PhD Students - How many days a week are you in?

booraad

14

I'm also curious about whether you have been given your own office/workspace....

Reply 1

rY4uGD1fMzBj4xe2

14

Completely dependent on where you go and what department you're in.

Reply 2

booraad

OP

14

Original post by ritchie888

Completely dependent on where you go and what department you're in.

Yes, I realize this.

Reply 3

rY4uGD1fMzBj4xe2

14

Original post by booraad

Yes, I realize this.

The why ask such a vague and general question? :confused:

Reply 4

booraad

OP

14

Original post by ritchie888

The why ask such a vague and general question? :confused:

Maybe because I'd like to hear about the range of experiences PhD students have. Problem?

OP

Original post by hobnob

How many days a week are you in what? :confused:

"How many days a week are you physically in university?"

Reply 7

Don John

17

I would have thought PhD students would have less difficulty in answering such a simple question.

Reply 8

Hylean

15

Nyah, this is so utterly dependent on research topic and institution.

I know one guy who does nothing but research in the uni library and one that is never in at all and they're researching similar things in the same department!

Reply 9

dsmtrst

I think PhD students are allowed to manage their own time and as long as they make sure they get the work done they can come in any days.
Most I know (all at the same uni doing physics) try to do a normal work day because due to security and lab safety they can't work weekends or very late evenings so 9am-6pm 5 days a week.

Reply 10

Mr-Dangerous

13

Original post by hobnob

Well, yes, but that's still quite ambiguous... I live in college accommodation, for example - does that mean I'm physically 'in' seven days a week or does it not count when I'm in my room but not doing any work? Also, university buildings and libraries are scattered all over town and there's no campus as such, so as soon as you step out of the door of a university building, you're technically no longer 'in university'.
And even assuming for the sake of argument that only libraries and my department properly count as 'university' in this context, I still couldn't give you a definite answer, because it varies hugely. I have research phases during which I'll be at the faculty library or university library nearly every day, as well as phases during which I'm only using online journals and databases, or working through my notes and writing up, so I mostly work from my own desk. And even the length of these different phases can vary considerably, depending on what I'm working on at the moment. You just can't generalise about these things.
Sorry, but I have to agree with ritchie there: this is an utterly pointless question and any answers you might get will ultimately be useless to you. You might as well be asking people about their breakfast routines, really... :dontknow:

Wow.

And your doing a PhD ?

Reply 11

evantej

18

Original post by hobnob

Well, yes, but that's still quite ambiguous... I live in college accommodation, for example - does that mean I'm physically 'in' seven days a week or does it not count when I'm in my room but not doing any work? Also, university buildings and libraries are scattered all over town and there's no campus as such, so as soon as you step out of the door of a university building, you're technically no longer 'in university'.
And even assuming for the sake of argument that only libraries and my department properly count as 'university' in this context, I still couldn't give you a definite answer, because it varies hugely. I have research phases during which I'll be at the faculty library or university library nearly every day, as well as phases during which I'm only using online journals and databases, or working through my notes and writing up, so I mostly work from my own desk. And even the length of these different phases can vary considerably, depending on what I'm working on at the moment. You just can't generalise about these things.
Sorry, but I have to agree with ritchie there: this is an utterly pointless question and any answers you might get will ultimately be useless to you. You might as well be asking people about their breakfast routines, really... :dontknow:

Out of interest, what college are you in and do you get your own workspace?

Reply 12

Catsmeat

13

Original post by Mr-Dangerous

Wow.

And your doing a PhD ?

Wow. And you're going to study at a university?

All nonsense aside, I think this needs to be put in perspective. As other posters have said, it really will vary, and so that fact should be enough to answer the OP's question. If the OP had been more specific, for example if they had indicated whether they were intending to work within a hard science, or in a humanities field, it would have been helpful. The scientists I know tend to schedule their work around lab hours, and so in many regards work 'full time'. Arts students can have similar, or indeed very different timetables, so I don't think any answer will encompass that variety. Let's say, if you are working toward a PhD and are not putting a significant chunk of your time toward it, you are frankly wasting that time and money that could have gone to somebody else. As a postgraduate, even at MA level, I work every hour available. To do otherwise would seem irresponsible.

Reply 13

Haloface

5

Sorry, but I have to agree with ritchie there: this is an utterly pointless question and any answers you might get will ultimately be useless to you. You might as well be asking people about their breakfast routines, really...

- That is the rudest, most arrogant reply I've read on these forums, and it makes it even worse to know it's coming from a doctoral student. What a pity. An easy question, an easy reply. It's not that difficult.

For the OP, in September I'll be in 3 times a week as I'm contractually obligated to teach while I also estimate using the library once a week also. Other than that, my research makes use of London archives mostly so I don't like to be 'in' more than 3 times a week. Hope that helps!

Reply 14

py0alb

3

I used to work Monday to Friday, starting between 10 and 10:30am and finishing anytime between 4pm and 7pm depending on how busy I was.

I very rarely took a day off other than to go on holiday, or if I was really, really hungover.

I also frequently popped in for a couple of hours work on a Saturday and/or Sunday morning.

I really don't understand how difficult it appears to be for PhD students to formulate an answer to this extremely simple question. If you can't manage to come up with an appropriate answer to the OP's question, how on earth do you hope to write a thesis? :confused:

Reply 15

py0alb

3

Original post by hobnob

Actually I did formulate an answer, several posts back. But apparently you guys were all too busy picking on me to notice.

No-one is picking on you. I just disagree that it is a pointless, or even particularly ambiguous, question. Before I did my PhD I wouldn't have known how many hours a week they worked on average and whether they had their own desk and stuff like that. Whilst it is true that there are going to be a wide range of answers, that doesn't mean OP wouldn't learn anything. As far as I can tell, most PhD students work between 25-45 hours a week, and most are provided with a desk and computer in their department.

Reply 16

Blueflare

18

Is this what PhDs do to people? - to drive them to debate the specifics of the question endlessly, instead of just answering it?

The question was: how many days are you in? The OP wanted to hear, from individuals, doing PhDs, how many days a week they were usually in. Very simple!

Obviously it varies, and the OP knows that. But it is quite beside the point when the OP was asking for personal experiences.

Reply 17

hobnob

14

Original post by py0alb

No-one is picking on you. I just disagree that it is a pointless, or even particularly ambiguous, question. Before I did my PhD I wouldn't have known how many hours a week they worked on average and whether they had their own desk and stuff like that. Whilst it is true that there are going to be a wide range of answers, that doesn't mean OP wouldn't learn anything. As far as I can tell, most PhD students work between 25-45 hours a week, and most are provided with a desk and computer in their department.

You're a scientist, right? :smile:

Reply 18

py0alb

3

Original post by hobnob

You're a scientist, right? :smile:

yes... but I had friends in politics, history, and english, and they all had their own desks as well. I am aware that hot desk systems are not uncommon in some arts faculties though.

Reply 19

Cirsium

19

Original post by Blueflare

Is this what PhDs do to people? - to drive them to debate the specifics of the question endlessly, instead of just answering it?

The question was: how many days are you in? The OP wanted to hear, from individuals, doing PhDs, how many days a week they were usually in. Very simple!

Obviously it varies, and the OP knows that. But it is quite beside the point when the OP was asking for personal experiences.

But surely the OP realises that it's a question with such a variable answer that it means nothing?

Within my group (not even my department) there are three PhDs. V works from 8-5 every day, but never at the weekends apart from watering. I work from 9-5 most days, but often stay late to finish stuff, and am often in at the weekends. K is rarely if ever in before 11 and often doesn't come in at all. Three different working styles, from three PhDs all working on very very similar topics.

If you were to ask elsewhere in the department you might find C from my old research group who worked nocturnally, until he burned down a fume hood. Or G who mainly works from home.

If you asked my housemate, who is doing a literature PhD you'd find that one week she'll keep office hours, because we've agreed to have lunch, so she may as well walk in with me in the morning, and back to hall for tea; but another week she'll not get up until midday and stick around until 7 or 8 every night.

In other words "the fact that we tend to work flexitime means people work incredibly different hours". So while it may be an interesting topic to chat about, you're not going to gain any actually useful information, even if you ask your own research group, let alone a multidisciplinary, multi-circumstantial group of people varying widely in age and position in their PhD!

PhD Students - How many days a week are you in?

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