Hi litphdgirl

It's hard to say because everyone is different, but from what you've outlined, I think this sounds doable. There is another thread on a related topic on the go which might also help. here's the link :)

Everybody suffers from PhD stress - you're not alone! It's really tough.

For me I think some of the things that helped me (in no particular order) were: taking time out to spend with friends and family; *trying* to not beat myself up if I felt like I hadn't done anything / made any progress for ages; meditation; talking to other PhD students and people who'd been through it; this forum!

I also found it came in waves - sometimes I felt so desperate and all I wanted to do was jack it all in and return to having a 'normal' life, but other times, things felt good and I felt like I was moving forward. Remember, whatever you're feeling right now, 'this too shall pass'

Good luck!

Hmmm not sure, but I'm kind of with ToL - I think if it's something that's worthy of a figure, then it perhaps shouldn't be a footnote.

That's just a hunch though. I've never seen it done.

I did the formatting as I went along, so that's included in my time. Supervisors checked each chapter and then I sent them a full final version to check for smaller snags before sub.

This is probably almost exactly what I did, but you explained it much more succinctly! Nice on ToL =D

Hi Hugh

If you do a search on the forum, there are quite a few topics that deal with this subject. Also, I think perhaps folk haven't replied because everyone is different.

I hadn't written very much by the time I entered into my 'writing up year', and I was still doing quite a lot of desk-based analysis, so it's kind of difficult to say. I've just looked back through my diary and I reckon it probably took me about 7 months to draft write up most of my chapters, finish my analysis which didn't take me long once I'd got the hang of it, redraft, edit, get revisions back from supervisors chapter by chapter, edit, get final revisions from supervisors, edit, and submit.

Another thing to consider is what kind of worker you are. I'm a bit of a slow starter, but once I get going with something, I can tram along nicely and if I know I've got a deadline coming up, I'll really power through.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Thank you so much for this reply bewildered! This is exactly what my lecturer and professor friends have been saying to me. I've passed my viva and just submitted my corrections, so don't have those ties to my institution any more.

I'm really struggling to survive on what I'm currently being paid from the hourly work, and I'm putting in so many more hours than I'm being paid for because I want to do the best job possible and I care and respect my students. While it has been a useful stopgap while I did my corrections, I do also feel under-appreciated and a bit like I'm being taken advantage off - especially when I can't even afford to pay my bills and have had to get into more debt just to survive. I'd love to continue working where I am, but i just can't under the same circumstances with no certainty that I'll be kept on.

I really appreciate your frankness, and it's good to hear people, other than those around me, echoing the same sentiments.

Thanks both IntoTheSpiral and buru for your replies.

It seems highly variable for what you guys are saying. I have what is entitled a 'contract', but that only lists the hours that I will be paid for over the course of the year. There is no 'fine print' section with any info on notice etc. There is still no answer from the HR phone number so i'm guessing they're not back in the office til next week.

I've spoken to other more experienced lecturer friends about moving and they don't seem to think it'll be a problem to leave at any time given the (relatively poorly) hourly paid position, but again they say to double check what my notice period is.

The mystery continues...... but I really appreciate you all helping out with your info, so, again, thanks!

Hi boakster

Congrats on getting this far and good luck with your viva next week.

I'm humanities too and had my viva at the end of September (passed with minor corrections). I was worried about the lit too, but I didn't get asked anything specific about key texts. The only thing they asked me outside of my own project was if I had heard of a certain researcher / paper that related to my topic - I hadn't and I wrote the details down and made 'interesting' style noises! That was fine.

Apart from that I was asked specifically about what I'd done and why, and a lot about the impact of my research and where it sits in the field(s), what had happened in certain situations in my research, why I thought certain things had come up/happened and others hadn't, and so on.

The main thing was that I went with a list of typos / alterations I'd make - I showed them this and they seemed happy that I'd been through the document thoroughly and was aware of some of the things they were going to suggest anyway.

I also knew where to find everything they referred to - if they asked about a specific example or referenced something, I was able to take them to the page and point out where I'd spoken about it or explain what I meant. I think that was also really important in my confidence that I knew my thesis inside out (and better than they did!).

I hope that helps - feel free to shout if you need / want any more info. And good luck!

Hi HazyJane - that's great advice. Thanks very much for the reply. I really appreciate your help =D

Hi everyone and Happy New Year!

I have a quick question, because i can't find the info on my institution's website and the HR dept are still closed for the hols / not answering the phone.

I'm looking to apply for a more permanent position than my current hourly paid associate lecturer job, but can't find how much notice I'd have to give - do any of you have any info or experience on this?

Thanks in advance
G

Yep I used colour - thought it brightened up the document. I also printed my thesis off in uni (I had printer credit there), printing the colour pages separately.

I reckon it was worth it :)

Good luck! Tell us how it went x

Hi. Sorry to hear you're having these problems. I changed supervisors just under 2 years in to my PhD and it was the best thing that happened to me. The end of my PhD was so much more enjoyable than those first 2 years.

I'm not sure about the amicable bit though - mine came about as the result of a number of different circumstances, so isn't really comparable to your situation. But it was such a relief afterwards. PhDs are meant to be hard, but a supervisor can make all the difference between insurmountable and manageable.

Good luck!

Great info and advice - thanks everyone! much appreciated. Just hope I get somewhere with the application now....fingers crossed!

=D