Depends on the department- I'm sure there's funding but let me remind you that here in the UK there's a severe austerity programme in place and unis have been slashing funding especially towards research and postgraduate degrees. If you can secure funding from another source it would be much better! By "it would help if you're considering a PhD" I was referring to the importance of selecting not just a good uni, but a good department for the PhD, as good departments are the ones (generally) with top faculty and good research output. Of the ones you mentioned York is the best in that respect; my PhD is in economics so that's my field.

Hi Brit27,
My situation is remarkably similar to yours, except I was lucky in that I passed with minor corrections. My examiner was also harsh to my argument but in the end he simply could not refute it!! both he and external had to pass me. I submitted my corrections a few months ago, and the internal came back to me 5 months later saying he doesn't approve of some of the changes requested!! So I had to do it again and submitted the revised version about 2 weeks ago. I haven't heard from him, but I do know that this idea that academic judgements can't be challenged in court is nonsense frankly. The PG studies guys at my uni have an appeals procedure and you can easily explain your situation and submit an appeal- the risk, however, is that in my case should I do this if he comes back again, that I'll have to do another viva, which is pointless considering I passed this one.
1. Do you have to do a revise and resubmit or just corrections? If former, consider appealing; if latter, it's not worth it and do the changes.
2. As far as principles are concerned, I sympathise but I agree with most ppl here: just get the Dr and then defend your principles as much as you want and reflect them in your publications.
3. NEVER FEEL WORTHLESS!!! You finished a PhD for heaven's sake!! Not many ppl can claim that; many drop out before submission. Chin up and fingers crossed we'll both be Drs!!!

Of the ones you've listed, York has a very good economics department- is the course under the department of economics? It would help if you consider a PhD, and job prospects are good. Not to mention it is a beautiful city!

Good point; I think the whole exercise is political- my argument is not 'mainsteam' (hence the original contribution), and this examiner does not like it, but he had no choice but to pass me as it is a strong one :(....I'm very nervous and hope it goes well this time (now that I made all the corrections required).

Re MeaningofLife: I don't think that applies in my case- the examiner is very well-established in his field and relatively old; he's been in academia since the 1980s. Fingers crossed all goes well this time!

At last, corrections submitted!! It has been a painful process but I hope it goes well this time and don't get any comments several months down the line! Thanks to all for the support, and will keep u posted!

Hey Pineapple!
Sorry for my late response and congratulations for both of us!! I submitted my thesis yesterday with the report (emailed it to my internal and copied my supervisor in the email). I'm a bit nervous and worried- I hope he doesn't take months to respond this time! I even include chapters and page numbers in my report so he can just go to them and check the changes made. Like you, I feel like there's nothing much I can do especially since I'm not in the UK at the moment and I was asked not to do any more fieldwork. I will definitely appeal if he comes back with more comments. We feel exactly the same! I also feel kind of sad but would rather just get it out of the way! Wishing the best for both of us and keep in touch! Will still be posting here! Take care and have a lovely weekend.

Hey Pineapple,
Yeah apparently my internal is notorious! Spoke to my supervisor today and he's very relaxed that this time there won't be any problems lol..more relaxed than I am. He told me to stop worrying about what ifs and just submit the corrections this week (planning to do so by Wednesday). Looking at them, my supervisor, another PhD candidate, and I all agree they answer the points raised. I am editing the report I'm attaching to the thesis as we speak, and it looks good too :). I don't think you'll have the same issue- your changes are more minor and I was unlucky :(....btw he wasn't even my supervisor's first choice but the others couldn't do it so.... :( On the bright side, I am acting as a reviewer for a paper submitted by a senior academic so that's a new experience for me (my supervisor recommended me to him) :). Hope all is well with you and keep in touch!

Lucky you!!! Your case is minor compared to mine (although both are referred to as minor officially lol). Congrats on the postdoc position, sounds like a good option. I'm just so worried; my supervisor let me know earlier today that I'm just unlucky in that respect with regards to my examiner and that it's not a reflection on my work (the 1000th time he says that). I hope it goes well... what do u think I should do if he still comes back with comments?!!

Hey Pineapple :)
Congrats on getting close, and you're absolutely right I'll submit my corrected thesis hopefully by mid this week. Unlike you I've had to include an entirely new section (I've ended up adding 12,000 words and deleting 4,000!!!!) That's just for the two more substantial corrections that I have to do. My internal was also so strict that he included so many comments on the revised draft!!!!!!!!! Gone over these- my mistake last time was that when I sent the corrections I just highlighted them in Microsoft Word without explaining what I did and why.

This time (and I suggest you do this as well) I attach a report explaining everything- the fact that I couldn't find enough sources, citations from other researchers who also faced the same problem (yay!) and a response to every comment he listed!! My supervisor is very happy with my corrections (and livid at my examiner!), and I even had a fellow PhD candidate from the same department look at it and he's amazed at the quality of my corrections.

Fingers crossed we'll get through this- your case is more minor as my internal has a reputation for being very strict. I just hope I don't get to wait another five months, and will do my best to pressure for an earlier response- more importantly, I just hope he doesn't come back with more objections I may actually consider taking action at Uni level- what do you think?

Hang in there looks like we're both submitting the corrections soon! Take care and keep in touch

Hello Pineapple30
I hope you're well; you posted on my thread and now I'm posting on yours :); I'm just wondering how you are getting along with your minor corrections? As you know I have 6 corrections (4 minor and 2 'more substantial- for some reason they only use the word major if there's a revise and resubmit for another viva). I'm glad to say 5 are done and I'm confident they'll be approved, but the sixth one has been a nightmare :(- just reading as many papers as I can possibly read to get info on this issue and all studies say that the data on it is very limited. I'm afraid worst case scenario I'll just have to mention this to my internal and say that there's no data. What do u think? Hope you're doing great and it's nice that we can support each other this way as we're both in the same boat! At least my teaching is going well so not all is bad! Take care.

In reading the new comments, has he asked for more than the original corrections that were detailed post-viva?

He can't change his mind post-viva as to what the corrections entail once what has been expected of you has been detailed.

I normally advise against rocking the boat and going along with what is wanted in order to get write-up / viva / corrections out of the way, however, there seems to be grounds to complain here if he has changed the goalposts so to speak.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

Hi Mackem_Beefy,
Yes some of the comments proposed are new and just so trivial- even my supervisor is shocked and is saying that this is just pure politics now due to the argument I present. I have decided to do everything expected (except if I can't find data for the 2 points raised) and if the examiner then comes back with additional stuff then I'll consider what to do next with my supervisor. I'm glad my supervisor is strongly on my side and I haven't heard of cases where the PhD fails or an MPhil is granted at that stage- have you?! I've just been stressed because of all this and while I've found several case studies to back me up and provide further support, I've been more anxious than ever- any advice to help me get through this rough patch?

Hi Pineapple,
Your corrections seem more minor than mine: I was given a list of a few corrections, all of which are minor (one of them, for example, is including the years the study looks at!) except for 2, which are more substantial, but I don't have to revise and resubmit, no need for another viva, and only the internal will approve (the external doesn't need to). My supervisor is very certain this is now a political issue about the 2 corrections and believes that it is not a reflection on the quality of my work or argument. I'm very lucky to have this supervisor (VERY LUCKY!) so he'll support me all the way- I've already started working and found four case studies that actually reinforce my findings so I'll include them and if I don't hear back from the officials about the data I'm missing I'll just say that and hope for the best- at this stage I'm not sure I'll get any response.
It's a wake-up call on politics in the world of academia, and I'm living it as we speak I suppose.
I think you'll be fine- rewording the abstract doesn't seem like a content issue- it's when content and data are involved that one must be concerned in my view, which is the situation I'm in...any advice? Pootie has been very helpful but like to hear other views.

Hi Pootie,
About my point re the 2 problematic corrections: do you think I should say that this limitation (i.e. couldn't find the data) could be addressed by another paper/publication that builds on the thesis or am I setting myself up for trouble?

Hi Pootie,
Sorry for the late response too busy working on the stuff...in shock at some of the finicky comments!! I concur- my supervisor says the idea that you passed the PhD with corrections means that the possibility of getting an MPhil or a failure is not an issue . I'm just focussing on doing exactly what the examiner wants- I'm documenting all the changes I made and why I made them. For the two points requiring inaccessible data I'll do that, and may even suggest that this could be the focus of future research (would that be a good thing to note)?? I just need to convince myself that given that I passed the viva with no need to resit or resubmit means failure in my case is not an option- what do u think?