The British Council in your home country will be able to help you. Before you apply you could try asking your former course tutors or alternatively you can visit The National Academic Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom. They will give informal advice free of charge. An official 'letter of comparability', which will be accepted by employers, costs £30 (+VAT), but should not be necessary for most universities, who will assess you themselves.

The British Council in your home country will be able to help you. Before you apply you could try asking your former course tutors or alternatively you can visit The National Academic Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom. They will give informal advice free of charge. An official 'letter of comparability', which will be accepted by employers, costs £30 (+VAT), but should not be necessary for most universities, who will assess you themselves.

If you don't get a 2(i) you will need to do a Masters degree before you can apply for a PhD - you may think you're qualified enough, but others won't. If you are considering PhD research you should be aiming to achieve a high 2(i).

It is very common in the UK for application forms to ask about health related issues. You shouldn't worry about it.

Your chances are good. Talk to the pharmaceutical firm that's running your current scheme and see what options they may beb able to offer. Industrially funded studentships usually pay better.

Educational scholarships for PhDs are usually offered to people who wish to study in the country supplying the money or for a resident of that country to study abroad. The way you suggest is unusual, you could try writing to the foreign embassy in Poland to ask if their country has such a scheme for Polish citizens.

You need to sort this out through the support network set up by your department for PhD students. This may be a specific advisor you have been appointed, the postgraduate tutor or the head of department. If they don't provide a suitable solution then you need to decide how important this is to you before taking it further.

Raj's advice probably won't get you very far (by the way Raj, we've edited out your swearing, but it's easier if we don't have to). In the long term, this is only a conference abstract, not a peer reviewed article. It may be anoying, but I don't think much real harm has been done to your future.

You should really speak to your course tutor about this. The careers service will also be helpful. The chances are that with a PhD you will earn more than a new graduate, but probably not more than a graduate who's already been working for three years (while you were doing your PhD). However it is the kind of work you want to get into which is affected by a PhD. The door will be closed to many research jobs (particularly in academia) without PhD level qualifications.

Which subject area are you interested in?

PhDs by Publication are relatively new, but schemes do exist. Generally the previously published work counts towards the PhD, but course work and/or further research still needs to be carried out. As with a PhD by Thesis, the research needs to 'demonstrate an original and significant contribution to knowledge'. A context document or explanatory essay will also need to be submitted (anything from 5000-25000 words). Such degrees are usually only open to people who have a previous association with the university concerned (eg a member of the technical staff).

You should only approach a legitimate university (in the UK any institution with a .ac.uk web address). Beware of institutions which advertise 'Life Experience' PhDs on the internet - if it's not hard work, it won't be worth the paper it's written on.

Just speak to him/her about how you are doing. If you aren't coming up to their standards they'll be happier to find out that it is something you recognise yourself.

You should be fine, it's natural to feel that your not picking things up quickly enough. The usual motivation for companies to sponsor PhD students is to get access to a supervisors expertise, not a students. As far as we are aware the only person in a position to 'let you go' is your academic supervisor, not the sponsoring company. Nobody with any sense is going to judge your performance after only two months. You are obviously worried, so speak to your supervisor within the company and your academic supervisor to find out what is expected of you.

See our Funding and PhDs Explained sections for links and information. If you can't find the information you are looking for here then you will need to search for UK geophysics departments on the internet and read the individual advice/information provided by each department.

Yes and not just to people with firsts. It's hardly best practice and is a risk for the supervisor as they can end up recruiting students who are just after an easy option. You shouldn't let this put you off your potential supervisor, but make sure that the project is something you choose to do because you're interested in it and not because it’s convenient as it means you won't have to spend time applying elsewhere.

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