Hi all

To date I have always thought that I would need to undertake a PhD on a part-time basis - largely as none of the Universities in my immediate vicinity have made me an offer.

In general, how much time is taken physically attending a Uni on a full-time PhD?

And, when not attending the Uni, how much time is needed for study at home?

I have an offer from a Uni that is an hour's drive from home (I won't be moving home) and wonder if I might go for full-time there...

Having said the above, would I still have time to run my (sole trader) business on a part-time basis and also undertake a full-time PhD?

N

It depends on the requirements during the first year. My university required for autumn: a mandatory class (3 hours/week), plus a 4-hour block once a week for meetings. I can technically only show up for two days during the week, if I wanted to. No classes needed for spring semester, though or going forward. Supervisor meetings are usually only once a month and are an hour or less.
I'm also encouraged to be affiliated with a research centre, and they have meetings/talks every two weeks or so.

The first substantial piece of writing is due on the one-year mark (8,000-10,000 words, usually a literature review chapter. Considering the first six months is usually reading and notes, with some writing building up, I think you would be okay working part-time while being a student full-time. You need some strong self-discipline, but I gather you're good with that if you've been running your own business! I know several students who have to work part time, time is tight but they easily meet all their deadlines. Some students have admitted to only needing to really work on the PhD 3 hours a day. Make sure you have a good reading and note taking method, and you should be fine.

I'm in a humanities/social science discipline. You might need different advice if you're going into the hard sciences.

Thanks Nad75. Very useful information.

I can adapt my business working practices/hours - most of it is online in any event so I am not for the most part having to attend meetings/travel to see clients etc

I too am in the area of social sciences/humanities - I think we are in the minority in these fora?!!

What are you studying and where are you based/studying? PM me if you like?

N

Hey N,

I'm studying Politics at Nottingham. Self-funded, international and classified as a 'mature student'. :) Although, I think most of us first years are 35+ . I've had to make a decision to either work part-time and take all four years, or really push hard to finish in two and live off savings, and I think the latter plan is what I'm going for! Which uni are you attending? (also feel free to PM!)

I have PM'd you NAD75.
N

Hi Chaotic and Nad75

I would be interested in meeting one or both of you too if that is OK and we can arrange a time and date?

I am studying Law and also starting in 2018.

I am based an hour away from Nottingham and probably not far from you Chaotic if you are North East.

N

Haha can I join this group if I say that I'm currently learning social science research methods for my vet science phd? :-)

I just wanted to go back to the original question in that here at the RVC very few people seem to be in all the time and many people seem to come from quite a long way away. I share an office with someone who lives in Bournemouth and another in Oxfordshire.

We have various commitments in terms of research seminars and some mandatory training, but realistically I'd say that I only really have to be in one or two days max... Plus I hate driving the country lanes in the dark so often leave early at the moment to make the most of the daylight! I suspect for me, work load will vary depending on what stage of the project I'm at... At the moment I'm still doing a lot of reading so I tend to break it up and do some work in the evenings and at weekends rather than do a 9-5, Mon-Fri

Some universities suggest a PhD can be completed in five years part-time (minimum registration). Starting with the PhD and not the MPhil PhD route.

This is quite interesting for self-funders who could save on fees this way.

the more the merrier! Is it possible to create a group here (if not, maybe we could create a FB group?), so that all who are interested can arrange meetings etc.?

Great idea chaotic!

Admin: can we have a group exclusively for members to arrange meetings etc with each other?

Any ideas on what we might call the FB group?

I could certainly set that up in a few minutes.

N

Chaotic

I have PM'd you.

N

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your feedback - we will definitely look into creating a Facebook group!

All the best,
The FindAUniversity Team

Hi all

I have created a FB group entitled "PhD student exchanges" for anyone who fancies joining it!

N