Hi all,
I am a PhD student in my second year in an English university. I am relatively older than most PhD students (34) and I am married with a 3 year old. As I am a non-resident, my studentship covers only some of the fees and a partial stipend, which forces to work part time while I write my PhD. My work is going ok, and I have presented in two major conferences so far with some success, as well as winning a nice additional scholarship to cover the rest of my tuition. However, I now need to submit my "upgrade" or transfer document which is basically a few chapters in their final drafts, and this is proving extremly difficult and much longer than I expected.
This is causing me some stress, especially as my wife and I are planning, or really hoping, to return to our country of origin next year in what will be my final year in the studentship.
I have discussed our plan with my two of my supervisors, but not with my director of studies. While they were open to the idea and were supportive of my reason, I have a feeling the director of studies might show some nervousness with my last year of PhD being abroad. I have to say that I think it return to my country of origin might support my PhD and could very well be helpful in its completion. Some of my empirical work has to with the place I come from.
I would love to hear from anyone who relocated during their PhD- how should I approach this, as I am getting to the point where I need to sell this to my director of studies, and would also appreciate any thoughts on that.
Thanks!
PhilofEd80

Hiya Philo

You might want to check the requirements stated in your Uni's PhD students' handbook. For my uni, there is a paragraph in the handbook which states that 'the candidate needs to apply for permission to conduct part of his/her research abroad' ( more or less stated as such). I think you'd need to consult your main supervisor and your school's Director of Studies and then fill in the appropriate forms and such. I do have a few friends who returned to their home countries and managed to finish their work via Skype and e-mail consultations with their Svs.

Good luck !