PhD blog: 3

Graham Foster has enrolled for PhD research at the English Research Institute of Manchester Metropolitan University.

Form filling

I’m sitting with a form in front of me. It’s become a worryingly familiar experience, filling the boxes of my life to show another set of people who I am. First I enrolled, which involved a few simple forms and some amount of queuing and was no different to any other university enrolment I had witnessed. It had the same mix of excitement, nerves and boredom; the same feeling that I was embarking on an important phase of my life. I was processed, photographed and direct-debited, and was officially a PhD student. Well, sort of.

In the first meeting with the head of research we were handed another form.

'This is your registration form,' he said. 'You need to fill this in before you can register as a PhD student at the university.' The group of new almost-PhD students took the forms and looked down in a state of shock. This is the form I have before me now. It has terms such as 'candidate', 'proposal', and 'approval'. In other words, my position as a PhD student still seems uncertain.

'You have to be ok’d by the faculty,' the head of research said in the first meeting.

I immediately went to see my director of studies (DoS). I’m lucky that my DoS is one of the most patient people I’ve met, and has endured my panicked ramblings with grace and a calming nature.

'It’s just a formality,' he said when I handed over the dreaded registration form. 'It’s nothing to worry about. You have six months to fill it in and submit it. You do have to redraft your proposal though.' An electric shock zapped down my spine at this moment, quickly subsiding to reveal a deep feeling of exasperation. Another draft? I was already on about ten…

Incompleteness

Now, while the form in front of me remains blank, I feel a little better about it. It is an extension of The Process I talked about last time. The other PhD students were most helpful, saying that it was a kind of loose tradition to all muck in if someone was having a problem with the form. The next time I saw my DoS I was in a more positive mood.

'Let’s get this done,' I said. 'Then I can get down to the research and further my project.' He agreed and I set off, eager to get stuck in. So why is my form still blank ten weeks into term?

I received an email from the head of research in week four, informing me that I was not eligible to register for a PhD at this time. This led to another shock, more worrying and a deep befuddlement. The reason: I hadn’t done a research-based MA, and the head of research was worried that I had no basis to prove my research skills. This is a valid reason, but the email came at a bizarre time. I tested my DoS’s superhuman patience more than ever, sending emails, phoning up, going to see him unannounced – I was frantically trying to sort it out. In this time I received another email from the head of research, this time informing me that I would have to take a Research Methods module, and submit an essay at the end of it. I agreed. I wanted, more than ever, to prove that I was a valid candidate for PhD study. I had already missed four of the classes, but the day after the email, I packed up my satchel and hurried to my first class. On my way, I met the head of research on the stairs and managed to talk to him about the situation. He was calm and helpful, and said he had thought about it, and now I was allowed to register for a PhD, but I still had to take the class. As you can imagine, I was relieved and skipped the rest of the way to class.

Down to work

This all sounds awful and I won’t lie, I was very stressed, losing sleep, angry and close to packing it all in. But only for a couple of days. In hindsight, the result of this experience has been very positive and strengthened my resolve. The class has been very helpful indeed and I’d recommend that any new PhD student should sit in on a Research Methods class. It helps to organise your thoughts, helps you realise that research is just hard, methodical work, and it helps you see your own project in very structured terms. I, of course, still have to submit an essay (if you sit in, you won’t. PhD students are permitted to sit in on classes, at least at my university). It’s my first essay for about three years. A close reading, using lots of theory. The deadline’s quite close. Thinking about it, I should probably be working on that instead of this. I should run…

Read Graham's previous blogs:

PhD blog 2: the Process

PhD blog 1: my path to enrolment

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