thanks pea. Viva was hard! two hours, and all the way through I was thinking that I wasnt really understanding what they were asking, and they kept bringing up bits where they said they wanted to know more, so I was sure I was going to have lots of bits to add.

Kronkodile I think you are right, I need to chase up. I was hoping I'd make the Feb congregation, but I have missed that deadline now. I just hope the delay isnt because the school are having issues with the examiners recommendations

Hi everyone, hope someone can enlighten me on what is supposed to happen after the viva. I had mine at end of November, and it has been followed by resounding silence, and I am getting worried. I was expecting a) to have some communication from the school confirming the examiners recommendations (pass without corrections) and b) to get the copies of my thesis back from examiners so I could get them hard bound when I'd got that confirmation. Am I just being too impatient, does it take a long time (I know there has been Christmas in the way)? Or am I wrong about what happens?

cheers

I would absolutely do it again. I have loved doing my PhD, and while I can't say for sure it has got me where I want to be the signs are good at the moment.

But I worked in research environments (both academic and industry) before doing the PhD, so I think I was fairly clued up about the likely pitfalls both of the process and the effect of having a PhD on future options. I also thought long and hard about whether it was the right thing for me, and got advice both from friends, colleagues and professionals (careers advisors). It saddens me when I read of so many people going into PhDs without any real awareness of these things. So, another question, to all those disillusioned with where a PhD has got them, what made you decide to embark on the PhD?

being able to work at home has been one of the best things about doing a PhD. Most of my thesis got written sitting on a bean bag in the lounge with laptop on my knee and stuff spread all over the floor, mostly out of 'office hours'.

I found the worst was when (at the start of my PhD) I tried to do a couple of days in the office and the rest at home. Totally unproductive, cause I never had the stuff I needed where I actually was that day.

Tiggs, I like your rule, it is so true.

I got disillusioned with admin on my first day, when we got handed regs stating we had to do a biannual report once a year .... and it hasnt got any better since then.

Mind you, having got paranoid over all the stuff about required font size, margins, etc etc I went and looked at three recent theses in the library yesterday and they were all different and none obeyed all the detail and they all passed. Maybe I need to learn to chill

Hi methuselah. your age certainly shouldnt be a problem for doing a PhD. I've heard it said that scientists are passed it if they havent made it by thirty but philosphers only really get going at sixty. And I know loads of mature mature students in the humanities.

However, most of the people I know who are doing a PhD later in life are self funding. Funding bodies may say they dont have age restrictions but realistically when they fund a PhD they are paying to train someone and I suspect they are going to be far less likely to make that investment if they dont see the potential for a return in your added value to the employment market. Unfortunately no one is going to come out and admit that.

Like the others say, a PhD is learning how to do research so you're not expected to know how to do it already.

I think it's useful if you can say why you like doing research. Break it down into specific things you enjoy eg being responsible for your own work, planning your own time, whatever is applicable to your discipline. and if you can link it to longer term i.e. career aims as well that will help show why you are motivated.

the grades you got for your project and refs from project supervisor will also be important.

OK, so I'm getting towards submitting my thesis, and I today I went into the faculty PG office to check what I need to do, having looked at all the official regs. The conversation when something like this:

Me: where do I need to go to get the bits to hand in with my thesis, like the certificate that says I have no debts, have attended all training etc.

Admin Girl: You only need to hand in what it says in the regs.

Me: Yes, this is what is in the regs.

AG: Oh, well you dont need all that, only what is in these regs.

Hands me regs. I look. It says just what I thought it did.

AG: (looking confused) Oh, well you dont need those.

WTF?

I am realising how happy I've been in my little writing world. I dont want to come out of it and have to deal with all this bureaucratic ****

Uurgh! RECs! what can I say? you have my sympathies.

I ended up writing stuff that made me want to gag it was so inane and patronising but it seemed to be what they wanted. But pups point is a good one, sometimes it is a matter of clarification or justification rather than automatically changing things they question.

It has really made me think twice about the sort of research I want to do after the PhD.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!

I have been really, really, really strict and gone through slashing anything I conceivably can (mainly foonotes). I got it down to 168 words over the limit of 100,000.

I emailed it to my sup and his first comment was 'I see you are still over the word limit'

168 effin words !

He really wants me to be around 80k I think, but unless I drop a chapter that's not possible.

thanks people.

Have just checked the Uni regulations and now I'm more confused than ever. I can't even find anything to say references and appendices are excluded, I'm sure that was there before.

I might check it out with the postgrad office. My supervisor is a bit of an old woman and I dont want to worry him if I can avoid it. I'm getting to the stage where I'm thinking of turning the extracts I've got included from documents and interviews into 'pictures' so they dont count

OK, so the word limit for my thesis is 100,000. I have a complete draft, and I'm now editing to try and get it down within that limit, but I reckon I am still going to end up between one and two thousand words over. Do you reckon I can get away with this? Maybe just say it 99,500 or something? It is only a couple of pages, after all.

It's not going to please my supervisor who was keen for me to make it well under the limit, but that just aint going to happen, not unless I leave out a whole chapter.

I'm struggling with redrafting, and trying to work out what I can cut out to get within the word limit

I had one teacher with a PhD and she was awful. Too head in the clouds and just could not relate to the difficulties we had in understanding things.

Definitely not a morning person. I'm just having a cup of tea and morning browse of the internet, then I'll get dressed, and then I'll maybe start work around 11.30/12 .... That's what I love about doing a PhD

I CAN do early if I have to, when I was working I started at 7.30 in the morning. But I'd much rather not. This writing thing is much easier late afternoon/evening.