PhD money whilst writing up

[Deleted User]

cashpoortimerich
BBSRC funded which has no such scheme. 3 years and you are out (in theory)

Any who, just writing up and yesterday applied for an RA job in house, they wanted a recent undergrad, but hopefully I should be in with a good chance. ONly prob is that it is FT and not sure how I will fit in my thesis with that. Oh well, cash is cash.

DrFluffy

I got a job in a hospital lab while writing up, it worked well as the hours were 7.30am-3.30 pm, and I could then do 6 or 7 hours of thesis when I got home. It was a great job as it was fairly mindless, so I could plan what I wanted to write that evening during the day. It didn't pay to badly either!

melancholly

i'm doing a science phd and am hoping to submit before the end of my 4th year.... sometimes experiments don't work and you need to redo sixth months worth of data collection after a tiny methodological tweak!

i do have this website bookmarked as it gives emergency funds to final year female phd students. don't know if it'll help the OP or not, but may help someone (and i don't know of anything similar for men... sorry!). not even sure about the application procedure, just found it a while back and thought it may be useful in the future!
http://www.ffwg.org.uk/Pages/Emergency%20Grants.htm

findingmyownway

I don't think you are going to like this advice - but to add to the others above, quite simply you would need to get a job.

If you have had the 3 years stipend to do your PhD while being paid & its not finished you can't expect research councils / government to fund you forever.

Before you slam me, yes i have done a PhD so i am qualified to comment (well actually i'm not done yet - my viva is in 2 weeks aaagh).

There has to be a cut off for funding. If it was 4 years rather than 3 there would still be people saying who hadn't finished in time.

Personally, i had 3 years funiding. That ran out on last sept and i started a full time job the following monday (1st Oct last year). I am not saying it has been easy - my job is a proper career move and so focussing on both that and writing up my thesis has been damn hard work.

Hard work and determination will get you there. It might have taken me 7 months to write up in evenings rather than maybe 3 months if i'd done it full time - but i have been paid a good salary in the meantime and havent had to worry about the bills etc.

A_fiend_for_life

TMTOWTDI (There's More Than One Way To Do It)

Get a full time or 3/4 time job and take longer to do it (Check your university calendar for this)

Get a part-time job and take a little longer to do it - there may be some job share in your field.

Both the above depending on how you approach your work and manage your time can leave you ticking over...

...Case study

A PhD flat mate during his write up stage, like yourself, had his financial back to the wall with a 2k overdraft and a 1k credit card. He managed to get a temporary full-time job in his field for 3 months pay the lot back and had some spare cash to boot. When he got back to writing up the thesis he had it done in about 2 months and went back home.

Benefits

• Financial peace of mind

• A break from the academic work and time to reflect

• A fresh frame of mind

• A solid job reference in his field

• Evidence of determination and making a difficult and novel approach on his CV

I'm not saying he did no work over that time but he went away stressed and distracted and came back relaxed and focussed.

All the Best

abfmdf

I was in the exact same situation a few months ago and I would stongly advise you to claim JSA.

Although you are meant to be looking for work you can dedicate 90% of your time to your thesis, the rest to "looking" for work. If anything it gives you a good chance to practice interview technique.

I found due to my qualifications they did not hassle me (I claimed for 6 months). But just incase on average I said that I applied for 2-3 jobs a week.

I was actually better off on JSA then I was as a student. On JSA you will get £92 a week (as your partner is a student she is classed as a dependent) you will also get your rent and council tax paid for.

[Deleted User]

abfmdf wrote: »

I was in the exact same situation a few months ago and I would stongly advise you to claim JSA.

Although you are meant to be looking for work you can dedicate 90% of your time to your thesis, the rest to "looking" for work. If anything it gives you a good chance to practice interview technique.

I found due to my qualifications they did not hassle me (I claimed for 6 months). But just incase on average I said that I applied for 2-3 jobs a week.

I was actually better off on JSA then I was as a student. On JSA you will get £92 a week (as your partner is a student she is classed as a dependent) you will also get your rent and council tax paid for.

Thanks for that, is there any chance you could just explain exactly what you said/did to get the JSA.

I have an interview for a RA job next week but the position does not start until september, but my stipend has ended. Really worried how I will live from now til september.

Any advice or help would be welcomed.

Red_Cat

Hope the interview went well.

abfmdf

Sorry for the late reply (I hope I am not too late),

I said at the job centre that I had completed my studies at the University (told them the qualifications I had/was soon to receive).

As I had said I had completed my studies I said I was also looking for full time work (I did not tell them that I was still writing up)

You HAVE to tell them that you are looking for work and make some kind reasonable effort while claiming.

However as you are highly qualified, jobs for your expertise will probably be limited and I found the job centre quite understanding for 2 reasons.
*Most employers won’t look at you twice as you are too qualified and will just think you will leave as soon as something more suitable comes along.
*Government has spent all this money training you, and it is a waste to not to use your training.


Although I realise that many people will probably disapprove about writing up and claiming at the same time, my view point is that I was better getting qualified ASAP by claiming for a few months and getting a good job rather than taking a year or two while performing a menial job where I contribute minimal tax.

hannahlouisetaylor

Voyager2002 wrote: »

The process of writing up a thesis in experimental science can often require little or no thought.

Wow - I don't think so!! I am doing a PhD in experimental science and writing up requires SO much background reading and thought! As much as any other PhD. I'm not sure what your discipline is, but don't be so dismissive!!