Original post by Jen2017
Hi,
I was wondering if anybody can tell me how the course structure for a Phd at the university of Bath looks like. Are classes once a week is it a whole week in a month?
Would you recommend a phd at the uni of bath?
Thanks in
Jen
I was wondering if anybody can tell me how the course structure for a Phd at the university of Bath looks like. Are classes once a week is it a whole week in a month?
Would you recommend a phd at the uni of bath?
Thanks in
Jen
As I know the Bath Rep on here's active, I'll tag them in to answer your questions. @University Of Bath, can you help?
You wouldn't usually have classes for a PhD at a UK university, only if you were doing a joint MSc/MRes/MPhil+PhD program or something like an EngD.
Hi,thanks for coming back to me. How can i imagine then a PhD programme. Purely occasional meetings with a supervisor and the rest just self study? Aren't there any research classes at least in the first year?If there are no classes does the university still require you living in Bath or would it be possible to simply travel there if needed? I am currently living further up but wouldn't mind to relocate if it is essential. Just trying to get a better picture as its my first PhD 
.
.PhDs dont have 'classes'.
A PhD is an individual research project lasting 3 or 4 years. It isnt 'a course'.
A PhD is an individual research project lasting 3 or 4 years. It isnt 'a course'.
Original post by Jen2017
Hi,thanks for coming back to me. How can i imagine then a PhD programme. Purely occasional meetings with a supervisor and the rest just self study? Aren't there any research classes at least in the first year?If there are no classes does the university still require you living in Bath or would it be possible to simply travel there if needed? I am currently living further up but wouldn't mind to relocate if it is essential. Just trying to get a better picture as its my first PhD .
.This is going to be a long post so be prepared.
It's recommended to have meetings with your supervisor once per week, they're there to guide you and will be at your thesis defence at the end so you need to maintain a good relationship with them and keep up to date, otherwise you may end up going completely on the wrong track. You'll also likely have an office to work out of and will work with other people in your research group on small parts of each others projects.
It's mostly your responsibility, and partly your supervisor's, to develop your research skills. Most, if not all, UK PhD students will have had previous research experience, usually in the form of an individual investigative project aka thesis or dissertation during their degree. As a result there's little need for further training.
Many universities have residency requirements for their PhD programs, for example Oxford requires people to live within 25 miles unless an exception is given. I'm going to touch on this later though because it seems you're missing a few key components on doing a PhD.
So the reputation of a PhD mostly revolves around the supervisor that you are working with rather than the university as a whole. You apply to do a project with a supervisor that meets your specific research interests rather than a course, e.g. Mechanical engineering, as a whole. Usually you will apply for an exact topic although this is not always the case, for example in Doctoral Training Centres you likely won't know your topic or your supervisor from the get go. What this means is that to get the PhD you need to convince a supervisor to take you on. If you're self funded this isn't too difficult as most professors will happily take your money, however if you're a Home student it is somewhat looked down upon to do a self funded PhD as it has the implication that you weren't good enough to get funding. If you need funding then it becomes a lot more difficult, and either way you need to convince your supervisor that you will be good to work with. Going back to where you can live, most supervisors probably wouldn't be too enthusiastic about you living too far away so it wouldn't be recommended.
Also you only ever do one PhD, never 2 for a bunch of reasons, so first PhD is implied.
Right so here's some homework for you:
1) Figure out a topic that you are interested in researching and which you have a strong background in
2) Find university based research groups and professors which are involved in that research. These may not necessarily be where you expect, you will find that plenty of excellent universities may not cover your research topic or may have a poor reputation for that topic. Meanwhile there may be a less well known university that is considered the world leader for that topic.
3) Look up the funding opportunities available to you. If you're a home student you will eligible for research council studentships, however these cover a limited number of topics so if you want to do something else or are an international student you will need to look into scholarships/university sponsored studentships if you can't afford to pay them yourself. There are also doctoral loans for Home students but they won't cover your full costs.
4) Try your absolute hardest to get a 1st class degree, at an absolute minimum you want a high 2:1 in an integrated master's, or if you get a 2:1 in your bachelor's you will need a Distinction in your MSc.
There's usually a few research methodology units that require attendance, participation and assessment, in the first couple of semesters.
Original post by Jen2017
Hi do u know if in bath its like once a week or a whole week a month those research classes in the first year? I know in huddersfield and leeds its every thursday but in nottingham u got it all packed in a whole week per month. Would be nice to know how it is in bath.
Ask the specific department at Bath.
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