Hi Cobweb,

Like some of the others I'm also reluctant to give advice on such a personal issue but I have been in a situation where I was financially dependent on a partner in a less than perfect relationship. Its a horrible feeling and does nothing for your self-esteem and feelings of security within a relationship.

You said you want and need to move out and I think if you've come to this conclusion and have already talked everything through with your partner then this is probably your only option. Would it be possible to stay with him for a little while though so you can sort yourself out financially? Could you speak to your supervisors about taking a year out to get money together to support you for the rest of your PhD? I dont know the nature of your work so I'm not sure if this would be feasible....or what about university hardship funds? Although the application process can be lengthy it may help you get on your feet initially or some of the foundation grants offered by charities (i think there was a thread on this at some point)??

From what you have written about your partner it sounds like he has slowly chipped away at your self-esteem and trust in him which has probably been unintentional but hugely unfair all the same. The fact that you rely on him financially will only exaggerate these feelings and I think once you address this you could feel differently about the relationship. For now though I think I would sit-tight and try and find a way to move out in the next few months and hopefully be able to continue your studies too.

hi i've known a few people who would use equipment in other university departments either running the tests themselves or paying a technician there to run them- they will usually charge per sample though if this is the case but worth looking in to. I know a lot of uni labs that will run samples for external clients so if you contact the lead technician they may be able to help you out. They usually have lists on their web pages of all the equipment in the lab.

its hard to say without knowing what your samples are or the equipment you use. if its standard chemical analytical equipment and you have developed the methods it should be straight forward to transfer your methods to a new machine with a few adjustments at first.

i think you need to present your supervisor with a few options with approximate costs i.e. 1) another lab at your uni with you running the tests 2) sending the samples to another university and a technician there running them or 3) even looking in to industrial labs? (again i dont know the nature of the samples so cant make specific suggestions) and stress to him/her that you really want to get things sorted asap.

i've had the same situation many times with broken equipment and realise now that you really have to sort it out yourself and not wait around because, at the end of the day, its you and your work/time that will suffer.

hope that helps a bit!

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Hi, I'm currently doing a PhD in the wastewater side of things.



As far as research is concerned, yes, doing a PhD will help as you won't be able to get Post-Doctoral Research Associate or Research Fellowship positions within academia without one. I think your question really is what path to take. A PhD won't necessarily help you get R&D positions in industry (well it may, but you have an MSc with, I presume, a research element to it so you can always big that up if you apply for positions) and as you probably know it takes between 3-4 years (sometimes more) to do a PhD so you could get a reasonable amount of experience in industry in that time.



If you REALLY want to do research though and like the idea of academia you could either:

a) try and get a Research Assistant position - they are few and far between but you will be eligible with an MSc and pay starts (or did when I started a few years ago) on around £19K



OR

b) apply for Research council funded PhD's (assuming you are a UK resident as that is usually the requirement - I think!) which will give you a yearly stipend for EPSRC of around £12K tax free (different for NERC). In some cases this can be partnered with an industrial sponsor called an INDUSTRIAL CASE Award which will increase your stipend further.



You could also be really cheeky and if you have some ideas for what research you'd like to do, ask the water company if they'd consider applying for a PhD research grant for yourself if you do all the groundwork (i.e. finding potential supervisors, preparing proposals etc).



If you get a PhD and then are lucky enough to get a Post Doc/Research Fellow position you can earn between £26-30k a year (roundabouts). They're not easy to get but sometimes its possible to work on proposals for researching funding at the university you're doing your PhD at - if you can get academics on board to help you out and be the Principle Investigators.



So basically there are plenty of options! maybe have a look on findaphd.com for universities that do Environmental research. Good luck!:-)

hi. i was in a very similar position when i started my phd (well about 6 months in). My boyfriend and I split up and I had to move out. I was reluctant to do so at first because it seemed so final and for the first few weeks it was pretty horrible. My work inevitably suffered and in the end I took a week off and saw family and friends. When I got back I went to the student counselling service at Uni ( which is free :-) ). I felt like an idiot at first talking about all these things but eventually I started to feel better and I have to say it is one of the best things I have ever done in my life.

So I would highly recommend counselling, maybe speak to your supervisor and say you're having problems at home (without going in to specific details)- just so he/she is aware of the problem. Keep the PhD ticking along but don't feel like you have to acheive much, just read a few articles and take time out where you can.

And be as selfish as possible! If you don't feel like doing work do something fun instead and try and re-build a life without your partner. Maybe find a new hobby and meet new people and make sure you do things on weekends that don't involve work.

Also, although the moving out thing is horrible it will make everything so much easier in the long run so dont put it off. If your not seeing her come in late every night etc etc you won't be wondering where's she's been etc etc so you'll have at least a little bit of head space for other things.

I hope it gets better though and seriously consider the counselling service- its not for everyone but it really did change my life!

I think it may be a matter of better communication with your industrial supervisor and not just agreeing to his/her demands straight away. I had a few meetings where me or my academic supervisor just turned in to 'yes' people and said everything will be done and it will all be great with out thinking it through. Then I felt too stressed knowing I wasnt going to meet the deadlines. Maybe take a list of what is required of you from the meetings and tell your supervisor you'll come up with a realistic schedule for the work and deadlines breaking all the tasks down so he/she realises how long things take. Although they are your supervisors you're not their skivvy and no-one should feel they have to work stupidly long hours. It will all get done in the end!

I think its really important to do a PhD where you regularly interact with other PhD students. It's a very isolated existence anyway and it's so important to have people around to bounce ideas off, ask for help or have a good moan to. I also think it helps for knowledge transfer purposes and can make you feel like you are part of a research team with lots of interesting things going on (pushing back frontiers and all that!).

I'm not sure about your specific research area but you could look in to Research Assistant positions instead (or PGRAs) - do you have a masters? If you were successful as an applicant for an RA post you can usually study for a PhD part-time or integrate your research in to a thesis and publications. You would have to speak to your supervisors though about time-scales, other responsibilities you will have etc to make sure you are balancing your RA work and PhD study.

I got research council funding for my PhD with industry sponsor aswell. For a PhD application they'll probably need two academic references so it might be a good idea that the person who writes the reference from their undergrad degrees is aware of the problems they had and is willing to write them a good reference. This alongside excellent MSc marks, a good reference from an academic in their MSc, a good attitude and good prep for the PhD interview should put them in a good position. It may be worth having a good chat with academics/supervisors on their MSc now aswell to discuss options - academics tend to have contacts and not only can offer advice but may also help prevent any applications being sifted in to the 'no' pile purely due to low undergrad marks. Hope it works out for them.

Well I got a third in my BSc in one subject, did a masters in a slightly different subject and got a distinction. I found the masters easier, not necessarily because the content was easier but because I was alot more interested in the subject matter. I worked for a while and am now doing a PhD. Oh and also, I got funding for my Masters aswell. There's always a way. You just have to convince people its what you really want to do. I also think that by the time I did my masters I was more mature where as during my first degree I generally just "had a good time" . Maybe I was just lucky but I think a bit of determination helps so good luck to them!

On top of this I am expected to complete a huge chunk of my PhD by the end of the first year and initially it was to be completed by the end of my first 6 months so I am technically "behind" in their eyes. I know that funding is important to universities and realise we need to produce the goods but its driving me mad. Any advice?

Hi, I started my PhD almost a year ago and things seem okay.I am having a huge issue with my industrial partner though. I thought it would be a great opportunity to gain some real experience in my field but instead I feel like I am someone's assistant carrying out exactly what I'm told. I feel like I am stuck in a vicious cycle - i get stressed about the tasks that are put to me and my lack of experience in the field so instead or slowly working away at something and trying to understand it I end up doing a few things badly and missing out the rest. When it comes to making decisions about the direction of my project my industrial partner seems to have a very set idea on what is going happen and due to me stressing out about the tasks i have been set i haven't read enough to be able to question or object to any of the decisions that are made.

i feel exactly the same. i'm 6 months in and lack motivation and feel extremely isolated- especially because its summer and there's very few people about. I've started to reconsider my options and to be honest I think that if I feel like this now I don't want to put myself through this for another 2.5 years. I think you need to ask yourself a few questions i.e why did you want to do this PhD, where can you see it leading and whether your personality is suited to working in an environment where you have to be self-reliant, self-motivated and happy to work on your own. It's also a question of do you have the real drive and interest in your research to pull yourself out of things. If you do then maybe set yourself small tasks that you know you can acheive that will get you back in to the swing of things. If you don't I'd speak to your supervisor and see what your options are (I'm taking this option by the way ).