Hello All. Just wondering if anyone would have some advice for me. Between 1998 and 2003 I worked on a Ph.D. at a North American university in the field of Chemical Engineering. During that time my thesis supervisor (under whom I received my Masters degree) fell ill and has since passed away. By that time I was finished my course work and my research, and I was working on the second draft of my thesis. Unfortunately my Ph.D. committee who frankly did not really care much about my success – they placed unreasonable demands on me and asked that I take my research in another direction which would have meant more years of work. In hindsight I realize that I was the victim of university politics amongst professors. I was getting very frustrated - I just wanted to continue with the Ph.D. that I started and finish up. I ran out of money and had to start working full-time. I ended-up getting fed up and withdrew from graduate studies. Since then, over the past 5 years, I have been principally focused on my career. This has gone very well and I have since risen to become Senior Engineer in my workplace.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that I am left with a load of excellent research and a nearly completed 5-year old thesis. Even though I do not need a Ph.D. for my job,I’d love to complete what I started 10 years ago, and I like to do this internationally – working with a U.K. or European professor. Any advice how I should go about this? Do universities in the U.K./Europe accept students with completed work and are near completion?

Many thanks

Hi Almostthere, I don't have advice on how to do this I'm afraid, but given your interesting story, I really hope you get to finish it for peace of mind. Good luck.

Hi there,
I think that its commendable that you want to finish what you started 10 years ago. Go for it! What you have done should not go down the pan. Action plan: Decide on where you want to take this completed work and send emails to academics whom you think will be interested. Since the work was done 10 years ago, additional work will be required. Draw up a proposal and speak to prospective supervisors about it.
Nothing is impossible. Go for it, matey! Good luck and keep us posted!(up)

Thanks very much for the advice and support. Yes, if only for peace of mind, finishing it would be the best thing to do. Moreover, some of my research results are valuable and need to be shared. I realize now that I allowed my frustration with how I was treated take precedence over the fact that a lot of time and money was put into this research. I do indeed plan to draft a proposal and start searching for potential supervisors.

By the way, my work is in the area of process engineering - specifically studying the aqueous separation technique flotation, and involves work on interfacial chemistry and mechanics of bubble-particle attachment. (This separation technique is used for particle separation in the areas of environmental, chemical and mining/mineral engineering.) If anyone out there knows of a prof in Europe/U.K. specializing in this area let me know.

Thanks again!