Hi Everybody!
Just wondering how does your department treat you? What facilities do they provide for you- like photocopying, printing, your own desk etc? Also are you treated as equals with the staff?

Hi Laura
This is something that definitely differs institution to institution and often staff member to staff member. In mine it is made exceptionally clear at all times that we are students and to be treated as such even though most of us also teach. saying that it is also frowned upon when we become 'friendly' with undergrads! We have a shared office space with 4 computers between 20 students (all the computers are ancient, even though uni policy says that computers should not be more than 5 years old, we have been told by the IT dept that ours are 8 years old). We are meant to have a printer but it hasn't worked for 6 months - despite repeated requests for a new one.
We are not invited to staff events or informed of them, and our office is in a separate building to the staff. A number of us receive internal funding and we are reminded of this - and effectively told to be grateful - every time we have a problem/complaint. Staff who I have worked with have requested that I do their photocopying for them and expect me to come into Uni on my research days at home in order for them to give me admin stuff to do.

Its great!!!

I feel that I am more or less treated like a member of staff.. All the PhD students have their own desk/computer and we have unlimited access to photocopying and printing etc. I am not expected to do 'chores' for other people in the group and I would be quite comfortable saying no if someone pulled the 'but you're the student' card. There are a couple of people in my group who like tobring up the fact i'm a student but i think the reason is mainly because these people had it tough when they were a student so they have a case of poacher turned gamekeeper. I am at a research institute rather than a university so things are probably a bit different here.

We're treated like staff - in terms of teaching responsibility, how they interact with us, we share the same common room and attend the same seminars etc. We have to pay for printing (25p for colour, and I have A LOT of maps and model images etc) but the allowance is pretty generous. PhD students have study rooms of maybe 5-10 people, each with their own computer I think. But I'm in a research group so I share an office with one other.

I think it is different for Masters students a bit though.

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I've had a mixed bag really.



Good things: Own office (for my 1st year then had to share and move due to new staff ), own computer, desk, phone, bookcases, filing cabinets, storage materials, unlimited printing and photocoping, I receive £2000 each year on top of my funding money and ontop of money from an outside body; unlimited help from support staff (who are very helpful); unlimited use of the own departments research library; invited to all departmental meetings; given opportunities to teach (supervior puts my name out to people); treated mostly like staff

Bad things: I've been moved several times in two years (on one occasion, researcher moved into my then office and decided that she wanted to have my desk so moved me whilst I was away on fieldwork- I was given the choice after the fact); same woman sometimes comments 'your only a student' within meetings which comes of as rather hurtful which comes of in a way to put me down); same woman occasionally undermines my PhD within meetings; I'm the only proper full time student in this department so I feel isolated at times (although staff members are doing PhDs); occasional times when things have happended which have been really hurtful which I've received apologies from the boss about ; boss who wants me in the office nearly all the time (not like other PhD students in other departments!)



Looking at the good things- can't really complain actually :)

We don't have desks, we have a computer room with four machines for the taught and research postgrads. It has a free printer, but you have to supply your own paper. We don't get free photocopying unless it's for teaching purposes. I'd say we're generally treated as equals with the staff, though: we go to social and work-related events together. I'm pretty happy with it, although I would like a common room for reading groups and general social activity.

We have a shared room with a mixture of phd students and post docs. Each have our own desk and computer, with free printing (provided we don't do too much as then they threaten to take this away!) We get pretty much treated as equals in the building, but the lecturers are a bit separate form the phd and post docs.

Our department is fantastic - we have an open plan office with a desk, computer, book case and filing cabinet each, plus those of us in the hallowed final year have the option of moving to a smaller shared office. Unlimited photocopying, printing, phone calls etc. We are treated as equals by the staff and help out with the organization of reading groups, seminars etc, and student seminars are billed alongside the staff ones. I'm not sure whether this is because it's a science faculty though - by some quirk of admin, my social science research centre is located in the science faculty - as friends in other social science disciplines at the same university are treated much worse.

My husband, on the other hand, is doing an arts doctorate at another university and gets absolutely nothing bar a tiny room with about four knackered PCs (to be shared by around 30 postgrads). It's shocking to think there are no standards at all for providing office space/computers/basic resources for PhD students, considering we all pay the same (very high) fees in one way or another.

It can vary hugely. I don't know if universities are supposed to have a consistent policy, but even within substructures there can be variation. In my department the students each had a desk, shelving and a laptop, and access to unlimited printing. But students in another department which was part of the same sub-institute were sharing one computer between seven of them. We were all doing lab based projects. That struck me as rather unfair.

As to whether they were treated like staff - depended on who was doing the treating!

Very jealous of you Pineapple!!
I have my office at home but no office in uni there are far too many of us but I confess I am quite happy working from home.

Hi LauraM, my department isn't too bad. We have a shared postgrad office with desk space that you can call your own. You bring your own computers but its linked to a communal printer and internet. We don't pay personally for printing and photocopying but we have unlimited access to these facilities. I think the bill for such things is shared by the PIs. I'm doing a lab based project so I also have my own lab bench space as well as storage in the lab. I would have to say that PhD students are not treated as equal to staff really, but nor are we treated like 'students'. Our opinions etc are valued (as our individual areas of expertise/skills) but there is definitely a separation. Would be nice to have my own office though, but I suppose thats a bit cheeky :-(