Hi,
I'm due to start a Ph.D next week at the university of Edinburgh, I've been up here a little while now just getting everything sorted and getting to know my new flat mates etc but I'm really not sure this is what I want anymore. I worked full time over the summer and feel like maybe I'd prefer to go into the world of work rather than a career in academia, I love my subject but just don't know if a Ph.D is really going to be for me, another big factor is that I have a girlfriend back home and the whole distance thing is completely killing me right now, and I feel like I just want to move back (soppy I know). Does anyone have any advice because right now I really don't know what to do...

So I have my Ph.D place all sorted and I even have EPSRC funding, due to start in about a months time but a lot of stuff has come up recently, and ideally I'd like to defer a year and start next year. Does anyone know if this kind of thing is even possible, i.e. would I be able to defer my start date a year and still get my EPSRC funding the year after?

Cheers

Hi,

I'm currently a student at Birmingham, but I've been accepted to study for a Ph.D in maths at Edinburgh next year, so obviously I'll need somewhere to live in Edinburgh, I've been told that there is no guarantee that I'll be offered university accommodation as this is prioritized towards Non-EU students, and that I should look for accommodation in the private sector. I just wondered what the best way of going about this was, I mean I take it that it's something every Ph.D student has to do, it just seems a little daunting and I'm not even sure what I'm looking for? Do I look for a shared house and move in with people that happen to have a spare room? Or is there somewhere that I can potentially contact students who are starting next year?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance

Leigh