You can take up to 8 weeks (including 8 public holidays) - equivalent to 32 days plus public holidays.

Not many people take all 8 weeks.

Look out for CASE or CAST studentships. These PhDs involve some time working with an industrial sponsor and carry an extra £2000 per year on top of a normal research council studentship.

Almost everybody wants to give up at some point during their PhD, but the majority of these carry on to successfully complete their PhD. If you're serious about stopping, then the MPhil is a good option. But in the words of Albert Einstein 'If we knew what we were doing it wouldn't be called research would it?'

Supervisors will often interview you on the phone.

See the JASON database for details of grants in Australia

Barry, the chances are that your fees will be paid for you, but not all studentships are the same. Contact the university or your new supervisor and they will tell you what is covered by your grant.

Most Arts, Humanities and Social Science PhDs require a masters degree from candidates. Have a look at our guide to PhDs in the Arts & Humanities

You should be fine. Obviously when recruiting postdocs employers are looking for people with experience in particular techniques, but luckily for you there is a shortage of postdoc candidates in a lot of areas of research.

See our Funding and PhDs Explained sections for links and information.

A PhD in New Zealand is as good as a PhD from the UK - what is generally most important is the international reputation of your individual supervisor in their field rather than the country, university or department they work in. It should take 3 years (although 4 is possible).

I'm afraid the ad for these studentships was withdrawn from FindAPhD. We would suggest searching the internet for "EIMID-EST PhD Programme".

You can do a PhD even if you don't want to go into academia, but you should get some careers advice. Find out if it is appropriate for what you want to do.

Yep

It's likely that your fees will be covered by the department. However, if you are from outside the EU you may have to make up the difference between the home and overseas student fees yourself. Check with the department as the rules for departmentally funded studentships are set by the department - they will be happy to tell you where you stand.

Ask your university and let us know what they say. A part-time PhD could take 5-6 years. Part-time fees should be half. Your right to work in the UK as an international student would usually only allow you to do paid work for 20 hours per week and would not allow you to pursue a career by taking a permanent full-time vacancy. You can apply to the home office for permission to accept the post if it is more than 20 hours per week or a permanent position.