Hi,

I've worked in industry for over ten years and I'm seriously considering starting a PhD.

But, I'm particualry interested in how part-time paid PhD's can work . . .

I've seen an advert for a one in a department/institution I really rate. Presumably everyone wants to be paid while they study?

My understanding is that it's a full time job for two years. Dividing your time between teaching and research, both are paid roles. You also register for a part-time PhD programme and the fees for that are paid and you get a stipend.

After the 2 years you may get taken on but you obviously still have the PhD to finish which I believe could be done in 4.

I'm new to this but, it seems too good to be true - or am I missing something?

I'd be interested in feedback from anyone who has embarked of a PhD structured like this and how they juggle it?
Thanks

Hi, What exactly does the advert you have seen say - does it explicitly state that it is a part-time and funded position?

To answer you wider question, the honest answer is that you will find as many different models / approaches to the PhD as there are people on this forum - no doubt others will add another perspective. For what it is worth, this is my take....

Many of the time scales / funding / opportunities that you identify are common but it is very rare to see them all in one package. At my institution a full-time student is expected to complete in 4 years and part-time student in 8. As with all things, I know full-timers who treat it as a part-time project and part-timers that put the full-time guys to shame - but we have minimum and maximum registration periods at some stages and it would be difficult for a student registered part-time to submit in 4 years.

In respect to funding and teaching. I am very lucky to have a studentship from my institution (course fees and living costs). This covers a three year period and whilst completing the PhD is possible in this time scale, any time in that aditional fourth year will require me to self-fund. Having said that, I know just how lucky I am - many of my fellow PhDers are self funded and funding is very rare (more so in some disciplines than others). The various research councils are another source of potential funding along the lines you describe, but as other posts on this forum will highlight, this is becoming increasingly competitive as budgets shrink.

The usual part-time model (that I see with guys I know) is a self-funded one where students take up part-time teaching work to help fund the PhD. This inevitably becomes a fine balancing act between earning enough to get by, but not teaching so much that the PhD suffers.

Apologies if this reply seems overly negative - I would never wish to put you off starting a PhD. The best bet will undoubtedly be to approach the institution you have identified. They will have published time scales for the part time and full time routes and can advised better on what funding if any may be available and the likelihood of obtaining paid teaching hours in the department.

I hope that in this instance it in not too good to be true - best of luck :-)

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I have approached the institution for more clarification and it is a bit unclear from the ad....

Seems like a good option if all the aspects of it are a good fit. Would be interested in knowing more.

All the part-time PhDs I've come across are where the employer funds a member of staff to do one over 5/6yrs, or where a person does the PhD in their spare time. I always think employer-funded ones are a bit of a double-edged sword - yes, the funding is good, but how beneficial is it to the employer or the career? In general, I would question why a business would pay a full salary to someone to do PhD research (the best sort being 'free of constraints' and therefore not for profit), when they could work on something the business could sell for profits. (Of course, there may be good cases) Some employees do them for personal development, but its a big effort for something which end up as ornamental. The equivalent of 3yrs full-time spread over -how many- years spare time has always seemed a real slog.