I'm sorry, but these questions are too complex to be addressed on here, questions like this should be addressed to your supervisory team who have access to your data.

Wow the viva in Switzerland sounds brutal! Congratulations!

That doesn't sound right - there's no way Uni lecturers would be up for 8am interviews! Just drop them another email, it would be totally unfair to expect you to attend the next day, at 8am or otherwise.

I agree - go for the funding. The difference between ranks 1-11 at Masters is quite small, and it matters less after undergrad.

I'm afraid your question is too vague for anyone to be able to give you a meaningful (helpful) answer.

It's certainly not bad news, but I wouldn't read too much into it. They liked you and you must have passed their own criteria otherwise you wouldn't have got an interview. You can't second guess, fingers crossed :).

Oh, and if you're paying your own way I think the Uni would still be expecting you to get the work done in the normal time frames (3 years full, 5 part), so they may have something to say about you doing outside work?

Just to say, I'm in social sciences (law), didn't get a first or a distinction and I'm fully funded at RG uni, so it happens. The drop-out rate for part timers is very high, do you have a job to support yourself?

Your age isn't a problem, but I worry about whether you can 'really' afford it - you'll need the best part of 30-40k (over 3-4 years) just on fees. Also, don't rule out getting funding, have a look for funded opportunities.

Are you citing the book generally, or a particular chapter? If general, you would just cite the editors as the authors, if you are citing from a particular chapter you would cite as TeeofLife says.

Yes, conferences are excellent ways to have a run through of your data before publishing.

Sounds a bit like Stockholm Syndrome? Perhaps a short break would help, 60 hours for 8 months is an awful lot.

I agree, I have an hour or so commute each way so I try and go to Uni as infrequently as possible. It's fine because I'm computer based, but I don't see my fellow students as often and miss do some things.

The day you hit 'print' for the final time.

(Deleted - double post)