Overview of TreeofLife on PostgraduateForum.com

Overview of TreeofLife

Signup date: 12 Apr 2011 at 3:58pm

Last login: 26 Apr 2019 at 5:18pm

Post count: 2853

Recent Posts

The cost of quitting a PhD

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Remember, they are testing you with those type of questions. They are almost tongue in cheek. If you respond in a way they think is appropriate, then it doesn't really matter what your answer is. If you get defensive or evasive, it won't go well. You need to be honest and open, not just give a basic response "A PhD isn't for me". Obviously they will continue to ask questions if you answer like that.

Politic - Pay scholarship back? Should I?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Quote From Becky1210:

Hi. There is a problem though. If I go for legal advice like employment act in Canada or contact representative in town. At the end, it will be my former PhD supervisor pay me out of his own funding for that ~ $ 2000 - 3000. I do need his reference letter in the future. Although we had a good term and he mentioned will support me anything, but I am not sure if this is about money...

Will he hate me if I ask for money and not give me reference in future?[/quote]

That's the risk you run. Technically your supervisor should give you a fair reference, but that doesn't mean he will.

Have you tried asking him straight for the money? Like "I've had to pay back to my stipend, but I worked for you in good faith, and I'd like to be paid for that..."?

How are you?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Quote From rewt:
We have a moderator?

There's been a mod for a while, but they don't do much unless we report abuse/spam posts (to my knowledge).

Hi Holly :)

Politic - Pay scholarship back? Should I?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Quote From pm133:

The sentence you used above "they PROBABLY won't bother" is the reason why the OP should play this by the book unless they particularly enjoy sleepless nights, crushing uncertainty and even the slightest chance of serious debt. The OP may not have assets to sell but that won't stop a County Court Judgment being served on them. That will cause them credit rating problems for years at the very least.

Also, as you know if you worked in debt recovery, it is a trivial thing to track someone down. There is an entire industry dedicated towards it.

Ignoring any debt is a potentially disastrous thing to do.

Sure, it's a personal thing. Some people will pay stuff just to get creditors off their back, others won't pay if they feel they are being taken for a ride. I'm in the latter camp. Without known assets as I described, most creditors won't bother with a CCJ or equivalent because most (I'm talking like 80%) debtors do not have any assets worth pursuing and it is not cost effective. It can be trivial to track people down, but again, most places don't bother because of the time it takes if the basic searches come up blank. Also, if you're not on the electoral roll, or are on the closed roll, and you don't post crap on social media, it's actually not that easy. The data is there (e.g HMRC, DVLA) but due to DPA creditors don't have access to it.

I'm not talking in absolutes here because I'm a scientist and I don't have the data :P

If the OP is Canada though, sure, rules may differ. But I wouldn't bet on it.

PhD Erasmus Internship in Lab

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Email academics and see if they will take you. Better if you have a contact somewhere.

Politic - Pay scholarship back? Should I?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

I really doubt they will pursue this, secondly, even if they do, there's not much they can do, particularly if: you don't still work there or they don't know who you do work for; you don't own a house or if you do it's a different one to the address they have; you don't own a car or any expensive assets.

Basically, in order to recover this "debt", they would have to take you to court (threatening letters from collection agencies don't count) and they would only do so if they think you have assets of some type for them to recover. The reality is they probably won't bother.

Source: I used to work in debt recovery.

Is it okay to expect advisor(s) to offer a word of condolence?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Quote From pm133:
The word "expect" is the key here. Personally I don't think it is healthy to expect anything from anyone.
I don't think anyone is obliged to care about another person.
Of course, a normal functioning human being will ask you how you are doing or make some reference to you being back at work.
I have to say though that there are plenty of people who hate getting anything resembling sympathy.
When something like this happened to me I simply wanted no fuss whatsoever and to get back to work.
People didn't know that so should they say something to me or not?

Everyone is different and so as I said, it isn't healthy to expect anything. It's a little unfair on them actually.
Just my thoughts.

I 100% agree with this.

Politic - Pay scholarship back? Should I?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Refuse. There's nothing they can do if you don't still work there. They are in the wrong anyway, of course you shouldn't have worked for free.

Chances of success

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Hi Tenzin, it would be very very rare for you to be failed at this point, but I believe there was a case of failure discussed on this forum at one point, or at least the examiner came back again wanting more corrections.

If you've done everything they have asked, I don't think you need to worry.

Applying for RA positions instead of role requiring PhD...

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

This really depends on the PI. I do know of a technician RA who got taken on as a PhD student, but I also know of one who hung around for years on this basis and it never materialised.

Personally, I think it's best avoided, unless it's a very short term position you are using as a stop gap.

Is it okay to expect advisor(s) to offer a word of condolence?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Quote From Tudor_Queen:
On a second reading, I think I was misinterpreting what you'd put ToL... I get you now... don't expect it of them, and then it won't be able to bother you... (as opposed to my earlier interpretation!)

Yeah that was what I was trying to get at :)

Is it okay to expect advisor(s) to offer a word of condolence?

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

I would say lower your exceptions. People don't have to say anything to you about this, even your supervisors (although since it may affect your performance, they should), and you can't change this. Instead, ask yourself why you need this from them?

Moral of the story is you can't change other people's behaviour, you can only change your response to it.

PhD Upgrade Viva Presentation

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

It's basically presenting your report yeah. Background info, your key results, and your next objectives.

Is it necessary to publish papers

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

Quote From kenziebob:

Quote From TreeofLife:
This is a very old post but I'll still reply.

It does make a difference in your viva. If you have a paper published, it shows you're punishable, so they find it hard to justify failing you in a viva, even if they want to based on your performance or thesis.

I think you meant 'publishable'! Although, that being said.....
.

Haha yeah, although punishable probably true too lol

Returning to Literature PhD

TreeofLife 2853 posts
6 years ago

It's quite normal to take a break between MSc and PhD. I had a 5 year gap. It won't affect future funding because you didn't start and then quit - that's a bit trickier to overcome, but can be done.