My university had a compulsory task required that was called a 'Research Plan' which needed to be around 3000 words, and which included a timeline. My timeline was quite simply that- a long list of dates and primary activities-where I guessed when I would have key events completed. This timeline is constantly updated but given it was all a projection, has still been very useful and I followed similar times to those outlined by CR1980 for Year 1, 2& 3 (only adjusted to suit the part time nature of my research). The Gant Chart sounds like a wonderful idea btw for organising it.

The original research plan needed to include a short 'context statement of the main subject matter and slightly longer background statement (including some literature review-but only a small amount-a few key authors and similar), a summary of the research problem and then the statement of the problem (or hypothesis or topic) and research questions. These amounted to about the word limit stipulated and have since been re written to form a very very early draft of chapter one.

The university have since changed their protocols for candidates and now have an online version of the whole thing that follows the outline below.

.I've included this because it might be helpful to others as well if they are required to formulate or structure plans for submission (You only need to enter a paragraph or dot points under each heading on the online pro forma. Nothing too long).

The new online research plan lists 'overview', objectives, resources required, key mile stones (projected dates of major tasks and when they might be completed or the timeline), OH & S considerations(if there are any), Regulatory Approvals (if you need them-such as permissions from research sites), Intellectual Property (if your project is likely to have a potential commercial outcome0, generic skills (science lab skills, interviewing skills, administrative skills or similar) and comments (or other).

These are just to provide a different version of what might be useful to help organise or get one started. I was lucky in that my university provided some help in the forms of seminars and similar but not all universities do-and I know if this were one my Masters was completed at-I would have had to really work it out all on my own. Good luck.

It might be wise just to stick it out till Summer and then see, if as you say, being active in the lab helps you re-engage with the PhD side of things. If, after a bit of time and collecting data or completing lab work or similar and getting some results, you still feel exactly the same way, then it might be a good idea to discuss this with your supervisor and see what your options are.

It is pretty hard to make a considered decision before all the evidence is in-by this I mean, you have given yourself a chance to engage with the actual data. Most of us go through a slow period with the PhD or doctorate where nothing much seems to happen and we want to chuck it all in. But this can pass and we re-engage and carry on. However, sometimes it is a really wise thing to leave a PhD as well. But this is something only you will know-as this is a very personal decision-and until you have given yourself a chance, you probably just don't have enough experience to make that decision as to which you prefer or would be best for you.

If at the end of summer (or whenever a suitable period has passed) you find you do want to leave, you can let your advisor know and would obviously want to discuss this with them. Who knows, you may have completed your MBA or not, you would probably only need to pay for units that you still need to complete. However, you would want to find out if there were retrospective fees applying. EG: You leave the PhD-apply to receive the MBA (which you have completed fee free) but before the University provides accreditation they request fees retrospectively because the MBA is usually a professional qualification that most people have to pay for unless they receive a scholarship or similar. Your funding is for a PhD not the MBA so you might wish to check the rules and regulations and see whether any such concerns are likely to arise.

Another consideration though is whether you are actually allowed to work on the MBA full-time while doing the PhD given that you are funded and whether you have the ability to actually engage with the PhD while completing another degree full time. So you may need to 'pare back' some of the MBA units for a few months so you can actually make a fair judgement. I don't mean cease them, but perhaps complete them at a part time rate, and begin reading and re-immersing yourself in the doctorate just while you give yourself enough time to make a considered decision. Hope this is somewhat helpful.

Hi Nesrine, you should not be the person to tell your parents. It needs to be your brother (ideally). However, that being said it sounds as if your brother is avoiding this for a range of reasons. Some would be because it ends his pleasant life but others would be because it would be hard and he will have to face your parent's anger and dismay and what child wishes to go through this-no matter their age.

If it were me I would do (or try to do this). I would talk to my brother and tell him that while it wasn't my business about what he does in his life-that I also had an obligation to my parents and because I knew he had left the PhD (or taken a long break!), they would be very hurt if when they found out, if they knew that I had known for a while had not said anything.(This is not just a money issue-it is also about trust-as well as loyalty).

I would outline that we both had obligations to our parents and needed to keep the trust in the relationship. Having said this, I would give my brother a period of time (fortnight) to tell the parents (through any means-written or verbal but face to face is always best). If he had not done this by this time, then I would be letting them know that he needed to discuss his studies with them and they needed to contact him as there were some problems. (So again, I wouldn't state it outright-but I would be giving them a clear indication that a conversation needed to occur). I would say that this was not my preferred thing to do but that I had an obligation to them (as my parents) and to him (as my brother) and I had no choice but to let people know there was a problem that needed to be sorted as the impacts of the problem extended beyond some finances and would impact on trust and the family relationships-and that these were the most important things.

Finally, I would say to my brother that I loved him and was happy to support him emotionally through this but that our parents needed to know so they could make an honest decision about how much financial support they wanted to give him or continue.. So if he wanted me to help him through it, listen to him, brainstorm future plans, be there when he told them to help out emotionally, any or all of this, then I would do this-without judgement but ultimately he had a fortnight to sort things with them or I would be telling them they needed to contact him over a serious problem about his studies by such and such a date.

Good luck-I'm not saying you should do this-just telling you what I would do or would expect my grown children to do for me. PS: As a parent of adult children, I love them very much so however angry I might be, I know I would forgive them and work to help them get back on track.

Universities have very defined limits to the amount and type of support that Universities and others can provide and these are usually outlined in the rules and regulations. They often only amount to editing assistance. This is because the work needs to be the candidate's work, so this may be why your friend feels that the support is very limited.

The criticism seems to imply that there is a lack of substance (data? or content) in the dissertation and a lack of a critical overview or analysis. Can your friend go, as suggested by Aisling, to the English Language support centre or the International student support centre, as it may be that the data and substance is there but language skills are impacting on how your friend expresses and organises her/his arguments and 'thesis statement'. Often markers and readers of dissertations and papers can be really floored by language and structure issues in a written piece and incorrectly assume that these mean that the data and original thesis were/are flawed. (Just think of the number of journal rejections or write and resubmits that people undergo-only to have the resubmitted piece be praised once the communication issues have been sorted).

Or alternatively could your friend advertise privately, or through the universities "student work register" or similar for a postgrad student or retired teacher or similar to coach/help her/him with reorganising and setting out the dissertation so that it meets the standard.

For setting out a Master's dissertation or thesis, I initially relied heavily on a book called How to Write a Master's Thesis by Yvonne N Bui (Sage Publications 2009). This had chapters with step by step protocols on how to set up and argue each chapter, with many samples from the author's own students, provided as case studies and models. These case studies were predominantly from Education.

If the final result was a 'fail'-does this Masters have an alternative qualification? For example, did it also include taught aspects and coursework, and do you receive credit for this even if the dissertation does not pass. Eg: with some Master's degrees, a score below the pass line on the dissertation can still be added to results for course work units and similar and result in a PostGraduate Diploma or similar. (I know this would not be a preferred option but sometimes it is helpful to know that there is some qualification or acknowledgement of the work even if dissertation marks are not all one would wish them to be).

It must be very hard for your friend at the moment, so hoping that their spirits are not too low at present. I'm not sure if this reply will be helpful or provide welcome news, but I am sure that many on the forum would be sympathetic to your friend's problem and results.

Good for you. And you know we all go through or have gone through a horror patch (sometimes more than one) in the PhD so while you think that these signs might be telling you 'you are not cut out for this'-really this is just one of the aspects of completion.

It is sort of like the journey or quest narratives, where at some point in the journey, some horrible little hobgoblin is going to pop up and tell you all sorts of nasty and demotivating things to try and hold you up or make you go back.

In fairy tales the quester has to overcome this hobgoblin and so it is within the PhD journey. Take a deep breath, you have just met your own personal hobgoblin and you are coming through, then keep on going. :) Best of luck.

it would be an incredible shame after coming so far to have this stop you now. While I know your feelings must be pretty difficult, is there any way you can just acknowledge them (internally) then set them to one side and go ahead.

Presumably you have to write or have written your presentation and then you need to practice it (read it out several times-either in front of a friend or family member or the mirror). Just do these things anyway-go through all the steps you need to take to achieve success. Prepare your mind and body to go through with this anyway, even if you feel like you are suffocating, but even while you are doing this be gentle on yourself and don't blame yourself. If this person is bullying you (even if it is subtle), then it is not surprising you are finding this difficult to deal with. Many, if not most people find bullying really hard to deal with-you are not alone in your reactions and responses.

However, you do not have to let this prevent you from completing your departmental conference and your PhD or anything else. I would ask if it is possible to do something about the bullying through the department. However, in saying this, I also know (professionally) that sometimes this is much easier said than done and many people try to ignore or avoid bullying and dealing with complaints from their employees as they really don't know how to deal with it and hope that avoidance will cause it to cease or the problem to 'go away'.

If you can do something, then by all means do it, but if you find this is hard, then perhaps finding and discussing the person's behaviour and your responses with a sympathetic postgrad student, post doc or other colleague might assist you gain some perspective and feel better able to deal with this. Counselling might also assist or talking to the HR or support people-even if it is a 'hypothetical' conversation or similar.

Important things from my perspective here would be:
stop blaming yourself for your understandable reactions to another's difficult behaviour.
Find support from friends, family or colleagues.
Tell yourself you can do this (the presentation that is) and do all you can physically and mentally to prepare yourself for a great presentation.
Acknowledge that probably this person's behaviour impacts badly on others as well-they just might not say anything out of embarrassment or similar feelings.
Possibly seek out further help from the department or some counselling if this problem seems beyond this form of management.

Good luck and know we are all behind you 100 percent. Well done on your fantastic achievements and work thus far. Keep going as you have already. :). Hoping also that many of the other wise people on this forum provide further support and ideas that will assist.

Grumpy Mule has some really good advice and I followed a similar line to help me tolerate myself when doing transcription.

Thank goodness for me all transcription is over as is the data collection stage. (Sorry I just needed to say this somewhere in public as I can hardly believe it myself. I flogged myself to have it done before December 24th!).

awsoci has some good advice as well but I would add a caveat to this. You do get twice as much mileage out of transcribed data when you do it yourself I believe. Having said this, if you have masses of interviews and it helps to get some transcription done for you then it is worth considering in the interests of managing your overall project. (And I understand completely why you would get things transcribed if it presented a health concern-absolutely).

Cheers and best of …

Pjlu

You may need to give yourself a short period just to put it all in perspective-but then you should contact your supervisors and gain their advice on how to reshape your thesis into an MPhil which is still a worthy achievement in itself. As others have said, there may be another time later on when you go back and do achieve your PhD, but perhaps just not right now. It sounds like it has been an ordeal-and I hope you don't let this determine your own self worth or value-because it isn't an indicator of this at all but right now, it probably is hard to convince you of this. You do need to be gentle with yourself at the moment and not worry too much about what your supervisors think.

The other thing to consider is that having only one option for a career or job or vocation is really common but often a bit unrealistic. I'm always mindful of the teenager who grumpily tells me they don't need to worry about their essay because they will be a professional football player when they leave school. Very very occasionally one of them will be, but mostly they find other employment. I think becoming an academic can be an intelligent adult's version of this phenomenon, in that there are limited positions for this specific work and many people who finish PhDs don't become researchers or academics.

Having said this, you may still be able to research with an MPhil, but at a different level. For example, you may find employment in a government workplace or industry, where your MPhil is well regarded, and part of your work allows you to research.

Academic life is full of criticism, and your professors need to prepare you for this by being highly critical but that doesn't mean you should give up. Your research becomes more rigorous by criticism and advice-it is all part of the process.

That being said-it can really hurt at times.And your supervisors can usually only guide you on the process because it is your topic and your research. My supervisors give very generic advice and we have conversations about the work every 2 months (I'm part time-it would be every month otherwise), but the work is pretty much all mine. They are like a critical friend and they don't have much time for supervision as their other duties and students all need the majority of attention-not to mention their own research. I think a large majority of supervisors would be like this.

However, 9-5 jobs also have people who criticise your work who are also called supervisors. Sometimes they can be fantastic mentors and sometimes mediocre ones. There are also horrible work supervisors out there in the 9-5 working world as well. It is a part of life we all have to get used to once we leave undergraduate studies. Good luck and as Treeoflife has suggested, you will feel better about this in a few days.

Oh CB, very sorry to hear about the unfair dismissal. Wishing you all the best and hope very much that there is rewarding work around the corner.

Yes, tell them. You can't be expected to support your family (of origin-as in siblings and parents) financially. Particularly now, when you need your all of your own resources to help you find more employment.

I don't know your parents, so I wouldn't know how to go about this (saying this as I am surprised a little that they seem to be looking to you for support but I don't know the circumstances) but if they are hard people to say this to directly then write them a sincere letter-saying how hard it has been for you to let them know but you are hoping that this letter will help them understand your circumstances better.

You really need to let them know (even if they are worriers or would get upset or critical). Right now you need support and by not letting them know, they may keep hinting for financial support (or have I misread your post-very sorry if I have).

Best of luck CharlieBrown-but let them know and then keep up your energy and positivity for the hunt for new employment.

PS: Is there anything you can do about the unfair dismissal -legally or through workplace authorities or similar?

It's incredible the way a doctorate or PhD looks and feels so different once you are well and truly immersed in it-or finished with it, rather than it did before one started!

PhDefault-you write really imaginatively so at least the PhD didn't kill that bit! :) Dr J's advice is excellent. Furthermore, I recently read this really interesting article on thinking (not to do with my PhD but it was a good read all the same). I'm going to quote it here as I was very taken by it and it might be helpful to you. I found it really helpful as an explanation of why my own brain went into obsessive thinking modes so readily, despite all of my best intentions. It might shed light on the googling btw. If not, just ignore:

It has been taken from an article called Quiet Leadership by Frumi Rachel Barr. Excerpt is below.

It’s Practically Impossible to Deconstruct Our Wiring
• It’s almost impossible to change any hard wiring that’s been embedded in the brain. Our default mode for trying to change our habits is to try to “unwire” what is already there, to deconstruct it somehow.
• So when we want to change something about ourselves, we first look down into our memory and search for the roots of our habits. We look for the links.
• What usually happens is we fail to stop the habit, and then become upset with ourselves for failing. This provides further links and energy to the original wiring we wanted to get rid of, further embedding the habit.
• Science is showing that we can change the way we think, and that’s not as hard as we’ve been assuming. Changing a habit, now that’s hard, but leaving it where it is and creating a whole new habit – that turns out to be far more achievable.

It’s Easy to Create New Wiring
• An exciting new domain within neuroscience called neuroplasticity found that the brain had a remarkable ability to repair itself when things went wrong.
• Scientists noticed that the brain was capable of creating new connections on a massive scale, at any stage of life, and did this in response to anything new that was learned, such as learning to play an instrument.
• Every day we create enormous sets of new maps that change the chemical and physical connections in our brain.
• If we want to hardwire a new behavior we just need to give our new mental map enough attention, over enough time, to ensure it becomes embedded in our brain. We do this by making links to different parts of the brain so that the web of links thickens and spreads out.
• If we want to improve people’s performance, our job is to help them find new ways to approach situations that leaves their existing wiring where it is, and allows for the development and ultimately the hard wiring of new habits. A less technical way of saying this is we need to help people focus on solutions instead of problems. We need to give up our desire to find behaviors to fix, and become fascinated with identifying and growing people’s strengths, an entirely other discipline.


I think it is really important to take on board Ian's comment about the many factors behind homelessness. It (sadly) can happen to all for a very large range of reasons. In my own country, we do (or did-our welfare support systems are going through some 'reforms' with our present government!) have a reasonably supportive welfare system. We do have a significant number of homeless people -as with most countries- but statistics would indicate that mental health issues, substance abuse, domestic violence concerns and similar factors would play an influencing role in these cases at the moment (and that is because we have had a reasonably supportive system).

It certainly is a sobering thought that a degree or doctorate is not a guarantee against life's challenges. Education is certainly a protective factor but only one among many. It must be so much harder for those who live in nations where there is minimal social support or income protection for people who lose their employment. Very thoughtful post KW. Important also to stay positive and focused in times like these (hard though it may be at times).

Done. I wish my study could use online respondents from this group. Anyway good luck with your study-liked your survey design :)

Should be in there now Satchi, but let me know if not.

Cheers

P.

Hi Satchi, I have been able to get a copy of this just then. Do you have an email or online address that I can email the article/file to? PM me if you do.