I enjoyed Miranda Irving’s account of her journey towards the eventual award of her PhD (How I finished my doctorate... just 30 years after I began, 18 August). Well done! I hope that her university will acknowledge Miranda’s achievement and give her the opportunity to deploy her experience and expertise, if that is what she wants to do. My own university, Cardiff, is being positively encouraging to me, having gained my PhD at the age of 70. But I know of other late graduates who are in effect cast aside by their universities with no means of accessing journals or keeping their knowledge up to date. This seems to me a wasted resource, which could otherwise complement the research and teaching of overpressed career academics.
Rev Dr Peter Phillips
Swansea
