do you have to go in everyday or can you work from home? What would you all suggest?

I guess arrogance is practice for when ur an academic... right Stu?!

No Thanks Clive

you might find that when you actually get round to starting your PhD, you may need to employ a bit more tact and diplomacy than you have sometimes demonstrated on this website. May i suggest you start practicing now?

sue - thank god someone is concentrating on the task in hand!

Brair and Mia, I am totally committed to doing a PhD. I have just finished a MSc in the same department where I got asked if I wanted to stay and do this PhD. The city is not particularly one where I would want to live for another 3 years but the department is the world's best for that field (my supervisor and personal tutor are very well known) so I couldn't really say no.

It took a bit of convincing with my mother (good indian girls stay at home and do what their parents say) my argument being, I haven't met anyone to marry yet and if I don't get married within the next three years I will be kicking myself. Luckily my dad and grandad were on my side even though my grandma keeps going on about wanting to see her great-grandchildren before she dies, oh the pressures!

Regarding the work space, a lot of people (myself included) don't have their own work space, this will depend on how rich the dept is. I think working part -time is more of an issue, I tried and found it too difficult, but after a year I got some funding to go full-time. However it can be OK if you are good at time management and are very committed.

I am a first class engineering graduate interested in pursuing a PhD at UK or German universities. I am trying to access funding to do so. can Anyone advise about sources of funding for international students?

I would like to Phd in germany. can anyone suggest me Phd forum or website where I can find about scholarship programs

It's quite common to receive a AUD$7000/yr top-up grant to support an Australian PhD. I think you must align your topic to make the grant organisation happy (a CRC, govt funding body, charity or private company). The minimum grant is barely enough to survive on (~AUD17,000/yr tax-free I think), so it's well recommended applying for top-ups. The Industry related PhD scholarships pay ~AUD24K/yr. Ask your supervisors for help.

I start mine in November as I don't finish my MSc til October, and I need to get result confirmation, which will take a few weeks. My project is sponsored by a company and not a funding body (such as the EPSRC). So the start date is flexible.

I can't help it I do tend to worry about stuff. I'm going to Liverpool. I feel like I have not done enough reading.

Don't be scared ! I had my first meeting today and it was okay. Having a proper meeting next week to really discuss things properly once i've had a good read through some stuff. Very excited, my officemates are all really cool!

I started mine last week, loving it so far, don't be too scared, there's lots of people in the same boat. No one expects you to be great straight away, you are there to learn!

1) If you are registered for a part-time PhD then you should have adequate time to complete your research. Be realistic about how long it will take you to complete it's very common for full time students to take longer than 3 years. Would it be possible to reduce your working hours at?

2. I had little space at work for storage so I got a couple of filing cabinets (fairly cheap from Argos) for home and used them to store the bulk of my papers. Have you got (could you get?) a laptop or a home desktop?

These are legitimate concerns but it would be a shame if you have to turn down a great project. Have you discussed these fears with your prospective supervisor? Perhaps he/she will be able to reassure you and/or find solutions esp. the lack of desk space/computer issues. Good luck.