Please can you all tell me in 50 words (ish) what a Phd is, the realities of doing one , anything to give me a better understanding. Imagine it's a new concept for me and I'm a bit blank about it all.
Much appreciated!

A PhD is long,
The work goes on and on,
You research a field,
And start with great zeal.

Ontology informs your methodoloy,
You collect data to analyse later,
You write about and disuss what you find,
And find you're behind.

You live like a monk,
smell like a skunk.

Bravo!!

*throws flowers*

My experience:

First Year: Start being overly confident. Within 2 weeks go into a spiral of despair, no help from supervisor, you have NO idea what you are supposed to be doing, 3 months feeling guilty for not doing work, because you don't know WHAT to do, try reading, but don't really know why your reading it. Sup says "don't read any other theses" so have no idea what the 'end product' is going to be argh! Try and collect a bit of data.

Second Year: Collect data, start to realise what the project is about and the 'story' across the different studies. Spend a lot of time trying to get participants, change PHD topic completely and start re-reading

Third Year: write write write, spend many hours procrastinating on postgradforum, try and keep supervisor at bay and have a 2 weekly panic when you see supervisor email

Helpful, thank you. I'm just trying to assess if I've got room in my life for studying again!

Just as I started a PhD student I knew was finishing and she gave me the following, paraphrased, advice;

"In your first year you'll be planning to make a big change in the area you're researching. You'll imagine theories and techniques named after you, and be expecting a professorship within the decade.

In your second year you'll be happy with just making a big change in a small section of the area you're researching. A change in the way things are done, or an important study that'll be cited in reference to the subject forever more.

By your third year you'd just be happy making a small change to the smallest section of the area you've been researching. People will cite you or they won't, you won't care. You'll just want to be finished.

Your PhD isn't meant to change the world, it's meant to change you so you can have a stab at it later."


That ranks up there as one of the best and most accurate descriptions of a PhD I have ever been given.

If you know nothing of a PhD its basically a big research project. You are likely to work independently, so your supervisor will guide you, but you have to drive the research and tell your supervisor what you want to do - it is likely you will know more than them within the first 6 months on your specific area.

In my field (psychology) you are expected to do 3-5 studies. Mine are 1) interview 40 people and analyse 2) analyse same interviews differently 3) large questionnaire study 4) questionnaire study to different people.

You then write it all up, with a huge literature review and put it into a thesis - which is essentially a phonebook sized book (which no one will ever read)

You then have to give this book to a few examiners, who will read it (maybe - ha!) and then come along and grill you on it in your 'viva voce' - which is basically a verbal exam where you have to 'defend' what you've done.

To see examples of theses go to ethos.bl.uk if you sign up you can download many for free.