In most of the arts and humanities a Masters degree is important - particularly if you're after funding.

Queries are deleted when they are unlikely to get answered. In this case somebody may well answer your question. Sometimes less relevant posts are moved to the 'General' section of the forum. It really depends what skills are required for the PhD. In many cases you may not need to know much about clinical health practices to investigate an IT related aspect. In others a detailed knowledge of health care may be more important than IT skills.

You need to find a supervisor who is an expert in the area you are interested in. If you want funding for your project an academic will have to apply for it.

Pp, you're right to suggest that a good standards of oral and written English are needed to complete a PhD in the UK.

However, you should not make the mistake of judging peoples fluency from the posts that they place on this forum. It offers no facility for users to correct any mistakes once they have posted them, consequently most threads on the forum contain any number of mistakes.

Rasel, presumably you have already passed the required English language exams for entrance to a UK university. Once you are living and working in the UK your English will improve considerably.

Whilst your asking your tutors for references you should talk to them about the kind of areas you are interested in researching. You should find them a great source of information and advice.

Dear Badali

Search the project database here at www.findaphd.com. When you find people offering projects in the area you are interested in write to them stating the research you'd like to carry out and that you have a government scholarship. You will also need an English language qualification. See our Funding and PhDs Explained sections for links and information.

Visit http://education.pwv.gov.za/DoE_Sites/Higher_Education/Opp_HE/opportunities_in_higher_educatio.htm for a list of higher education scholarships in South Africa.

Presentation skills are all part of the PhD training and an essential part of any career in academia (and industrial research). Most people get much better from their first attempts - some even get very good at it. The key often is just to know what you're talking about, which can be difficult with an undergraduate project.

All applicants (including home students) to UK universities need and English language qualification. See our Funding and PhDs Explained sections for links and information.

Unless you are funded by your own government most funding schemes require that you have been offered a place before you apply. However even partial funding is very hard to come by and you may need to be prepared to provide at least some of the funds yourself.

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

You cannot do a PhD without the involvement of a university. However a small number of opportunities do exist to do a PhD which is industrially based, but with academic (university) supervision.

Pp's points are also very relevant.

Don't forget your studentship will be tax free and that you can also boost your income with demonstrating or tutorial work - this money will also be tax free up to your income tax personal allowance.

If your ideas do not fit a model currently in practice and you don't want to present a feasibility study then you may be left with no way to progress your research. Every new idea needs a starting point. Is there a system outside of the area of development studies which is analogous to the case study you're looking for?

What you really need to do is discuss your ideas with academics in development studies who might be interested in your ideas. They may well be able to find a way to help you shape your ideas into a viable PhD project.

Contact the NHS and explain that you are unable to make it that day as you have another interview and can they reschedule. You don't have to tell them what the job is for. If they won't move it, contact Edinburgh and ask them the same question. Both organizations have strict equal opportunities policies and will not discriminate against you, just because you've got an interview elsewhere - they'll probably be pleased to know that you're in demand.

If you can't find an example to study in the real world then you'll either have to create a trial or a model to help you investigate your theory.