Hi all,

I was wondering if there was anyone with any experience of transferring their PhD to another University, and how they went about such a move.

Basically, I have recently begun my PhD (in Geography). I am coming to the stark realisation however that I don't like either the University, nor the location of that University. (It is down south, and i'm a northerner a long way from home) I've tried to give the place time, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better. My supervisor is very well respected and has tonnes of publications, but I feel completely isolated. I have such limited interaction with other students, and have still only met a couple of people and i've now been there 7 weeks. I have no friends whatsoever, and just live to work - alone.

I actually like the project, unfortunately it was a set project. I had originally applied for an ESRC scholarship in my own work and did not receive funding at my first choice University. I applied for this project in lieu of wasting a year out (i'm already 28, so starting later than most) and was not sold particularly on the move. I went in with a pretty relaxed mindset that the interview would be good experience regardless, just talked about my masters research... and was offered it, much to my surprise. In view of me having no other offers I talked myself into taking it, as funding in the humanities is so hard to come by. However the move has also had a horrible effect on my personal life, and i'm taking medication for depression. Among other problems, i'm lonely and homesick. I don't want to throw a funded PhD away as it is what I want to do, but i'm not sure whether I will have to reapply for a new PhD next year, or if an alternate university would potentially take on my project? The funding is external. Anyone have any experience in this area that could advise?

Many thanks.

Hi There,

I am currently nearing the end of a similar situation myself.

My supervisor was made redundant 6 months after I started (October 2014) and, as there was no one left at that institution that was capable of supervising my project (niche area of biophysics), the only option was to transfer. As my PhD is funded by a biopharama company they suggested that I work there + get experience with them whilst the whole transfer process was going on. I've been here for months now and progress is very slow.

The problem I was having is that because I've had no supervision for all this time the institution i'm transferring to (incidentally - it's up north!) is worried that I've lost too much time and wont finish within the the 4 years (counts as a non-submission which affects their funding). In my case my industrial sponsors were willing to put up extra money to fund me for another year. You mentioned your funding was external? So this may be an option for you too. Then again - because you will have had supervision up until the point of your transfer and you're only 7 weeks in, your new institution may not be as worried about taking you on so it may not be necessary.

In my experience the process has been slow and reasonably stressful - but by no means impossible. It's really a judgement call on your part. Stay a bit longer and hope things will improve (using more PhD time and making transfer later more difficult) or leave now without the guarantee that things will get better if you do move.

My Advice - give it some more time. If you like the project, can work well with your supervisor and the uni is a good fit for your project - i'd stick with the devil you know. I believe you can still transfer up to something like 18 months in (might be wrong there) so you'll still have time to move later if you want to.

Owen

It seems a shame to throw away a funded PhD for personal reasons. Are you sure you've exhausted ways to make friends? Have you considered getting a part time job, joining sports teams etc. etc.