Hi all,

I'm self funded (at UK university) and did some work for a third party. They then awarded me with a little funding in form of a studentship and paid the sum to the university. Even thought the university has received the money, they won't pay out the studentship until the end of the academic year. If they pay at the end of the academic year this would be 8 months after the sponsor has transferred the money.

I only know that it will take this long as my supervisor started chasing them...

Does anyone has experience with this? I find this quite unacceptable...

This also leads me to this: Imagine I'll get another opportunity in my last year and another third party will pay another studentship. But then I'll never receive it as I may graduate before that?

Thanks

All the best,

nordsee

Hi all,

I was previously consulted this forum and I am very grateful about both the quantity and quality of help I have received. Thanks again for this. In my previous thread I was concerned whether a PhD is the right for me. I'm now convinced to have found the main issue: the missing research question.

I think this is important for the context: I'm self-funded and every time I have to pay tuition and invest my time, which I could spend earning money and consequently afford a potentially decent standard of living, I feel like doing an investment deemed to fail.

I'm looking now for over a year for a feasible research question. My supervisors realised the struggle I'm in and have increased their support which I'm grateful for. I have gone through a lot of literature and related areas. However, I still have no more than the area of research. The more I work/read the more I feel away from an actual research question. I have told this my supervisors, but obviously the can't give me a topic. I don't really know what I'm doing and this kills my focus, efficiency, and worst: motivation.

Are you aware of anyone who has quit because they failed to identify a topic?

I'm grateful for any type of help/reply.

All the best,

nordsee

Thanks for the further replies and suggestions!

@Becky1210

Why exactly did you drop out then? Didn't want an "average" PhD? Didn't expect a thriving academic idea? What are your doing now?

However, what you are describing pretty much sounds like me. I'm very hard working and really have to say my BSc and MSc were simply a lot of work, but that's it. The BSc was even harder...

My topic is used to be interesting, but this is decreasing now. Not entirely sure about the reason yet. Anyway, it is definitely not keeping me awake at night...

@Tudor_Queen:

yeah, I don't think it is a short term low, since it's going several months now and only getting worse even after my one week holiday. However, I want to rule out any other reasons which are influencing my attitude towards my PhD studies, as I always wanted to become an academic and to stay at uni. However, the environment at my current uni is not what I'm used to from both my BSc and MSc uni. A lot of people seem to be very isolated. Can't tell whether is this willingly or unwillingly.
Yes, I'd love to have a doctorate, but if I don't stay in academia it's just a fancy title and doesn't really have any further use for me.

So, I better come up with some alternative pathways before I leave the programme or have to pay another year tuition.

Thanks again!

Thank you Nad75 and tru for your replies and the advice. I really appreciate it.

@Nad75 I'm cutting it down now to 5 days and 9-5 and will see how this goes. However, I just spend a week back in Germany without doing anything and I expected my motivation to be higher again. Well, it was pretty good on Monday, but now it is simply getting worse again... I'm not entirely confident about the issue here, but reading what @ Tru wrote, I see at lot of matches to my personality and came up with similar thoughts already.

@Nad75, I think I will do the two week thing and then see whether @tru's reply is the situation here.

Thanks again!

Hi everyone,
I'm currently at the end of my first year of a fully self-funded PhD study and I need to make a choice whether I should pay another year of tuition fee or to drop out. Maybe someone else is or was in the same situation...

I was quite successful throughout my BSc and MSc both academically and personally (i.e. social life). I enjoyed my previous studies and the quick results (papers, exams...). Then I started working and it really bored be like nothing before (two different jobs on two different continents). I wanted to get out of it and thought a PhD may be the right thing, since I've always enjoyed uni.

However, a PhD is absolutely different. I don't really have any contacts here and don't know how to change this. My PhD topic averagely interests me and I'm sure I could somehow do it if I had more motivation. Social life etc could contribute to this. However, is this the issue? Currently, I'm coming into uni 6-7 days a week and trying to force myself to do some work. However, I mostly procrastinate. I'm already considering to quit, but have no plan for afterwards. The alternative of doing some boring and meaningless stuff in an office simply kills me.

Was anyone in the same situation? If so, what did you do about it?

I very, very much appreciate any sort of report on your experience. Thanks in any case!