Self Funding Humanities PhD?

Hey! I am currently planning to self-fund my PhD starting in September. I was unsuccessful in securing funding/scholarships, I know this is common, especially in the humanities. I am Scottish so I can't take the government doctoral loan.
I can pay for a year but 2nd and 3rd year I will probably have to go part-time/long distance if I do not have money.
I am looking at every other option possible, I know you can apply for research council funding again in 1st year for funding in 2nd and 3rd. How common is this?
I've also heard that it may not look great self-funding, but it depends on the subject. I am really not sure what to do at the moment, the course and supervisors could not be more perfect for my project but realistically the finances are really putting me off.

Reply 1

oswalds

Really sorry to hear funding didn't work out for you this year! It's a frustrating process and not being offered funding isn't a reflection of you or your research proposal - funding is very much a lottery, especially in humanities subjects. I understand the reasoning for wanting to carry on with the PhD self-funded, but I'd recommend thinking carefully before you do so and have a honest conversation with your supervisors about it. A PhD is difficult even with funding and not having to work alongside it, there are costs other than living expsenses (for example, a funding consortium will cover expenses for conferences and research trips) and you deserve to be paid for the research you will be doing.

I do know a few people who have started their PhDs and been offered funding for their second year onwards. The risk here is that you may not be offered it in your second year and then will need to fund the rest of your PhD yourself (I don't know about your consortium as I am not in Scotland, but my consortium will only allow you to apply for funding if you will have at least 50 per cent of your PhD still to go when you start). A lot of people defer their places and reapply for funding the next year - I did this and know of lots of people who gained funding on their 2nd/3rd attempts. I've spoken to more people who gained funding on their second attempt than people who did on their first attempt. Personally, I was not offered funding the first time I applied, so I spoke to my supervisors and they both strongly recommended against taking on a self-funded PhD, and were happy for me to defer to the next year and give funding another shot. The next year I applied to the same consortium, and a few others to increase my chances to getting funding. I was offered funding at the consortium I'd applied to the year before, but rejected by the others.