======= Date Modified 27 Sep 2012 23:30:56 =======
I am supposed to resubmit my PhD beginning of March next year and although I do work hard I have not been doing great lately.

Three reasons

a) Since my viva result the supervisor has only seen me twice. I did not see her during the Summer because she was abroad for 3 months. But I keep her up-to-date by emailing her my work - even though she has never returned anything to me with comments on.

b) I am deeply concerned about the financial situation of my family, who live in Portugal. The crisis has hit them tremendously.

c) My husband has recently found a full time job (that pays well) south of London and we must relocate. This means that I will be living 4 hours away from my department... I am very stressed with moving city, and very worried about how I can access the library, etc (the PhD is in the humanities, so luckily I do not have labwork and I do not need to be on campus all the time). Moving house and city and doing the very end of the PhD long-distance is scary...

All these issues have made me extremely stressed. In truth I do not know what to do. Of course I do not wish to abandon the PhD at this point as I am nearly there, but I do need some time in order to sort out my life - and I don't have it.

So, I don't know if it is a good idea to talk it through with my supervisor and ask for an extension (an extra 6 months added to my 12 month R&R). This will give me time to manage my stress. Managing my life is difficult at the moment, but at least managing my stress is a good start, as stress has hit my productivity levels.

Has anyone received an extension of their R&R? Are there any other options available that I am not aware off? There is another case in postgraduate research at my department called 'absence', which allows someone to take some time off their studies, but I don't think it applies to my resubmission.

Sorry to hear you are under stress at the moment. I think it is best for you to check with the university if an extension is possible (different universities, different guidelines).

However, I also moved after my viva (I had an R&R decision also) - from Ireland to England- and so was a long distance from my supervisor also. It is possible to continue your work, although it is a little harder. I think the best thing to do is to sit down, have a look at what your examiners are requiring you to do, make a list of what you have covered so far, and what you have left to do. Try and work on one or two things each month. Break it down it smaller steps rather than looking at the whole picture. Now that the academic year is back in full swing, you may get more regular feedback from your supervisor. I arranged with my supervisor how often I would send her work, and what deadlines I had created for myself for revising each chapter. Perhaps arrange a meeting for December - then this will give youa date to work towards, and you can suggest that at this meeting, you go over all the revisions you have made so far. I had three supervision meetings after my viva- one to arrange what needed done, and two further meetings for going over revised chapters.

You are so close now- donb't give up :)

Glad to hear you are making good progress.

I know the financial side of things is always a major worry. I only had a part-time wage for four months after I submitted first time around. Luckily my husband was able to support me as much as he could. However, I still have a large credit card bill I am paying off!!

I used the online library resources available to me from my institution. Luckily, my revisions were mostly related to statistics (I kept in contact with my statistician via email). I also kept in regular contact with my supervisors via email. They understood how anxious I was and therefore were excellent at providing timely feedback (as was my statistician thankfully!!). They were willing to chat over the phone or skype if I needed it. Luckily I had to fly back to Ireland for a few family occassions so arranged my meetings around them. I think if you tell your supervisor your worries they will try to help as much as possible (hopefully). I really hope everything works out for you and you are able to get an extension. If not, don't panic, you will do it!!