thanks everyone. seems like a clear answer is cristallizing

hi,
i suppose it's different depending on your uni and the form of your contract. i will also be a GTA and will get paid monthly, but by the hour.
if you want to make sure, the place to ask is your department's secretary/admin person. they will know and they are used to such questions. they are usually very approachable.

heya,
my partner is soon finishing his PhD in economics. he applied for a job as a lecturer at an English university and was promtly invited for an interview. i'm trying not to get my hopes up too much... it would be perfect if he got that job.
anyway, we were wondering what he should wear for the interview. he will be presenting his work, 45 minutes, and several hours later has the interview proper. in the evening, the candidates have been invited to dinner with some people from the department.
formal suit(with tie??)? or something slightly more casual? would something more 'academic-style', like a smart sweater over a shirt, work? any suggestions very welcome!

thanks all, you have been great! very useful suggestions and kind words. right now, i feel like i can do anything if i just want it badly enough

but i definitely believe that you cannot submit something in the new place which you already submitted/got a degree for somewhere else, that would be fraud. so if the topic is closely related, you would find it hard to show that the new PhD is a totally new piece of work which is independent of your old PhD.

sorry to hear, evaki.

the way i understood it, the 1+3 people only compete with other 1+3 people. so when your supervisor suggests that your chances will be better next year for the +3, it must mean that hmmm well some good people are out of the competition because they already got the 1+3, and perhaps you make more progress in your MSc year than others do, and perhaps you have a better chance for a quota place.

keep your head up! you'll get there, i'm sure.

wow, congratulations!

i am of course now burning to hear the long story about you eating dinosaurs

hiya petal,
whereabouts are you looking for a PhD - UK, US, Europe, ...?
the way you apply for a place and the costs vary enormously, so to get some useful information you will have to specify your question.

hmm juno... anxiety attacks, long term stress, and epilepsy - makes you think!

maybe we're just all the "mad genius" type

dazed, i don't know how to put it into words, but i think i feel "like that" too. not all the time, but quite often. normally it happens when i am alone and my mind idle. everything seems unreal - insignificant - absurd. perhaps it is like viewing myself and my life in the "big picture" of the world and history. in that picture, i and my problems and my small reality appear so ... void of meaning? i really don't know how to put it.
in bad times, it also happens when i'm among people. out of the blue, in the middle of an interesting conversation, it feels as if i am standing beside myself, watching - and from that perspective it all seems so superficial, and unreal, as if it could just as well be a figment of my imagination... oh drat - don't take me literally here, i really can't find the proper words.

thanks for your support, vagrant_fish. Dr. Shani, i like the sound of that

at my uni PhD by publication is unfortunately not (yet) possible. but i'll get there some other way!

your second point - alternative routes. yes, that is why i am now applying for (part-time) RA positions in addition to the teaching that I will be doing. i still hope that some funding will come through eventually, though. and that my PhD project, which is well on it's way, won't be completely neglected. it would be kind of a shame for all the work i've already put into it.
so, if things work out well, i will be teaching an RA-ing for the next half year/year and then some funding will have come through and i will go back to being a full time PhD student. both the teaching and the RA-ing should be no disadvantage if i finally do get that PhD and look for a job.

BHC, good to hear from you again, how are you doing? any luck on the job front?

those are very good suggestions you make. thanks for that! yes, i really do want to do this PhD. the point is to get into research and pursue an academic career in this field. i know that a PhD won't guarantee success, but it can't be done without.
"it sometimes takes more bravery to let go than to just carry on stubbornly". so true.
well, letting go at the moment would mean letting go of my whole life plan/dream. academia - with all it's dark sides, which i am well aware of - is where i see myself living. any other job, i would be working for money, not for myself. i know that this is the reality for most people on the world. i am just not quite prepared to let go of the possibility of getting where i want to be quite yet.

also, no, i don't really want to do just any PhD as long as it's funded. i want to do THIS PhD with this project, this supervisor, at this uni. it's perfect for me and i was sooo excited when i was accepted. that's why i was and still am willing to take the risk of starting/continuing unfunded, hoping for future funding.

corinne, i'm keeping my fingers crossed for your funding! only letting you know in september is madness. how do they think you should plan? considering the high luck factor, having been rejected last year doesn't make the least difference, i should think. good luck!