John Xavier Riley
Tell us about your work at QMUL?
I’m a 3rd year PhD student in the Artificial Intelligence and Music (AIM) program at the EECS school. My research centres around automatic music transcription using a variety of methods and approaches. I enjoy the work – I’ve not been particularly successful so far in terms of publications but I feel like I am making some progress.
Many people feel like they have to choose between doing their research or having a family, Is it possible to be a full time PhD student and raise a family?
It is very difficult – my financial situation is relatively comfortable (see below) and my wife isn’t currently at work which allows her time to focus on our two children. Even with these considerable advantages, it can be hard to be available to my family and be fully present for my research at the same time. I certainly struggle to work with the intensity that some of my high-performing peers seem able to achieve.
The other aspect I find difficult is the idea of a future within academia. I’m 36 and settled in my current location which means that academic jobs within travelling distance of my house are very limited. I’ve basically abandoned the idea of continuing my research after the PhD program ends because I don’t see it as being compatible with providing for my family. This is a personal choice though – I wouldn’t expect everyone to feel the same way.
The past three years with Covid have been difficult for most, how did it change the dynamic of research for you being at home with your family?
I had been working remotely for 7 years prior to starting the PhD so in that sense it wasn’t a big change. I do feel like my cohort is more isolated in terms of their research interests. The cross-pollination of ideas that you get from attending lectures together, eating lunch together etc. seems to be reduced as a result of covid for us. Being at home with my family can be challenging at times in terms of focus and finding uninterrupted spells of time to think but I feel like I just have to make the best of it.
How difficult is to financially support your family while on a PhD stipend?
My financial situation is unusual – I don’t have a mortgage. I’m also able to supplement my funding through savings that I made from a career prior to starting the PhD although we try to keep these for capital expenses instead of day-to-day living. Even so, it has been challenging and we’ve had to make cutbacks on non-essential items. I understood this going into the PhD though and I’m anticipating that it will be worth it on returning to work afterwards.
Teo Dannemann
Tell us about your work at QMUL?
I am a Media and Arts Technology PhD student since 2019, funded by Chilean Research Council. My research interest lies in collective music performance and to elucidate the synergies (or emergent properties) that come up from this. A specific main question in his research is: how human music interaction differs from human-computer interaction?
Many people feel like they have to choose between doing their research or having a family, Is it possible to be a full time PhD student and raise a family?
Not in current conditions. There’s a lot you have to give away on both sides, you end up sacrificing time on your PhD because you have to do extra work for maintaining the child costs (especially nursery, around £1200 monthly for a full-time nursery).
The past three years with Covid have been difficult for most, how did it change the dynamic of research for you being at home with your family?
Living in London, it was quite difficult, as we had to live in a one-bedroom flat the three of us, with the newborn crying around couldn’t focus to do work very often. Then we decided to move outside of London where we could afford a bigger place and it was much better, but then the commuting time and costs appeared…
How difficult is to financially support your family while on a PhD stipend?
Don’t want to sound exaggerated, because in our case we are lucky that we could get help from family during difficult times, but otherwise it gets dangerously difficult to be a parent with a PhD stipend.
What kind of financial help have you looked either from QM or other parts?
QM basically has the hardship fund, which I applied for and didn’t get. Then I looked for government help and the main help is called Tax Free Childcare, for which I am not eligible as your income (i.e. the stipend) has to be taxable in the UK. Therefore, externally (overseas) funded students are at a particular disadvantage for applying this kind of funding.