Thank you waterbaby for this. This is helpful, although I would appreciate a lot if you could give me some further details about the questions they ask, as well as about the answers they want to hear during the interview. I'm from romania, and will be a lot easier for me to come to the uk in flesh (i like this!) after 1 jan when my country joins the eu. However my proposed supervisor told me that they might want to set up the interview earlier, so I think we'll do a webcast int next week. Do they require the highest standards of performance from a non-native English speaking student? I got an ielts score of 8, so I'm fine, but I'm afraid that I might not satisfy their expectations, and that was my main question: what do they expect during an interview, a faultlessly academic speech, or is it going to be easy as long as my references, supervisor's support etc are very good? My weakest point however is that I hold a 2i and a postgrad certificate - will that count much? Thanks.

Hi again psychstudent!

In answer to your questions!

What do they ask? They are really interested in YOU and what kind of student you are! They will ask a lot about your previous studies and your any postgraduate work you have done, they will prob ask why you want to do a PhD and ask why Manchester, But you shouldnt worry too much about it after all you are probably the world expert on yourself! They prob will ask one or 2 questions that make you feel uncomfortable but they are trying to see how you react under pressure so dont worry too much!

Its difficult for me to comment on the english speaking element myself as im a british student, I think that so long as you meet the requirements on your ilets score then you will be fine ( I assume it goes on your application so if you hadent met it then you wouldnt have been offered an interview!)

Lastly I you will be fine with a 2:1 and a postgrad certificate ( I have a 2:1 and a masters) so no probs then!

AS far as interview goes then I think that your references are important but dont worry if you dont understand something just ask them to re-phase it, if you still dont understand then be honest just say you dont know they are senior lecturers/department heads they have spent past 20-40 years working on subject so of course they will have heard of things you may have not.....they dont expect you to know everything!

Good luck im sure you will be fine!!!

UAU waterbaby, do you always write so encouraging words as these? You've practically demolished all myths regarding killer-type interviewers! It would be so good if it was as you said. My supervisor told me maybe we should meet on the web earlier so that he could make me familiar to the interview scenario (he's actually TOO kind if he wants to do that). I have one last question: how many applicants do they usually shortlist? Please bear in mind that this year they only advertised the Strategic Studentships 12 days prior to the closing date, that they posted 40 fully-funded studentships (my God, they are rich!), and that at least 12 of the projects suited Psychology graduates. I guess I keep encouraging myself that there aren't too many strong candidates competing..

I think at this point I should point out I thought my interview went terribly and there was no wasy I ahd got it!! But I did!

For my interview there were 3 of us there for the PhD I had applied for so if they call you to interview then they definately are already interested in you. I acctually didnt get the one I applied for but they offered me another one that was available but hadnt been advertised yet! SO you never know if the supervisors like you they may keep you in mind for other PhDs that come up!
If you dont get it then its worth remembering that once you become part of the EU it is often easier to find fully funded PhD studentships in the UK once youre from an EU state!

Thanks a lot for this waterbaby. Now I got a sense of how this process of selection usually goes. It's good to know that there may be further chances, however, it would be really good if I got there from my first try. I'm waiting for them to tell me when will the web conference be. 3-4 candidates isn't too much, so this is, I'm saying again, reassuring. My country will join the eu in less than a month, so I'm practically eligible for EU funding. Good luck with your work, and I'll keep you posted of the outcome. Or, better: I'll meet you there (i.e. Manchester Medical School)