PhDs for September 2020 Entry

Hi there,

Do you guys know when the majority of PhD opportunities for September 2020 entry will be advertised by universities?

I've been searching around and at the moment I can only seem to find PhDs for January 2020 entry, but I'm just about to start a Masters degree so obviously I can't start a PhD until September 2020, when my Masters is completed.

Thanks,

Ivy

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 1

Mr Wednesday

Original post by TwistedIvy

Many PhDs dont have standard start dates and application deadlines in the way UG courses do, they are much more driven by when universities or individual academics hear about funding, e.g. from a research council grant bid. The main exception is CDT's (Centres for Doctoral Training) that have a 5 year block grant and often run 1 year mSc + 3 year PhD programmes.

Your best bet is to start contacting potential supervisors from this October onwards, they will be able to advise on possible funding streams and start dates.

Reply 2

username4935318

Original post by Mr Wednesday

Your best bet is to start contacting potential supervisors from this October onwards, they will be able to advise on possible funding streams and start dates.

Thank you very much :smile:

I've been looking at PhDs that are fully funded for UK students on http://Findaphd.com, and I've decided that I would definitely like to do a funded PhD, so one that has its title already chosen and already has a supervisor assigned to it (as I really don't mind that). Most of them say that they are for January 2020 starting dates, so I guess I just need to wait for them to advertise ones that are available in Sep/Oct 2020.

Reply 3

PhoenixFortune

Original post by TwistedIvy

Thank you very much :smile:

Not all funded PhDs have pre-established titles - you can propose your own research project and still get a funded studentship for that. Look out for advertisements for studentships in your broad discipline (e.g. Geography, Engineering, Humanities etc.) if you are interested in that route.

Reply 4

username4935318

Original post by PhoenixFortune

Oh wow I never knew that! Thanks so much for telling me, I'll definitely keep an eye out for that too, I'm really interested in research around medical microbiology / virology so I know that I definitely want to do a PhD in an area relating to that.

Reply 5

Mr Wednesday

Original post by TwistedIvy

Most of them say that they are for January 2020 starting dates, so I guess I just need to wait for them to advertise ones that are available in Sep/Oct 2020.

PhD appliactions are far less formal than that, if there is something you have seen that interests you, I would contact the supervisor now rather than waiting for a web portal to update. The other route and one that is very common is to identify an institution thats strong in the area you are interested in, look through its web pages to find a few potential supervisors working in or near the "right" area and send them an email explaining who you are, what institution you are studying at now and asking about potential PhD opportinuties for Oct 2020.

Reply 6

username4935318

Original post by Mr Wednesday

The other route and one that is very common is to identify an institution thats strong in the area you are interested in

Thanks for the advice, I'm afraid I'm not all that caught up when it comes to knowing which institutions are strong for the biological sciences, specifically medical microbiology or virology. I'll try and find a website that can give me an overall idea of what each institution is known for. I definitely know that I want to continue studying in England at a Russell Group University, so I guess that does make things easier.

Reply 7

PhoenixFortune

Original post by TwistedIvy

If you already have a burning research question, or a niche area to want to research, a studentship where you can propose your own research would suit you. If you don't have a clear vision of what you want to explore, or you see a project which already asks a similar research question, a pre-proposed project is a good way to go.

Reply 8

Notoriety

Original post by TwistedIvy

For humanities and others, you'll likely have to come up with your own project and get the funding yourself. For STEM, there are more set projects which the supervisors and the uni have already managed to get funding for. I'd imagine in your field there are mostly set projects, but you can still propose your own.

Reply 9

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by TwistedIvy

The studentships advertised often come with the funding attached, hence they just advertise the role then once they find a candidate who fits their requirements they stop...

Once you know what subject you want to study you can apply (you can theoretically do it today), assuming you require funding you will likely need to apply for these separately, ie directly to admissions for the PhD and to scholarship panels for funding.

I would recommend making contact with suitable supervisors (all unis have pages on their website which show all the academics who take PhDs & post-docs), so you can contact them, if you have a rapport and the subject is of interest to the Uni (and they think your qualified), the potential supervisor will guide you through the process.

Reply 10

mnot

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by TwistedIvy

Thank you very much :smile:

FYI PhDs can be funded without there already being an 'allocated title'
-These are PhDs the Uni wants to research and feel a PhD student can handle, or a company has come and asked for a PhD and are funding it...

-If you have already chosen your topic, you can discuss with a supervisor and then apply for the PhD and the funding to support it, most unis have scholarship panels who allocate funding to students this way.

-If you have a loose idea you can contact supervisors, and tell them your keen on this subject but are unsure exactly what you want to do, can i work with you and if so get them to help narrow the research area to one question.

Reply 11

TM96

I'm in the exact same position as you, going to be starting my masters in a couple of weeks and also planning to undertake a PhD (in microbiology) - preferably microbiome research

I'd recommend looking into the Quadram Institute - they offer PhD studentships and focus on bacterial research and translational medicine and seem to have a strong reputation in this field

Reply 12

username4935318

Original post by TM96

I'd recommend looking into the Quadram Institute - they offer PhD studentships and focus on bacterial research and translational medicine and seem to have a strong reputation in this field