xraymancs
That makes sense. This is indeed exactly what I’m asking for. I don’t need to be in a time-critical, funded research project. In fact, I wouldn’t require funding at all - as a working engineer I could self-fund to an extent.
So all I’m asking for is a program that would allow me to move at a part-time pace, focus on my job a fair fraction of the time, and a prof to chair my thesis (I have many ideas that could lead to a pretty independent dissertation) and meet with me twice a month.
Is this feasible? Surely someone has come across a part-time PhD student? They do exist.