Phd studentship - what is full time?

Hi!

I am currently doing up a proposal for a scholarship in NUIG - my potential supervisor is very interested in my topic - so I'm hoping if I do a good proposal, I might be in with a chance of the scholarship. However, I don't now live in Galway - the studentship says full time - what does this mean in Phd terms - would I have to be in Galway five days a week - could I just be down there one or two days a week - and do the rest of the work remotely. Galway is the only place that has a supervisor with an interest in this topic and experience in this particular area. Advice/comments would be appreciated before I put more work into my proposal.

To me full-time PhD means that you are not engaged in another full-time job (if so, that would be a part-time PhD). Where you are located is up to you and your supervisor to agree depending on the type of project. But a PhD programme should be flexible in my opinion. I doubt your supervisor would want to see you 5 days a week!

Dr. Squonk

Phd

Dr. Squonk thanks for your reply - yes, I agree, I don't think my supervisor would want to see me five days of the week, nor me her! I work part-time - 20 hrs per week - so that might preclude me going for the studentship - what do you think? My work is public sector so I wouldn't be able to chuck in a fair degree of security just to get a studentship. Also, it's a Phd topic I really want to do. The supervisor is pushing for me to apply for the scholarship and do it over four years - and doesn't seem interested in the longer route of me paying for it myself over 6 years.

There's probably some stipulation in the PhD funding/scholarship that you must commit to full-time study. This stops double-jobbing. Best to talk with the supervisor. Also, isn't the public-sector pretty good at giving leave-of-absence to employees who want a career break and want to return to study? Especially these days when they want to get people off their payroll.

Much depends on the exact nature of the studentship/scholarship scheme in question, and whether,for example, there's an expectation that the holder carries out some duties in return. In my own area, typically, financial support for PhD students consists mainly of a fees waiver and a sum of about €6K spead over 9 months, in return for which the candidates are expected to give a couple of hours' tutorial assistance or similar duties. Nobody expects them to live on €500/month, so a blind eye is usually turned if they take on outside paid work, within limits. But there are other, much more generous scholarship schemes (hotly competed for) and, where the sum awarded is more substantial, there is usually an expectation that the candidate won't take outside work that would be likely to interfere with their progress on the PhD. Twenty hours a week might or might not sound like a lot to them.

I presume you've read all the terms of the scheme; your potential supervisor should be able to advise you as to what's considered an "acceptable level".

Good luck with the proposal. Writing a good one is a salutory exercise in its own right.

Phd studentship

Dr. Moriarty, thanks for your reply. It was very informative as I really don't know much about the ways of academia. The studentship is for fees and a bursary of 18k over four years. I'm finding it very difficult to actually get any idea of the conditions attached to it, but am still pursuing this info. A few hours tutoring per week would not be a problem, but I wouldn't be able to give up my job, if that was a requirement. Thanks again for info.