I have been told that i have some good ideas for my phd? AMA

It's not really great news if on the one hand says you have some good ideas but also says you'll have to self fund, this kinda implies to me that your idea isn't competitive enough to secure funding? That's fine if you want to/can afford to self fund...if not, sounds like you've got some work to do!

Thanks everyone. Yes I am very pleased about it to. I understand that my proposal may sound weak, but i am really very happy about it, and the fact that the head of research at my university, has been making such positive noises to me about it, is really promising isn't it?!?

I can self fund as it so happens, or even better i think next year the government are extending their post graduate funding program to cover research degrees as well, so this should all be doable!

I mean...I don't really think it's very positive to be told your project straight away would need to be self funded? I wouldn't get too carried away. But if you're starting a masters now you have plenty of time to work on your proposal, and maybe you can get it to a stage where it will make a competitive application for funding *

I can still put in applications to the funding councils/bodies. Just the professor said that bursaries are so competitive these days, that realistically i may need to self fund. He also told me that he self funded his PhD, so i don't see what the problem is. And at £5000 a year, it is actually cheaper than most bachelor degrees these days.

To be honest with you the last couple of days have been kind of rough for me, so this is exactly the kind of news i need to pick me up. I wrote him originally a long email brainstorming some of the ideas i had around my subject area (schizophrenia) and it really picked me up hearing that he thought that i had some good ideas. This is a professor after all, who short of the deans, are basically at the top of the academic food ladder!

It depends what you want to do with it after I think. A lot of academic jobs require the ability to attract funding and obviously if you can say your PhD was funded, that looks good straight away. If you just want to do one for personal development (nothing wrong with that, I want to do a PhD too and I doubt it's really going to enhance my career, I just want to do one for my own personal reasons) then self funding is absolutely fine. Especially with the new loan. Not all students can be funded, after all.*

Just make sure on your masters you take advantage of stuff like office hours, any tutors who are relevant to your potential proposal make sure you go and see them and get as much feedback as you can. If you want to stay at your postgrad uni and you find someone who is interested in your project it apparently makes the process easier if you've got someone prepared to supervise you

Will you stop trolling the MH forums on how everyone has it better than you now then?

Yes thanks. I agree that it is important that i make the most of my time doing the masters. But to be honest with you i really don't think it can be any worse for me than the BA, which really stretched me out.

I do want to do the PhD at Derby if possible, simply because i have already built up a strong network of contacts and support here, and it would seem stupid to throw this all away.

But that being said, if we can't find an appropriate supervisor, which on first impression the professor said no one sprang to mind, i may be left with no choice that to go further afield.

I don't know, Nottingham is the next nearest university to me, but then i think they may be too competitive to get a place at, with my puny 2.1. I will consider writing out some more breaching emails, in the near proximity i guess. Oh the joys of academic lingo franco!

I'm enjoying my masters much more than my undergrad. Hopefully you'll find the same. It seems more specialised in one area so is easy to focus because everything is more linked together if that makes sense.

From what I've read, your supervisor is more important than the institution you attend. It makes sense you'd want to stay somewhere familiar but it's also important that you have a competent supervisor who knows enough about your research area to effectively supervise you, so if that means going to another uni that might be for the best. I'm in kind of the opposite boat - I have an expert in my subject here at King's willing to supervise me but I don't want to stay in London another 3 years!

Lots of people get into a PhD with a 2.1, don't let that put you off applying. Especially if you get a distinction in your masters. Also check the requirements for your particular subject, lots of them do say a 2.1 is all that is needed anyway so should be fine ***

Point taken.

The professor said i have some good ideas. And he suggested that i complete my masters which i am about to start, before finalising the title. He also said that i will have to self fund, because funding is so competitive, which is a bit like a kick in the teeth, but apart from that, what great news!??

The professor said i have some good ideas. And he suggested that i complete my masters which i am about to start, before finalising the title. He also said that i will have to self fund, because funding is so competitive, which is a bit like a kick in the teeth, but apart from that, what great news!??

I'm enjoying my masters much more than my undergrad. Hopefully you'll find the same. It seems more specialised in one area so is easy to focus because everything is more linked together if that makes sense.

From what I've read, your supervisor is more important than the institution you attend. It makes sense you'd want to stay somewhere familiar but it's also important that you have a competent supervisor who knows enough about your research area to effectively supervise you, so if that means going to another uni that might be for the best. I'm in kind of the opposite boat - I have an expert in my subject here at King's willing to supervise me but I don't want to stay in London another 3 years!

Lots of people get into a PhD with a 2.1, don't let that put you off applying. Especially if you get a distinction in your masters. Also check the requirements for your particular subject, lots of them do say a 2.1 is all that is needed anyway so should be fine ***

Just to say that this is sound advice. I personally would go back and ask the professor who said this how you could make a competitive funding application. It then allows you to really give your project a good amount of focus for when you start and how it potentially finishes (currently a PhD student myself)

All the best *

Thanks yes I don't think i need to ask the professor any more questions about funding. At this level it is expected for us to be self competent, and i have had such a range of reactions from different inputs over this issue, i am pleased to get someone i can speak eye to eye with.

I will look further in to the funding, but i also need to make a plan b. I will look in to other supervisors, as verona suggested. I am very happy about doing this. And so far this is the third university i have had positive input in about from about this degree, the other two being london and edinburgh, but to be honest with you, being based here in the midlands, i think i will be much happier doing something closer to home. Also bearing in mind that moving house is going to be out of the question, so it will be public transport to get there.

My masters isn't graded, it's a pass or fail, and i very nearly didn't get a place on it, but now that it seems like i have, i also agree that i need to get my head down and start reading. But as I said already, if anything i did over reading for my first degree, and on this one, I am going to take my foot off the pedal. As well as buying all of the primary and some of the other texts off the reading lists, i would make the point of reading them, often in their entirety. I'm not saying that i will stop reading for my masters and research degree, just that the study can close down and be a bit more focused, i hope this all makes sense.

Also i have a natural and personal touch to my academic voice, and whilst i understand the individual voice should be allowed to speak out, i also have to be careful on falling in to ad hominems and euphemisms too often, whereas the more standard language will generally be preferred?

What are your ideas?

Sounds like you've had it really thought out I hope it does work out for you *