My friend needs some serious help/advice which I am not qualified to give, so here's hoping that someone out there can help. Doing his undergrad degree he hit on a dissertation topic which completely consumed him; he got 70% for the dissertation and finished with a 2:1 and had already told his supervisor that he wanted to take his dissertation research straight through to a PhD and the supervisor seemed keen. That was in March. Since then he has had to chase his supervisors (2 of them now) for interviews/advice/help with submission etc. They are never available, never return emails etc and the whole thing is really getting him down (he is entirely self-funded and a mature student). So, a couple of months ago, he took his idea to another university; met with 2 lecturers who both seemed really keen on his proposal and told him to submit it alongside an application for a MRes. Today he has had contact from 1 of the 'new' supervisors who told him that they had reviewed his proposal and that he needed to give them more indication as to how the literature relates to his topic. 1 of the reasons for doing this topic is that there isn't any specific research/literature on this detailed area - no-one has done anything on this specific area before - so today he is really depressed and down, feeling that he is getting nowhere and so desperately wanting to do this PhD - he has continued his research ever since starting his undergrad dissertation, a total of almost 3 years work already! Why are supervisors so difficult? He will be paying the fees himself and is sooo keen to do this research, why does it seem as though he has to keep on and on and on at a university/supervisors to be accepted as a PhD student? I understand that the work is difficult and the research is hard but that is irrelevant if he can't get past the front door!

You don't say what field this is in. But I would be surprised if there is no literature of any kind related to his topic. I could be wrong but I think there is only one paper that has been written that was so unique it did not have any references in. The proposed supervisor that he approached must have some knowledge of the area for him to ask him to be his supervisor, and so if he is asking for the literature review he must believe it is possible. Your friend should just write the literature review saying why his proposal is unique, by explaining what has already been researched and how his research area is different to this. This will make it clear to the supervisor his research is necessary and may make them more keen to supervise him

I agree - we need some more information about the field/discipline to be able to give specific advice.

In some fields, lack of other papers on the topic is not unusual - in others it would ring alarm bells. It's highly unlikely that there is *no* relevant literature which can be cited e.g. there may be something on a relevant method which has been applied to a different question.

I would also give your friend some cautious advice on the topic of carrying on this research for too long unsupervised. He may well end up doing a lot of work which turns out to not be up to scratch for masters or PhD level. Enthusiasm is good, but it doesn't guarantee good research.

I can only second the last paragraph of your post HazyJane.

My PhD was in a low literature area also. This can actually be a slight advantage, as identifying which specific literature you need to look at is simpler. Also, providing an original contribution to the field when his chosen field has been not too greatly researched may also be less onerous.

To cut a long story short, he needs to properly review the available literature with a view to identifying his chosen area of research and present an argument to his potential supervisors that there are weakness in the knowledgebase that need to be addressed. With reference to literature, what are these weaknesses and shortcomings, how in his work does he intend to go about addressing these weaknesses (what work is he specifically intending to do) and what outcomes might he expect. He really needs to dot the I's and cross the T's for his project to be taken seriously. He will also have to work to a word / page limit, so his proposal will have to be very succinct (to the point).

If his proposal is strong enough, it may be worth applying for funding. Self-funding can clear you out to £50,000 plus over the years a PhD takes.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Hi all, thanks for all this help/advice. With regard to the available literature: there is lots of literature relating to the general area, 'theories' and some good examples, but in regard to the very specific area there are only 3 published pieces of work and they all are aimed at the 'general public' and/or the tourist industry - there are no serious academic works, no-one has done a detailed study of this previously. (I don't have his permission to be posting here, so the best I can say re subject is 'Earth Sciences' and the specific area is a tightly bound 26 acres of land!! Sorry, best I can do, folks). Somewhat shocked about the costs, Ian, as I do know that he hasn't got that much money - he has really only budgeted for the fees!!! Maybe I should tell him to forget the PhD - just write a book!!!

Let's say:
£5,000 a year on fees
£10,000 a year for living expenses

That's £45,000 over 3 years. And to live off of £10,000 is tight.

There is also the 'opportunity cost' of the salary you lose by not spending those three years working.

If your friend does want to proceed, I'd recommend getting more advice on conducting/writing a literature review. The expectation at PhD level is far higher than Bachelors. He might not be doing himself any favours by skipping doing a masters.

Finally, it's obviously difficult for you to disclose further information on the topic, but it sounds like it could potentially be a little niche? There's nothing wrong with niche topics but if they're so specialist that your friend is the only person who would be interested in the findings then it's a debatable topic choice. I find it hard to believe that there aren't similarities between this piece of land and some other environments, so looking at ways it is similar or different might help guide the literature search.

I think your friend really needs to look into what a literature review is. If you ask anyone they would say there is nothing on their precise topic and that is the whole point of doing research to fill the gap. If there was loads of his topic what would be the point in him doing research!! But to be honest I think your friend would struggle with a Phd if he does not understand such basic idea as a literature review. I don't want to be harsh but guess that is why the lecturers are not responding as they probably have doubts already about his abilities. I could be wrong but it is up to him to demonstrate his abilities by producing a good literature review, illustrating why is research is needed and relevant!

The PhD fees at my PhD University (a New University or ex-Polytechnic) are £5,450 per year for guidance.

The red brick University just 500 metres away can charge anywhere between £4,900 and £9,500.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

I am a Senior Research Fellow working with a DST funded project in an ICAR institute in Chennai from September-2011 to till now. At the time of my joining, my principal investigator of the project did not have guideship to supervise me. (His application for guideship was in process in University of Madras). So, due to the suggestion by my principal investigator, I have started my research work on the joining day. After one year only my guide got guideship and I registered my Ph.D programme in University of Madras. when my application accepted for provisional registration, almost one and half year is passed. I have already completed all my field works and stated thesis writing. As all of we know, I can submit my thesis when the attendance reaches two years because I have completed M.Phil degree. But the fact is even the completion of total works, I have to wait for another one and half year for submission due to late registration.
I heard somewhere that UGC has announced "If somebody works as a research fellow in stipendiary basis and wants to register his/her Ph.D, The date of his/her joining in project can be considered as his/her joining date in Ph.D". Is it true? If you have answer to this, please let me know and give the proof. It will be very useful for me to complete my Ph.D ealier. can i get it?.......
M.Vijay
Senior Research Fellow
CIBA, Chennai

I have seen people on forums say they got their PhD in 2.5 years. This is purely anecdotal and hearsay however.

I agree- the norm is 3.5-4 years these days for submission (not including viva and outcome).

In my university 2 years is the earliest someone can submit a PhD. One person did this and everyone was talking about them as it is so uncommon. I don't know if every university is different though, usually it says in course handbook what all the rules are.

There was a two and a half year submission mentioned on this forum a while ago. Basically, as the industrial sponsor expected reports as the student carried out their research, the thesis was effectively written as the project proceeded. This system effectively set up target milestones and a more organised approach to the PhD than often encountered within the academic sector.

Proper organisation without the many sidetrack projects often encountered by PhD students could see many PhD projects completed in a far more timely manner that the usual up to four years or more.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Agreed, however it appears to be a vicious balance of compromises, where you want to accumulate whatever teaching experience you can get (if available), you want to stay close to professors with active or pending grants for research, presenting and possibly even organizing conferences which all add to your CV post-viva if you plan to continue your journey towards Mordor...I mean Academia heheh (Lord of the Rings joke :P)

So your primary supervisor is Prof. Sauron and second supervisor is Dr. Smeagle who repeatetly and schizophrenically refers to your project as "My Precious."? The Dark Riders and Orcs are the other academic staff and technicians respectively. :-)