I used to live in Nottingham (did my BSc and MSc there).

North, south? You mean like a conflict over soccer teams? Or like the thing Canada has with the French and English. Excuse my ignorance of British culture.

Sorry to change the direction of the talk but for those in Nottingham, where is a good place to have romantic meal? Currently away at the moment but want to take my girlfriend out for a good meal when I get back to Notts.

In regards to the Leeds/UCL debate. London is good and all but you have to watch your budget. I'd choose Leeds. You get a good degree and can afford to live a little (or alot).

Andy, I wish I could offer advice but I've only been here a few weeks and haven't really seen much of the city centre. Shouldn't be too much worry though, it's huge and there are loads of places to go generally depending on taste and budget. If only my (rich) friend would stop trying to take me to posh cocktail bars all the time...

In the cornerhouse in nottingham (where cineworld is) there are two good restaurants in there, Santa Fe and Saltwater. There is a Nandos on the side of the cornerhouse as well. If you fancy a french restaurant, there is a nice one near the cornerhouse, if you walk down the pestestrianised area (where nandos is) and take a right down the alley way opposite pizza hut, its just down there on the right. Hope this helps you out

Mapleleaf, here's a short &late word of advice: I spent three years in Leeds uni (Sociology BA) and another two in London (doing my MSc). The two places are of course completely different; which one you would enjoy most depends on what you ask from a city. Leeds is a good and affordable undergrad student city with lots of nightclubs, sports events, two unis close to each other and its very own student-ghetto town, Headingley. Stay there for over two years though and you can definitely get bored of it. And pursuing a PhD does take some time!

London on the other hand is a bit harder to get bored of (practically impossible?) as long as you've got enough money... This must be the most ridiculously overpriced city I've been to in my entire life (and I've been in quite a few!). Exchanging canadian dollars into pounds is not gonna help you a lot either. You can either love or hate London; most of the time I do both. (to be continued)

(here goes)

In order to answer your question, I'd have to ask back: a) what kind of financial situation you're in and b) how much of your PhD work is going to be based on research on the actual city. This can be important: there's a huge difference between London's extremely developed and complex transport system and Leeds' much more conventional one.

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to ask any questions here or at gelastospapios@yahoo.com - i rarely check this forum

a.

There is a lovely vegeatarian cafe in Liverpool called the Egg that even has vegan options and soya milkshakes.

As for choosing between Leeds and UCL I agree with DanB - the supervisor and research group are more important than the university. UCL is more known than Leeds generally but that doesn't mean they are better. You really have to go and see them if possible to see which you would prefer. One thing to bear in mind about UCL especially if you are going to an established dept they usually only fund the projects they are interested and won't be too susceptible to new ideas.