Am not quite clear why you would not co-operate with your new supervisor - they were simply trying to make your PhD sound decent in relation to the data you collected? Ethics committees love to create barriers but they would not really have known anything about your new research had you just gone along with the new supervisor's suggestions since they'd already approved your PhD research. People who sit on ethics committees in universities tend to be 'can't do' people, who love to create a fuss over nothing, and am not sure why you tried to create a hurdle for yourself by consulting them again. Lots of people's PhDs change during the course of 3+ years it takes to finish them. But to me at your stage, after already falling out with your first group of supervisors for whatever reason, it seems strange that you didn't want to get on and finish your PhD with your new supervision team and co-operate with their suggestions.

Look at jobs.ac.uk and the Times Higher Education jobs pages. You will soon see that in most subjects there is a very small number of lectureships for a very large number of PhDs - around say 1 in 13 to 1 in 20 lectureships per PhD completed. Of course not every PhD wants to work in academia, but very many of them do. You have to have good academic credentials to get a lectureship, and getting PhD funding is one indicator of esteem that can help with getting a lectureship (as a lecturer universities will want you to be able to apply successfully for research grants), though publications are generally more important. Going to a top rated university will be helpful but only to a certain extent. Do not think of a PhD as like a PGCE or a medical degree; it is not a qualification to access lectureships for most people who complete it (just for a very select few).

The point of such responsibilities for supervisor and supervisee is that they form a basis of what might be expected from the university. e.g. should you wish to request a change of supervisor because of their poor performance of your supervisor you can refer to the responsibilities expected and point out where your supervision falls down. It's not perfect by any means, but it gives the student something in writing as to what they might reasonably expect, and equally what they should expect to put in themselves.

Congratulations Jouri! I hope this difficult journey is near an end for you now :-) Krashty's tips seem very sensible. Good luck for your viva, etc! Let us know how it goes.

It's true that the AHRC don't give much funding to those with a 2:1. The only problem with this is that getting a First in 1 university is equivalent to getting a 2.1 even sometimes a high 2.2 in other universities. I have actually heard academics talking about how they might increase numer of Firsts in order to make more successful applications to AHRC. Also giving away more 2.1s/1sts helps in some newspaper league tables (it seems a bit unfair that universities can get discriminated against in league tables for trying to uphold academic standards!! i.e. giving a 2.2 to someone who ought to get a 2.2).

Why not scan in your work, send it to supervisor, and ask him to type them out for you? Or ask another lecturer/research student in dept to help you decipher, who s used to his writing. If other people in dept can't decipher the writing either then clearly it's him who has to change.

Very high at 95% of universities if your academic record is at all reasonable and you can pass any English as second language test if those apply to you. Just prepare well you'll be fine.

Jouri - when will you finish your PhD? Do you want to work in academia?

I think it's less likely to be important for admissions, but publications are likely to increase your chance of getting funding at more competitive departments.

I think you really should do an internship to build your commercial awareness. Even amongst undergraduates applying for grad schemes it is a distinct advantage to have done an internship/summer placement in the field of work you want to work in. So I think you will find it a lot harder to persuade interviewers to take you on if you do not have any commercial experience. So go for it and I also think you'll find it a refreshing change from academic work. Don't worry about it being unpaid - it is an investment in your career and your future.

Hypothesis - Loughborough is only a new university in the way that Warwick is (ie one established in late 50s/early 60s). A new university is generally defined as one that was formerly a polytechnic until the early 90s, while a new new university is a college of higher education that became a university since 2000.

Does Jouri not believe in blogs?

Lol Badhaircut, you almost sound like a progressive force in universities with advice like that

rjb203: each to their own as regards holiday destinations. According to the press, Nottingham is a murder hotspot, but many students seem to go there quite happily to the two good universities and come back safely.