Category: Brains, Time, Money: Part-Time & Self-Funded Postgraduate Study

A Ph.D. graduate writes about the mental and physical difficulties of completing a part-time, self-funded Ph.D., and on the career implications it may have.

A Ph.D. student in the arts and humanities who self-funded a full-time doctoral degree and completed within three years reflects on their experiences.

A Ph.D. graduate writes of her experiences as a full-time student who moved between different levels of funding and different patterns of employment.

An MA graduate talks about her self-funded, part-time postgraduate degree and reflects on her feelings about her pending application for Ph.D. funding.

An anonymous contributor shares their experience of being a self-funded full-time Ph.D. student in History.

Jen Baker is currently undertaking a Ph.D. English Literature at the University of Bristol.

Emalee is about to complete her M.Phil(b) in Art History at the University of Birmingham, works as an editor, and is hoping to carry on her research at Ph.D. level.

Francesca is a part-time research student and a distance-learner, working nearly full-time at an educational library next to her studies.

Sara Brown has been a High School teacher for twenty years and completed her Ph.D. in Literature at the University of Salford in 2013.

Sarah Burton is a sociology postgraduate at the University of Glasgow and will commence her Ph.D. research at Goldsmiths College in September 2013.

Steven Clough is a mature, part-time, self-funded Ph.D. student who has worked for 30 years and is researching Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).

Christine Downton is a self-funded, part-time Ph.D. student and distance learner in Classics.

Jane Draycott talks about her journey from her self-funded Ph.D. in Classics to her permanent Lectureship.

Nazia Hussein is a Bangladeshi currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the Centre for the Study of Women & Gender at the University of Warwick.

Bethan Jones is a part-time, self-funded Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies at Aberystwyth.

Katie Lowe is a Brand Manager at Mash Marketing, and is currently studying for a Ph.D. in Literature at the University of Birmingham.