Mackem_Beefy, unfortunately at my uni, even if you do not want to attend graduation, the certificate will be issued the same time for all students as there are only two committee meetings per year, so I've been told. So I am thinking I might be able to get them to make an exception for me given the circumstances, but wouldn't know who to talk to about appeals etc.

I am hoping that the viva and the result (regardless of corrections) will suffice for employment purpose. but I do worry that, if the letter you mention is required for employers (i.e. post corrections, examiner approvals and final submission) this could be dragged on 'till Feb, since it will be tricky to track the examiners down throughout Jan.

I am considering reporting my colleagues actions but yes, as you said, after I am awarded my PhD.

Hi wowzers. I have been in contact with prospective employers and they have stated that I should complete my PhD prior to starting working for them (whether this means viva + corrections I don't know yet). I think to most people it won't matter that certificate says june 14 instead of 13, but personally I find the whole thing very frustrating. I have had a very tough year, with 2 deaths and a cancer to deal with. 1 month prior submission my grandfather became seriously ill and sadly passed away 1 week prior to submission, which was seriously difficult for me to deal with but I put all efforts into making sure I made the deadline. And for all that effort, and some serious unfairness I have experienced over the past 4 years of PhD, I am very unpleased and angry at the way the situation has been dealt with. Obviously if I knew I wouldn't get awarded 'till June 14, I may have not submitted when I did, considering the personal hardship I was experiencing.

I submitted my viva in August, 1 month before the university recommended deadline for November Graduation. At this point, examiners had agreed availability in September, and if things had gone to plan, I would have most likely made the graduation deadline which was end of October. after submission, my supervisor tried to get them to organise a date. 1 month post thesis submission, he was told by the external that he hadn't received the paper copy yet, this is while upon my further follow-up, it was clarified that the thesis had been received by the external's department but apparently had not reached him. I also don;t understand why it took him more than 1 month to report this. Anyway, the thesis was successfully tracked and is now in their hands.
The examiners have finally agreed on a date (december 9th) which is over 2 months away. I have asked my supervisor a number of times to mediate and try and move the date back as it is jeopardising my employment. And he repeatedly says that the examiners have tried really hard but that seems to be the only available date. I am no longer a student so I cannot use the perks that come with that while waiting around trying to stay afloat.
In the meantime my university only has graduation dates per annum and there are no off-cycle certifications, meaning that I will not be awarded a certificate until June 2014. I could make sense to have 2 graduations only if certificates are awarded in meaningful frequent intervals. This is while I was supposed complete my PhD in march (to graduate in June 2013) which unfortunately due to the supervisor not being available at the time, was delayed. My question is, what can I do in this situation? can I force the university to award me with a certificate sooner than June? Is there anything I can do to get the externals to decide on an earlier date?
back-story: I had a 3.5 year studentship, 1.5 years through which I had to change my supervisor AND research question. I have not been able to use my office in the past year as I couldn't bear to share an office with my trouble maker colleague due to his bad behaviour including counts of sexist and racist remarks (which I have not reported). The university has provided minimum support throughout problems.

Hi everyone,
I am also on board with you all for the December deadline.
I don't have an actual submission date, but I sure know I do not want it to drag it into 2013. It is getting more and more difficult to find motivation without feeling all panicky about it. I have just started properly structuring my thesis and I have so many more experiments that I would like to run but am holding back for now. I think it is best if I have a core to start with first and then add bits and pieces if there is enough time for it. Do you think this is a good idea or do you think I can manage both writing up and experimenting at the same time considering the little time we have left? The problem is, the more and more I analyse my results, the more panicked I feel as I am not sure there is enough there for a PhD. Would appreciate anyone's input on this Also it would be great if some of you could post some deadlines as to what it is you are trying to achieve by when as I am in desperate need of some realistic ideas on how everyone else is planning on managing the little amount of time left
cheers

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