Finally found out the answer to this and it's rather shocking...

EPSRC guarantees 4 years of research funding, but due to the rules of Doctoral Training Accounts, uni is allowed to fudge this substantially.

They take 3, 4-year scholarships and jiggle them into 4, 3-year scholarships...thus getting more research bang for their buck.

My Uni rules state that a minimum of 36 months research needs to be done (and is funded for the full 36 months) - with the funding for any extension being discretionary.

The EPSRC do not fund writing up, thus when you move to writing up status - you're money will stop. (who knows how the EPSRC expect you to pay rent and eat during this peroid)

IF YOU ARE STARTING YOUR PHD - MAKE SURE YOU PUT SOME MONEY INTO SAVINGS TO FUND YOUR WRITING UP!

Is it just me or is the current structure of PhDs out-moded, outdated and overly stressful?

The well-known phrase 'Novel and Substantial' has left me with a prescription for tranquilisers. It took me 2.5 years to teach myself the knowledge and skills needed to work on novel things. Now I have 6 months to get 3 years' worth of 'substantial'.

Then there's the gut-wrenching, lying-awake-at-night-sobbing terror caused by the fact that it still possible that I can fail to collect any degree at all! Wasting years of my life and thousands upon thousands of pounds of taxpayers money.

I work hard (min 45 hours each week) - but this is not assessed
I keep excellent lab books - these are not assessed
I have heaps upon heaps of raw data (all of it processed), which is not suitable for my write up - and is therefore not assessed.
I have developed my skills and learned (self-taught of course) advanced topics - this will only be assessed at the viva, and even then, not very much as they tend to focus on the basics (ie stuff I've known for years!)

What will be assessed is the fantastically difficult experiments that I have yet to get to work in a reliable manner, with each experiment requiring weeks of preparation.

Does the following not seem a better (more productive and less stressful) way of doing things...

1)Make a PhD equivalent to 540 credits at PG level (180 credits each year, MSc/MA - then MPhil - then PhD)
2) Feedback to students that if things do go pear-shaped, they can 'fall back' to their last 'degree point' and graduate with no further work
3) Assign credits to things like quality of research notes, storage/filing of raw data, presenting research to professional/lay audiences, undergraduate teaching, etc

Any Thoughts?

The thing that really annoys me is that I will not be allowed to move to writing-up status unless I have completed a minimum of 3 years lab work. Therefore the university rules prevent me from completing my PhD in the time that the university has allocated for it.
In the world of employment, this would be deemed an unfair, and thus unenforceable contractual clause.

Thought I'd update this. I've been doing my PhD for 2 years now and here's what I've found:

Finance - the money is awful, but you can survive on it if you're careful. The worst is when you are socialising with you pre-PhD friends, as you can no longer afford to do what you are used to. There are opportunities to supplement your stipend with income from undergraduate teaching - though, be prepared for the hassle of claiming the tax back!!!

Supervisors/Peers - I've had no problems relating to my age, my supervisor treats me like a person and my peers (who are all younger) recognise that in some areas I have more experience/knowledge than them and in other areas, I need their help. Occassionally you'll meed an arrogant little upstart who thinks they are font of knowledge - but that happens in the business world too!

Family life - being single, this has not been too bad. I have had to move back in with my parents, who are very understanding, but this does affect your personal life.

Bureaucracy - OMG!!!! Be prepared to be buried under a mountain of pointless paperwork, review meetings, review-of-review meetings etc. Academia is filled with thousands of castles, each with their own king - most of whom couln't logic their way out of a paper bag. If you have half a brain, you'll probably feel like you're going to end up with an ulcer!

Working Hours - There's something deeply rotten about the institutional attitudes to postgraduate working hours. The situatuion for undergraduates is heavily regulated within the uni, but it's a blank page as far as PGs are concerned. There are no defined terms, no written annual-leave policy, no sense of progess through the PhD, no milestoning. It's a case of someone fires a starting pistol and then you run as fast as you can until you have a heart attack or they hand you a silly-looking gown. I work 8am-5.30pm mon-fri and 9am-2pm every other saturday...I am still sometimes made to feel like this is not enough. Work-Life balance is something that you must enforce, nobody else will consider it on your behalf.

Work is the word I use - I am a worker, not a student (if only I had the legal protection granted to workers!!!!)

Career - If, like me, you are doing your PhD in an area unrelated to your previous career, you are probably going to burn a lot of bridges. you must be as sure that you want to do your PhD as you are that you don't want to return to your old career.

Hope that helps anyone in the situation I was in 2 years ago.

======= Date Modified 21 Oct 2011 09:50:01 =======
Hi, I'm 2 years through my PhD in chemistry, I'm funded by EPSCR through a DTA.

I've recently found out that I must conduct a minimum of 3 years research (no surprises there) and will be allowed 1 year to write up.

My institution will only provide 3 years of funding, with funding for the 4th year (the writing up year) being entirely discretionary.

I also know that my institution overspent on discretionary funding last year, thus the chance of me getting 4th year funding is very slim.

Is this actually allowed? I thought that if you were EPSRC funded, you must recieve the minimum stiped each that year you are registered on the course.

My institution treats 'writing-up status' as its own, special category - which I think they use as justification for not paying a maintenance whilst writing up.

Trying to get digestible information out of uni or EPSRC is practically impossible - but I could do with knowing whether writing my thesis is going to bankrupt me!

To put it in simpler terms, when you are EPSRC funded at what point does your stiped stop?

Thanks

I completed my masters (MChem) in 1999 and the desire to earn money pulled me into the business world...
It's now nearly 10 years later and I'm thoroughly bored with my career. I still love my degree subject but have become very rusty.
I would love to return to academia and complete my DPhil, but am worried that my application won't be taken seriously.

Has anyone else returned after a long gap to do their DPhil? If so, do you have any advice on how to get back into the swing of things and convince people that you are serious about slashing your salary in half for the sake of not being bored?!?!