I'm just coming to the end of Year 1 of my PhD in a humanities subject in the UK. I have enquired about getting teaching experience with my department, but the short answer is: "We don't have enough TA spots to go around; keep a look out of emailed advertisements, but don't hold your breath".

I have noticed that my department seems to prioritise current/former TAs (by not advertising posts and just reoffering them to the PhD students who taught the exact same modules/seminars last year), rather than allowing new students a chance. No PhD students at my university are getting enough teaching hours to qualify to do the PgCertHE, but any experience is better than none.

I am worried about my employability within academia if I have no teaching experience under my belt come completion, so I was wondering if anyone else has been in the same situation, or has advice on what to do? I don't have another university local to me who offers the subject I could teach in, so I can't offer my services elsewhere.

Your perspective on the literature review is accurate, but I think you're a bit confused about what a theoretical framework is. A theoretical framework is where you place your specific research problem/question within a pre-existing theory in order to create hypotheses, or develop your own theoretical framework from a combination of related theories which becomes the literal framework you use to structure your inquiries.

If they let you change topic, will they still allow you to study for 3 years, or is the year you've done now lost? Also, will changing topic affect your funding situation? Will this also affect your supervisory arrangements? Those are three pretty vital questions, which once answered, should help you make your decision.

Generally, I think people do enjoy their own research project more than pre-proposed ones, but it can depend on the discipline, how complicated you want your project to be etc.

Maybe think about why you're doing a PhD in the first place: if you don't want an academic career, then will it help you in other ways? If it presents more losses than benefits, realistically it might be worth considering leaving.

I know this might be a stupid question, but can't you remove the blue line? Or re-colour it into grey/black?

If not, you can sometimes print the thesis yourself and go to a binders after, but you'll need to contact the binders ahead of time to ask 1) if it's possible, and 2) if you need to format the document in a particular way (e.g. put a thicker margin on the left side).

In addition to MALVOR87's great advice, I recommend the book 'The Unwritten Rules of PhD Research' by Petre & Rugg. I believe there is a free pdf version available if you Google it.

The post doc shouldn't put their name on work that was done before they entered the lab group, but any work done afterwards it may be seen as fair game to do so. This will be something you need to clarify with your PI.

What will the post doc be presenting at the conference? Your work or theirs?

What is the situation re: the post doc's access to your work/data? Is it only the abstract they have used so far?

It might be a good idea to sit down with your current PI to discuss what the post doc's exact role will be, what they will have access to, what they will get priority over etc. Politics around author order will always be a sticky situation in academia; this post doc obviously thought it is entirely acceptable to place their name above yours, whereas you don't think that is fair. This is something you may need to discuss together. Depending on the situation/relationship you have with your group, sometimes authorship order is by contribution, by surname alphabetically, or by superiority.