Hi,

I’ve got a bit of a dilemma. Can you offer some STW advice my way?

1) Take a 4year PhD in Sheffield with great prospects afterwards. Remain 4hours flight from girlfriend. See her at weekends, probably fizzle out.

2) Take a 2year KTP project near Sheffield with great prospects afterwards. Remain 4 hours flight from girlfriend. See her at weekends, probably fizzle out.

3) Move in with girlfriend in Helsinki, learn a dog of a language and attempt to find a job within a nanotech/paper mill company. Job security and prospects are limited due no further uni postgrad involvement seen in options 1 and 2.

4) Take a year out travelling Australia, and thus lose options 1 and 2.

There’s a chance she can come to UK, but not for 2 years.

FFS!

Travel Dude,
If you dont do it now you never will, why not take the missus,
(good to see if you get on as longer term prospect etc..)
😛

Do Not make your choice based on the girl! If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Choosing option 3 might leave you posting on here in 2 years time regretting losing the first 2 options.

Option 4 is still available in both 2 and 4 years time.

Only you know how you feel about the girl.

Oh and thread useless without pics 🙂

Combine 1 and 2 – do a KTP and use the training grant to pay for PhD fees.

Ha ha at the need for photos. I’d go option 2,

haha, well going to HKI would be travelling and really broaden my horizons. She sees this as a long term thing, hence wants me to look for a new appartment with her.

And we met in Netherlands whilst working there, and since been around Germany, Belgium and ending up in Paris. Done lots of travelling.

Thing is, the KTP is the result of 2 years brown nosing,.. and the PhD is the chance of a lifetime. That is the most likely option if I can get.

More people post up! But you’re not getting pics!!!!

Dump her, knock the back out of a dozen Sheffield freshers. HTH.

In seriousness,

From the tone of your first post, you’ve already made your mind up and are just looking for someone to tell you you’re doing the right thing. You are, get on with it.

You already know the answer, you just want us to help ease your niggling doubts.

Forget options 2/3. The world doesnt need any more brown nosers, and if you were that serious about her you wouldnt be asking us.

Option 4 has no time limit.

Option 1.

If you’re really serious about the subject matter then 1, but bear in mind that you’re gonna be doing it for 4 years. I know a number of people who have got pretty fed up of their PhDs after one year but at the same time know a few who still really love it after 2/3 years. Personally, I’ve just completed a post-grad masters and I’m going to take a break from academia before thinking about a PhD. I can’t hack even another one year of academia right now, I want the 9-5 grind and lose the niggle in the back of your mind that you have work to do all the time!

Given the money I’d choose option 4 for sure! You’re beating me anyway, I’m currently bumming around trying to find a job…turns out there isn’t much in the way of software engineering jobs in Mid West Wales at the moment!

#1 sounds best. PhD is not for everyone – I run a research group in chemistry and it constantly amazes (and frustrates) me how difficult it is to predict who will be successful in the lab. It really does take a combination of things – talent / work ethic / temperament etc. That being said, the PhD is such a unique opportunity to make a contribution to knowledge that it has to be seriously considered – it can make your professional life if you’re successful with it.

Not sure about the KTP – I had one and it was poor all round. It wasn’t the right mechanism for my research – ended up me, the company and the guy actually doing the work being disappointed. I’m sure it must differ enormously between fields, but it’s always going to be a halfway house. You’d not be getting the experience of genuine research, and you’d not developing a career as part of the workforce.

#4 is clearly shite if it does indeed lose you options 1 and 2, so put that out of your mind. Not sure why it would stop you doing a PhD, though – Taking a year out prior to a PhD makes you look like a bit of a fanny, but you’d still get onto one if you were good.

Do the degree and then get a job.

Get the girl to move near you, or, as you will be meeting lots of nice women at university, let it fizzle out.

The PhD opportunity is safe to say, one of the best funded, and will give me a great chance to pick and choose who and where i work afterwards. Added to that, the research is fundamental and industrially applicable. Extremely motivating. There will be other PhD’s but none as good as this one.

I just don’t want to lose the girl, heck i know she wants to move to the UK. At the minute, i think it’ll be a case of PhD and hope she comes over to finish her thesis here. She agrees too, and is certainly more of an optimist than me.

and chvck, there are LOADS of software eng jobs in Finland. Nice place too. The Helsinki fixie crowd are great, one guy even let me ride his Brooklyn Machine Works pissed round the streets of HKI, 5mins after first meeting him.

If it were me I would go for the PHD.

If current relationship is meant to be then regardless of what you do you will remain together.

Having had a couple of long-distance relationships, I’d say be very wary of things that people tell you they “hope” to do. Otherwise you’ll have seriously deprived yourself in your prime shagging career and have nothing to show for it. If you’ve got a concrete plan then go for it, if it’s all if’s and maybe’s, move on.

Is there any reason (other than apethy) that you’re not doing a PhD in Helsinki, btw? That’d seem like the obvious answer, two birds and one stone and all that.

Do the PhD, but remember to add on an extra year to cover overrunning/vivas/paperwork. Providing your supervisor isn’t breathing down your neck you should be able to find time to make regular visits to Helsinki in the first two years (that’s when you think you’re working really hard and doing useful stuff, then you get to the 3rd year and realise most of it was useless). If you’re looking to work abroad a PhD should help… I hope… I’ll find out next year.

Do the PhD it’s the best qualification in the long run if you want to get ahead in an academic/scientific career. It also opens many options to move globally.

If you relationship is going to be strong it will survive the distances.

Although like the other folks say I’d really recommend you to think long and hard about a PhD since they are a huge test of self motivation, perserverance and a complete change from undergraduate studies.

Option 1.

If relationships are meant to be they are meant to be. Some friends of mine managed theirs over 12,000m one in SYD and one in LON. Helsinki, seems no distance whatsover, although travel may be expensive. There must be many people in relationships within the UK who are more than 4 hours apart. Your situation is unusual but far from unique?

I echo Tonyg’s point above. Doing a PhD is nothing like your undergraduate studies. Came as a shock to me even after Masters but so glad I did one. Has made SFA difference to my career mind.

Speak to other people doing PhDs in that workgroup.

It’s a big commitment, and as I progress through my 3rd year I’m growing increasingly disillusioned! I love my field and supervisor is really supportive but department politics is getting me down.

Wow! so how many folks with a PhD. here then?

Me for a start. If the OP wants and academic career or an industrial career in scientific research and doesn’t want to stay at the bench his whole career than a PhD is worthwhile. Otherwise I’d say don’t bother and get a job.

To the OP what is your PhD subject which will lead to these great prospects? Are you sure they are that great?

Hi, i can’t tell you the topic, but it’s a multi-team effort between Sheffield, two universities, a manufacturer, research centre and world class engineering firm (plenty of career prospects). I’ve decided to send applications to HKI and see whether anything comes of it too.

However, my main priority is to push for the PhD in Sheffield. Socially speaking, Sheffers is great. I’m close to family and friends, got a house sorted and my bikes are here…

But, if i ended up moving to Fin, and over the time i became single i know i’d have a lot of fun, once i got over the language barrier. 😉 . There’s always a silver lining, at the risk of sounding like a douche.

I’m looking at a career in research, with the aim of travelling abroad. Hence why i’m learning a couple of european languages too. I’m taking my masters atm. It’s just a bit of a bi*&^ that i’m only a few hours away from her. Oh well, can’t have it all!

I’m looking at a career in research,

Well that decides it then unless a) you can do a PhD in your subject in Finland or b)you can’t live without the girl

Edit: Just re-read your post

and over the time i became single i know i’d have a lot of fun

Guess its not quite that serious then if you can contemplate/expect the relationship ending. I think you know the answer- stay in Sheffield

You’ll have a degree and still don’t know that a dilemma can only have two options?

druidh – Member
You’ll have a degree and still don’t know that a dilemma can only have two options?

I didn’t know that and I have a handful of university of degrees. The Oxford online states two or more – but in origin only two (dating back to the 16th century or so it says)

SIgn on probably? 😯

I graduated and took off around the world, took me 7 years to get back.

I know it’s cool to have a northern european girlfriend and is every red blooded males dream (or at least at school) but take care of yourself first and her second.

SHE sees it as a longterm thing, but do you?

Get a job and clear your debt