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PhD Probation

So, I've just had my first-year review for my PhD and I was given a 6 months probationary period option or MPhil (with the write-up I submitted for the review). I am shattered!!!!!!!! Having a PhD is my life. I don't know what to do; whether to take the probation option or the other. The main complication is that I am self funded, so if I decide to choose the probation option, I'll have to pay the 2nd year fees and risk disqualification at the end if I don't meet up. Any advice, guys? Any of you been in my shoes?

Reply 1

Klix88

Good advice from maskofsanity.

Have you had detailed feedback on why you failed? I failed my first PhD Transfer attempt (submitted a year in) and the written feedback from the viva panel listed exactly what I had to do to pass on a resubmission after a four month extension. I ended up pretty much rewriting the Transfer Report.

Plus you need quite a stiff - and possibly difficult - chat with your supervisors. Either you haven't been proactively maintaining enough contact with them, or they haven't been paying enough attention to what you've been doing/telling them. Whilst a PhD is about independent research, your supervisors should still be guiding you and a failure for you reflects on how they've been doing the job. You need to ask them where they think you've gone astray and get them to buy in to the remedial work.

Don't know if it helps, but in your shoes I'd stay with the PhD if you can afford it and you can answer "Yes" to most/all of maskofsanity's questions above. Regardless of the outcome of my second Transfer attempt (result still pending), I'm having to swap to an MPhil due to lack of funding. As far as I can tell, few people outside academia know what an MPhil is, and those inside academia view it as a failed PhD. I doubt an MPhil is going to do me any good - I'm carrying on because I love my subject and it's the only way to stay involved in it as the commercial and academic sides of the field are both in a parlous state and rookie employment prospects are next to nil.

Reply 2

Lizabeth

Thanks, guys, just saw these now. The answer is yes to all your questions, maskofinsanity. I did actually go ahead with the probation option and I'm still working tirelessly, though at this point it seems I'll still not make it past that stage as some new issues have surfaced. So, Klix88, I might be headed for the MPhil I was avoiding in the first place. :frown:

Reply 3

Klix88

Original post by Lizabeth

I feel your pain. I may not have a project at all now.

I was about to swap to an MPhil through lack of funds, when my mum unexpectedly offered to help financially right at the last minute (I literally had to phone the Admin office five minutes after the conversation, to get the paperwork stopped). Back on the full PhD - much rejoicing. Then three weeks ago I found out that a third party dataset I was relying on - and which I'd been repeatedly promised by my supervisors - pretty much doesn't exist. What little there is, is unusable and there isn't time to get the analysis redone/completed. It's core to what I was doing.

So now it looks like my research is viable for neither a PhD *nor* MPhil.