Rayyan, you cannot have someone else write your PhD for you, even if it is your ideas. You will be passing someone elses work off as your own, and this is fraud. Issues of morality need not be debated.

However, most universities have no rules to prohibit the use of proofreaders or copy-editors (Camdbridge and Birmingham are amongst a few that prohibit it if I remember rightly). Thus, once you have written your work, you can hire a copy-editor to check for grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and typos. Many PhD students will do this by hiring someone or having a friend/partner copy-edit or proofread.

However, you CANNOT hire some to be a 'CONTENT editor' i.e. rewrite your work or write your work for you.

A trip to the National Archives may prove fruitful.

Tractorgirl - I was only joking about my feeling :)

Olivia's advice is spot on.

Yes, being a non-science PhD you hurt my feeling there

I have given up trying to justify the workload/lack of money involved in my PhD etc with friends, and a lot of friends have disappeared. I have one friend who always seeks to demote the worth of my PhD, and another who likes to bash the value of any higher education.

I suppose one has to look at the old adage that if they are real friends, they'll understand. Maybe you could look at fellow PhD students for friendshp?

I also think the green-eyed monster occasionally comes into play with non-PhD friends.

PhDs are all equal in theory. However, in practice, the awarding body and the subject of the PhD definitely make some PhDs worth more than others. One only needs to look at recruitment patterns to see Oxbridge generally recruit Oxbridge PhDs, the UoL general recruit from UoL PhDs, then 'new universities' generally have staff who achieved their PhDs at 'new universities', and so on. This is the biggest indication that PhDs are not all the worth the same.

I chose a lower ranked uni in favour of Cambridge for my PhD - I now come to realise that the selling power of my PhD, particularly at international level, is much lower than if I'd studied at the latter.

It's a shame we don't have gradings for PhDs because some people do pass with flying colours and others just scrap through.

Yes, I've had similar issues. But not with non-scientific friends, but with non-PhD friends....I'm not sure why being non-scientific/scientific makes any difference.

I believe Warwick and other universities created in the 60s are known as 'glass plate' universities. These used to be the 'new universities' but are no longer since the 1992 Education Act transformed polytechnics into the new breed of universities.

Some 'glass plate' unis are very good and should be considered at least on par with the civic/red brick uni's - Warwick, Lancaster and York spring to mind.

Pen Drive seems very popular in British usage.

I say Memory Stick...usually followed by 'where the f*ck did I leave it?'.

I'll be joining you - I'm in for an all-nighter.

"Nevertheless, my question is, does it really matter in the long run?"

Yes, Oxbridge and the traditional universities i.e. those belonging to the Russell Group will always have a better reputations, and generally this impacts upon employment opportunities. It will take an awful long time for good 'new universities' to achieve the reputations of the older uni's. If you plan to return to your home country - then ranking may make little difference.

"Anyone heard of a Roehampton University?"
In short, no.

"Its apparently quite new. Is that a disadvantage?"
Yes, it could be a disadvantage if you're faced with an interview panel of academic snobs/elite in the future. However, your choice of supervisor, and the quality & specialisation of the department should be considered before general rankings.

"What about a GRE exam that these elite unis require?"
Check individual PhD admission pages.

Did you have a personal tutor while doing your MA? Usually they will provide a reference even if they didn't know you well. I'd suggest you pick the nicest of the tutors and email them explaining your problem, and also include a CV. If you did well in your MA - which you must have done to be applying for a PhD - someone must have a favourable opinion of you.

Try contacting some departments directly and tell them what you want to research, and if they can accommodate you as a completely independent researcher. However, you must have a good research proposal to gain a place, you can't just say I'm going to read for one year before discovering your research thesis/project.

^^ it's easy to miss the point if you don't fully explain. You have looked at two individual cases, but it varies...sometimes PhD researchers work as a team and then sometimes it's very independent. If you read some of the threads on here you'll see that many scientists are working completely alone on their research.

If your aim is to work totally with no team and/or not to be constricted by a particular topic then a British university will allow you to do this, but you are less likely to find funding. Most PhDs are funded, and many science PhDs are funded by money attached to a particular topic or centre/institute specialises in a niche area, so you don't have carte blanche over what you want to do. However, if you approach a university and say I want to reseach x, y and z, they'll quite happily welcome you with open arms if you foot the bill.

rjb203, what you say is pretty much the same as what I was told when I was first looking at doing a PhD. I completely agree with your sentiments.

The US PhD involves more structured training i.e. having to attended a number of classes (usually at masters level) and then often writing quite a descriptive PhD. I believe the Canadian PhD is more akin to the British model.

Hi Lara,

Good to see you back - I thought you may have had a horrible meeting with your supervisors and run off

I wouldn't worry too much about having an unproductive week - you seem to have been working very hard so it's inevitable you'll ebb and flow. I've had an unproductive month!! I've decided a change of scenery is necessary, so I'm going to work in a local uni library rather than at home in my study. Hopefully, an academic environment will increase my productivity.