It sounds like your grant is indeed an EPSRC doctoral training account. This means that the university is not obliged to provide you with an increased grant, however we would expect some additional funding to be available. It might be worth contacting the supervisor again to find out how much is on offer.

Have you considered subjects related to graphic design, computer animation, computer aided design. That way you may be able to combine your two aptitudes.

Unfortunately such questions are inevitable. We could make the forum more difficult to find, ensuring that visitors go to the search page first, then to PhDs explained etc, before being allowed on the forum. However, we don't think hiding the forum is a good solution. What we do do is move such posts into the 'General' section of FindAPhD or delete the ones that have absolutely no chance of an answer.

Within the next couple of months this forum will be expanding and will have a more explicit 'Removed Threads' section which will be the dumping ground for many of the posts you describe. It will give reasons why a thread has been removed - thus allowing the person who wrote it the chance to re-phrase their message.

Well spotted Mac, you're absolutely right, doctoral training accounts do work differently and do give the freedom to departments to award higher stipends. DTAs are relatively new and we should have double checked the rules for all research councils before replying.

Probably, but check with a careers adviser. Contact the Public Health Laboratory Service to ask what qualifications they want their staff to have.

Negotiating your stipend from a research council is not possible. They have set rules for allocation of funding and will stick to them. This does not mean that you won't be able to claim extra money according to your circumstances, it just means you'll either qualify for extra money or you won't. What are your circumstances and which research council is providing your funding?

A few supervisors, with very large research groups have large slush funds. It is not unheard of for them to use this money to support students, but this usually only occurs when a candidates grant has run out and they need some extra time to do research. Very few supervisors are in a position to do this - if you don't want to give a very bad impression then we would not recommend broaching this subject.

University hardship funds can be applied for. Each university has a different policy on allocation, but the best advice would probably be to apply early.

If the papers you've been given are a mixture of review articles and research papers make sure you start by reading the reviews. They'll be easier to read and will help put the research papers in context when you get to them.

As a tip for any future interviews, it is always a good idea to ask when you are likely to hear about any decision. In this case, you could email them to say thank you for the interview and then ask if they know when they will be making a decision. If you don't want to do this then just wait until about 1 week after the interview and phone or email them with the same question.

The FindAPhD team is made up of the four people who run the site. We answer less than 10% of the posts on this forum. This is either because they have been answered effectively by other forum contributors, or in many cases because we don't know and can't find the definitive answer. We often use the internet to research or check answers to posts, on other occasions we check answers with current/former PhD students and academics across a number of disciplines.

Many of the answers placed by the FindAPhD team advise that students take advice from relevant academics in their area of study. This is precisely because it is not possible to have knowledge and experience of practices in every subject area.

Other content on this site under the name FindAPhD Team is either written by one of the team or commissioned from a relevant expert. In order to run a successful business it is part of our job to know as much as possible about how the PhD process works. One of the reasons we provide and maintain this free forum is to keep ourselves up to date with the issues that concern those looking for a PhD. We hope that the forum also helps potential PhD students shed some light on what can often seem a mysterious process.

The EngD is equivalent in academic standing to a PhD, and includes taught coursework in areas such as management, personal development and technical areas. The EngD aims to provide a more vocationally oriented doctorate that meets the needs of industry. The traditional UK PhD contains little or no taught element.

I'm afraid we can't comment on whether the EngD has been successful in providing industry with the high-flyers it was designed to create. Hopefully some people who have done, are doing or have recruited EngDs will add their views.

You need to consult people in your area of interest about this. There are no hard and fast rules.

Having looked at this, we believe that when using this tax checker full time students you should not include their studentship grant in the earnings entry as it is a tax free amount. That may explain why it said your demonstrating money is not eligible.

Having said this, it is dangerous to make assumptions when it comes to the inland revenue so we would recommend contacting them directly for advice.

If you do not make the changes required by the examiners they can fail you or award you an MPhil. This will be up to them, not your supervisor. As it is likely that your supervisor is on your side, it would probably be wise to take his advice.

A maintenance grant is one designed to cover your living expences. It will usually be tax free if you are a full time student.

In that case go for the PhD. Funding will be hard to come by, particularly if you want to study part time. If you want to continue in your present job go through the web site(s) of your local university(ies) with a fine tooth-comb looking for potential supervisors. Write to them and see if they'll take you on. If so, you can then begin looking for funding.