Do PhD students get summer holidays?
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Do PhD students get summer holidays?What the title says really. I'm hoping to start my PhD in the next 12 months or so depending on how the application goes, but I'll be doing it somewhere 150 miles from my family. I'm guessing there won't be a conventional summer holiday if there is one (I fully expect a tonne of work to be getting on with!) but I didn't know if we got the same time periods in which to be allowed to go home. Living where I do it's not worth my while going home just for the odd weekend. I know universities and advisors will differ, I'm just curious to hear your experiences of what "holiday" time you get
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Re: Do PhD students get summer holidays?In the lab I was working, there were quite a few PhD students and from what I picked up there, is that as long as your supervisor agrees, you can take leave as and when you want. A few days, or a week or two, here and there. Obviously, PhD students aren't staff (in the true sense of the word), so they were told they qualify for about 6 weeks worth of leave per year.
I guess it all depends on the uni/research institute you find yourself in and your relationship with your supervisor and the team you work in.Last edited by VENIVIDIVICI; 11-05-2012 at 19:22. -
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Re: Do PhD students get summer holidays?For most people, it is a pretty informal thing; you take time off as and when around your work commitments.(Original post by Lil Piranha)
What the title says really. I'm hoping to start my PhD in the next 12 months or so depending on how the application goes, but I'll be doing it somewhere 150 miles from my family. I'm guessing there won't be a conventional summer holiday if there is one (I fully expect a tonne of work to be getting on with!) but I didn't know if we got the same time periods in which to be allowed to go home. Living where I do it's not worth my while going home just for the odd weekend. I know universities and advisors will differ, I'm just curious to hear your experiences of what "holiday" time you get
Most PhD students technically have an agreed amount of holiday time but I have never heard of anybody invoking or referring to that - you just take some time off when it is least disruptive for your work.
It would be unusual to just go off on holiday for more than, say, two weeks at a time though. I mean, I don't know about anyone else but I would find that a serious disruption. -
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Re: Do PhD students get summer holidays?Without sounding rude....150 miles is not that far. You would certainly be able to go home for the odd weekend. I'm in Nottingham, my partner is in London and we alternate travelling at weekends. It's only a few hours on the train...
There are international students on my course who go home for relatively substantial periods, in conventional holidays, but probably not more than a few weeks at a time. It depends on your subject, I suppose, and whether you can work from anywhere, or if you're reliant on a lab etc. -
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Re: Do PhD students get summer holidays?Agree with what's already been said. 150 miles is not much at all. I work in the UK but home is India and I travel home for about 3 weeks over Christmas. My family visits me in the UK for 2-3 weeks at a time over Easter and the summer.
PhD students are usually allowed upto 6 weeks a year's worth of leave but how you take it depends on your relationship with your supervisor. Mine allows me flexi working most of the time as long as it doesn't affect my work commitments.
