Sleepyhead is exactly right. Although this work is presented at a conference you are not really at liberty to cite from unpublished work. It is quite likely that the author would be more than happy to help you, but definitely contact them to enquire on whether you can use their material in your document - as Sleepyhead said - if you start citing comments on unpublished work you're into a world of hurt :-s :-( :$ :-) (and don't make academics angry, you wouldn't like them when they're angry..)

Hi all,
Just to let you know that I bit the bullet and resigned today. I couldn't live with 'using' the people in the lab or staying on just to take the money.
Most people were pretty gobsmacked (I think I'm the first person to ever quit the lab) but equally they were happy (if that's the right word) that I went now rather than later. My supervisor also agreed that it was much better for him that I chose to quit when I did.

So there you go. If you are considering quitting or are not sure what move to make I hope this helps in some way. Right now I'm both relieved and worried as I've finally taken the decision I've been wanting to take for 6 months but I've moved from a stable certain future to one with no wages and a whole heap of uncertainty :-(. I can only hope that it will prove to be the right decision - but only time will tell.

thanks once again for the advice everyone.... :-)

P

Thanks Magictune,
I appreciate the feedback.
My original plan was to teach at Uni level (I never have and never will want to do research, it's too introspecitve and isolating for me), but now that I am part of the post-grad system I see that all Universities are interested in is the money that their staff generates through research grants etc - the teaching of students is almost an irrelevancy. (And if you're now thinking - if you didn't want to do research why on earth did you do a PhD? Well, there's not one University teacher here who doesn't have one - i.e. not having one is a huge brick wall to career advancement).
I appreciate that not realising this was almost certainly naive of me but I have lost any desire to be in this system. Other (current) lecturers who I have talked to are of the same opinion and feel that they are under constant pressure to deliver 'financially' irrespective of how their work is viewed as a teacher. I would say that 75% of them sound as jaded with their careers as your wife does with hers.
Yes, I could stick with this - I am at a very good Uni, in a well respected lab and am virtually guaranteed a PhD since nearly all the external examiners were taught by my supervisor, and hence they don't readily fail people for fear of offending him (seriously - I was told this by the other post-docs in the lab)! I am well funded and well supported - a circumstance that practically any PhD student would be very happy to be a part of.
I mention this to show that this is not a decision I am taking lightly, but I have no desire to continue and am therefore trying to make the change in the best way I know how.
Hopefully it will all pan out in time, but right now I'm feeling pretty miserable - not in the least because I know I'll be disappointing a lot of people who have invested a lot of time and faith in me :-(

I'll make enquiries re the teaching assistant and see how things go.

Thanks for helping... :-)

P

Thanks for the advice everyone (even BB! ;-) ). Just to reiterate - I am not trying to fleece the department out of money. As I said, they are perfectly happy with my work and I am moving the project forward, but I do understand the concerns regarding potentially taking this away from another student.
I have talked with others regarding the situation but I have to tread 'very' carefully with this as my supervisor is about as senior as you can get within the Uni and there aren't many folk I can speak to who aren't in contact with him - and I'd definitely not want him to get any info from a secondary source.
Since I'll be teaching at primary level the teaching assistant idea isn't likely to happen, but I'll look into the possibility (so thanks for the suggestion).

The general consensus seems to be that I should wait it out and resign in the spring, giving the department 6 months to find someone else. Whatever work and data I have collated to that point (including any partially written Thesis) would be handed over to the new student with my blessing. I'm not sure how much of this they'd be allowed to use towards their own PhD, but I'd do all I could to help them on their way.

cheers

P

Thanks Poppy.
That's good advice - I guess what I'm really looking for is to minimise the damage to the project whilst still keeping a living wage for as long as possible. I am invisaging some fireworks once the announcement is made as my supervisor loves the project so much (and believes I do too - perhaps I should go on the stage rather than to a classroom! :-).

P

I'm quitting my PhD to become a teacher. However, due to timing and availablility I will not begin my training until the Sept 2010 draft.
I am currently in a PhD with a good monthly wage, I have a good relationship with my supervisors and my work is considered to be of a satisfactory standard. It is an industrial PhD so the results I am obtaining are being used by a company to assess one of their products. I believe it would be quite possible to 'hand over' the research to someone else whilst maintaining the flow of the project (if you see what I mean). At the time of leaving I would be 2 years into the PhD (and no, I have no intention of just 'getting through' the final year to get the PhD - I'd rather eat an asbestos sandwich).
The question is - do I tell my supervisors this and risk being booted off the PhD now or keep it under wraps until next June (since I have to give 3 months notice).

I appreciate that the above may make me sound like a complete ar*e but I'd still like to gauge opinion and to ask what you would do in my situation.

thanks

P