Overview of PhoenixFortune on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of PhoenixFortune

Signup date: 31 Oct 2019 at 1:55pm

Last login: 12 Feb 2022 at 4:13pm

Post count: 92

Recent Posts

Part Time PhD - Thinking quitting

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Quote From stevieb143:
Hi,

I am currently struggling to see a way forward with my PhD and seriously thinking of quitting. As background, I am a part-time Student (Self Funded) and working fulltime. I started the PhD in March 2017.

Year 1 & 2 - Mar-17 to Mar19. All research went well and following the initial research plan.
Year 3 March 19 - Mar 20. My supervisor switched the direction of my research and looking back at my notes and progress, nothing has been done
Temp withdraw Mar20 to Sept20 - suspended study due to Covid
Sept20 to Now - absolutely no progress being made

I have effectively wasted 18 months of time on producing nothing valuable and have made no progress in 18 months. I have previously raised this with my supervisor, but he is not concerned. I need to change the direction of my research if not I feel I just need to quit.

I have a progress report due and have nothing to document.

Do you have annual reviews? If so, what does your supervisor suggest you present at your next review?

You may have a bit of leniency given your recent suspension, but if you are also struggling to come up with plans for your next year then your committee might be concerned.

What do you feel about your research now? Can you see yourself continuing in this new direction?

Major corrections as R&R

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Quote From Phd20sb:

In their report they mentioned that I rebutted their constructive feedback while in reality I only responded to their stupid comments and attack. They also mentioned I gave them difficult moments at the end of the examination meeting forgetting to mention that my viva was basically an attack and I am the victim here

Anyway, I am still angry now and I am hoping that I could calm down and don’t do anything reckless ( liking emailing the examiners and telling them that they do not deserve to be in academia)

I understand that you have other complaints, but I'll just focus on the viva issue in this thread.

Can you give us some examples of instances in the viva where you felt attacked? And what was your response to each of these?

Getting defensive =/= reasoning out the comments the examiners make; the latter is the right thing to do in an academic discussion. If you could not do that, then I understand their concerns. The viva must be separated from other issues you may have made throughout your PhD, otherwise you're taking a bucket-load of resentment into an already stressful situation - this might explain why you interpret their comments as attacks and see yourself as a victim?

I'm glad that you acknowledge that insulting your examiners would do you no good.

Can a new post doc, who didn't contribute to the work, presents a PhD student work?

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

The post doc shouldn't put their name on work that was done before they entered the lab group, but any work done afterwards it may be seen as fair game to do so. This will be something you need to clarify with your PI.

Can a new post doc, who didn't contribute to the work, presents a PhD student work?

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

What will the post doc be presenting at the conference? Your work or theirs?

What is the situation re: the post doc's access to your work/data? Is it only the abstract they have used so far?

It might be a good idea to sit down with your current PI to discuss what the post doc's exact role will be, what they will have access to, what they will get priority over etc. Politics around author order will always be a sticky situation in academia; this post doc obviously thought it is entirely acceptable to place their name above yours, whereas you don't think that is fair. This is something you may need to discuss together. Depending on the situation/relationship you have with your group, sometimes authorship order is by contribution, by surname alphabetically, or by superiority.

Participants withdrawing

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Quote From JGalt:
My research project is comparatively analysing the level of success of two social movements, one in the UK and one in Switzerland.

I contacted both organisations in my first year, and again in my second year, and they were both really eager to participate. I started my fieldwork by conducting the Swiss interviews via Zoom in April during lockdown. All of these participants were quick to respond and made time for me straight away. I got all the interviews finished by June.

However, I then turned my attention to my UK research by emailing the British group I’m analysing to arrange the interviews and they are no longer responding to my emails. I emailed one person back in March but haven’t received a response, and I tried a second person back in July but no response. I’ve chased them but still nothing.

Thankfully, I’d managed to arrange an interview with the founder of the organisation, who works somewhere else now. However, he didn’t show up for our scheduled call and he’s not responding to my emails now either. He sent me his consent form only two days before our interview day, so he was clearly intending on doing it.

I’ve tried telling myself this is just because people are busy/stressed due to COVID and I’ve been patient, but this has been months now and these people clearly don’t want to participate in the research anymore.

Has anyone else experienced key participants reneging/withdrawing for fieldwork? Should I ask my supervisor if I can remove the UK element and just analyse the Swiss organisation?

I was considering just finding grassroots activists for the organisation and interviewing them instead, however they won’t know any of the strategic details about running the campaign.

Thanks!

Do you have any other contact information like a phone number for the organisation in question? Emails can easily be ignored or misplaced, whilst phone calls give you an immediate yes/no.

It does seem odd that the founder didn't turn up (presumably without any warning or reason given). I don't know the nature of the social movement, but could there perhaps be a reason that they no longer want to participate (e.g. changing political/social situation, knowledge of your connection to the Swiss movement etc.)?

To be a research assistant or not to be a research assistant...

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Quote From rewt:
That is a shame PhoenixFortune that a suspension would not work. Though if the 17.5 hour a week job is going to land during data collection anyway, that is going to be a crazy amount of work simultaneously. If you need the money to enable yourself to finish the PhD, I would talk with your supervisor if there is anything you can do to make it work. You might have to modify your planned timeline slightly but there should be a way to for you do take the opportunity, without burning out.

I don't desperately need the job, so it's not vital that I apply, it's just a shame that it's landed at a time where it's not particularly viable. I've never seen a research assistant role that was part-time which had so many hours before, as in my discipline they are typically 8-10 hours per week. I may have to give it a pass, but I will talk to my supervisor about it and see what they suggest.

To be a research assistant or not to be a research assistant...

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Quote From rewt:
I am currently doing a full time research assistant role and have suspended my studies. Fortunately, it is with my PhD supervisor at the same uni on a project that is close enough to my PhD that I can include it in my thesis.

If you are self funded already, request a suspension of studies (or whatever your uni calls it) and keep working on your PhD. 3.5 hours a day is a significant amount of work and will delay you even further but if you can suspend you don't lose any money or PhD time.

If I take the assistant role, that 3 months should be when I'm starting my first round of data collection, so I'm not sure how that would work re: suspending. I've heard that you're technically not meant to carry on doing any PhD work during a time of interruption/suspension, so I guess I would have to put off data collecting until after the 3 months are over...

To be a research assistant or not to be a research assistant...

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

I've recently spotted a relevant research opportunity in my discipline, and it's all online due to COVID-19. That's great for me as I don't live near the particular university offering the role, and I am self-funded.

However, I am slightly concerned about the number of hours the role will take per week (as I am doing my PhD full-time). I would have to work every day for 3.5 hours, as well as some Saturdays. I'm worried that my own project might suffer, although the position is only for 3 months and therefore wouldn't be forever. I also don't know how happy my supervisor would be about it.

Has anyone been a research assistant during their PhD? How did you find it in terms of workload etc.?

My supervisor first student failed😢

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Quote From Phd2020:
Update
I became the second 😭

So sorry to hear that! What was your feedback?

Linguistics PhD with unrelated BSc & MA ?

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

It depends on the area of Linguistics you are interested in - if it's an area which a large Psycholinguistics component, your current background may be enough. Tbh, Humanities PhDs are competitive funding-wise, so a lot of research councils ask for specific previous degrees - you might want to research potential supervisors and funding sources to see whether the route is viable for you.

There is also the MA+PhD route (1+3), which would fund a relevant masters degree plus the PhD, which might be suitable for you if you have a less than ideal academic background for Linguistics.

Video translation software

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

I agree with Tudor_Queen. Research assistants who are fluent in the languages you're analysing would be best, as translation software is never that reliable or accurate.

Self-funded PhD this year or possible funded PhD next year?

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

It depends on the field, but some research councils will not fund current PhD students, only students will are yet to start their project.
Also, I'm not sure what you mean by looking for a fully-funded project for next year. If you've started a PhD elsewhere, you may find that it's frowned upon to up and leave after 1 year, and is a bit of a waste of time and money honestly.

Overwhelemed and too stupid for PhD

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Your mindset seems pretty persistent, so I think seeking mental health support is very important at this stage. If you need to apply for an extension in order to complete your project satisfactorily, then look into doing that. If you've had to restart your project in your 3rd year, that definitely needs addressing - by your committee, and by the university.

I think a big question for you is: what would make you feel less incompetent? And how could you go about achieving that?

Still triggered by PhD experience

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

I can relate, not at PhD level, but some things to do with my undergraduate degree can give me a very visceral response. Like you, I received very little support during my undergrad (even when I actively sought it), and felt like I wasn't wanted. My particular course had a small cohort, so it was easy for people to stand out for the right or wrong reasons. Only a few weeks ago I was reading an academic paper about a certain topic highly relevant to my undergrad, and I found that I suddenly felt very tearful and panicky. I graduated in 2014, so I was surprised to still feel like that.

What helped me was making sure that every career decision I made from then on came from a place of seeking happiness overall, and not doing anything as a means to an end. It also gave me a good measure of who are good people for me and who aren't, and to trust my gut instinct more.

Part-time PhD while working full-time

PhoenixFortune 92 posts
4 years ago

Quote From ellen_xo:
Hi everyone!

So I’m looking for some advice from people who have done this as to whether or not it’s feasible or possible.

I’m currently working as a secondary school English teacher, and I’m desperate to do my PhD. I’ll need to do my PhD part-time, so I can self-fund and continue to work, and as it’ll take 6-7 years I’m keen to get started next year. However, I won’t be able to go part-time at work. While it may be a possibility further into the future, it isn’t at the moment, and I’m concerned about an economic recession or crisis hitting which will mean I need to stay in full-time employment regardless. I do get about 18-20 weeks of the year out for holidays, and I’m wondering if there are any other teachers or people who worked full-time while doing a part-time phd on here, and if you could tell me whether or not it’s realistically to do this?

I‘d really appreciate any advice!

A friend of mine did her PhD alongside her full-time job: she used all her weekends and most evenings on it, and she was exhausted most of the time. She said it probably would have been easier if her PhD had been related to her job (which sadly it wasn't), as there would have been more mutual benefits.

She also didn't have any dependants, which is admittedly significantly easier to fit a PhD around. If you have young children or other caring responsibilities, it might be a difficult mix to juggle.