Hi Billy...if you are not bothered about the university being in the UK, try Deakin University in Victoria, Australia. A very large Australian university-with many distance education programs.

There are quite a number of students from India and abroad studying through distance education-has a large education department and I believe a new campus in India (somewhere), although I don't know much about that personally. You should certainly be able to do a number of coursework Masters programs in a variety of faculties. A more prestigious one that may offer well supported distance Masters programs would be Monash, also in Victoria, Australia.

Congratulations, that's fantastic news!!!!!

I know you won't miss her KB but I think some of us will miss the interesting posts about her. She makes for quite a bit of forum drama-it can be really good for taking one's mind off personal issues at times. Good luck with the viva but somehow I reckon if her form up until now has been for creating drama around key events, then she'll have some post viva issue to haunt you with...some people just create stress and havoc with their personalities without even trying.

Bannierocks-that's a pretty awful situation to have happened. Can you go part-time and look for work-thereby receiving a benefit until you find work and meantime work on the Phd that way.

Plenty of people work full time and complete doctorates part-time and who knows, if you received a benefit while you are looking for work, then you could get as much done as possible until you actually get some employment.

The university have put you in a really difficult position-surely they could help out with a student loan to cover the part-time registration fees (presumably 3000 for two years rather than the 6000 for one). Hope it all works out...

Congratulations that's brilliant news- what a week for you hey?!! Hope the viva goes really well.:-)

Congratulations KeenBean- truly amazing! Well done for all of your blood,sweat and tears.(gift)8-)

I'd agree with Ady and say my Master's-finished late last year, was the stage of 'academic' growing up-(not real life growing up though) and I'm hoping this doctorate marks me moving into the stage of mature, experienced and wise professional (work wise-my doctorate is a professional one).

But essentially it would depend on where it fits with your life stage-again with Ady-the Master's thesis process was a good insight into how academic works and how to complete a thesis-albeit one of 25,000 words rather than 80,000.

Congratulations Corinne as well and great post ingeniour:-)8-)(up)(gift)(tree) (I tried to place these in a discriminating fashion (hark at me!) behind both of your names but it was a fail!

Hi Huhu,

It sounds like you have been through some really rough times recently with your thesis and data collection (experiments). And it sounds like your understandable feelings of frustration, panic and despair over your present stage in your thesis have caused you some depression and to be caught up in a negative cycle of thinking/ KB's advice about some counselling is really good.

I saw an outside counsellor several times last year (and early this) to get me through a really difficult patch in life that started or was triggered by work, personal life and Masters thesis stress combined. The counselling was incredibly helpful and I may still see her again this year for a couple of visits as I move into a more level and different life stage (least I'm hoping I am going this way). If you find a good person, it is incredibly helpful and it really helps you challenge the negative thinking that excessive stress and depression seem to bring on. Writing theses seem to trigger these sometimes as well but maybe it is to do with what happens when we meet some failure in our work-(which happens to many of us and doesn't mean we fail our thesis-just a patch to get through).

Without trying to undermine or negate your feelings-which are real and genuine and painful enough-can I provide some counterthoughts to challenge the warpy thinking (depression or stress based) that might be making your feelings worse and helping them to last longer-so that feeling of being gutted or low hangs around.

Your supervisor is probably worried about you rather than thinking horrible things about you. But ultimately it is more important what you think about things than your supervisor-at least about yourself at any rate. You need to talk to them, it won't be neally as bad as you think-really.

Who knows why you only received one report from a reviewer than two-perhaps lots of reviewers read your work but were too busy to provide comments. It doesn't reflect on your report or make your friends more worthy. As KB says "CONGRATULATIONS" on getting a report published-that is really really good.

You have to get two papers published but these don't require your experiments to have been a success-in the course of researching case methodologies for methods chapter and data, I read masses of journal articles that were essentially the writer's reflections on why things had gone so badly or had not worked in the way they had envisioned. These were often really useful and interesting articles to read-not because they were records of 'failure' but because they tracked a difficult journey, providing food for thought for other researchers and marking the personal and academic growth of the writer concerned.

Your friends may come over and be happy because you are all socialising...it may not be because all is right with their world and their work is great while yours isn't. They may go home to feeling low about things as well but not want to share this with you-because none of us want to be low or down around others-so many of us pretend-pretend really really well.

Please get some help and try to go a bit easier on yourself. You are doing a terrific job and doing a PhD is not a breeze it is a really difficult challenge. Plan some small doable action steps to get you moving back into the work but also look after yourself and accept support. You would have lots of people who would be really concerned about you if they knew how badly you felt at the moment.
Hope this helps rather than hinders-be strong.

:-)

======= Date Modified 28 Jul 2011 11:53:06 =======
The Good Universities Guide 2011 is the main Australian publication that outlines universities, courses, etc for Tertiary study in Australia.
Ive attached a weblink www.gooduniguide.com.au, here but if it doesn't work-just google the full title listed above.

Not sure from memory how good it is for finding out about doctoral research (as opposed to undergrad, etc) but it should give you an insight into all of the universities here, what their best research areas are, who the star players are, and (most importantly) what students think of them. Good luck btw
8-)

Hi Snowdrop,

The work that has come up sounds great-understandable why you feel torn. However, Beajay and Ady's points about not necessarily having to choose between both are really good. I found after being in my role as team leader, then coordinator and (always) teacher for many years, I was reluctant to go down the pure theory pathway. So even though I started out years ago as having always wanted to do the PhD, after completing the Masters, I realised that the Doctor of Education program was far more suitable for who I now was someway into the journey.

I was qualified to do either and was invited by the University to apply for either-in fact one academic advised the PhD, simply because my thesis will be the same no matter what and she thought that academic prospects might be just that much better with the PHD. But nowadays, I really know my own mind (it's only taken me almost half a century!) and I have selected the Educational Doctorate and as of Thursday am officially on the books as an enrolled 'Doctoral candidate'. But my main point is that you may be able to have and do both. I am definitely part-time. There is no way now I would risk my current role and job and income (plus I love it too much) but I also really want a doctorate and to go that further step.

I know you and I haven't seen 'eye to eye' on the forum over the last couple of threads and I know that we can agree to disagree on how we interpret feelings or how we frame them to ourselves, but I felt quite sad when you posted about your break and thought that perhaps it is too early to have to make this decision. I also think it is possible to be a highly theoretical practitioner- in fact it is a great thing to be:-)

Hi, Ive tried to edit the post below but it won't let me for some reason, so I can't make any changes on it at all...

but I was finishing up (this very long winded post-apologies peeps) by saying that sometimes, as mentioned by Eska, JJJ and KB that a PhD is like a marathon. For me, using a long distance race analogy really works as I have just started running and ran my first 10 k race a couple of weeks ago. Getting through some points and through the training was really difficult at times and I had to use sheer determination at times to cut through the pain at points, but I don't regret doing this as the feeling at the end and my personal results made it all worthwhile-the confidence it gave me was also undescribable (indescribable-whichever). Good luck Snowdrop, I am glad you are following your dream but I am also fine about who I am and how I tackle things as well.

Hi Snow, your advice is very sound but it can come across (without the warmth of your personality or body language-the delivery in person) as simplistic in text form and for someone who might be really depressed, it could be interpreted in the wrong way- they may make a decision in the throes of their depression based on 'well this doesn't make me happy at the moment so I have no right to try to forge through some of this-what a loser I am for even trying-I should just give up'. When in actual fact, once they get through the particular issue they might feel and see things very differently and in a far more positive way.

It isn't up to us to advise others or pronounce that because we have made such decisions others should as well. Neither is calling up mental health professionals and placing them as arbitors of all wisdom or privileging the sort of knowledge they may offer. They do have good advice and wisdom-no doubt about it but this forum allows all postgrad students and researchers the right to add their knowledge provided they are not rude about it.

I personally think it is great what you are doing...absolutely...but I also know that during some of the very hard times in my life, for a short period, the only thing that got me through was the determination that I could and that this negative experience would not define who I was. I think in some circumstances that is a very healthy way to get through to reframe, what might be extreme otherwise might be an extreme hardship or struggle for a period of time.

I am taking the time to comment on this not because I disagree with all that you say but because I sincerely believe that we cannot always know what it is like for others at times, nor can we just apply a basic mental health recipe to hope that this will improve things-it is a good start but it can be simplistic -sort of chicken soup advice-sometimes people need something more, more specific or sometimes they need someone simply to listen and to hear what they have said.

I will give you an example, during winter, (in my state within Australia-winter is very bitter and snow and storms are common) I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. In an absolute awfully depressed state (I had barely been aware of it as the SAD had been creeping up slowly despite all of my usual remedies I throw at it), I mentioned that I was in a bleak state, through a simple email, to a work colleague who I thought was a friend. I was doing this because I had found it hard to be my usual cheery person around them (for once) and I felt really guilty for having been a bit sombre. So I wanted them to understand that it was simply that I felt very depressed and found it hard to hide this constantly and be nice and supportive to everyone-but I hoped that they understood if I seemed a little down, that it had nothing to do with them (or my doctorate which I haven't even started yet and which for the most part I will find okay). I received an email back from them giving me a long list of things that I should appreciate and do on the weekend, because if I did, then I wouldn't be depressed.

Now I know they meant well and were simply trying to help. However, I found their response patronising and quite insensitive to how depression can work. All I really had hoped for was a short "Gee sorry things seem so tough-thanks for letting me know-sort of response). Instead I felt very guilty about having bothered them at all and as if I was a child who did not know how to look after myself. Anyway they meant well, so a couple of days later, I wrote them a really nice email thanking them for their support and kind thoughts and just clarifying in a really nice way, that it wasnt that I lack appreciation of the child like things in life but more that I was tired and down due to many work deadlines but their taking the time to respond like this was a thoughtful and very kind hearted thing to do.

But do you see where I am coming from? Somet

And I've taken a life time to learn that it is okay to be angry at times; it is okay to feel and own your own personal feelings and it is okay to take on challenges in a hard core way. It is really important to value your own experiences and follow your own pathway and equally important to understand that for other people it can be very different-very different understandings, very different experiences and a very different pathway.

There will be times when I hate what I am doing...but I will come through those times and they won't define me...it is the flip side of love remember and no passion can be without its polar opposite.

When I did my Master's thesis, I began it to resolve unfinished business. I took leave and for me it was going to be the honours year (extra year in Australia) that I could not afford at the time, because family issues and finances took priority.

What i found in the two years of this thesis (some part-time and a four month stint fulltime) was that I had to let go of the idea that this was going to make up for the past and was my time to pursue my dream. Well at least let go of it if I wanted to stay sane and not become completely depressed.

I also had to realise that my supervisor was not my friend and her criticism was not really personal -but because of my emotional investment in my work and because we are all human and have feelings- it often felt as if it was.

I'm going to start my part-time doctorate (with a different supervisor and university) in October this year. And I know it won't be a dream at all-it will be sheer hard work on top of my actual professional work, my research and writing will be criticised pretty intensively at times and there will be times when I question why the hell I am putting myself through this. I also know that once I have, I won't regret it. That the journey is hard but the personal growth, overcoming the challenges and the confidence gained at the end will all be worth it.

I also know that in my workplace, our ways of dealing with staff with problems-well we do have protocols and I for one, prefer to be affirming and supportive (that's just how I roll) but others don't. And they can be bitchy and critical or nice to your face but you feel the knife in your back as you walk away-it is just the way it is. My Master's supervisor said the same thing to me by the way, 'at the end of this you will hate me'; I did for a while but only during the process and I am grateful finally some months after completion.:-)

======= Date Modified 03 Jul 2011 13:57:01 =======
Hi Robbi, the three universities I looked at (properly looked at because I was tossing up whether to lodge an application with all), had a specific online form that the referees had to fill out and submit. With regard to the university that I eventually applied through, I had to email the online form to the referees along with supplying the email address and contact details of the uni higher degree research coordinator and academic in charge of research for the faculty.

The referees then completed the form independently and emailed this to the contact addresses I supplied. The form was quite specific and I did not get to see what they said (though would have loved to). Questions asked were things like
given a particular category-did they think that my current research strengths were
a going towards international level,
b tending towards national level,
c sound and with some support very thorough, or
d would need lots of support to complete.

They had other sorts of questions like this as well.

I did not get to see the reports but have just received my letter of offer only two to three days ago and have to go in to enrol before the end of this week or the offer lapses. (Not much time there).

On the other hand, I didn't have to go through extensive interviews so I'm guessing that the referee reports were solid (seriously do not think they would have suggested I was working towards international level or anything) and all of my other qualifications were at the level required-so perhaps they did not see the need to interview. Initially they told me I would be grilled by a very scary professor (their words). I did have two interviews though-one with the research coordinator and one with one of my designated supervisors (I have two).

Anyway, I am off on a tangent (about myself here:$). To finish, all three universities I had earmarked for potential applications had a similar referee process with the online form and independent submission. However, this is in Australia-it might be a little different. The university I am doing the doctorate through though claims it bases its research processes on British Universities though. It tends to be a bit traditional.

Good luck with it all(up) Robbi-best of luck. It is a bit nervewracking all up but it is also a pretty happy moment when you get your letter of offer.