Never come across any. However Birkbeck College do MSc courses in evenings, and the University of London has a respected distance learning programme, which you would be able to do in the hours that suit you. Did you have any particular subject in mind?

Cost of living and fees is >=£45K. The remainder is 'opportunity cost' coming from loss of earnings.

Your plan Bs sound solid, and the kind of things where the skills you pick up in a PhD could be valued. I'd also advise looking for opportunities during your PhD to gain additional skills/experiences which may help support your transition to those career paths if need be.

Do consider a part time route though, and/or see what funding you can acquire via small grants.

The others have all made excellent points. I echo bewilder's concern about the self-funded aspect.

Based on that entirely reasonable stipulation of yours, doing a self funded PhD could effectively 'cost' you upwards of £120,000. How do I work that out?
~ £5k tuition fees per year
~ £10K unfunded living costs per year
>= £25K lost earnings per year.

multiplied by at least 3 years

Of course you will not be having to conjure up £120K in cash... maybe the fees are covered by your savings, maybe the living costs will be absorbed by your partner or by living uber-frugally. But it's these kind of factors that will contribute to the financial 'cost' of doing a PhD, compared to the alternative path where you don't. If your sole aim is to secure an academic career then it's a mighty big risk, due to the limitations of the job market you have already identified. If there are other factors at work in your decision - desire to satisfy your intellectual curiosity, fulfill an ambition - then you may consider that a reasonable investment. But as a career move alone the PhD needs to be considered very carefully from a financial point of view. Would you consider doing it part time while carrying on some kind of job?

Something you don't mention is your plan B. What would you do if the academic career doesn't come to pass? Would you go back to teaching? Is there another career path you could be satisfied in following? Would a PhD enhance or hinder (or make no difference to) that path? That is something also worth factoring in.

This is good! This is editing! Isn't your thesis *better* for deleting a load of repetition etc?

Precise word count doesn't matter. DO NOT COMPARE YOUR THESIS TO OTHER PEOPLE'S. Just don't. Comparative word count doesn't matter - what matters is what you've actually put.When you say you need another 15,000 words, do you mean that you actually need another 15,000 words of particular content you haven't done, or do you just think there *ought* to be another 15,000 words to bulk it out?

As long as you've ticked all the content boxes, it doesn't matter how long your thesis is. It only needs to be as long as it needs to be.

A final point about other people's theses - they will *always* look better to you than your own. This is because you know all the flaws in yours, and you are not an expert in other people's topics, so their work looks great. If the authors were stood next to you as you read them, and were being honest, they'd tell you there's are just as rubbish as you think your own is.

I've just realised this is a 3 year old thread.... how do these things get bumped up?

Erm... that's not a peculiar view of feminism. There is nothing in feminism that says you can't do those things, rather that you (i) are not obliged to do those things and (ii) are equally valued as a human being if you do. You have no need to justify yourself.

Back to the topic... if/when I ever finish my PhD and/or get married, I intend to be Dr Birthname in professional circles and Ms or Mrs Marriedname (whether that's his name, my name or a hybrid) outside of that. I want my title to be reflective of context i.e. my PhD has no bearing on my status within my relationship or friendships, but it does matter at work.

That said, I currently work in a non-academic environment where PhD graduates (of which there are several) don't commonly call themselves 'Dr' (not least because we work a lot with clinical doctors, so it could get confusing). If I wanted to play the PhD card here it would be better to go with 'Hazy Jane, PhD'. I would still maintain my birth name in professional contexts regardless of title though, as it's taken long enough to establish myself and I don't want to 're-brand'!

Far too often...

I'm afraid I disagree on this one. Aside from the fact that PhD work can be substantially different in nature and difficulty compared with Masters studies, the sacrifices required on behalf of a student and their family for a 1-2 year masters can become intolerable over the course of a 3-4 year PhD. I do not think the experiences directly correspond.

Be aware that even *with* a PhD you may not be able to get a teaching job. The academic job market is not good in the majority of fields, at least in the UK and US. Therefore if your primary motivation for doing a PhD is to become a lecturer, do your homework as to whether or not there is a good chance of you getting the job you want at the other end. This is particularly pertinent if you desire financial independence - you may need to have a solid 'plan B' for if the PhD does not enhance your employability.

You have done the right thing by raising these issues at the outset as it would be more problematic to deal with them later on. I would take the statement about refunding the bursary very seriously, and get written confirmation as to how it would apply (if at all) to your proposed change of circumstances.

Whether it is feasible depends on various things you don't mention. Is your work lab-based or book-based? That will be a big determinant. How far apart are the respective countries? Would you be able to visit your university regularly? What are the nationality-related and attendance-related restrictions associated with your funding? Could you agree a situation where they only fund you for the first two years and thereafter you are self-funded?

You *might* be able to make it work if you move somewhere that has a uni where your department/supervisor has ties, so that they could be involved in your supervision. But this might be difficult to arrange depending on subject/countries.

If you definitely have to relocate entirely in 2 years time you need to think very carefully about undertaking a PhD at all at this stage - it might just make things more difficult than if you waited until your circumstances were more steady.

Might be worth contacting the folks that run this site:
https://phdisabled.wordpress.com/

You are correct that as an individual candidate you can't apply to research councils directly. However, if you have a supportive supervisor there may be scope for them to put together a project grant application that would support your position. This is unlikely to take effect until your 2nd/3rd year though so you should make contingency plans for the first year at least.

In terms of making applications yourself, I'd recommend looking at:http://www.postgraduate-funding.com/gateway
for potential funds to target. Your uni may have access to it - check the library. Check also whether your uni does any training on applying for grants. If you're going to go down the self funded route then you are going to have to become good at this!

I would strongly caution anyone against doing a completely unfunded PhD full-time. I do not believe it is worth the costs (actual or opportunity costs), particularly for people whose primary motivation is to embark on an academic career, as most will ultimately be disappointed due to the poor nature of the job market. These are my perspectives though, and you will have your own preferences and values. I would urge you, however, to do some homework regarding the likelihood of your PhD leading to whatever your end goal is. If the odds are not good, then a part time PhD may be preferable as it will be more financial sustainable while giving you the opportunity to gain experience and contacts in a field of employment that may become a plan B.

Hope this helps

Some questions for you to help us help you:
- What technical skills did you develop during your PhD?
- What kind of fields would you enjoy applying these skills to?
- Where have you been looking for jobs so far?
- Have you actually applied to any jobs yet or do you rule them out as soon as you see they require work experience/topic knowledge?
- Have you factored in cost of living before rejecting jobs on the basis of salary? London is incredibly expensive to live in - you can find jobs in other British cities that pay £2-4000 less per year but where your cost of living is far less and quality of life is far higher. It is very much worthwhile looking outside of London and not just making a judgement on salary alone.

Sounds frustrating. Makes you wonder what that individual would be like as a supervisor...