Woaw! Massive congratulations!!!!

You must be so over the moon after waiting for so long. It sounds like you thoroughly deserved it and you will enjoy it all!
I wish you all the best and goodluck!

Hi sarah747,

It is normal to feel down during your PhD and I think most PhDs students go through the same as you are at some point, I certainly did. Secon years blues is a real a thing and there is a lot of support out there. Personally, I think a lot of it stems from burnout and academia can encourage some unhealthy workloads. Working on the weekend is not a healthy long term solution that should only be used sparingly. As everyone needs a break and overworking crashes your productivity. Sometimes taking a forced 1-2 week break completely away from your PhD gives you a better perspective of what is important as well as boosting your productivity in the long term.

Can I ask, do you still like your project/field? You might not be enjoying the work because you are drifting away from your passion or that stress is killing your passion. Both of which is solvable by reassessing what you are doing and removing all the b*llsh*t. You say that that you won't be able to finish everything, but most PhD proposal are overambitious to start with and naturally shorten in scope as they progress. So it is not unusual to reevaluate what is achievable. If you can't finish all your lab work and have time to write up before your funding ends, then you should consider cutting the less important experiments. That way you remove all the stress of yourself.

I hope that helped somewhat and I am happy to help in any way.

I haven't went through the process myself but you are right to wait before telling someone else in your university. Depending on your supervisor they might be sympathetic or completely cut you off. You might also find that your supervisor will try to convince you to stay by what ever means necessary. Ideally you would talk your supervisor for advice and not tell the university until you made an official decision. As long as you say you are planning to finish you are PhD and only considering downgrading, they shouldn't be able to remove your funding. However, I have no idea about funding time frames.

From my limited experience, people that have downgraded and submitted a dissertation for an MPhil have all received it. I do not believe that standards are exceptionally high or require substantial amounts of data, though this is my limited experience. I think you might be surprised how much you effort is required the MPhil.

Done

Hi verdinfloy,

Honestly, I can't recommend any courses but "accessibility in videogames, apps or any digital media" sounds like a dissertation project to me, mainly because it sounds niche. You might find that no university offers a degree specifically in that area but you could always do your masters dissertation on that topic if you can find a willing supervisor. There is no guarantee that your masters supervisor will let you or be able to help you. Though you could possibly apply to an MRes degree where you solely research that specific topic.
I hope that is helpful.

I agree with eng77, solely chasing prestige is the wrong approach and the quality of the course matters more. Saying that a degree from Cambridge is a degree from Cambridge. I have never heard of an Mst degree before but looks to be just another way of saying "masters degree" which everyone knows.

Never experienced this problem but you might be able to get a guest account. I know several universities have accounts for unpaid research associates, placement students and visiting researchers. You would need to ask your supervisor to create a fake role so you qualify for a guest account.

Is anyone else interetsed?

Yes.
Quite a lot of people post surveys here for people to complete, so I don't see why not.

I understand that you are frustrated but everyone is in the same boat. I don't think finding like minded PhD students is easy.

Although we could start a postgraduate forum discord channel?

Chemical sciences and chemical engineering are completely different subjects.
Chemical engineering is about fluid flow, heat transfer, reaction kinetics and optimization of chemical processes (among much more). It is very math heavy and the chemistry is usually well-defined to the point that you barely need to know any chemistry.
I am assuming chemical sciences is a lot more chemistry focused with probably more lab work. It is probably more akin to a Chemistry degree were understanding the reaction principle and developing reaction pathways than optimization.

Can I ask are you a PhD student or Masters student?
If you are a PhD student, I would be immediately on the phone with your supervisor asking for an update. However, master's vivas results are usually part of the internal review process and can take this long.

Honestly, it is hard to say. Do you know how many PhD places were offered? If there are several you might have a chance but you could email your potential supervisor for better advice.

Hi JennySawyers,

I agree with Jamie_Wizard. A PhD in itself is a massive success and don't let people put you down. For your PhD you would have had to do data analysis on a large project that puts you above non-PhD students. For post-doc roles I can't give you much advice other than fake it until you make it. There are surprisingly large number of post-docs who exaggerate their CV to get roles and if you aren't doing it you are at an a disadvantage. Jamie has given some good advice on how to build your skills and I would add that you could try to reanalyse some of your old PhD data and possibly get a paper out if to reinvigorate your academic CV.

Goodluck

Hi sdtonnar,

I wouldn't do a PhD for the job prospects. Honestly it is hard to predict if a PhD will "pay off" financially. Some jobs require a PhD but they are limited and you can sometimes do them without a PhD. I personally think that a PhD is worth it if you enjoy the topic, then it is definitely worth it. A PhD is a chance to do 3 years of work on topic that you want and you will never get that in industry.