Overview of bignige

Found this:

I am starting a Law PhD next October and I have been searching for weeks and found it impossible to find any funding via any of the sources you refer to Peachypie.

My proposal covers the rule of law, access to justice, legal theory and human rights.

I am going to fund myself.

N

"if postgraduate education was to become free (or substantially cheaper) - it would still be costing the tax payer all the same (except it wouldn't be repaid). At present, it gets repaid (in theory)..."

Good point Tudor Queen. Back in my day (1983 for me - lol) all first degrees were funded by local authority grants which were not repayable. Parents had to contribute if their disposable income exceeded a particular level.

Likewise, my Masters' fees were funded by the tax payer and not repayable (1993).

Even if I took one of the new loans I would still need to work for the whole 6 years (part-time) to support myself and my family, and will still therefore be paying tax. A £25K loan will not cover the entire cost of a part-time PhD - even one which is in the social sciences.

The real cheek of my family member was when he referred to him and his wife being tax payers subsidising the PhD loans - when I know for a fact that his wife, although she works, does not earn enough to pay tax!

N

Thanks tru.

I have asked for an extension of time. I have an interview today with another Uni.

N

Hi Chaotic

This is the source ref London PhD salaries:


N

Hi Piju

I have asked if they can extend the one month as I am considering other offers.

I was also concerned that the offer letter mentioned only a "Director of Studies" and when I looked at that person's profile saw that he was not a Dr himself - is that usual?

No mention of who my supervisor(s) would be...and should I be expecting a Dr as my supervisor - ie: someone who has undertaken a PhD themself?

And also,no mention of the fees - it simply said something along the lines that the fees were yet to be announced.

So, IMHO I have been made an offer without really knowing what I am being offered!!

N

Thank you helebon and piju for the supportive comments.

I was quite shocked at what was said to me to be honest.

I did make the point that I have paid more than my fair share of taxes over the year in some relatively high paid jobs.

I think what riled him was the fact that at my age I would be unlikely to be doing the PhD to further my career and that is correct - I am wanting to do the PhD primarily to complete my academic education, for the intellectual stimulation that studying (which I enjoy) will bring and last but not least to become an expert in my field of study.

I did also point out that even if I did not undertake the PhD I could quite conceivably still be working at 70 (particularly as I run my own business) and earning above the £25K threshold and therefore repaying at least part of the loan.

In point of fact I would not need the full £25K - part-time fees over 6 years would be c. £12K. I can support myself and my family through my work (which has supported them for the past 5 years) which I intend to continue with - and in continuing to work,I will be continuing to pay taxes myself!

I asked the family member up to what age he would suggest the loans should be available (they are available for anyone up to 59 years of age) and he replied "25 or so" which is ridiculous in my mind as some people will not have even attained a Masters by that age (including me as I was (along with a whole cohort of colleagues) 33 when I got my Masters)).

Maths is not my strong point but I have read that the average salary for a London-based PhD graduate is £47,500 - so it would take someone on that salary around 9 years to repay £25k at 6% per annum?

And I would suspect that for many PhD graduates £47,500 salary is optimistic?

N

Hi helebon

I asked the question as I am thinking of applying for one of the loans - and a family member gave me a proper grilling saying it was all wrong because at 56 years of age and studying part-time for 6 years I would never repay the loan - and that the money was "taxpayers money" provided by the likes of him and his wife as working people.

Pretty much using the age old analogy of people "on the dole" who have never worked and have no intention of working and who are parasites and squandering taxpayers' money...

And further he commented that I would not even be doing the PhD to further my career but was only looking to do it for my "own personal reasons".

I found it quite upsetting to be honest and struggled to come up with a reasoned answer in reponse.

N

Hi all,

Received a formal offer from a Uni to study a PhD starting October 2018.

They have given me ONE MONTH to accept or decline the offer. If I do nothing the offer will "lapse".

What committment am I making if I accept now? I have read the terms and conditions which seem to say that the offer is "pre-enrollment" and will guarantee me a place.

There is no mention of any financial committment attached to accepting the offer - but might there be a catch?

I am happy to accept the offer within the one month time scale - but I don't want to committ financially at this stage as I have other offers in the pipeline - so may want to change my mind if I receive a formal offer from elsewhere - and in any event there are 10 months to go before I will start studying anywhere...

N

Hi everyone,

I have read about a new loan which is due to come into being next year for PhD students - which I believe is a maximum of £25,000 and applies to either full or part-time study?

I understand that they are only repayable once you earn at least £21K per annum and then you pay back 6% of your income per annum?

What do people think about these loans - would you take one to fund a PhD where you have no other access to funding?

I believe that they are open to anyone aged up to 59 years of age - surely offering loans to people of that age is morally/ethically wrong as someone of that age is unlikely to work long enough to repay £25,000 back at 6% of income per annum?

Someone I know mentioned these loans and argued the above and also commented why he "as a taxpayer" should be funding loans that in some cases will never be repaid...

What do people think?

N

I have approached a law firm ref fudning/sponsorship.

Is that likely to lead to any ethical issues?

N

Hi Rouge Melon

Piju is right - don't be lonely! Come and join our Facebook page - "PhD ideas exchange"

N

Hi all

I have created a FB group entitled "PhD student exchanges" for anyone who fancies joining it!

N

Hi all

I am trying to raise some funding/sponsorship for my studies.

How do people approach potential funders - I am not talking about ESRC and the like as I have tried all those organsations without success. Nor am I talking about charities.

Has anyone tried any private commercial organisations?

If so, what has been the approach?

Has anyone had any success?

What I am really thinking is what is the approach to a profit-making organisation - an organisation that will almost certainly be thinking "What's in it for me" if I sponsor this project- so, eg. how do you sell the marketing etc. benefits which that organisation might gain from sponsoring what (in my case) is a project based very much on theory rather than practice?

N

Chaotic

I have PM'd you.

N