Definitely. It's really hard to come up with ideas. It's also frustrating when you finally think of things to do but have no funding and then someone else beats you to it!

You can contact the relevant person with your CV and project idea and see what happens. It's possible they have funding lying around, although I don't personally know anyone that has got a PhD this way. I've seen projects advertised and then they get 2 good applicants they like and employ both and find funding from somewhere for the other though. Then one of the people does a different project.

Google how to approach people in this way, as there's lots of information about how to do it appropriately. You will often find that you will fall at the first hurdle when they ask you if you have funding and you say no, though. The steer from my university at the moment is to accept all applicants that are academically fine, and then let them worry about how to get funding. Current thoughts are that this will just push up acceptances but not people starting PhDs, because options for funding are limited.

It's better to contact them with your idea though, rather than asking them for their specific topics, because if you do that they think you don't have ideas of your own.

I would advise you to just basically do what they are telling you, even if you think it's pointless. Try to ignore the fact that they are disregarding your opinions. Some people just always think they know best. Basically, you can't change these people, you can only change your own reactions to them.

You can include it in your progress report, but bear in mind that this will annoy your supervisors further. I've seen it happen many times.

Just do what they are asking of you, then sit tight and wait at this stage.

Hmm I see what you mean, four months is a very long time to wait.

It does sound a bit odd, especially regarding concerns about your English, as it seems perfectly fine to me.

I wonder if it could be something in your approach that they don't like. Do you think you could be coming across as defensive or challenging? I expect when they give you feedback they just want you to nod along and not question it, because they know best (according to them). Regarding the level of interaction, maybe it's something that you're not doing that they want you to do, e.g. attending seminars, socialising with other students, being helpful to your lab group etc.

Could you ask your head of year or pastoral support team for advice?

You can approach potential supervisors in the UK with project ideas, but it's unlikely a supervisor will have funding and so they would then have to apply on your behalf which could take years. You could give it a go and see what happens.

Alternatively you could apply for a funded PhD in a similar area and then apply for a fellowship yourself for your idea after finishing the PhD.

Yes I think it's appropriate for supervisors to make this decision. At my uni it's panel members, but I think there's pros and cons to both approaches.

How long have you been waiting?

A solicitor can't help you at this stage. You need to go through the proper uni channels first, like your head of year or graduate school, or head of department, or student union etc.

You need to be patient. It could be months before you get a date and then they might say the viva is in a week. Equally, you might hear in a day and the viva date is 2 months away. How long is a piece of string.

Isn't she just asking you to rewrite your hypothesis or aims to match what you have written about in the rest of the chapter?

I think most PhD students publish with their supervisors and only publish without them after their PhD.

If you got an invited paper, presumably that would be off the back of something you already published, either with or without your supervisors. I think that would be ok to take on that paper alone, as long as you didn't need your supervisor's input for anything.

If you sought to publish something outside of your PhD work, then technically that's ok to do that without your supervisors but they might say they are paying your to work on your PhD, not to write random articles.

Can't your reframe it on your CV so it sounds less specialised? So focus on the skills you learnt, rather than the specific task? You know, like it's project management, not overseeing the relocation from London to Leeds etc.

I don't think it's a good idea to work for free. If I were you I would apply for any paid position, so post doc, technician, research assistant and see what happens. Also yes I imagine it could be an issue with a visa if you are not in paid work. It would be strange to see someone with a PhD working for free as well.

You will definitely need your MA supervisor's reference for your UoE application, so you have to tell him anyway. If there's risk of the two talking, then it's better he hears it from you. He is unlikely to withdraw the offer, especially if you say it's about the city, not the project.

How about something like 'thanks to all my family, especially my father for helping me financially prior to starting my PhD, my mother for xxx and my brother for xxx'?

An MRes and an MPhil are practically the same thing.

Your potential MRes supervisor probably has enough funding to cover this, but not a PhD, or thinks you will be prepared to take out a loan to cover 1 year of a MRes but not 3-4 years of a PhD. It may be that you start there and then the MRes evolves into a PhD. Or equally, nothing comes of it but you will then just have additional strength in PhD applications.

You've come close, so I would keep looking for a PhD if I were you. You might have to accept that it won't be exactly in the area you want though.