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I got a PhD scholarship but now need advice! (Updated)

EDS

(edited 9 years ago)

Essentially a funded PhD is like accepting a job. Where and how you work can be negotiable with some universities, and sometimes it's down to an agreement with your supervisors. However an expectation has been clearly set before you accept, so that will form part of your contract. It's now a matter of gauging whether there's room for informal negotiation.

Can you approach your prospective supervisors direct and see whether there's any wiggle room? i.e. Officially the uni wants you on campus Mon-Fri 9-5, but your supervisors might be prepared to turn a blind eye if you want to work at home for part of the week. Some supervisors won't have the discretion to allow this and will be bound by uni or faculty regulations. Some do have that discretion, but prefer to have research students visible at a desk or in the library during office hours. Others - like mine - couldn't care less about expected hours/place of work and where/how you work, as long as the job gets done and you're available to meet with them as and when requested.

You probably won't know where you stand in this kind of situation unless you ask your supervisors for their view.

P.S. Congratulations! However you feel about the mechanics of it, getting a funded PhD is a major achievement.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 2

paddy_

Some supervisors like to be very hands on and know where they can find you. I'd start the PhD and see how it goes. Go in everyday at first, but if there is very little contact start spending a few days a week at home. Living 2 hours away is far from ideal though, as they are paying you its understandable they expect to see you for more than just your viva :tongue:

Reply 3

evantej

Original post by kits30

[...] When they offered me the PhD I asked them about the prospect of working from home a few days a week due to my location from the campus...I live approximitely 150 miles from campus. I live in a rural part of Scotland, so all the Universities are quite far from me (moving house etc is not an option as I'm a mature student with family/mortgage etc). I spoke to my previous Universities advisors before applying for this PhD, and friends who are doing other PhD's and they all said that working from home should be feesable as most universities are flexible.....Well, not this particular university :frown:

They stated that they want someone to be on campus 5 days a week (Mon - Fri 9am - 5pm).

To make this journey 5 days a week I feel would be too much. I think it would be draining, and it would mean 4 hour a day in my car just travelling there and back!

The advice I wanted to ask is, whether or not you think i'd be making an unreasonable request to work from home 2-3 days a week if I were to accept the studentship?

I am well aware that I'll need extra training and would have to attend workshops, seminars, etc - particularly more-so during my first year of the PHD. However, out with this, is it feasible and acceptable that a student can work from home on the other days? For example if workshops/training was 2 days a week, is it reasonable that I work from home on the other 2-3 days? I do not want to request this if it is thought to be unreasonable or unfeasible for a PhD. However, I don't understand why someone would NEED to be on campus 5 days a week for a social PHD...The PhD is purely theory based apart from Interviewing in my 2nd year - so there's no real NEED to be on campus 5 days a week.....surely?? [...]

It depends what your subject is. If it is a science subject then you will be expected to keep office hours for practical reasons (i.e. you might only have access to equipment at certain times).

But if it is a humanities and social sciences subject, then I would put your foot down as there is no reason why you cannot work from home.
Explain the financial and logistical issues of travelling to university every day. If they are still complaining then explain that you are a mature student and do not need to be told how to get work done. In fact, it is highly unlikely that any contract you sign will stipulate working hours. At best it will say how many hours you are expected to work per week on your research, but that is about it. In this case, just sign it then work from home anyway. It will cause tension at first but so long as people see that you are actually working then they probably would not care.

Reply 4

poohat

As others have said, it entirely depends on your supervisor, and you will need to negotiate with them.

Personally, if there were two students applying for PhDs with roughly equal qualifications and one lived close to campus while the other was 150 miles away, I would have a strong preference for the first since a) they are more likely to get engaged with the department, meet other PhD students, join the community, etc, b) I think they would be less likely to drop out due to the stresses of traveling, c) they have more free time since they aren't travelling for 10+ hours a week, and d) I don't have to worry about whether they will actually be able to get work done at home (which is difficult if you have a spouse and kids) . But your supervisor may not see things this way, and it may be the case that you are the preferred candidate to such a large extent they will accommodate you.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5

kits30

Thank you everyone for the advice. I've since spoke to the supervisor.... She's being quite stern regarding the working on campus. There seems to be no leeway atall. Which I find is slightly unreasonable since there's really no need for me to drive 150 miles to campus simply to read journal articles, do literature searches or other research etc.... I can do this at home!! My PhD is primarily theory based so much of it is reading.

I'm really upset at the lack of flexibility as I'm going to have to turn the phd down. I presumed that they would realise that taking on a student who lived 150 miles away would mean they would be flexible with me working from home a few days a week and be on campus the other days. With the phd being mainly theory based i just don't see the big deal with this :confused:

Also, I work well from home. When I sit in a postgrad office with other students I simply get distracted and there's just to much noise. Working from home I get peace and quiet. I don't understand why they are so insistent that I must be sitting at a desk on campus to be reading :s-smilie:

I don't want to go through 3 years of being 'policed' by supervisors. Of course i'd attend seminars & training but I want to be trusted and left to get on with my research at other times. I don't want to be in an environment where I'm 'checked on' to make sure I'm in the office studying like a good little student. I want to be somewhere I'm trusted and respected.

Lastly can I ask. If I turn this PhD down then would that have any impact on applying for other phd scholarships? Like would other universities know about it?

Reply 6

SkinnyKat

Original post by kits30

Lastly can I ask. If I turn this PhD down then would that have any impact on applying for other phd scholarships? Like would other universities know about it?

It's such a shame they aren't more flexible, there really is no need to be on campus all the time if you are not doing a lab-based PhD.

You should apply for other scholarships with a more flexible university. It won't affect your next application, if anything you will stand a better chance as you've already proven you're capable of getting a place. I've spoken to people who are involved in the PhD application process (supervisors and interviewers etc) and they like to see that an applicant has gotten interest from other universities.

If you have family commitments, could you perhaps do a part time PhD?

Reply 7

kits30

Original post by SkinnyKat

If you have family commitments, could you perhaps do a part time PhD?

Thank you for your reply :smile:

My family commitments aren't children (we don't have any). It's more along the lines of being closely located to our parents whom are now more elderly (in their 70's) and need us close-by for help time to time with some things :smile:

So a full time PhD wouldn't present any problems at all. It's just the 'you must be on campus 24/7' thing that's an issue for me, considering my location and since its a theory based phd, so mainly just consists of literature and will mean lots of reading....which really just doesn't mean I need to drive 150 miles to be sitting at a desk on campus everyday to read journal articles :s-smilie:

Reply 8

cambio wechsel

You have as well to consider this from the supervisor's point of view, which apart from anything else will leave you better placed to negotiate. Taking on a doctoral student, never mind recommending one for funding, represents going out on a limb. The attachment to a PhD student is such that many academics list the students they've supervised (by name and year of completion) on their CVs. If she takes you on and you fail to complete, it will be understood to reflect poorly on her and it might thereafter be some while before she's again entrusted with the allocating of funds that in the present climate are anyway scarce enough. This is truer for academics in the early stages of their careers and the fact that she's gotten as jumpy as this suggests that this might be the case for her. That the want to shepherd you through isn't entirely a benevolence: she has to manage her investment.

While it's now too late to undo what's done, you should never have asked - only taken the scholarship and begun from home, appearing as if by magic when there was a meeting scheduled and managing yourself beyond that. Since you've explained already how it is you intend to proceed, what you have now to do is to concentrate your efforts on convincing her that you will complete satisfactorily and on time.

Reply 9

Mark85

Like any other job, there are going to be some aspects that seem arbitrary and inflexible but unfortunately it is just tough cookies.

I mean, think of the myriad of office based jobs that could just as easily be done at home but the companies still insist that workers commute into the office. You may feel that as a research student, you don't need the enforced discipline and the childish aspect of supervision but that is the case with many jobs.

Sure, I sympathise with you since it is tough given your personal commitments but I am not entirely surprised. This may be departmental policy that your potential supervisor was uncomfortable arguing with.

Original post by kits30

Lastly can I ask. If I turn this PhD down then would that have any impact on applying for other phd scholarships? Like would other universities know about it?