Hey! Nah, you're fine with a 2.1 and a distinction at MA! A first might make it a little easier to get funding from some sources but I know loads of people with 2.1s with fully funded PhDs and I'm in a really competitive field. I also have a pal with a 2.2 and a pass at MSc level who is doing a fully-funded PhD, so I don't think you've got anything to worry about. It's tough to get funding and you might have to apply to a few different places, but you've definitely got the minimum requirements degree-wise so you should be fine! Best of luck with the applications, KB

Fantastic news, congratulations! Really pleased for you, have an awesome weekend!!!! KB

Hey Jojo! The course you are talking about that pays £26K is the doctorate for becoming a practising clinical psychologist, not a research PhD in psychology. For a research PhD in psychology (including clinical psychology) then you're looking at the usual £13-14K if you get full funding. Hope that helps! Best, KB

Today I have been told off by my supervisor (quite seriously) for giving her too many things to look at! Too many? I do everything she asks as quickly as I can and now I get told off for doing it too quickly! Just can't win sometimes....KB

Hey! Haven't got kids myself , but a pal of mine is just completing her PhD, and she has two kids, who were 3 and 7 when she started, and she is a single mum to them. So it certainly can be done- she has done phenomenally well and is due to finish almost within three years, and with publications and conference presentations and teaching experience as well! I know it has been really tough for her at times, but it just goes to show it can be done with a bit of planning and a lot of organisation! So good luck and congrats on being accepted onto your PhD! Best, KB

Hey Bcreative! Well lots of things and lots of people have inspired me to do what I do, but not anyone famous or any great scholar- more the people I have come across in my everyday life. My work is with people with Alzheimer's, and the people who have inspired me most are my own grandads (both who suffer/suffered with dementia), and my participants, who cope so well and so positively with such a debilitating illness and are so willing to help out with research despite their circumstances. The other thing that drives me is having spent a lot of time in hospital as a psychiatric patient myself, and therefore getting a very good idea of how woefully inadequate this sort of care is in many places. The final person who has really motivated me is the doctor who didn't believe in me and tried to have me institutionalised long-term, despite my determination to return to university. My dream is to walk back onto that ward when I have finished my PhD and say to her, "hey, it's Dr Keenbean to you. Google me for a list of my publications". Of course, it will never happen, but the thought of it makes me smile :) Best, KB

Hey! My understanding was that some subjects have a bibliography (more art/literature type subjects) where you include everything you have looked at in preparation for your work, but other subjects (more science-type stuff) have a reference section, where you only list things that you have referenced in your work. Could be wrong though! Best, KB

Hey Turnerm, in the journals I have published in the standard response is supposed to be within 3 months, and it usually hasn't been too far off that, although I have heard of journals in other disciplines being horrendous! Then of course you have a certain amount of time to make changes and then you have to wait again to see if the changes are acceptable, so that drags it out a bit longer. Some journals do have a reputation for being particularly quick or slow, but really it depends on how long the individual reviewers take to review your paper, so even within a journal it could vary a lot. Good luck with your paper! KB

Hey! I have to do some teeaching as part of my funding, and did second year seminars in my first year and was the TA for a third year module this year. I was really nervous too, but luckily at my uni for the first semester they pair you up with a second or third year PhD student so you are with someone more experienced and not completely thrown in at the deep end! It is a bit scary at first, but it does get easier and it's good for developing your confidence. It's the marking that's the biggest pain! I've also been supervising MSc students' projects and that has actually been quite enjoyable for the most part. So just go with it, it can be nerve-wracking, but it's really good to get the experience to put on your CV and will pay off in the long run! Best, KB

Hi Heather! I'm doing a PhD in Clinical Psychology (by research, not the DClin course!) and for a long time I had much the same dilemma as yourself! I got a first in Psych and a distinction in my MSc, and in the end because I loved my MSc research so much I decided to do a PhD in the hope that this would make my mind up once and for all! Luckily, it has! I absolutely adore the research side of things, and love working with a clinical population (Alzheimer's in my case). Having spoken to a lot of people about doing the DClin, I finally decided it isn't for me- I would advise you to really make sure you know what the job actually involves by speaking to qualified clinical psychologists and people on the training course. From speaking to these people I have realised that I held a somewhat distorted and idealistic view of what it would mean to be a clinical psychologist, and a lot of my friends had done too. However, there's no reason you can't do both! A girl in our department has just finished her PhD in Psychology and has been accepted onto the DClin, and another friend of mine applied this year for the DClin and at the interview was advised to get a PhD first- doing a PhD seems to be viewed as a valid way of getting clinical experience now. Then you would be able to combine research and practise- although many people who do this say that the practise side of things tends to dominate. Thr PhD application process can be scary, but isn't so bad! You could either apply for an advertised PhD (see findaphd.com to search for one!) or devise your own and find someone who might be willing to supervise it and apply for funding for it that way. With your 2 degrees and experience you would be in a very strong position to get a fully-funded PhD. If you have any more questions you are welcome to PM me! Best, KB

Hey Joanley. Some folk say that it's better to move to a different university, but personally I wouldn't move to a different university for the sake of it. I have done my BSc, MSc, and now my PhD at the same university, and certainly have no regrets. The main thing is to be in the best pace to carry out your PhD- if that is where you are, then stay there. If it isn't, then move! At the end of your PhD you will be judged on the publications you have, who you have been working with, and on conferences you have presented at- but the main thing will be the publications. So you need to be in the place where you know your supervisors are doing well and have a good reputation for producing good research, you need to be in the place where you are sure you will get quality supervision, and preferably in a department which scores highly on the RAE or other measures of research quality. And of course, in a place where you will be happy to live! I fully intend to stay on at my university for a post-doc if I can- I have absolutely no reason to move and every reason to stay put! I have asked a few members of staff at my uni about whether they would look down on someone who stayed in the same place for a long time if they were recruiting for a position- and a lot said that actually, it can look really good. The university have clearly fought for the funding to keep you on, so you must be a good researcher for them to want to hang onto you for that long! Some of the staff I asked also said that it really wouldn't matter either way, you would be judged on your work, your publications, and your supervisors. So they're the things you need to be thinking about (in my opinion!), although others might disagree with me! Best, KB

Hey Button- it depends on your PhD really, and whether you are lab based or will be out testing participants during the day time etc. Personally I wouldn't have a hope of doing my PhD if I was working 2 1/2 days per week on something else, but others from different subjects that are more flexible (i.e. not being committed to a lot of lab work or a lot of testing between the hours of 9-5 Mon-Fri) might find it quite possible. So depends on what your PhD involves really! Best, KB

Hey Bonzo! Sounds like you need a bit of time-out to me to have a think about things and work out what you want. I have just had a couple of weeks off and I didn't go away (except to a 3-day conference I was presenting at) and I can't tell you how much better things are after just a little bit of time away from work. I know our situations are not the same (I wasn't thinking about quitting, I was just burnt out and needed some me-time!) but a little time off and a bit of relaxation can help you see things more clearly and give you the energy to make decisions and put them into practice. It sounds pretty tough if you are out of funding and still got a long way to go, so a breather will do you some good whatever you decide! Best, KB

Hey there! As far as I know, the masters is:

40%-59% Pass
60%-69% Merit
70% + Distinction

At least, that's what it is at my uni, I think it's the same acrosds the board though!
Best, KB

Hey Ev! Well as long as you have some substance to your presentation then I don't think you should worry about it too much. I have just got back from quite a big conference in my field and loads of people presented something that wasn't at the stage that the abstract has suggested. There was one presentation where the topic was proposed, the presenter suggested how they might go about carrying the project out and then asked the audience for thoughts and feedback! My presentation differed from my abstract because when I wrote the abstract, the preliminary data suggested one thing, and by the time I did the presentation I had more data which suggested something different and basically changed the conclusion. And I wasn't the only one who did this- if you say something with the best of intentions and then end up changing your mind then I don't think it really matters- that's the nature of research and projects very rarely get carried out exactly as stipulated in the project proposal! Best of luck with it, KB