It will be very hard to stay motivated for 6 years, so think carefully about it. It may help to read the book "How to get a PhD", as it's not always obvious at the start what a PhD is.

It's unlikely to help you get a better job and there are many other drawbacks, but if you get through it, you will have a wonderfully developed cynical personality for life

Potentially in 3 years part-time? I would say 6 years part-time is more realistic, and even then you'll be working every evening and the whole weekend.

You may be able to obtain fee payments part-time, but unlikely to get any more, as afterall you're working as well.

Why do you want to do a PhD?

Having gone into my phd excited and happy, and come out exhausted and depressed, i am now reflecting on the whole experience.

The journey has traversed excited--industrious--enthusiastic--lonely--stuck--bored--miserable--depressed--insane!!

Since the phd is a tried and tested psychological contract, how does it work, and what sort of people are they trying to create?

Am i a better person now... i dont think so :(

You may be able to receive funding for the fees only - around 2K pa.

Contact the university you're applying to and see if they have any spare funding..!

Rare but possible.

You can choose using this simple formula:

Option = ceil(rand(1,1) * 3);

Some people write that they have submitted papers in their thesis, although none of their papers were accepted

Do your best

You should be able to discuss who your external is with your Sup. He may suggest 3 suitable people for you to choose from. However it may be that there's only 1 expert out there in your field. Not sure who pays - maybe external, as Sup would do the same, in a reciprocal arrangement?

I would put 'public domain' drawings in Appendix. Obviously if confidential, keep it that way. However there have been PhDs working for MoD, which are top secret with an external from MoD, etc. So if your PhD is confidential, it may be okay to divulge company secrets - ask your Sup.

I did half my PhD full-time, got fed-up, then went part-time and got a good job. Still finished in 3.5 years !

Have you considered this?

I think the whole worldwide academic community is grieving for those guys. It's so depressing isn't it.

I had one poster during my PhD. I spent ages making a really visual impressive poster. The session lasted 1.5 hours. At the beginning we all had to introduce our work using a microphone and a powerpoint slide to around 100 observers. We then went and stood by our posters, waiting for interesting questions from interested visitors. However no-one was interested in mine, so I went to the bar after 40 mins

Dress smartly. Stand by your poster for the 1.5 hours and hope someone finds your work interesting. It's a great networking opportunity so make the most of it and have fun.

Some pressure during our PhDs help mould us into suitable people to be lecturers or post-docs. Both of whom get a crap experience too.

As Badhaircut said before, the system stinks. Research is so poorly funded and undervalued by Government, who just treat universities as vehicles to bring in international funding.

Having a PhD is so undervalued by UK society/industry and this comes down from Government. Being able to kick a football around or sing "Grease Lightning" is so much more valuable to society than quantum physics - right? We're all doomed

I have met many cleverer people (than PhD students) with a BSc, in industry. Research is just another way of working. It doesn't suit everyone. Some of the most successful people drop out of their undergrad degree.

Qualifications and salary are inversely proportional There's certainly no reason to go beyond BSc level if maximizing income is your goal.

The reason I did a PhD wasn't for the money, rather it was because I wanted more freedom to think about things of my own choice that were interesting to me.

I used to send these kind of emails on a monthly basis

My supervisor supported me and encouraged me to submit publications as much as possible. It's very useful feedback from the reviewers either way and if you are successful it gives a great confidence boost. Rejection can be very dissappointing as well so it's worth having your supervisor's opinion on the likelihood of success. I would therefore advise you to inform him/her about your intentions. Maybe the work is good enough for a conference. Good journals take A LOT of work. But if your work is journal standard, your supervisor will recommend that.

It is normally expected to add your supervisor as an author (even if they dont always contribute much !). Also having them on your side is also useful so that publication fees are paid.

I'm at the end of year 3, and think a conference paper before transfer helped alot, and a journal (i have been told) will help the viva process greatly.

HTH