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PhD reference question

I am writing a phd application for an archaeology course in the UK. I have a bit of a problem getting 2 references. I did my masters at Cambridge and usually I have used my 2 supervisors from there to give me references for things in the past (graduated 5 years ago). But for some reason I can't contact one of them this time...

1 has agreed which is great but for the second I have a problem. I have asked my undergraduate dissertation supervisor (10 years ago) and they are happy to give me one but they have advised me that as they dont have a permanent teaching position I should ask someone who is more established in my field. They suggested someone who I haven't worked with academically only on a work placement briefly. I could ask someone else from my undergraduate... they are more established..but they are much further removed from the phd topic unlike my undergraduate supervisor.

Is it more important that the referee is well established in academia (even if the subject area is slightly removed) or how closely the referee worked with you and that their field is much closer to the phd?

Thank you! Sorry for all the text..

Reply 1

Keele University

Original post by Alexanderh

Hi @Alexanderh!

When I applied for my PhD, I used my MA supervisor and then asked the Programme Director of my MA course to provide the second reference. I had only really worked closesly in terms of research with my supervisor but the Programme Director had been course lead on some of my taught modules so was aware of my work, even though she worked in a completely different field in terms of specialisation.

Personally I think the importance with the referee is that they are able to give an idea of how you as a student are likely to perform as a PhD researcer. Presumably your MA supervisor is quite closely aligned with your research field? If so, they will be able to comment on your suitability for your proposed PhD project. So your other referee really needs to be someone who can testify to your diligence and capabilities as a researcher in more general terms - I wouldn't worry too much as to whether they are in exactly the same research field.

Hope that helps :smile: