Do you need to get a first to get complete funding?

I mean funding which covers tuition fees and living costs.

Not necessarily, but the overall amount of funding available is heavily subject-dependent. Based on your older posts, your subject seems to be philosophy, and that's notoriously tough to get funding for even when you do have a first. :frown:

Reply 2

LostRiot

What field? I got a 2:1 then a Merit at Masters (but I published the dissertation - I think that saved me) and I've got the best studentship money wise of anyone I know, by a mile (basically it includes a very generous fieldwork budget). This is in Geography, which is reasonably difficult to get funding for.

You will probably have to drop below Russell Group, I did, but its all about the supervisor and topic anyway, so start looking into suitable people who are at not amazing Universities and approach them to see if they have funding.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 3

Dan1607

I want to carry on studying Philosophy but i can only do this if i get funding.

Reply 4

WoWZa

It can depend on various factors such as the discipline of the field but not necessarily.

Reply 5

evantej

Original post by Dan1607

I want to carry on studying Philosophy but i can only do this if i get funding.

Masters funding in the humanities is terrible; that is, the chances of getting it are so small that I would not bank on receiving it in order to carry on studying. There is, however, more funding available at doctoral level, which is odd when you think about it, but that is the way it is.

For philosophy, a lot will depend upon where you want to study; your best chances of receiving funding are will your current institution (the university of Sheffield have three AHRC awards at masters and PhD level), or with a relatively less prestigious university who has funding; but that depends where you studied in the first place.

At postgraduate level, you should be really looking to specialise in a particular area so the choice of university say, for example, if you were interested in philosophy of science would be limited. That is not to say a department would not supervise you, especially at masters level, but a lot of masters philosophy programmes involve independent study units so you limit your chances of receiving funding if you go to a department that does not necessarily have the same interests as you. Of course, if you happen to have particular research interests then this can be just as much of a pain if, for example, Oxford is the ideal institution for you. Not only will you have lots of people applying for the prestige, but there will be particular students applying there because it is the best institution for their research interests.

In summary, I would do the following to increase your chances of funding: decide what areas of philosophy you are interested in; use your undergraduate extended essay to write about that area; graduate with a first; apply to a university and programme tailored to your research interest; make yourself known to members of staff on that programme and write an awesome research proposal with their help.

Reply 6

flying plum

I have full funding (or will have, come september) from the ESRC. I got a 2:1 and the equivalent of a merit, but i was unsuccessful in many of my funding applications. i was fortunate at Nottingham, in that my proposal related to a specific stream under the new ESRC model.

When you are competing against people with such excellent qualifications, it's hard to stand out. you have to make sure your proposal is excellent, and possibly have research experience post-degree (I have worked as an RA for two years).

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