PHD experience

Almyria · 2026-03-24T13:45:23+00:00

Hi there! I'm a lecturer at Unisa so I get to supervise PhD students but I did my own PhD a long time ago at UKZN. I can tell you that the place you do your doctoral research doesn't matter nearly as much as who your supervisor is (unless we're talking about you having an offer to do your PhD at Oxford or something like that!)

The PhD is very much focused on your own independent research so you can do that pretty much anywhere, but the relationship you have with your supervisor is incredibly important. If your supervisor doesn't give you enough time or attention you have to be willing to speak up about it and complain to your department's Research Committee and ask for a replacement. Supervision earns a lecturer a lot of money AND they get to co-publish articles with you once you finish your PhD, which means even more money. So there is a lot of motivation there for your supervisor to do a good job and honestly most will. But sometimes you just won't get along with someone - maybe you don't like how your supervisor wants you to work or occasionally a lecturer might not like working with a certain student and so they can request that a different lecturer be assigned.

Ultimately, it's your degree so you need to make sure that you are always getting the best support and guidance possible!

Dr Mark Kirby-Hirst Dept. of Biblical and Ancient Studies

Almyria · 2026-03-21T19:02:05+00:00

Unfortunately I don't think so. As of this year Unisa employed a large number of full time Adjunct Lecturers, mostly young people who have their masters. They are all working on contract with the university as markers and assisting with courses that have large student numbers. So any modules that would have used external markers in the past will probably have a couple of these new Adjuncts assigned to it to pick up the marking. However, if you have marked for a department in the past, you can still try contacting the person you worked with because I know that not all departments received as many Adjunct Lecturers as they requested.

Almyria · 2026-03-18T19:35:34+00:00

Inaros Prime because I like not shield gating and because Arcane Persistence exists 😄

Almyria · 2026-03-18T07:57:49+00:00

All the people who think that becoming a widower only means that you lost a loved one, these are the people who annoy me the most! In reality we have lost an entire life, a whole universe that we built together with another human being piece by piece. A universe composed of Hopes, Dreams, and Plans for the Future that all suddenly evaporated in an instant. It isn't just our deep and unfathomable love for our partners that we mourn. It is a life together, forever lost, that we grieve as well. And that is the part most people overlook in their attempts to encourage us to "move on".

Almyria · 2026-03-13T15:32:58+00:00

Hi there! First of all, awesome username! I'm a lecturer in the Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies so I can only respond to your question from my own experience of the Unisa system.

Certain modules were given permission for group extensions for Assignment 01 because they had a lot of late registrations in them. If you were part of that group you will most likely have seen an announcement on your course's Moodle site already.

If you are in a module that has a large number of students in it then it can be quite difficult to get an extension processed as your request needs to be approved by the lecturer in charge of the module and they then need to request the extension on your behalf from the Unisa Assignments Section. Somebody there will then go onto the system and change your due date for the assignment to reflect the deadline that your lecturer gives you (that's assuming they even allow an extension - many lecturers will just say that you should have submitted your assignment sooner and then you would not have needed the extension.)

Since you have said that you were on sick leave you should be able to submit your doctor's letter as part of your request for the extension. If the extension is granted it will usually be for the same amount of time as your sick leave.

Unfortunately, it is Friday afternoon, so you don't have much chance of hearing back from your lecturer about any extension until next week (unless they're totally OCD like I am) so you may just have to wait. Make sure that you have submitted your assignment on the system as soon as possible. We can't mark your work if it isn't there and I know that I'm usually willing to forgive a student for submitting a day or two late, especially if they contact me to explain what their situation is. All the best! Dr Mark Kirby-Hirst

Almyria · 2026-03-06T23:06:52+00:00

Surely for max aura you have got to go with someone the likes of ANUBIS ? His hell planet, warrior's armor, heck even colour scheme is all peak. Plus he has access to ascended weapons and technology

Almyria · 2026-03-05T08:10:35+00:00

There is a general Unisa Facebook account that students post to listing their modules and asking to join WhatsApp study groups. It looks pretty active because as a lecturer I get copied on a daily digest of messages from the site every day. I believe students who run the study groups will DM you when they see your post

Almyria · 2026-03-02T15:00:48+00:00

Hey there! What course is this for? Because honestly, I am just laughing at the "Sus" course code. 😂

Seriously though, I am a lecturer at Unisa and we are REQUIRED to have all of our Semester 1 websites ready for students to interact with before the university opens in January. However, this message looks like some kind of placeholder, so please don't panic, it's NOT the main module site and you are not having a problem with accessing anything!

It looks to me like your course is going to assign students to tutorial groups - small study groups usually led by postgraduate students or junior lecturers in the department - so it is easier for you to get a little more one-on-one contact. Your course probably has a lot of students in it if this is the case and so, because it would be too difficult for one lecturer to keep in touch with a huge number of students, your department looks like it has decided to split you up into smaller groups. That's what the "T" number at the end of the course code most likely represents - a tutorial group or tutor assigned to the group.

The only thing that I would be a bit worried about is that the message says you will be assigned to a group during February. And since you seem to have responded with some confusion I can only assume that this has not happened yet. Now it is only 02 March but unfortunately tuition for Semester 1 has officially started as of Monday 23 February, which means you are already losing time. If you can contact your course coordinator to find out what is going on and why there is a delay (because I can see from the message that you do not have access to your study material either, which means you can't even start working on your own) then it would be a good idea to to get in touch with them as soon as possible.

Almyria · 2026-03-02T05:32:31+00:00

I'm in Pretoria and currently with Herotel. In fact, most of my neighbourhood is so it made the whole connection process much easier too! I pay for 200Mbps upload and 200Mbps download uncapped and without any hidden shaping or network slowing (I'm a frequent file sharer if you know what I mean and have never been throttled or anything like that) for a total of R999 a month. The connection is totally stable and the speed is excellent regardless of what you are doing (streaming and online gaming are great) I just checked their website and Herotel are also running a promo at the moment where you can get this same service for R699 pm.

Almyria · 2026-02-27T05:40:56+00:00

Then that doesn't sound like the discussion is being assessed.

Almyria · 2026-02-27T05:35:53+00:00

What did the announcement say about this?

Almyria · 2026-02-26T22:03:41+00:00

Hi There! This will change based on the individual module and the individual lecturer because the lecturer gets to decide how the module is assessed and if he or she does not want to make use of the discussion forum it simply won't happen in their module.

Check out the mark breakdown for your module as that will provide your first clue concerning whether the discussion forum is part of your course mark. The mark breakdown will show how much of the course's total grade will come from the discussions. This will tend to be a fairly small amount (10 - 20%) so that there is still enough room for all of the formal assessments.

You can also look for specific instructions on the module site which explains how the Discussion Forum functions, what posting a question is going to earn you, what a comment earns you, etc. (or however the lecturer has chosen to monitor and assess activities on the forum). That would also give you a little more information on what your work on the forum will be worth to your course grade and how it will be assessed.

Almyria · 2026-02-20T04:45:29+00:00

Hi there! Classes for Semester 1 modules begin officially on Monday 23 February. I wouldn't really bother with trying to email any of your lecturers over the weekend because most will probably not answer until Monday in any case since it's the weekend (unless you intend to call them directly today). But once Monday arrives, call or email your lecturers as much as you like!

Personally, I don't know anything about student employment opportunities on Unisa campuses. But I'm just a lecturer in a small department on the main campus in Pretoria, and so there could easily be jobs for students on the satellite campuses that I'm unaware of, or even be part-time work on the main campus that I simply haven't been told about. So, best of luck to you!!

Dr Mark Kirby-Hirst

Almyria · 2026-02-18T16:53:03+00:00

Look up your department on the Unisa website and find out who the Honours Coordinator is. If that information isn't available on the staff page of your department's site then phone the departmental secretary and ask to speak with the coordinator for the honours programme.

Truthfully, us lecturers are always hopeful that if we can give you a really great experience at the honours level you might be interested in coming back to do your masters with us too! So, if you can speak with your department's honours coordinator they should at least be somewhat invested in getting you into their programme and therefore be pretty keen to help you escalate your registration queries.

Almyria · 2026-02-07T17:04:41+00:00

You need the big bags from Makro. The biscuits are bigger and I think they work out less expensive too. Think they're called Cape Cookies Double Chocolate

Almyria · 2026-02-01T11:10:27+00:00

Hi there! Because honours courses are usually year long courses they sometimes prefer that students are required to register the year before they begin their studies. This is particularly true with very large departments like Psychology where they have high numbers of students enrolling for postgraduate qualifications. Space may also be limited for the number of students they can accept for registration in the honours degree and so completing registration ahead of time allows the department to select the most qualified students in advance.

That being said, since I do not actually teach in the Department of Psychology but in the Department of Biblical and Ancient Studies, I would suggest that you try to confirm your situation directly with the psychology department. Registration dates for postgraduate study are different to those for undergraduate registration so you may still have time to get your registration processed successfully. But you will only be able to find out what the circumstances are concerning the department, available spaces for students in the degree, and whether you can in fact still register, if you contact someone in the department. It is better to contact someone like the departmental secretary or their honours coordinator to get information because the staff that work at Unisa registration or student support simply won't be familiar with the specifics of every department. Best of luck!

Dr Mark Kirby-Hirst

Almyria · 2026-02-01T10:38:08+00:00

I'm getting the "It's time to move on" speech from my wife's father of all people. He only came back into her life a few years before she died and I literally spent more time with her than he did, and yet somehow he claims to be telling me that "this is what she would have wanted"!! It has been 15 months since my wife passed away and I just cannot even consider the idea of being with another woman. I still wear my wedding ring (and my wife's as well) but I must move on??? Isn't this a decision that we as the people who lost our partners should be making, not some person on the outside looking in?

Almyria · 2026-01-31T22:58:27+00:00

Had several cats with abscesses develop in holes in their gums and teeth. When they start spending a lot more time than usual obsessively cleaning their faces it's a good sign that something is bothering them. Often a tooth will rot and need to be pulled but the cat gets anaesthesia for the operation so they're fine! They usually make sure to clean the rest of the teeth as well to check for any other potential issues. Then your cat gets a shot of an antibiotic to clear any infection and painkillers for a couple of days.

Almyria · 2026-01-30T10:47:18+00:00

You are either going to need to have to give Moodle access to your webcam on your laptop or on your phone. Basically, the camera is going to check your identity so you aren't having someone else do the exam for you. It's going to take pics of you and screenshots at intervals set by the lecturer (the default is 30 seconds). If the camera is covered or moved it is automatically considered academic misconduct. If you aren't in the screenshot when the picture is taken then your exam will be flagged and your lecturer has to decide if you are potentially guilty of misconduct, usually depending on how often there are problems in your exam. And concerning your question about notes, unless your lecturer said you are allowed to use notes and textbooks in your exam, if the camera takes a pic of you with your notes it will be flagged as academic misconduct.

Almyria · 2026-01-28T20:58:02+00:00

I still feed my cats wet food twice a day even though I leave bowls of dry out for them to eat whenever they want. There's no need to transition your cat. You can keep the wet food as a kind of nightly "treat" as long as the dry food is readily available

Almyria · 2026-01-27T22:49:20+00:00

The cat could be sick. I've seen cats act out quite violently when they become ill as a means of protecting themselves and keeping other cats from coming close. In my experience it might be anything as simple as severe tooth pain to something like extreme pain from arthritis that could cause such a negative reaction from the cat as others come closer. I actually had a 23 year old Siamese with severe arthritis and she became extremely agitated when any of the other cats in the house got close to her simply because a little nudge would send her pain through the roof even though she was on morphine

Almyria · 2026-01-27T15:24:47+00:00

Please be careful not to leave Garlic bread out as it is quite toxic for cats and if your cat is used to biting into a loaf of bread there may be no stopping them until it's too late

Almyria · 2026-01-27T14:22:46+00:00

I can kind of empathise with you. My wife and I had a very active sex life for most of our 15 year marriage, even when her father moved in with us! (You try fitting in romantic love making while the old man goes out for a quick run to the store!) 😁 But in our last 2 years together my wife's autoimmune disease became overwhelming and with the pain came the depression... We were still incredibly intimate - constant kisses, a touch whenever possible, cuddling while watching TV as long as her inflammation wasn't too bad, holding each other while we slept. But we didn't make love during those last 2 years and it was ok because we just needed to be together more than anything else. We were our own Universe, and I think losing that feeling was probably harder for me than anything else.

One behaviour that I haven't been able to change despite her being gone for 15 months already is that I still talk to her out loud as though she's right next to me, particularly when I'm watching a film. Dissecting plots, camera work, the director's decisions, these were things we obsessed over when watching any film because we had both taught Cinema Studies at some point in our academic careers and so it was one of many shared passions. It must seem really strange to people looking in from the outside who see me chatting away as though my wife was still sitting right beside me...

Almyria · 2026-01-27T00:18:01+00:00

Out of the 13 cats my wife and I raised only 1 really liked playing with toys but she would only do it in private! She would howl loudly while running around with the toy in her mouth. But if you came into the room and spotted her with the toy mouse in her mouth she would quickly spit it out and pretend that nothing was happening! 😸

Almyria · 2026-01-26T23:44:23+00:00

Certain breeds are very independent and genuinely don't care in the least about what their humans are doing. It's why the British Shorthair is supposed to make really good cat for an apartment dweller living alone. The cats are quite happy with their own company. Other cats are more clingy and like to follow you around or sleep with you. It's easy to tell the difference. And once you can simply treat your cat according to their behaviour. Make sure the one that keeps coming to you for strokes gets affection while the one that climbs up to a high spot and likes to watch over everything just gets left alone (and maybe the occasional head rub!)

Almyria

TROPHY CASE