Hi all

Feeling rather overwhelmed by all the stuff out there on thesis writing...

I have one basic question, which is... should I be writing it now? I am a quarter way in my second year... I have a first year upgrade report, some of which will be useful for the introduction. I'm in psychology and will have four main studies (they aren't quick experiments). I know no one can tell me if I "should" be writing my thesis now... but it would be useful to hear when you started writing. In your final year? From the beginning?

Also - is it the norm to go over your funded period and still be writing?!

Thanks in advance!

I'm in the sciences and I'd recommend writing as much as possible as you go even if it means rewriting it all later. It'll give you a structure and you can do the methods and introductions at this stage (maybe), consider case studies which again you can redo if needed later when your understanding and knowledge are more extensive than right now. This way you can have a good word count, lots of references that just need polishing to get it ready after you have results to discuss.

It's never too early to start. Trust me.

I thought I knew what my project would be about but a lot of failed experiments and changes to the project left me with no funding and a thesis to write almost from scratch. I was doing additional experiments right up until my funding ended and was then left to go over all the results I gathered in less than a year, try to find a thread to connect them and write up on my own.

It's not been too bad but as I was no longer funded I took an RA job at another university which my supervisors were unhappy with, strangely they thought I'd just spend a few months doing nothing but writing up but what with bills to pay...

So I was given a write up year to finish and submit. On top of working in my research area and gaining more experience which feels like a good thing to me. I stuck mostly to writing on the weekends and even then work was put first, I needed the break.

As long as you, your university and your supervisors agree to a write up period after your funding has ended then it's fine. But a lot of supervisors want to submit before the end of funding. There was a mix in my group of people finishing on time and some using an extra year to write up.

Good luck!

I am in the engineering field, so my scenario may be different from yours.I started my PhD in October 2013 and I submitted a few weeks ago (waiting for the viva). The literature review in my upgrade report is substantially different from the thesis lit review. Midway through my experiments, I made quite a number of modifications which included conducting additional tests to widen the scope. I finished all the experimental tests in March this year and went into full writing mode. I didn't really have much time for writing before that except for the papers. At the beginning of this year, my thesis just contained a skeleton structure. I started with the literature review (in March) to "align" it with my findings. So I spent close to 7 months from start to finish. I managed to submit two papers which were both accepted in May/June this year. The feedback I got from reviewers was quite helpful. I incorporated these papers into my thesis and they formed the backbone of my results chapters. Good luck.

Generally I'd say most biology students don't start writing til 4th year, and for many of us, this is unfunded. Supervisors want their money's worth so want experiments to continue throughout third year, which makes it difficult to write as well.

I used my weekends for writing up from about 15 months from the end of my PhD. I started with the theory and introduction chapter.
No way would I wait until my finding had run out. I would be pressing my supervisor for a date to start writing up outside the lab well before the end of funding.

Thanks everyone - really helpful as usual. This tells me that there is a lot of variation and a lot depends on your particular circumstances. I will be sure to ask my sups for some guidance.