Quote From stressedwelldressed:
With the academic job market being as difficult as it is, will being self-funded for my PhD massively inhibit my ability to enter an academic career? (I am a humanities student btw).

Quote From NatashaIsaiah:
Hi guys,

I have to 10 days to write an appeal and I’m reaching out for help. I had my viva back in April and the recommendation the examiners made was 12 months corrections for an Mphil.

I submitted my PhD in October last year and it took 6 months for me to get a viva date.

It transpired during the viva that my university sent the examiners an incorrect copy of my thesis in error, as what my examiners had before them was not my final submitted draft. This mistake was only discovered part way during the viva examination.

The examination was abandoned and the university quickly remedy the mishap and sent the examiners the correct final version of my thesis, that same day.

Two days later I was contacted to set a new date for my viva (less than a week later).

The second viva commenced.

The viva was not a pleasant experience and the questioning was very confrontational. I was interrupted constantly while providing my answers and was unable to give full answers at times as I was being interrupted mid sentence.

The examiners made the recommendation of an Mphil.

Are there any suggestions on how to go about writing and making an appeal?

Thanks
Natasha

Quote From giveittomestraight:
Hey there,

I'm coming to the end of my PhD and I'm in the very fortunate position of having several good options. Unfortunately, the fanciest options are clashing with the options that I think are best for me personally, and it would be good to get some advice. For context, I did my PhD overseas and I found the experience pretty brutal. It's been lonely and isolating, especially during the pandemic. I decided to start applying for some jobs back in my home city, near family and friends. I have a couple of offers, including one that is really attractive (right in my field, great mission, very talented employees), although it would unfortunately not leave much room for pure research. I raised this with my supervisor and he thought that I could do better. He has started setting up a possible postdoc with a solid group at [very fancy university], and offered to fund me himself if that falls through. This university is in a different country, although much closer to home than where I did my PhD.

I'm torn. On the one hand, I want to go home and settle down near my family. On the other hand, I worry I'm being an idiot for thinking about turning down a fantastic academic placement. It could set me up for getting an academic position back home if I can stomach it for a few more years. I'm just so tired from the PhD experience and I don't know if I have it in me emotionally...

Quote From ng41975:
Hi all - just to ask have recently finished my MSc dissertation. Throughout the course consistently got grades above 70%. Throughout the past year I have worked alongside my supervisor via Teams on my dissertation - she has been hard to track down, but consistently ahs told me I am on track, work looks good, suggesting re edits (which I have done) and told me that I was looking at a good mark for the work and should consider publishing it. From the beginning we agreed on a hand in date of draft work on 26 march. 5 weeks before this date, she changed the draft hand in date to 1 march, due to her taking time off. Because of work commitments I could not meet this deadline, and was offered no alternative supervisor for the last 3 weeks of the dissertation.
I received my dissertation mark last week - 58%. The examiners marks were a complete disconnect between what my supervisor had been telling me over the past 6 months. I passed as was told work too descriptive, too much of the main work was in the appendices. I am really annoyed, at what I now feel was poor supervision, and I am wondering now if the supervisor is on the same page as the rest of the academic faculty.
I had a meeting with the course lead, and diplomatically she can see my point of view, but advised there is no way to change the grade. She has suggested an academic appeal is not an option. I am wondering if I would have a case with an academic appeal reviewing procedural irregularities with supervision that has affected my result and progress? I have emails from my supervisor saying I am on track and proof that I have sent all sections of the dissertation to her for review.
Interestingly the module lead did tell me that a moderator had to be brought in to mark my work as the examiner and the second marker (my supervisor) disagreed over the mark.
I know the final piece of work is down to me, and I had reference to the course marking grid, but I feel like the supervision has led me down the wrong path. I am not really bothered about not getting a distinction for my masters. I am annoyed at the advice I have been given, and the amount of work I have put in.
Or does this sound more like a complaint case?
Thanks for your advice

Quote From k100:
Looking for some advice about how I can find my studies.

Am trying to obtain an EPSRC studentship but am finding that the stipend rate just won’t be enough to live on after doing some financial planning. Is there any way that I can top this up while still keeping the full-time studentship? e.g. with a part time job or a research assistant job? What would be the maximum hours I could work alongside a full-time studentship? If I can’t work, how about income from teaching and demonstration?

Quote From mathfan:
Here is my sad story. I am a former theoretical (very theoretical!) physicist from Russia. I am a MSc and after graduation I decided to specialize in pure mathematics. However my wish was not sufficient. Initially I started to apply to numerous PhD jobs in Europe, but received only rejections. One postdoc suggested I should try to apply to American graduate schools. It brought no result too, although the results of exams were reasonable. I applied to a variety of programs from MIT to Oklahoma State university, but no one accepted me. Then I lowered my ambitions and have been applying in some European master's programs. Even expensive programs reject me. They say I do not have enough credits to study at the masters level. But I disagree. My mathematical preparation was deep and some people from my department in the alma mater are now successful mathematicians.

I guess I have a decent academic record. Have two publications in a prestigious American physics journal. GPA is high enough to have some deals with Ivies. But nothing helps me. I still want to have a mathematics career. Any advise how to launch it?

Quote From jequestrian:
I have an MSc by Research (basically an Mres, but without any taught modules). I find it has pros and cons. I am applying for PhDs, so this may not be relevant if you want to go into industry. My MSc by Res 100% helped me gain my research assistant post as it proved I could complete research, lab work etc. It is probably also beneficial for my PhD applications - however, it wasn't graded. It was pass/fail, and I believe that is holding me back somewhat as I can't say I was awarded a percentage grade. If yours has taught modules, then this may not be the case for you?

Perhaps email the companies you would like to work for to ask their advice?

Quote From Trikst445:
My request may seem a little off-topic, but I'm sure someone will help me. As you probably understand, I need to write a resume, but I don't understand what exactly is required. Can someone help me or share any useful guide on resume writing? I would be very grateful.

Quote From Eagerbeaver:
Will employers accept a MRes instead of a MSc if they require a MSc for the job? The MRes I'm interested in is exactly the same as a taught MSc (it has taught parts and a dissertation etc). Don't want to say what subject as I don't want to be too specific.

The jobs I'm interested in usually ask for a MSc or PhD.

Quote From Kas:
This is an excellent advise. I was so emotionally overwhelmed that I couldn't think logically and dispassionately. I indeed arranged a meeting with the new prof and this appeared to be extremely helpful for me. We talked for an hour and a half! Now, the methodological issues regarding my study are more clear.
actually I don't face issues of disrespect. Their behaviour is very nice