No one really cares what at kind of pass you get for a PhD. It's about getting the PhD. (:

Is it just really frustrating because it isn't your way of seeing it completely - or is it something you profoundly / fundamentally disagree with and do not want your name to (e.g., do you think it is a false conclusion is being drawn / inferences will be drawn and implications made that you disagree with?). To me, there is a difference. If it's the former, then perhaps you might as well just get on with it if there is no easy way out - these things happen and when you aren't the senior person sometimes you have to just go with the flow. More freedom will come later.

Hello! Congrats on interview! 4 mins is very short so they aren't expecting anything in depth. If it is powerpoint, I'd aim for a few slides with some basic info on - basically what you said.

Hi Hannah

I think this sounds positive and you've nothing to lose by meeting and finding out if they have other funding for your PhD project. Re travel costs, you could say I would love to meet in person but do not currently have funding to travel from NI so could we arrange to meet by Skype? That way, if they preferred to meet in person and did want to help with costs then they could offer (as is the case with some job interviews), but if this is off the cards then at least you aren't making anyone uncomfortable by asking directly. You know your own circumstances (e.g. can't self fund) so just bear all that in mind and be up front about it if it is raised in the conversation.

Hope it leads to something positive!

Hmm, now I hear more of the context I am thinking why not self fund then? You'd have to be prepared for the stresses of it though. I would still be looking to get funding myself if I were you. But if you are really impatient and want to just get started...

But why use your savings when you could get funding? You could use the year to do other valuable stuff - such as some paid research assistance work (and more saving!) and getting valuable experience etc while also identifying a bunch of opportunities to apply for - so that you have a good chance of getting funding. This would be my strategy. The personal loss (financially) of funding that first year and then the stress and strain of trying to obtain funding for the remaining years... I wouldn't choose this option UNLESS I had tried many times to get funding and failed and was looking for some alternative route in. If that is the case, then I do think that self funding sounds a good strategy. I have one friend who did this for the first year (or it may have turned into more than a year). It was stressful but it got her doing the PhD when she might not have got the funding otherwise, as her grades weren't considered competitive enough. As far as I recall she did manage to secure some bits of funding to help, but it was a lot of stress.

Congrats on getting shortlisted for an interview. You've got some time to do a bit of reading around the project and make some slides that make you seem like an ideal candidate :) Even though you might not have directly transferable experience, you'll probably be surprised at how things are related and transferable once you brainstorm. They have seen your application and obviously think you meet the standard. Some of the interview will just be asking you things that you've already told them in the application. At least mine was. Do some prep, be confident, and try and enjoy the experience!

That's such a good point! I probably spent less than 10% of the time doing actual work...

I think mine came a few weeks later, but this was during the summer. I'm pretty sure you can apply for your visa without having the official proof of the award. You just need your job offer letter.

Hi Dominoes20

Sorry to hear about your situation. Do you think that you could learn the necessary mathematics and hard skills if you had more time? I think the best thing to do would be to speak to a few people so you get a balanced view and hopefully some support. Could you meet with the lecturer, and then maybe your personal tutor/academic advisor and just say what you've said here? You can then find out options (eg. Is there an option to redo coursework during the next summer if it fails), and you can make a plan of action.

Tudor

*emit

Also just to add, you can get these non-prescription glasses that block out blue light. They make screen work easier for some people. I am not sure if they reduce damage though.

Could you contact the uni and ask for details of the leaflet? Depends how desperate you are to have this!

Thank you for providing more context. How about asking your supervisor how you can get a first authored paper? It sounds as though he runs the lab and has a strategy about papers and projects. If he realises you aren't happy to take no as an answer, he may start to include your interests in that strategy. I think this would need a conversation where he saw that you were serious and not about to easily back down. But also I don't think it would help to say you want to use the existing results that he already has plans for. You could see what he says when you state your position about needing an opportunity to publish some first author papers during your PhD. I'd say papers plural, as then you're more likely to get at least one paper out of a negotiation.

Alongside this, I would look for other opportunities. I was in quite a fix during my. PhD and managed to start a collaboration with a researcher whose work I had admired for years. I simply approached them at a conference and told them which paper I really loved. They then said, oh I didn't get a chance to see your poster, could you email it me after the conference? That set up the communication between us. Then I saw funding being offered for short trips to work with a researcher abroad, and I asked them if they'd be interested in hosting me. They said yes. My supervisors agreed. And basically quite a few good things came out of this, including a paper. I think this is quite a unique case, but it's something you could try.

Aside from this, finishing the PhD is something in itself and it isn't the end of the world if you don't publish a paper from it. As I mentioned in my first reply, it might take longer to secure a postdoc because of the competition. And you might need to settle for an RA job where you can publish first.