Hi - new member here :)

I was wondering what the quickest time some of you have or expect to finish your PhD? I'm really working hard and I'm very motivated (for now hehe), but 3 years or more seems like a long time working on a subject I'm not that interested in - I know it's my faults!!!! lol. I started last September.

Thanks in advance for the replies :)

Depends on the subject. For example in maths, as long as long as you come up with e.g. your new model, and prove it, then you're pretty much done, but with more hands on subjects you may have to collect data from real life participants, which can take time, you may also have to think much more about the 'story' and structure of your thesis which can take months (in my experience!) it also depends on what other types of work you have on.

IF I get through my viva, I'll have been doing mine for 4 and a half years, BUT during that time I've had 1 and a half years of full time work, and throughout the funded portion of my PhD I've done lots of teaching and worked on other research projects. So I think it depends on subject area and other interests/work tasks you have to do.

*IF* you are in a subject like maths, or if you don't have to do novel data collection, or you were able to hit the ground running because of previous work on the topic, and you don't go down too many blind alleys then yes it might be possible.

But for the sake of your sanity I think it's probably better to reconcile yourself to doing it for 3 years, and finding ways to make it more interesting for yourself. You also need to factor in the fact that even once you submit there can be quite an interval before the viva and final acceptance, so bear that in mind.

It was possible back then in 2010, but I am not sure whether it is still available. I got into Direct Phd (in UK) and allowed me to complete thesis and clear viva within 2.5 years. Happy researching, cheers.

I've heard mutterings of one 2 year PhD when I was an undergraduate years ago. I think you'd have to be a certified genius or be the type of person to be able to exist without sleep or a life outside the PhD. I think one person on here said with very good planning and due to the nature of their project (regular reports to sponsor), they managed in 2.5 years.

I know my second supervisor was supposed to have done it in 3 years, but normal is to see out the whole three years and expect to overrun by up to a year or more trying to write the thing up. For the sake of your own sanity, don't even try it.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

======= Date Modified 04 Feb 2012 19:25:23 =======
it's really tough and does as Ian says, require a certain type of person. I submitted in three years but I have to say it nearly killed me and genuinely sent me into somewhere not very nice in the last few months! I have never experienced stress like it. That said, I have friend who submitted in 2.5 years, viva'ed and passed (nil corrections), within three years. He IS a special type of person but I would suggest an outlier.

It's good to have a target in that it shoud keep you focussed but you're still new at the PhD game so give it a chance, and time if you can.

I think it can be done but depends on the type of project and things such as data collection, ethics and waiting on feedback from supervisors etc, etc. If these all ran smoothly and no waiting was involved then a PhD could be completed in less than 3 years easily. For me, there was a lot of hanging around at points waiting for things to happen and this held the process up. I also didn't want to finish before the funding run out because a studentship pays significantly more than unemployment but didn't want to go over the time either as I wasn't prepared to pay for writing up.

I'd heard early on that the funding stopped once the thesis was submitted but that was only in discussion with one person at my university and so I'm not too sure if the information I was given was right but I wasn't taking any chances. I had been looking for jobs but nothing was going, had there been I may have attempted to finish sooner but with limited opportunities I saw little point.

The other thing to consider is what you want to do afterwards. I do know someone who submitted at 2 3/4 years against what proved to be the better judgement of his supervisor (not a good tale as he then got 12 months major corrections), but did this by attending no conferences, publishing nothing and teaching nothing. Even if it had gone as he'd hoped i.e. no corrections, he would have been very uncompetitive for any academic jobs.

Bewildered, I'm in the same position, no conferences, no publications, no teaching but don't feel academia is for me. However, what is that person doing now? Do you know?

butting in again :$, I'm marking exams so in desperate need of distraction!!

I did the conference thing, published one paper, one in-house manual, did a lot of tutoring, exam correction (lots of that!) but don't think thesis itself will go down in annals of best theses ever!

Don't worry Ady, I'm bored.

Getting slightly concerned though because I wouldn't like to think I've closed all the doors. However, at my university most of the lecturers do the work and opportunities are few and far between for most things.