Im just a student who applied for a scholarship fund from the EU and my country. My draw back is that I signed a contract that I would finish my studies with a PhD. but people change and priorities change (i got offered a job which i am very happy with as it relates to my work) and decided to go for an Mphil and do the PhD in a few yrs time.

Mariecherry84 you see it as wasting time however try and not let go of your previous years of gathering data. Its all work which can be used. Maybe you can talk with your supervisor to help you with the writing stage. I am aware that there are different types of supervisors aswell (nice and not so nice) but you should try, you've come so far its your last yr .. the last effort and you'r done ;)

actually im one of them.. i quit my phd because of funding (funding programme stops in 2013) :( and am settling for an Mphil but my main problem is the funding body.. they want me to pay everything back just because I am not going to finish with a PhD. I am trying to argue with them that I will produce an MPhil thesis so the money was not wasted but have actually been used. I dont want to quit my studies and especially pay amounts of money :/

my suggestion is to see your priorities, but in my opinion dont quit especially when you have funded all your study!

the problem is this is a position i want .. i dont have any work experience and when i saw the ad for this position i applied and apperently im in a great chance of getting it. If i accept it id have to put my phd in part time although it is being financed i have to finish within 3 yrs otherwise i have to give back all the money i spent on my phd. currently im not sure if i wud b finished in 3 yrs. Im closing in my 1st yr and i feel so lost and at times unmotivated and helpless. im not sure if its just a phase or im really sucking at being a phd student. hence, this job offer its like wow i get to have wat i was looking for after i finished my MSc. and get paid without being financially poor.

im just confused :-(

if you had a choice what would you choose? Phd full time (3 yrs) and part time work or Full time work and part time phd (6 yrs) ? nyone had this choice? and what did you do?

Thanks a million!!! much appreciated : )))))

Hello everyone,

I'd like your views on what to expect in an interview for a lecturing position. Im aware they'd be asking about my PhD project however i dont know about the rest :s can anyone help?? im reading material related to the subject that came along with the post however the subject is quite vast...

thanks for your help :)

count me in... nine months in aswell and feel im better than where i started .. i started literally zero not havinga clue about what im doing and now sort of i got the hang of it although i still feel that i have wasted some months. I haven´t got any other PhD student friends and therefore cant compare with others :s I also got to know ive got a review for October but not sure what exactly is going to happen all i know is i need to produce my first article which i am currently working on but i cant seem to picture it as my first article ... oh well... im just lucky ive got a great supervisor .. but i still feel as if i havent worked hard enough the first 4 months and simply wasted them and im soo guilty about it :( .. to make matters worse im on a contract and i definelty need to finish by september 2013 xD great mroe stressssss

many thanks for your replies .. i will contact them Monday .. see whats taking them so long lol thanks a million for your replies! :)

thanks for your reply :) woww 6 weeks .. true they might be busy during this period due to exams probably thats why its taking so long. I´ll just wait see what happens.

exactly 2 weeks ago i sent my application for an acadmic post at a university. on monday they contacted my referrees. they havent called me yet for an interview and im worried that one of my referres might have said something :/ although im totally positive that they didnt they have been referrees of mine before.

My question is... after 2 weeks waiting and having contacted my referres.. should I send an email asking them where my application is at? Please help

hi sorry .. but i just saw this post and ive got a question related maybe u can help... I recently applied for an academic post.. the post closed on friday and on monday at 8 am they sent an email to my referrees :s .. i dont know if its a good thing or bad thing ... so quickly they asked my referres about me without having been given an interview... i soooo want this academic post but im afraid because 1) they reached out to my referres 2) im still following my phd (im 8months in) ... my cover letter was just 2 pages.. the last page with 3 referres ..

Hi rob!
technically im doing a phd which is totally different to my MSc and undergrad theses however it is still in the environmental sciences area but luckily my PhD is an extension to a small particular area i covered in my MSc taught courses... but yes its a challenge especially the literature review. I wish you luck and dont give up just because the subject is different to what you were doing the last few years... its a challenge and at the end of the day you´re broadening your knowledge and opening up to a new subject area which could be itneresting for you.

ecas :)

Hi everyone... ok now im scared :s im reading everyone exceeded the 3 yr mark except for Phdbug .. its in your name ur have a bug :p anyway..... im still 6 months into my phd im doing sciences although i already have the data ready ..just need analysis... should i be able to finish within 3 years? im on a 3 yr contract and therefore cant prolong my phd time :s

good point, I did my MSc abroad and my supervisor was just there to guide me in managing my chapters other than that he was just a lecturer who had a student .. nothing else... i chose the subject myself because of my interest. But he was very nice and polite, will email it to him then sees what he says. I wasnt sure supervisor needed to know im considering publishing but ye it would help i guess.

Thanks lots for your replies .. im off to continue *sigh*

@Sneaks read about you'r working on your lit rev.. best of luck!!

As soon as i finished my MSc. a month later i started my PhD and didnt have time to amend my MSc dissertation into a paper so that i could hopefully publish it. its been 6 months now and since ive settled well into my phd studies i thought of rearraning my MSc dissertation into a paper maybe it would take me a week to do it (?) because the format of the MSc thesis was that of a paper however we got exceptions in terms of the amount of words and pages to write.

My question is ... is it too late to submit a paper even tho i finished the thesis 6 months ago ?

Thanks lots for your help would appreciate it to find some motivation and do this and maybe get published for the first time :$