Another thing you can do is to look at the web pages, where the research information of the University Department is held, and read the info about stuff running research groups. Try to get familiar with their names and make a note of the ones related to your subject. It will come handy at the interview.

XJR, do you still have access to the original ad for the studentship? There usually a name in those ads. In my case, I first found the supervisors and applied to funding after that. So it is completely a different situation than yours. But all I can say is it is your right to know what the supervisory arrangements are. Try to do some background research about the position, but if you can't find anything it is alright to ask at the interview.

it was wet, he couldn't see because it was dark but the liquid that was covering him had a strange smell. He thought about black pudding for some reason, he didn't know why he suddenly remembered the sunday lunches back at home...

nope, not old. I am 32 (just entering my final year of PhD). And age can have its plus points in academic research too, to be honest.

I guess I'll wait till 10 bottles of beer left on the wall

Welcome back DanB. How was the move, how is the new place?

Thanks Ann. The only harm is, he won't be able to reply until next week (he will come to work briefly next week and then leave to continue with his holiday until the begining of September). I don't want to waste this week by waiting to hear from him hoping that he would check his emails (because I've already sent a question to him before I wrote to the forum and the only thing I received is his out of office message). I'd like to have the report done by next week for when he returns to his office for a short period of time.

Sorry to hear that. Now, go to jobs.ac.uk site, and search for full studentships. There are still some available (some with August some with September even October deadlines). You might be able to apply elsewhere with your proposal. Don't give up just because you didn't get the AHRC grant.

- Never state negative-sounding facts. If there are any and you know that you need to mention this, rephrase it as a chance for personal development.
- Also, it would be good to ask someone who has experience of such applications to read the letter before you send (if you have enough time)

Good luck, and sorry if I was repeating things that you already are aware of.

I'm sure someone who's already been there can have better suggestions. But in the meantime, the key things can be:
- As the subject is not exactly same as yours, try to address the similarities and apply your expertise in your subject to these similarities. (in other words, show how the difference of your own subject can have a positive contribution to this one)
- See this letter as a personal statement, tell them what you are capable of and what you can develope further but without stating the obvious
- It is important to do your background research about the job and refer to some of this information you collected.
- I'm sure you already know this; be polite but do not over-do the politeness.
- Your PhD itself is the biggest reference in terms of research skills. Use some references from your research skills and illustrate them by joining these with the person requirements.
- Keep it to maximum 2 pages. One page is perhaps too little for the level of this post, but do not exceed 2 pages.
(apparently i've exceeded the max words allowed, I'll continue on another message)

Dear hillyg. Coming back to academia from a full-time career, I think it is important to write your cover letter according to its industry and the position. Because you mentioned a professor on your previous message, the job must be academic. If it's a post-doc research fellow type of position , someone with that kind of experience would be more useful to you. But if not, perhaps you can tell us what kind of job it is, and we can all try and help about what to include in the cover letter and what should be avoided.

Thank you very much hillyg, what a positive reply. I think you are right and it is a great idea to encourage feedback. I know he is busy but I have quite a lot going on with my PhD that he is not even aware of. I will start writing and include as much as possible. I should be happy that he is showing interest again. Thank you again.

you might be right sylvester. I guess I was trying to beleive that it wouldn't have to be so formal. Because I don't really have time to write it (I'll make time of course) and the request sounds so urgent as he is going on holiday soon, I got a little angry with it.

One of my supervisors who has been neglecting me for a while now, has suddenly asked me to write a "short report" to see the update on my progress. How short do you think a short report can be, and can I consider it as an informal document? (Please don't say things like "ask your supervisor".) Thank you.

he got up, cleaned the dust from his clothes and started to look at the images on the giant TV screens that surrounded him. He was very familiar with the scenes on the screens. In one of them he recognised inside his house. The cameras that were carefully placed in his house were following his pet donkey in an around the house.