Question to self funded students:

Is it possible to pay the fees in two installments or do we have to pay the entire amount at the start of the year?

The Uni Reading does not give much info on part payments. I have sent an e-mail but no reply yet. Will call in the morning.

I fear my post has added to your stress. Im sorry about that it was not my intention to scare anyone. Im looking to do a PhD as well and these scenarios scare me as well.


What do you mean when you wrote that "you might get an MPhil if your not clear on your research aim"? My friend was failed for the exact same reason and this is what Im confused about. Surely, if your aim is not clear then would it not be obvious during the early stages of your studies that your theis is not PhD standard? Surely a supervisor and the countless experts that you present your thesis too at conferences would have spotted that you have no clear aim and warned you in advance. How come people only realise the lack of a research aim in the last possible moment? The "aim" (or point) of your research is the most important things, without an aim how do you even get through the proposal stage?! Therefore if my friend had no clear aim why the university take her money for 5 years and allow her to study?

It must be great being a supervisor of a part time self funded student - someone who does part of your research for free and they pay for the privlidge as well!!

======= Date Modified 02 Mar 2011 13:08:21 =======
I am looking into doing a part time PhD but have been put off by what happened to a friend of mine. They were doing a part time PhD in Social Science and after 5 years of study she has been failed. Firstly, the examiner failed her because she did not clearly outline her aims so she made the recommended revisions (with her supervisors help) and then they failed her again saying that her PhD offers nothing new to the field and she just merely presented and pieced together information that was already available. She is gutted!



My question, she failed because the examiners felt her PhD offered nothing new BUT why did her supervisor or anyone in her department spot this failing before she submitted? She spent 5 years on her PhD, attended and presented at numerous conferences, departmental meetings etc why did no one spot these obvious failings? Surely a supervisor reads the thesis before it submitted why did he not spot it? In fact, it was the supervisor’s thesis idea so he should have known if it was up to scratch! Why did the head of post graduate admissions, who after reviewing the proposal 5 years ago gave the OK for my friend to study, not spot the failings?



I find it hard to believe that experienced supervisors cannot spot whether a PhD thesis is up to scratch in the 5 years it took the complete. Call me cynical but I assume the supervisor gets to keep all the 5 years worth of data and findings that my mate worked hard for?! I bet he saves a lot of significant time in his research! All my mate gets after 5 years of hard work is thousands of pounds down the drain and a MPhill.



This should not be allowed to happen!! Surely she can take the university to court since her supervisor should have spotted the failings? My friend is not the type of person who would go against her supervisor, so if he said it was not upto it she would never have submitted. If the external examiner felt that it offered nothing new then this is a obvious failing that experts in the field should be able to spot within 5 years!!

Im in a simmilar situation. I wondering if Im also being used by the supervisor just to do their boring research work.

What is the incentive for a supervisor(s) to take on a self funded PhD student? Do they get some of the fees you pay to the university? Do they get paid a little more? Do they get someone to do their boring research work?

======= Date Modified 23 Feb 2011 11:05:16 =======

Thanks to you and Ady!

Bilbo - do you have any thoughts on what I wrote in my previous post, the one before this, about my potential project. I will be looking into the history of forensic entomology so Im a little confused as to what type of research I can do. I will be discussing this on Friday anyway but it would be great to get some small hints and tips from a history student. I appreciate I have not given much info, if any, on the actual project, Im just curious as to what "research into history" involves.

I think I will be doing something similar.

I will be visiting my potential supervisor this Friday to get confirmation of the thesis. It’s not a project I have come with, it all her idea which is unusual for a part-time PhD. She is a life science researcher in the departments of Genetics. Her key interests are Forensic Entomology and Forensic DNA analysis, which is also my interest. I initially approached her asking if she had any suitable non experimental (i.e. non lab) projects that I could do for a PhD. I had a published paper in Forensic Entomology and she had heard of me and my paper and was keen to speak to me and had a non experimental project that she believed I would find interesting. Im seeing her in person this Friday but she briefly mentioned that the project with be in collaboration with the department of archaeology and would involve looking into the history of forensic entomology. However, Im not sure what type of research this will involve since its completely new approach for me, - Im more used to the traditional life science approach to research via experiments so researching in history or art based subjects is completely new to me. I will have to learn as I go along.

I fear I may be out of my debt since I have been out of academic research for 8 years! Im 31 now.

Thanks for the replies Bilbo and Ady.

Bilbo - what type of research did you do for your history/humanities PhD? I assume its very different to the life science style of experimental (i.e. lab based) research? Did you find the transition difficult, from life science research to a art based research? Im in a simmilar situation to what you were in, I have a life science research background but about to do a non experimental PhD. Im seeing the supervisor this Friday to discuss in detail but I have no clue what research I can do for my project.

I could potentially start a PhD at the university of Reading. It will be a non experimental project, with no lab work, mostly literature based. However, I have been told that I will have to pay a minimum research fee (bench fee) of around £1500.

They say research expenses cover a number of things not just lab based science, but computing, facilities, travel, loans, administration etc. I thought the use of computers was paid for as part of tuition fees and I dont understand what travel costs, loans etc that I would need.

Looks a bit of scam!:-s

Hi,

Im about to do a part-time PhD and a friend of mine (who is currently doing a funded PhD) told me of a girl who do a part-time PhD in Archeology at UCL. Her thesis did not involve any experimental work and was mostly literature reviews. Anyway, cut a long story short, after 6 years she submitted and after her viva they told her her thesis was not good enough for a PhD and awarded her a masters. The women tried to sue the university but her case was thrown out.

This story scares the hell out of me because, wait for it, my part-time PhD will be non experimental and mostly a literature review. It will be a joint colab. between the Dept of Life Science and Archaeology at the University of Reading.

My friend could be BS but has anyone else heard of such things happening? Surely, if her thesis was not PhD worthy they would have spotted it at some point during the 5/6 years she was working on it. Should they not have spotted it after her 2 year MPhill stage? It looks as if her supervisor just used her to do his research for him and screwed her out of her money under the false pretense that her work was PhD worthy. This is unethical in my eyes. I hope its not true since it puts me off because you will never know the true intentions of your supervisor until its too late.

Hi,

Im looking into a part-time PhD.

Quite a few people have mentioned that conference attendance is one of the expenses that I should consider. However, for the PhD that I plan to do (a literature review in Forensic Entomology and Archaeology) I dont believe there are conferences since its such a rare topic. It took me long enough to find a suitable supervisor.

So what happens if you dont attend conferences, will it count against you come the day of your viva?

Excluding living, books and travel expenses, what other costs should a student doing an art based PhD (eg. Archaeology) expect to pay?

Hi,

I am going to meet a potential supervisor this Friday about potentially studying for a PhD in Forensic Entomology. It will be co-supervised by someone from the department of Archaeology and will be a non experimental PhD and more literature review based.

The fees page states that the fees is £1903 per year for part-time PhD. My questions are:

(1) Are there any other additional costs? I dont mean living expenses, books etc. I mean any other "admin" costs that the uni will throw at you that has not been advertised on the web page.

(2) If I start this year, will the fee be £1903 for the length of my PhD? I dont plan to take a break. 5-6 years.
Should I expect to pay different amounts every year?

(3) Is there funding available for part-time students?

Hi,

Im interested in doing a non lab based PhD in either Forensic Science or human genetic evolution. My current area of interests are:

Forensics: DNA profiling, crime scene DNA evidence collection and forensic entomology.
Human Genetic Evolution: Genetic variation between subdivided populations, human evoloution

I have a BSc in Genetics and MSc in Forensic Archaeological Science, both from London Universities.

As you can see these are all "lab based" interests and I am having great difficulty in thinking of a non lab based approach to study and investigate a problem in either Forensic Science DNA profiling or Human Evolution. Ive been reading various papers for a year now and still cannot come up with something that is PhD worthy that is not lab based. I could ask supervisors to think of a project for me but I guess I will be shooting myself in the foot and already showing them that Im incapable of thinking myself.


I guess you are wondering why I dont just do a lab based project? Unfortunately, Im in my 30s and have a family and cannot afford to quit my current job, european business manager for a Biotech, to become a student again. Im doing this PhD for personal reasons and to enhance my knowledge and interest in these topics.

Im on the point of quiting my dream now and accept that I will never have a PhD. Were any one of you in a simmilar problem to me but overcame it? (i.e. science background, interested in doing a science PhD but unable to do it FT)

I would be interested to hear your story....