You can start a PhD at any time of year, but most funding becomes available in October and so that's when most PhDs start. A few projects do get advertised for a January start and there are always a few October places unfilled (due to people pulling out or not getting the right grades), where a later start is possible. There's no harm in keeping your eye out for these.

Is this a question? - If so 13000 a year in Sheffield is plenty to live on. If this grant is from a UK research council, then you will not need to pay your own fees as they will also pay those for you (at the home student rate). If you are not a UK/EU student then you will probably need to pay the difference between the home and international fees.

Sheffield is a great place and the home of FindAPhD.

Helping a new student will be invaluable experience if you intend to continue in academia.

It can be tricky to keep these two separate, but your suggestions for what to include in your 'evidence' are correct. The personal statement should be more focused on your motivations, what aspects of the work interest you and what you'd like to achieve.

It depends what your MA course was in, what grades you received in both your undergraduate and masters degrees and whether or not you have a good research proposal.

There can be some variation in the financial level of studentships from different funding bodies, but it doesn't matter which one of them does it or if you fund it yourself - it's still a PhD - and it's only a PhD if you submit your thesis and pass your viva.

If you have a good grade in your first degree and good references then you should have a good chance.

For information on training to be a teacher in the UK visit www.teach.gov.uk. To find which universities offer undergraduate teaching degrees visit www.ucas.com. If you already have an undergraduate degree you can do a 1 year PGCE to qualify as a teacher - visit the graduate teacher training registry www.gttr.ac.uk for a full list of course providers.

If you want to progress in academia then you need to have a PhD. Working as a research assistant will not help you to progress in the same way. The best option is to get a research assistantship with a supervisor who will also let you register for a part time PhD. That way you get the money and the training (usually 'part time' PhD's of this nature take the same time as an ordinary PhD, but as you are in employment you can't be registered as a full time student).

Is supervisor A from University A. What does your supervisor at university B think. Doues your thesis plan include research conducted whilst you were at university A?

Part 1
In the sciences and engineering the UK research councils do not accept funding applications from students. As far as I'm aware this also applies to the Wellcome Trust and most other charities which fund scientific research. Studentships are applied for by academics who submit a research proposal to a research council or charity. This is reviewed by experts in the field to see if the project is viable and achievable for a PhD. The academic then advertises for a student. Other research council studentships are allocated directly to departments (based on their RAE rating). These are usually allocated to a shortlist of project proposals from academics who then compete to attract the best student (the one with the best student gets the funding). Occasionally some departments choose to allocate these studentships by inviting research proposals from students and you'll have to check their web sites/press adverts to see if this applies. This is not a very common approach as departments who do this are putting recruiting the best students as a higher priority than pursuing the precise research interests of their academics. It is also difficult in many highly specialised and complex areas of science to expect a new graduate to be able to formulate a coherent research proposal.

Part 2
An increasing number of 4-Year (or New-Route) PhDs are becoming available. For the first year the student has some formal seminars and moves from lab to lab to get experience of different research groups. After the first year they can select a supervisor to work with for the next three years - however this does not mean they will have their own research proposal taken on.

In other words in science and engineering the funding (and usually the research proposal) almost always comes before the student. Obviously if you have access to your own funds then you will be in a better position.

If you can convince an academic to apply for funding for your own research proposal and they are successful you should be able to start within 12 months. However funding is hard to get and most academics will be more inclined to apply for funding for their own research ideas rather than yours.

Once you have a PhD place you will usually have some input into the direction of the project. Look for academics who are working in the area you are interested in, discuss with them whether or not your ideas can fit in with the research project(s) they have on offer.

As Annn says as long as you fullyfill the funding criteria (residency status, qualifications, etc) then it would usually mean fees and living expences. Do you have a link to the ad?

Unfortunately posts such as this rarely attract a reply. You need to contact relevant supervisors directly. You should include a short description of the area of research which interests you. That way the supervisor will no that you've contacted them specifically and not just sent an email to every infectious diseases researcher. Very few, if any, supervisors have sources of funds that can make up the sort of funding deficit you are talking about - any funding they have available will be as a result of applications made specifically based on your research topic.

Because this forum receives a large number of requests like yours we do move them to the General section of the forum so that posts which are more likely to receive a reply are more visible.

Good luck with your search.

A distinction in a UK Masters degree will depend on how well you have performed in exams. In many cases greater weight will be given to the performance in your dissertation. Whether or not a distinction is imperative for admission to a PhD will depend on the subject area and the competition for places at that time.