Good luck to you too pm133! I am all over the moon right now, the viva experience was much more relaxing and fun compared to what I thought it would be like. All the best!!!

No, actually I changed my project with a different supervisor during my first year so the sponsor agrees to continue the funding and I don't have to pay back, luckily. I see that you said you've lost your passion in academia and if there's no clause to paying them back then I wish you all the best in your endeavor!

In my case it's already stated on the first page of the agreement and I am legally bounded by it but in your case if they have not informed you beforehand and there's no written statement regarding that, I am not sure what I can advise. If there's no agreement on the exit requirement then it's open to some loopholes I guess?

Dear Bombus,

I am also an international student in the UK, sponsored by a different body, and the first time I came here I took the wrong course. Well, I really thought it was the most isolated (and stupidest) case! I was thinking of quitting, but then different opportunity occurred and I found myself in a new project, changed my supervisor and all.

I agree with the previous poster, the best is to talk to your sponsor directly because terms of agreement differ between different sponsors. In my case, if I were to choose to quit in my previous course:

(1) The funding body made it clear that the failure to obtain a PhD would mean I had to pay back all the funding (tuition fees and personal allowances) that they have spent.
(2) The stated amount is "the sum of the total costs acquired throughout the study" which I believe includes everything that they have spent.
(3) Some stipend is given on monthly basis, some are like once in a few months. You really need to check with them regarding this.
(4) Once you have submitted the withdrawal form at the university (usually at the end of a month) then you're free to go.

However, these are all my assumption on what would happen. The best course of action is for you to talk directly to your sponsor and your school. Nonetheless, I still wish you'd consider continuing or find a new project that you might want to pursue. I have experienced helplessness and despair during my first project. I didn't know that once I changed my project I gained back my strength for academic work. However, I still respect whatever decision you want to take.

Thank you for all your suggestions. Yes, in the UK we're advised against having any form of communication with the examiners, it's pure luck if you happen to have met them somewhere before the viva - which is totally different from the American practice. Well, 3 more days to go before my viva and I am not really sure whether I am up to it!

Is it a normal practice to meet / communicate with your examiners before your Viva at your university (i.e. asking what's their main concern so that you can prepare explanation)? I saw this video on Youtube about this presenter who has been on 60+ defenses and only saw one person failed his PhD, and she said the reason that the person failed was because he did not meet the defense committee beforehand and he was lack of preparation. Can any of you share what's your view regarding this?

Dear DrCorinne, thank you for your supportive advice and I really hope the symptoms will be over in a few days so I may have time to really prepare mentally and emotionally. Also congratulations for passing your viva! At the moment I just use whatever energy I have to re-read the thesis and make a mind map of the important bits. For some very difficult reference papers, I record my voice reading it and listening to it for at least some of it can eventually enter my brain :)

Dear timefortea, thank you. "My memory went to pieces..." ---> THIS, exactly what happen to me that make me freak out in case during the viva I can't remember most things. So right now I have to jot down the key things, make a mind map, and hopefully during the viva I have enough energy level to be confident with my work.

I have been advised that my viva will take place in two weeks from now. Several weeks after I submitted my thesis I found out about my long awaited pregnancy, and I thought why not, now that I have submitted my thesis and I can finally start a family. But I never anticipated experiencing such an extreme fatigue and terrible nausea that last all day, now approaching four weeks of sleeping in the bed not able to consume anything. I have done everything I could to fight this first-trimester symptom but at the same time, I still find myself not able to get things done. I am so worried about the viva preparation. I have read forums, followed their advice, and focus on the 5 key questions but I am still left becoming more anxious because I just sleep all day and I am afraid I am not totally ready for the interview. I am afraid with this energy level I have, that I am not able to defend my thesis intelligently as I should. I am afraid I am not being able to answer some questions I have not prepared for.


5 key questions: http://www.postgraduateforum.com/thread-15970

Hello, I have submitted my thesis at the end of last month, and currently I am still waiting to be informed about the date of the viva. After three weeks I'm getting more concerned about it. Normally the viva interview will take place between minimum 2 weeks to maximum 3 months. I don't mind when the viva take place, but I am anxious on when I will be informed of the date. I have emailed my supervisor and I felt like I am too anticipating.

Hi, I am going to submit my thesis in a week time, but I am worried if I don't cover enough materials in my thesis. I am doing applied econometrics, wrote three papers that make up one whole thesis. The major topic is labor market (i.e. labor force participation, wage determination, pseudo-panel with fixed effects ordered logit model etc). I am certain I will be asked about the technique, model specification, identification strategy, supporting theories etc. But I would like to ask any PhD econometrician out there, what kind of question that will be asked that I may have not anticipated? What should I be worried about? Thank you.

Whenever I read an article, I always write it down (or most of the time, copy and paste items strategically). After scheming the paper to identify which part I want to focus more, first I write down full citation, and then copy and paste the important bits into Notes. Sometimes I copy the whole sentence to avoid losing out the context, sometimes I jot down important chunks of words. Then I do this for several papers under the same theme, and the resulting output is a summarized version of several articles. I save it as pdf and read in my tablet. I never trust myself to remember hundreds of articles. It's kind of like a cheat sheet, so whenever I need to cite them I know exactly from which paper I am referring because everything is written under the article's title headline.