Hello LadyP.
It'll help to know if she going to be directly invloved with your work? I'm not really certain as whether she poses a threat or not but i feel it depends on the raltionship you have with your supervisor. Its worth finding out from those students she worked with in the past if you feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, as you've mentioned, its an easy way of getting your papers published

It might be worth asking them if you need one. But 'H' is right, it won't do you any harm to include one with your application.
Best wishes.

Here, i found this. Hope it helps
http://www.lums.lancs.ac.uk/PhD/PhDproposal/

As for writing a personal statement:
http://www.accepted.com/grad/personalstatement.aspx

Hi Stevo69,
The advice i can give at the moment is that in order for you to write a good proposal, you must know what the topic entails, the bebfits, how it affects the society today, and its originality (as in making it your own unique piece of work). I think if you've got that in place then you should be able to get some things written down. If i come accross anything that can be of help, i'll give you a shout.

I'm 22 and will be begin mine next month. It feels wierd doing a PhD at this age. I don't know what to expect in the years to come but i shall embrace it regardless, but i guess its something to be proud of.

Hi guys, I'm new to this site but i have been reading most of the things written on here. I just want to commend you guys for undertaking such an adventure :) I'll be starting mine February, i hope to learn from you all and share my experiences with you.