10 May, 2008
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How long does
a PhD take?
In the UK most PhD programmes last for
three years. Students are expected to submit a thesis within
12 months of the end of the programme (and preferably within
the three year period). There are a number of new programmes,
such as the New
Route PhD scheme or the Wellcome
Trust 4 year PhD scheme, which incorporate a number of taught
modules into the programme which increases the length to 4 years.
How
much will it cost me?
This depends on where you are from,
where you want to study and whether or not you qualify for
funding. If you are a UK student, with appropriate qualifications
(see below) then you should be able to apply for one of the
many funded projects on this site. Funding in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences is often more complicated than in the sciences and engineering - see our article on
PhD Study in the Arts & Humanities for more information. If you are an international
student wishing to study in the UK or a UK student wishing
to study abroad then visit our Funding
section now to see whether you are eligible for any scholarships.
Can
I fund myself?
You can fund yourself and, if you are
not a home student, you may need to do just that (at least
partially). Whilst self funding can make it easier to find
a supervisor, you'll still need to prove to them that you
are capable of completing the PhD successfully. A new section
on Self Funding will be added to FindAPhD in the near future.
What
qualifications do I need?
The normal prerequisite for a UK research
council PhD studentship is a 2(i) degree or a 2(ii) plus an
appropriate Masters degree. A small number of studentships
are funded by charitable trusts or by the host university
which can have less rigid qualification criteria. The other
possibility is a job as a Graduate Research Assistant, where
you can register for a part time PhD (it may still only take
three years). Keep checking back in the New Projects section
of FindAPhD for the latest opportunities.
If you decide that a Masters degree would be a good first
step then you should be prepared not only to support yourself
during the course, but also to pay full course fees. A very
small number of grants are available for Masters degrees;
you will need to check this on a course-by-course basis. In
certain circumstances your Local Education Authority may provide
some support. Before accepting a place on a Masters course,
make sure that it would qualify you for the types of PhD you're
looking for.
Students whose first language is not English will need a recognised English language qualification. See our
English Language Qualifications article for more information.
Is
my qualification equivalent to a 2(i) degree?
Because of the wide variety of qualifications
from each country it can be difficult to find out if your
qualification is considered to be equivalent to a 2(i) degree.
To give you a rough idea a British 2(i) degree (referred to
as an 'Upper Second Class Honours Degree' or a 'Two-One')
is the second highest mark available for a British Honours
Degree.
Where the US/Canadian marking scheme is used, a minimum grade
point average (GPA) of 3.3 is usually required.
The British
Council in your home country will be able to help you.
Before you apply you could try asking your former course tutors
or alternatively you can visit The
National Academic Recognition Information Centre for the United
Kingdom. They will give informal advice free of charge.
An official 'letter of comparability', which will be accepted
by employers, costs £30 (+VAT), but should not be necessary
for most universities, who will assess you themselves.
It is generally the case that international students are required to have a Masters level qualification as well as a 2(i) equivalent qualification.
How
do I choose a research project?
Primarily you should look for a project
which interests you. It is generally considered better to
study for a your PhD in a different university from the one
where you did your first degree, as it will expose you to
a different set of academic influences. However it is not
uncommon for people to stay in the same place, either because
of family commitments or because of the quality of projects
on offer.
To decide whether or not to accept a place you should look
at a number of factors:
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
The research rating of a department or school is known as
its RAE rating. Most departments will publish their RAE score
on their web sites or you can see the results of the whole
RAE on the HERO
web site. The RAE takes place once every 5 years and the latest
RAE is from 2001. Any department or school with a 5 or 5*
rating is doing very well for itself and studying there will
make you look good. It does not however mean that every research
group in that department is at the top of their game. Universities
have a degree of flexibility in how they are assessed for
the RAE. They sometimes group departments together, so if
they've got two outstanding life science departments and one
not so good one they may submit all three as one unit, hiding
the bad department. They can, and do, choose not to submit
some of their academics for inclusion in the assessment (sometimes
because they are young and haven't had time to build up a
publication record or sometimes because they're not very good).
The reason they go to so much effort is that a large amount
of funding for the five years following the RAE is based on
the result.
The Research Group
Some of the criteria upon which the RAE is graded include
research publications, industrial collaborations, grant income,
and numbers of research students. You can get an idea of this
yourself by looking up the publications of your potential
new supervisor. It is unlikely that you will know which journals
are more prestigious but you can always ask around. A pretty
good measure of grant income is to count the number of students
and postdocs in the group. Postdocs are an invaluable source
of help and inspiration, particularly in larger groups where
time with your supervisor may be limited.
Having said all this, work with a younger academic at the
start of their career can have many advantages. They are likely
to have much more time to give to you and will be very pleased
to have you as grants are hard to come by.
The best source of information on who to work for will come
from your current course tutors. Academia is a small world
and is highly collaborative, people know who the leaders and
the stragglers are in their own fields.
The Supervision
At most PhD interviews you will have the opportunity to see
where you are going to be working and probably be given a tour
by a current PhD student. Ask them about how the team works,
how often they present group seminars, how often is the supervisor
absent (does it make a difference when they are). It helps a
lot during a PhD if you like, or at least respect, your supervisor,
bear this in mind during your interview.
The Training
PhD students used to be left at the total mercy of their supervisor.
These days most departments offer some degree of support.
As well as your supervisor the department should provide one
or more advisors. These will be academics from the same department,
their job is to check that your project is on track to get
you a PhD and to listen to any complaints about your supervisor.
Many departments also run seminar programmes covering research
methodologies, thesis writing and other relevant subjects.
Taking these relatively new developments a step further, 4
year programmes such as the New
Route PhD or a similar scheme funded by the Wellcome
Trust offer an even greater degree of formal training.
Most information on support and training for PhD students
will be on the departments web site. If not you can ask at
the interview.
When
should I apply?
Most PhD studentships begin in October.
However they can start at any time of year. You should begin
applying as soon as posible. Although new studentships are
advertised throughout the year, competition for places gets
higher and higher the closer you get to October.
Do
I need to write my own research proposal?
The answer for scientists and engineers is only if you're asked to.
Most funded projects in the UK (and particularly those on
this site) have been thought up by the supervisor concerned
and peer reviewed. Your job is to convince them that you'll
be able to do the work. If you have your own research proposal,
then you may find it very difficult to get it funded. You'll
certainly need the support of a leading academic in your field
of interest and even then obtaining funding in this way outside
of the Arts and Humanities is unusual.
Our article on PhD Study in the Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences has its own section on writing a research proposal.
International students do not generally qualify for UK Research
Council funding and may be required to submit their own research
proposal to the people from whom they wish to get funding.
The input of a potential supervisor is recommended if it is
available.
What
should I put in my application?
Your application should include all
the usuall information on qualifications and employment history.
You should also list the degree modules covered in your final
year and the title of any dissertations or research projects.
If you're fortunate enough to have been published include
the reference. In your application letter state why you are
interested in the particular research project and what you
enjoyed about any research you have already done. If you intend
to find your own funding, make this clear in the application.
When applying from this site apply to the person indicated
in the 'Enquiries To' line, unless the description of the
project says anything different. You can write to the supervisor
to ask for further details of the project. If you send an
email make sure it is personalised, if you send a letter saying
"Dear Dr Smith, Please send me an application form
for a PhD in your lab with funding" you will be
very unlikely to get a reply. Sending bulk emails
to supervisors does not work.
What
happens at a PhD interview?
It's not really for us to say what you
might be asked. PhD interviews vary tremendously depending
on the supervisor concerned. It is likely however that you
will be asked about your third year project or any other research
experience you may have.
If you have been given details of any particular references
then make sure you do your best to read them. If you've not
been given this info, then use the web to find relevant papers
(particularly those by your potential supervisor). You are
not likely to be examined on these things, but the supervisor
will be looking to see that you were at least interested enough
to read them.
The other question you are likely to be asked is why you want
to do a PhD in general, and this PhD in particular. You should
think about the answers to these questions before you go to
the interview. Many people apply for PhD's because they couldn't
think of anything else to do. A good supervisor will try to
avoid these people.
Finally, remember to find out as much as you can while you're
there. Try to speak to PhD students working in your potential
new lab/Department and see if you like the atmosphere. Don't
be afraid to ask the PhD students about the quality of supervision.
Three years is a long time to be stuck with a bad supervisor
or to work in an unfriendly environment.
What's
it like to do a PhD?
The million-dollar question. Past and
present PhD students can fill you with tales of dread and
delight. Our books section lists a number of helpful publications.
We've also come across a few articles on the web which take
a sideways look at the next three years of your life.
Click
here to see the PhD Life section.
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