in evenings, and the University of London has a respected distance learning programme, which you would be able to do in the hours that suit you. Did you have any particular subject in mind?

Your plan Bs sound solid, and the kind of things where the skills you pick up in a PhD could be valued. I'd also advise looking for opportunities during your PhD to gain additional skills/experiences which may help support your transition to those career paths if need be.

Do consider a part time route though, and/or see what funding you can acquire via small grants.

The others have all made excellent points. I echo bewilder's concern about the self-funded aspect.

I've just realised this is a 3 year old thread.... how do these things get bumped up?

Far too often...

You have done the right thing by raising these issues at the outset as it would be more problematic to deal with them later on. I would take the statement about refunding the bursary very seriously, and get written confirmation as to how it would apply (if at all) to your proposed change of circumstances.

Whether it is feasible depends on various things you don't mention. Is your work lab-based or book-based? That will be a big determinant. How far apart are the respective countries? Would you be able to visit your university regularly? What are the nationality-related and attendance-related restrictions associated with your funding? Could you agree a situation where they only fund you for the first two years and thereafter you are self-funded?

You *might* be able to make it work if you move somewhere that has a uni where your department/supervisor has ties, so that they could be involved in your supervision. But this might be difficult to arrange depending on subject/countries.

If you definitely have to relocate entirely in 2 years time you need to think very carefully about undertaking a PhD at all at this stage - it might just make things more difficult than if you waited until your circumstances were more steady.

Might be worth contacting the folks that run this site:
https://phdisabled.wordpress.com/

You are correct that as an individual candidate you can't apply to research councils directly. However, if you have a supportive supervisor there may be scope for them to put together a project grant application that would support your position. This is unlikely to take effect until your 2nd/3rd year though so you should make contingency plans for the first year at least.

In terms of making applications yourself, I'd recommend looking at:http://www.postgraduate-funding.com/gateway
for potential funds to target. Your uni may have access to it - check the library. Check also whether your uni does any training on applying for grants. If you're going to go down the self funded route then you are going to have to become good at this!

I would strongly caution anyone against doing a completely unfunded PhD full-time. I do not believe it is worth the costs (actual or opportunity costs), particularly for people whose primary motivation is to embark on an academic career, as most will ultimately be disappointed due to the poor nature of the job market. These are my perspectives though, and you will have your own preferences and values. I would urge you, however, to do some homework regarding the likelihood of your PhD leading to whatever your end goal is. If the odds are not good, then a part time PhD may be preferable as it will be more financial sustainable while giving you the opportunity to gain experience and contacts in a field of employment that may become a plan B.

Hope this helps

Some questions for you to help us help you:
- What technical skills did you develop during your PhD?
- What kind of fields would you enjoy applying these skills to?
- Where have you been looking for jobs so far?
- Have you actually applied to any jobs yet or do you rule them out as soon as you see they require work experience/topic knowledge?
- Have you factored in cost of living before rejecting jobs on the basis of salary? London is incredibly expensive to live in - you can find jobs in other British cities that pay £2-4000 less per year but where your cost of living is far less and quality of life is far higher. It is very much worthwhile looking outside of London and not just making a judgement on salary alone.

Sounds frustrating. Makes you wonder what that individual would be like as a supervisor...