Hi sedah,

Congratulations on getting accepted for a PhD!

I am sorry to say that self-funding isn't that easy. You might be able get funding from the relevant research council (either AHRC, BBRSC, ESRC, EPRSC) but full funding is unlikely. Depending on your field, you might be able to apply for individual grants from the research council or associated funding body. You can ask your supervisor for some ideas and you can usually find a decent sized list of possible grants with a long google search. However most of the grants are one-offs and probably won't cover all your needs.

Your department might over teaching assistance contracts or marking, which usually pay very well, £15-20 per hour, but they are highly unstable. Again you can ask your supervisor if they can help getting a decent teaching contract. You will probably be eligible for a PhD loan of £26,000 but I know nothing about that. I also know a lot of self funded PhD students that do tutoring, which can be £10-30 per hour.

If I can think of anything else, I will post it here but self-funding can be difficult.

You have probably been shortlisted and you are not the first choice. They won't reject you until the other candidate has fully confirmed and won't want to answer you until then.

My brother is doing A-Levels at the minute (for the third time) but I don't know much about online study.

In theory you can self study A-Levels and register for the exams at an exam centre, like the local college/tech. The exam board will usually have recommended text-books or guidance for self study that offer a base level for their exams. I don't know about online study classes but the exam-board material can be fantastic and might be far more reliable than an online course. Different exams boards will have varying amounts of supporting materials and the popular course/exam board combos will have youtube videos (I can remember all the OCR Chemistry content) . I would suggest looking at the exam-board made material first and choose an online course that supports a particular course.

Hi Joel, Thanks for making the sub forum change. I think that was the biggest shock to us and I am so glad the

Tudor_queen, I started writing that post right after the change so everything was still fresh. The old forum is now is a faded memory now for me LOL. Thanks for reading it, I was a bit sleep deprived at the time.

Hi gingersnapps711,

I am sorry you are struggling. The summer months can be really lean for teaching/marking contracts but unfortunately it can't really be avoided. The only PhD contracts I know of over the summer are research support contracts but they are rare and require funding for the extra research. The only thing I can suggest is make a plea to get extra hours when the uni reopens. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

The lab head will probably trust the words of your supervisor over a PhD student. Having your supervisor in disciplinary situation means that they agree with you and having someone's support is better than none.

Transferring universities is all about funding. If you are internally funded your supervisor's new university would have to fund your PhD themselves. I have seen people transfer like you where the new university offers to internally fund old PhD students. However it isn't guaranteed and if your supervisor is being non-committal - be blunt and ask for a straight answer. You might want to justify the transfer as how you can help him and what you can do at the new university. The sad thing is most supervisors are partially motivated by their own self interest. So if you can make him want you transfer, it might be more successful.

Thanks for FAUJoel for considering for our feedback and so quickly adding the latest feature! I like the look and you have done a good job of it.

Although, I now feel I have given excessive feedback. Can other people look at my feedback (second top comment in this thread) and give their thoughts? Or even agree or disagree to certain points. I don't want to waste any of FAUJoel's time if my suggestions are crazy.

I think it varies a lot on the examiner but I agree with cucaracha. You only need to right enough so that it looks right. The detail orientated examiners will be picking regardless of how much detail you write. Though you can probably do reconnaissance on your examiners and find out what they are like. I know that my first choice external examiner does not understand the methodology and is useless at the practical side of doing experiments. So if you know who your examiners are you might be able to write around them.

Also, you don't need to list every supplier unless the choice of supplier affects the results. I was told if three or more papers have used a similar method, you don't need to explain the experimental method in absolute detail.

I can still see the time & author for the last post in each thread. It is just really small.

Have you told your supervisor explicitly about this and asked for his help? Malicious complaints is a serious issue and the university should take it seriously but your supervisor should be your first contact. Maybe your supervisor can talk with the lab head directly to explain your side of the story. Your supervisor should be helping you with this. You can also talk with your students union or check the student handbook about harassment.

Hi TiredDrained,

Sorry about the delay. Your situation sounds awful and I can't stand lab politics myself. It is super awkward that your supervisor has moved university and you can't follow them. Have you got a new or second supervisor at your current uni that can help with the issues? As I know it is annoying when someone just doesn't like and blatantly spreads lies. Unfortunately you can't do much except except rise above it as you don'so that you look more credible. As unless you have any proof it is a he said-she said situation and it looks like the lab head likes him.

If you can't move, try and become as it independent as possible. Make it so that you don't have to interact with the awkward person and they have nothing to accuse you with. Maybe ask your supervisor if they can help with you get your own space away from them but inside the lab. It is rather common for several researchers in the same lab to not like each other but work in harmony by just avoiding each other.

rewt

Hi confusedacademic,

Welcome to the forum. I don't think there are any law PhD students here but a lot of advice is multidisciplinary. We can help with all the usual/funding/presnetations/supervisors/writing that most people find. The forum is a bit slow at the minute but usually someone can help or has experienced something similar to yourself. Have you started or mid way through your PhD?

Rewt

Hi Lauren,

Thanks for adding the latest function so fast!