The short answers: Supervison

It's not a good idea for most students, and not even possible in US institutions.

In the English-speaking world outside the US, a few universities have a procedure for researchers to submit their already- completed research. From what I have seen, that kind of program does not have a uniform name, so finding them is not straightforward. Moreover, universities change rules from time to time. One program only accepts its own graduates. Look for “degree by supplication” or “degree by submission of published work.”

In some places, the procedure applies to earned degrees above the PhD, but usually only after a long and distinguished career in research.

Yes. In fact, choosing a topic is one of the skills that is normally required. There are some exceptions, such as laboratory work where one works as part of a team on a larger project and when funders set a topic that they want researched.

In some places, the term “advisor” refers to an academic faculty member who supervises a research student doing a thesis or dissertation. In other institutions, the same role is called “supervisor.”

The term “professor” refers to the rank of a faculty member. In some countries it refers only to a head of department or of a school. In others, it can be used for senior academics even if they are not the head of something.

That's simple. Make the changes to your proposal. Then send it back and discuss it with your supervisor. A very good proposal is a good step, and a weak proposal is a sure way for the whole research project to go badly.

It depends greatly on various factors. Here are some:

1. How long is it? It takes less time to read five pages than 50 pages.
2. Is the topic and line of inquiry interesting? Is anything in it novel and non-routine?
3. Is it well-written? It is easier and faster to read good writing.
   Poor writing always takes a lot longer to read, and reading it is so unpleasant that readers tend to slow down and take more breaks. Some readers simply procrastinate. This applies to convoluted language, verbiage, and writing with frequent errors in typing, layout, spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
4. Is it borderline? It takes longer if it it is not a clear accept/reject decision.
5. How many previous drafts has the supervisor read? It does not usually take very long if the supervisor has already read it and is only checking corrections.
6. Is the content difficult or does it have lots of things that the supervisor needs to check?
7. What is the institutional policy and practice? For example, many institutions expect supervisors to return a draft to students within two weeks. Assessors are allowed much longer.
8. How much other review or assessment is he/she doing at the time? Is he/she doing your paper as one of a big batch, or doing it as a lone paper?
9. How many other people also have to read it? In some case, it might be all the members of the committee. If only one is slow, the whole process takes a long time.
10. Does he/she enjoy reviewing papers? Or does he tend to procrastinate?
11. How much feedback is he/she expecting to give?
12. What is the supervisor's particular role? For example:
• If he/she is a methodologist, he/she might not be a subject matter expert.
• If it is an interdisciplinary topic, he/she might have expertise in only one discipline.

1. Be honest.
   If you plagiarize or cheat, you will be expelled. If you use a ghost writer or fake data, you will be expelled even faster.
    
2. Communicate well.
   Tell your supervisor about your progress and any difficulties, even if it is bad news (e.g., negative results, equipment failures). If anyone is harassing you, tell your supervisor. If finances are difficult, ask for advice.
    
3. Work hard.
   If you work hard, your supervisor will go the extra mile. If you are lazy, your chances of continuing in the program are slim.
    
4. Take initiative.
   It is your role to identify problems and try to solve them. If you wait for your supervisor to do so, he/she will eventually realize that you don't have the capacity to fly solo as a researcher.
    
5. Hand in readable work.
   Always try to submit your best work the first time around. Your supervisor will be glad if you can learn by yourself and fix your own mistakes before submitting. Supervisors want to read something interesting and discuss it with you. They don't want to be asked to correct your bad typing and convoluted language.
    
6. Be prompt.
   Hand work in by the due date. No excuses, no surprizes. If you are having real difficulty, tell the supervisor as early as you can, not last minute.
    
7. Use all resources avaliable to you.
   You have a library, and the internet. Use the templates. Other people will help you, especially at proof-reading stage.
    
8. Make progress.
   In your research, you will probably meet dead-ends and make mistakes, but they are signs of progress. Good progress will also save you time and money. If you pay fees by the semester, progress is in your interests so that you pay less fees.
    
9. Take advice and criticism.
   Don't become defensive. Even if it is direct or unpleasant, it is intended to help you. You might need to discuss it to prevent misunderstandings, and some advice might not even work, but communicate with your supervisor about it.
    

No. The dissertation has to be the student's own work. Besides, it would be unusual for a supervisor to even have the time. The only time he/she would do much rewriting is to teach a very weak student how to write.

Normally, yes. By the end of the PhD, the student should be more expert on their particular topic than the advisor. Part of the purpose of a PhD program is to give the student opportunity to demonstrate that they are a peer in the research community and have something original to offer.

In many universities, the number of successful PhD supervisions is a measure of career success, in the same way that universities look at publication track records.

However, I get the impression that some universities treat their PhD students rather badly and don't place much value on faculty track records of successful supervisions.

If you work together in a laboratory, you’ll probably see each other every day, although you might not talk about your dissertation.

My rule of thumb is to touch base once a week, but don't take it too literally. “Touch base” is not always a meeting. At the early and late stages, you might meet more. It is possible to go a longer time without a meeting when students are gathering data in the field and have mastered their procedures.

I find that many students think they're doing well without a meeting, but, then when there is a meeting, they offload lots of saved-up questions. And sometimes they have to fix mistakes that could have been prevented if they'd had meetings.