I took a break for 5 months last year: enforced because of medical reasons, and a sudden one because it was either take the break and recuperate for a bit, or give up completely. Had to arrange it with my funding council and get permission in advance with medical evidence to back it up. Total pain :-s As for returning afterwards I found it very difficult to be honest, but I had an agreed deadline to stick to for my next bit of writing. I broke that down into smaller manageable steps, drew up a list of things to be done, and then started working through them, easiest ones first. Took me some time to get into the swing again, but I made good progress and was pleased. Having said that I've made very little progress since the start of July this year :p so I'm in a similar position to you now! I needed to take at least a month off anyway (allowed break) but long-term illness again caused problems. Now I'm back to my trick of a year ago: draw up that list, break it down, and start working through it slowly. My confidence has picked up again in the last week and I'm now on a better track again. Just hope I can hit my next deadline of 2 chapters by Christmas! Be honest with your supervisor though. Maybe they can help you pick things up again if you can't manage it yourself?

Good luck!

One thing I forgot to mention: you could consider getting your MP involved in this to pressurise the funding council. I tried to argue for better support using the Disability Discrimination Act, but over a decade ago it wasn't as strong as it is now. I think an insistence on being notified of disability in the first 3 months of a long award is downright discrimination.

Sounds very unfair and unreasonable given that disability circumstances can change. Afraid that I haven't had a good experience with EPSRC. I was full-time computer science student funded by them over a decade ago, but fell long-term ill. They wouldn't support a switch to part-time study, even though they'd just introduced part-time funding for mature female returners. My illness was incurable and progressive and no short break would help, the only thing they would offer, so I had no choice but to leave the full-time PhD study. So I'm not a fan of EPSRC.

Years later I converted to humanities, part-time, at undergraduate, then Masters, and now Doctoral again. I self-funded my Masters and first year of the PhD, getting no help in the form of DSA (was ineligible for it as a part-time PG) or from my disability unit (seemed no point registering since I couldn't get DSA and they were geared around undergrads), but just negotiating the extra help I needed directly with my lecturers/tutors. After applying for AHRC PhD funding (part-time) and getting it the rules changed so part-timers could get DSA so I registered with the disability services at my uni. They're definitely more geared up towards undergrads (all the focus on exam support etc.) but it helped me get DSA for the first time. But I did apply quickly. Having said that my condition has deteriorated considerably over the last 4 years since I won the funding. But I keep going, using my own tricks, and still negotiating support directly with staff. My latest concern is how I'll cope with the viva given the severe cognitive problems I have including memory. But that's best negotiated in discussion with understanding supervisors, with written evidence from my GP where need be.

Argue the point with EPSRC though. Sounds like they're being stubborn again. Hope you have more luck than I did.

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That's really good provision actually, and not too dissimilar from the situation my post-doc husband is in in a communal open-plan office. We've nothing remotely like that for PhD students in my department/school, and it's caused a lot of problems for full-timers on campus, never mind part-timers like myself. Science students in my university have much better provision.



I agree, and I've felt phenomenally cut off from other students and very isolated as a result. As an online alternative we have a Blackboard conference system but only the distance-learning students (scattered around the world) and myself use it. Full-timers and part-timers more local just don't. Occasionally I make it in and might run into another student and be able to share experiences, which really helps, but generally I've felt phenomenally cut off. Not a good situation. To be honest finding this forum has helped an awful lot, with people talking about the problems they are having. Puts my situation into a better perspective.

I think it depends partly on how good the provision for PhD students is. In my department there's virtually no office space for postgraduates (humanities: very different from science students on campus) and the library is far too noisy for long-term working. Plus I'm part-time so am not expecting to be on campus all the time. Plus I get more done at home. On the downside I can miss research seminars but that's more due to long-term illness and being too ill to make it in, particularly over the last couple of years. Best to stay at home, rest, and get more done. I was much more visible in the department a few years ago when doing my Masters and afterwards, and know most staff there. Just I'm not in much now.

Excellent news morpheus. Good luck with the Masters course. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did mine.

All good advice so far. Most PhD advice books cover paper writing to an extent, though I found Dunleavy's "Authoring a PhD" to be most informative when I was turning a small piece of my research into a journal paper which was accepted for peer-review journal with only tiny changes. That was because it helped to demystify the process and make me think I could tackle it. Just have to finish writing a thesis now!

I had a 2.1 and got AHRC funding, but then I also had a Masters with distinction by the time I applied (I self-funded the PhD for the first year and applied during that time) which made up for things a lot.

I can barely read one of my supervisors' handwriting, which is a huge problem because he's now 500 miles away and I can't just show him the bit of paper and ask "What does that say?" I've tried to get used to his handwriting over the years, but end up trying to decipher things a letter at a time and it's a long, drawn-out process. Far from ideal. Particularly exasperating because he gives very detailed feedback.

I got AHRC funding in 2004 and didn't hear until the start of August. I'm a history student, part-time.

Good luck to everyone who's waiting to hear this year.

I agree with Jen. I used to be terrified of asking questions in seminars etc., but I forced myself to try, and the more I tried the easier it got. Also with talks I used to get myself through it by thinking in ** hours it will be over. Really helped me. But you do need to push yourself out of your comfort zone. It will become easier with time.

Looks possible in theory, depending on what versions you're working with. See http://www.potse.nl/software/bibfrob/HOWTO/RM-to-BibTeX-HOWTO

Note I haven't tried this myself so can't vouch for its success.

Good luck!

I'd arrange a meeting with your first supervisor soon as well. Do it now, don't leave arranging it until later. By then time will be very tight, and if you have a meeting arranged it will encourage your supervisor to read your summary first.

Why don't you ask your potential new supervisor to see what they say? They're likely to be the best person to advise on what's possible, since they're encouraging the move in the first place. It would definitely be difficult if you were funded - potentially even impossible - but if you're self-funded it's a different scenario.

My university regulations are fortunately very clear: min 80K, max 100K. I'll be relieved if I can make that lower limit. Definitely check with someone at your university (maybe in Registry) to see what that unclear regulation means.

Structuring is the hardest thing I find. Unless my chapter structure is very strong my supervisor rips my chapters to shreds and I end up starting from scratch again. Have had a very bad time with that in the past. Fortunately I'm making forward progress now. Structure does vary by discipline though. Science is much more logically top-down. I used to be a science student. Humanities (as I'm doing now) is a very different kettle of fish.

If you do cut material out do keep it for future in case you can turn it into part of a separate academic paper.

Good luck!