As a PhD student I am probably not the best person to answer this. Though from the outsiders perspective the better post-docs at my university are consistent and focused on getting results. I think there is a weird dynamic after your submit your thesis, where you suddenly no-longer have to worry about your thesis and can focus on research with less distractions, which is a bit strange. You probably have a 1-3 year project, so you have time to develop a routine and once you start producing results people will leave you alone. Being straightforward at the start of your postdoc until you have results will probably be good and then you can move on to bigger things.

Also, depending on your lab/research group, you will have more respect than as a PhD student and people will expect more from you. I have seen it go both ways but if you act confident, people will assume that you are competent because you are a Dr and give you the benefit of the doubt. I don't know how helpful that is but goodluck anyway!

It is your first interview, so don't worry about it. Every interview is different and you shouldn't expect yourself to be perfect on your first attempt. Take it as a learning experience and build from it. You can't predict every interview question but you can prepare the best as you can and learn for next time.

If you are having trouble motivating yourself focus on the end goal not the obstacle. You want the PhD so the interview is just something you have to overcome.

Goodluck!

I am not dyslexic but a good PhD friend was. What she did was break up the work into shorter bits and asked everyone that she could to proof read parts of it. That included; supervisors, other PhD students, friends, technicians, family. Quite regularly I would get a a page or two to proof read even if I knew nothing about the topic. So if you want to do it for free, if you break it into manageable chunks most people will help you.

Hi brianc92101,

You sound more interested than most PhD applicants who do very little research before their PhD. Voluntary research with academics is a well established way to get some experience and they do exist. However, finding a willing academic might be difficult if you are not currently affiliated with any university or degree. Academics don't have much time and most are reluctant to engage with every random person. So you might have to put a lot of effort in without any guidance before the academic become properly interested. Some universities advertise voluntary roles that are very basic but I have no idea how to find them. Though I wouldn't worry too much if you can't find any as they aren't necessary to getting a PhD. Having a solid well though out research proposal would probably be more useful.

Also, don't completely disregard the soft skills you have gained in your job. Stuff like report writing, data analysis, presentation skills, interpersonal skills etc. are necessary to complete a PhD. I know it might not be obvious but finding some already attained transferable skills would be a lot easier than building new ones.

Congratulations! That is a lot of work to get nearly 6 papers and is a significant achievement. Don't put yourself down by focusing on what you have failed to achieve and look at what you have achieved. I can understand how you are feeling as I am going through something similar but I try to not diminish my own achievements. If you get 6 papers that is a significant body of work for such a short time and no-one can take that away from you. You have done well and that many publications is not a fluke.

What to do going forward, considering I am still a PhD student, I am probably not the best person to be talking with. Though, I would take a couple of weeks break and do the things you want to do. The hobbies you have ignored, go do them. The friends you have lost contact with, talk with them. When I have longing to do something, the only thing that fixes it for me is doing them and afterwards I have a clear head. Trying to work yourself constantly causes burnout and sometimes listening to your subconscious fixes everything.

Don't panic. Seriously. This happens all the time. It is somewhat lucky that you found it now and not during your viva or when you submit a paper, as you can work around it. By finding the paper you now know that the technology works and instead of developing it from scratch yourself, you can instead look to develop it further. You might find that they used a very narrow approach or that their method limitations or that you can improve on it in some way. Your novelty will then be doing it slightly differently to how they have done it.

I would talk with your supervisors about it and discuss what you can do. This happens all the time and there is always a way to make your work novel.

In the UK you can leave a job with 1 weeks notice unless it says otherwise in the contract. Though it is fairly common to give a months notice and employers understand that most people can't move jobs immediately. So I wouldn't worry about missing out on a job because of notice period as doing all the paperwork to start a new job usually takes a month or so any way.

Done

Not sure about Marie Curie in particular but it most PhD students get offers before having completed their previous education. For myself, I think I was only asked for my degree certificates when I started. I would say you will be fine, as long as you have passed before June and have something to prove it.

Hi mmv92,

Sorry about the delay.
So you are first reserve for one PhD and a possible reserve for another 14. I don't want to be rude but being a reserve for a single position isn't that much. I would keep applying elsewhere until you have a firm offer.

Are both PhDs on the same topic? As if not, I would choose the project you are more passionate about. I think enjoying your PhD project is far more important than university/supervisor fit.

You mention that your supervisors at the lower ranked uni are more established but does that also mean more responsibilities? Do they have multiple PhD students, admin roles in the uni, teach several classes or have an editor position? Some "superstar" supervisors barely interact with their PhD students and offer less day-to-day support than less established academics. There are many pros and cons for going with an early career supervisor but the extra support is one of the few pros.

I would disagree. I know several PhD students that have been offered post doc roles at other unis based off the supervisor introductions or recommendations. You are right that publications are all what matter for a full-time academic job, but for post-doc roles there is a huge amount of favouritism.

Woaw! Massive congratulations!!!!

You must be so over the moon after waiting for so long. It sounds like you thoroughly deserved it and you will enjoy it all!
I wish you all the best and goodluck!

Hi sarah747,

It is normal to feel down during your PhD and I think most PhDs students go through the same as you are at some point, I certainly did. Secon years blues is a real a thing and there is a lot of support out there. Personally, I think a lot of it stems from burnout and academia can encourage some unhealthy workloads. Working on the weekend is not a healthy long term solution that should only be used sparingly. As everyone needs a break and overworking crashes your productivity. Sometimes taking a forced 1-2 week break completely away from your PhD gives you a better perspective of what is important as well as boosting your productivity in the long term.

Can I ask, do you still like your project/field? You might not be enjoying the work because you are drifting away from your passion or that stress is killing your passion. Both of which is solvable by reassessing what you are doing and removing all the b*llsh*t. You say that that you won't be able to finish everything, but most PhD proposal are overambitious to start with and naturally shorten in scope as they progress. So it is not unusual to reevaluate what is achievable. If you can't finish all your lab work and have time to write up before your funding ends, then you should consider cutting the less important experiments. That way you remove all the stress of yourself.

I hope that helped somewhat and I am happy to help in any way.

I haven't went through the process myself but you are right to wait before telling someone else in your university. Depending on your supervisor they might be sympathetic or completely cut you off. You might also find that your supervisor will try to convince you to stay by what ever means necessary. Ideally you would talk your supervisor for advice and not tell the university until you made an official decision. As long as you say you are planning to finish you are PhD and only considering downgrading, they shouldn't be able to remove your funding. However, I have no idea about funding time frames.

From my limited experience, people that have downgraded and submitted a dissertation for an MPhil have all received it. I do not believe that standards are exceptionally high or require substantial amounts of data, though this is my limited experience. I think you might be surprised how much you effort is required the MPhil.

Done