hi all,
Im a part-time, self funded, registered PhD research candidate and am on the 3rd Year (officially) of my PhD track. Personally I work fully time, but have less hours during the summer months and I also have two children under 5. I am at the stage where I am approaching my transfer to the 'official' PhD registration that will hopefully follow a scheduled interview/presentation in late summer or early autumn. I have submitted a first draft of my lit Review and have been working on the corrections before I proceed to do the Lit review of the next area of interest for my research.

However, my dad suddenly passed away two weeks ago and my head is all over the place. I have spent the last two weeks trying to get my head around the shock and grief as well as trying to help/support and be around my mother. There has been no time to do anything research related and to be honest I cant see this situation changing in the next few weeks at the very least. I have also considered just walking away from the research altogether given the suddenness of my dads passing... but I do realize that these thoughts are not really being based upon a clear head.

I am looking for people to advise me on how to approach this as I have just sent in a report on my progress over the course of the last year, as it had to be submitted by next week, but I feel now that I rushed through over the last few days and its nowhere near representative of my academic capabilities. I would approach my supervisor but they are off campus at the minute and I too am out of the country for two weeks from next week to try and have some family time.
As you can probably guess I'm a little all over the place and am even unsure if any advice can be given here... but if anyone has any advice please feel free to pass it on either here or through a PM.
THANKS

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. It sounds to me like you need to tell someone in your department - if your supervisor's unavailable, then maybe the head of department, or another member of staff you know? (Or whoever is in charge of PhD student welfare - there is usually a designated member of staff). But please tell someone and try to get a pause put on things for the moment, to give you the time you need to be with your family.

You should be able to take a break from studies for a while if you want to, so I would approach your supervisor and advise them of the situation and see what they suggest

Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about your dad :-( I think the best course of action for you will be to apply for a Leave of Absence as soon as possible.

A LoA temporarily suspends your registration, so it's as if you aren't a student anymore for a specified period. There should be some instructions on how to apply for the absence on your university webpage - at my uni you just fill in a form requesting it, provide some evidence of the situation (in your case, you might need to provide a copy of the death certificate - I had to provide a letter from my doctor saying I was unable to work), and a supporting statement from your supervisor.

Also, it's usually easier to come back from an LoA early, than it is to extend it. So, I would apply for more time off than you think you need, just in case.

I'm sorry again about your loss. Be kind to yourself.