EDIT: I Have an interview! I would greatly appreciate any advice people may have for this stage. Fairly nervous at this point but excited too of course.
Hello one and all, and thank you for looking at this thread.
Firstly, for anyone who looks at this thread and might not know what all those acronyms mean, here's the breakdown...
AHRC = Arts & Humanities Research Council
DTP = Doctoral Training Partnership, a funding opportunity covering tuition fees and a generous stipend for three years. DTP Funding required the student to study across two Universities with two supervisors, ideally experts in different subjects (one University is the 'home' Uni, where most time is spent as far as I'm aware). I have my main supervisor lined up, and plenty of time to look for another with the help of my prospective supervisor.
I am considering applying for DTP funding for a PhD in music, more specifically, ethnomusicology. Here's a quick background of what I've done/want to do:
Completed my undergrad in music in 2015 with a high 2:1
Completed my MA music degree in 2016 with a Distinction (woo!)
Applied for 2016 entry on the DTP, but on reflection this application was admittedly not strong enough and somewhat unfeasible.
I'm just looking for some advice from anyone who have had experience with the highly-competitive DTP in the past, or has secured funding for an Arts and Humanities PhD elsewhere. What I ask is:
How do I get my application to stand out from the crowd? I'm incredibly passionate about my subject, but I'm aware this will only get me so far. I suppose what I ask is how do I show my eagerness in my written proposal whilst maintaining a full sense of academic direction?
How much depth must I go into when submitting my research timeline? My research will depend on the willingness of musicians to communicate with me, so I would certainly be bound by their existing schedules. This makes it difficult for any timeline I produce to be anything other than vague.
How important is the academic CV? I don't have anything exciting to put on their other than my existing grades to be honest, except a scholarship I received from my University to cover part of my Master's fees.
Any other general advice is of course greatly appreciated, and I thank you for reading and helping me!