Hi everyone!
I just got another rejection for a PhD position - I've lost exact count, but nearing the 40 rejections mark. I think I might do something to celebrate when I get to 50.
Just a quick question...around how many phd positions did you guys apply for and how many got rejected? Just trying to get a feel for what's normal - though I certainly don't want this many to feel normal.

Thank you guys for your responses. Your own experiences are encouraging :-). I suppose I just have to keep trying.
The thought that I find depressing, but which makes sense too from the supervisor's perspective, is that they would write a project for the research being done at their lab by their PhD's and postdocs. But there would also be quite a few Master's students and perhaps undergrads too associated with the lab - so they would definitely be their first pick. Then would be students graduating from that department itself, perhaps whom their colleagues speak of. It seems like an ever-vanishing probability of being picked if you are an international student.

As for sending my own proposal, I really didn't want to. But I'd tried absolutely everything else, and nothing worked - so I thought, might as well! Oddly enough, I've gotten a better response - even the number of profs who've responded (to my very long emails!) has gone up. It would be a great idea for me to secure funding for it from somewhere, but I don't know how. Just shoot it off to random R&D companies?

happyclappy, thanks a lot for that link. It has a number of positions advertised that aren't in academicpositions.eu, euraxess and naturejobs. Anyone have a "favourite" website they used to hunt on? How about the site on which you found your position?

From your responses, it seems there are a fair number of international students in UK unis - I guess I should give them a shot. I got kind of discouraged because most of the funding seems to be for UK/EU. But I'll look into it again now!

Thanks for the info about UK unis. I haven't tried too many of them though, because most of the funded positions require UK/EU students like you mentioned. Very few positions for international students.

I agree that its rare in engineering to propose your own project but, its only when I sent over a bit of an abstract about what I wanted to do, that I received my only ever consent from a professor for supervision. However, this abstract I wrote after racking my brains for 5 months, concentrates more on developing a new mathematical technique for electronics, not the electronics itself. So, now I have the approval of a mathematics professor to supervise me, but the difficulty of applying to a mathematics department, without a mathematics degree which is a requirement for admission there :-(
It might not seem like much, but its the closest I've gotten. Everything else has been a "no".

I'm in electronics engineering - specifically computational electromagnetics.
Well, its good that you got to the interview stage twice...I've never gotten that far. When I apply for a specific project, the "feedback" has always been a rejection ("We received lots of good applications...blahblah...its not you, so sorry, best of luck blahblah").
I wrote about 2 good ideas I had for PhD topics into a kind of an abstract format. Whenever I've sent them to prof's, they've always said they are very good ideas, but they don't have any positions. I've had short discussions back and forth about the ideas too, and its always been very positive (I understand profs don't often use exclamation marks, or email :-).
Unfortunately, I'm applying from overseas for all these positions, so I can't actually go around and meet the people. Anyone have experience of being an international applicant? Is it always a disadvantage?

Aaaand another round of rejections for PhD positions. I've been sitting jobless and useless for about 2 years now after my Masters - must've gotten through nearly a hundred PhD applications and rejections. The only other thing I do is publish in my field through some previous colleagues - a feeble attempt to expand my CV, though not that it seems to matter.
I was wondering if you guys know whether a majority of PhD positions are already given out before they are advertised. My experience speaks overwhelmingly in the favor of that hypothesis. I've come to the conclusion that ALL positions are actually written for a Masters/undergrad student already in the prof's lab. So, in essence, its impossible for someone to actually change a university going from Masters to PhD like I want to. Anyone done that? Is there any hope? Anyone here applied for a position at another university from another country and got admitted? Was it an advertised position, or did you work out a proposal?
Anything, really anything would be helpful at this point. At least a good story might lift my spirits a bit - even if its not my story.

Hi Fled,
I've done it during my Masters quite a bit (haven't gotten into PhD yet!), and do intend to continue it. Chasing one subject all day, every day, can get quite tiring and frustrating, no matter how much you like it.
Plus, exploring a different field does help in maintaining perspective sometimes. Different fields have different research methods, tools, evaluation principles, etc. Researching a different field may sometimes show you how habitual and rigid your own thinking patterns have become over time in one subject :-)
Also - especially in the sciences - it can end up being surprisingly useful in your main research work. I ended up applying some mathematical techniques I picked up while publishing in one field, to run analyses on my Master's dissertation in engineering.
If you have the time, and would like to try it out, I'd definitely recommend it.

Sent.

found. drop me a message about where to send it.

Hi everyone,
Hope you are having an enjoyable holiday season. I want to ask you all for advice in writing a proposal/inquiry email about a new idea:

1) How safe is it to send new, original ideas in proposals/inquiry emails? I've already sent watered down versions of a new idea that I had, but haven't received positive responses - probably because I diluted it too much. I don't want my idea taken, because I believe it has a certain amount of novelty. But then, how do I present it as a powerful idea worth exploring?

2) Would you still be able to use an idea for pursuing PhD if you patent/publish it already? While I'm desperate to continue PhD, I'm also desperate that no one gets to this technique first. I've noticed a lot of researchers in literature dancing around the idea especially recently. I'm thinking of contacting my former supervisor and asking if we could look into patenting it. If it isn't patentable, I would like to publish it. But would that stop/delay me from pursuing it as a PhD topic in a university elsewhere (IP rights, etc)?

Would be really grateful for any advice. Thanks!

Not that I know of. One of the reasons being that there isn't quite the same level of international R&D collaboration in Asia as there is in Europe. So, I don't think there is an umbrella management scheme for R&D that exists within the EU.
I'd suggest checking the usual PhD sites like findaphd.com and phdjobs.com and specifying Asian countries in the search.

Found the last one, don't have access to the other two.
Inbox me about how you want me to send it.

Hi Incognito,
Was hoping you'd have some luck with getting a job :(.
I'm still stinging from a polite rejection from a PhD position just yesterday. I had sent it with a tailor-made proposal for the department to extend their work. I mentioned their staff and cited their papers in it. But no.
So I don't suppose I have any advice...just support :). Keep at it! Something's got to work out.

What really ticks me off is employer attitude these days, because I've been on the other side of the table. During our Master's studies, two of my friends and I set-up a reasonably successful technology start-up. We read and replied to nearly every application during our hiring process (I know the rate...6 hours gets you through 71 applicants!) - with minimal pay, and Master's theses to complete!
These days, well-paid fully staffed HR departments are unwilling to even look at applications, and prefer to put up barriers against people applying. It's a real shame!

I eventually left the startup I helped to establish precisely because our investing shareholders were heavy-handing the company into much more "profit-centric" policies. Desperate for money, the company complied.

Wish you the best of luck, and hoping you'll find a place soon. Keep firing those applications! You have to hit a target eventually - even by random chance :)
In the meantime, best to try and enjoy the holiday season with friends and family - after all, they are the ones that are important.

Thank you so much for your replies.

Incognito, sorry to hear that you're in the same spot as me for your post-doc. Like you said, the admissions process is a joke - it gives the impression of being one of those employment black holes, where you send your CV, and nothing comes back, yet someone gets hired by some hidden voodoo criteria.

Yes, happyclappy and UKPhDStudent, I know no one would like a smart alec :D. Generally, I approach them like: "hey, in that paper you've done this, in my paper i did this, i think we can mash the two together and do this. Or, if you don't like that, how about anything else you'd like to do? I'm good at this and this." Its very polite and supportive/suggestive, and not critical. Is it a good idea to approach them like this?
As Incognito pointed out, I should liase with them, rather than just email. I've even done that in the above manner, without even mentioning that I'd like a PhD position. Sometimes I don't get replies. Sometimes I get replies saying the ideas are great. When I mention PhD...silence.

As for the quality of my applications - I'm sure they could be improved - but I generally try do the same thing. Read about the prof, read their/review papers in the field, and tailor-write every application. What do you think should be emphasized? Ideas? My technical skills? My motivation? Relevance? Anything I'm missing?
In some places I've read you should write extensively about your motivation & skills - perhaps even a personal story. In other places, I've read that profs don't like when you just enumerate your CV, and want to hear how much you keep in touch with research. I've tried both without result.

Thanks again for the replies. Wish you the best with the post-doc hunt Incognito.

Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum, and I'm posting because I've had absolutely no luck in getting a PhD position over the past year, and I'm completely at my wit's end as to why.

I have a 1st class B.Eng, scoring in top 2% of my graduating class. My uni isn't HIGHLY ranked, but the program is internationally recognized (Washington Accord). I did my M.Sc. there due to personal reasons, and I graduated with a 3.7 CGPA. I've been in research since my undergrad days and have published 15 papers including an invited book chapter; and in reputed conferences from Korea to Canada. My citation count is at 15.
I've worked insanely hard to fit everything in my CV from an early age. RA-ships, TA-ships, conducting engineering software workshops, a practical engineering job - heck, I've been in "side" published research with two other unis.

All this, and I cannot get a single positive reply for PhD. I never thought it would be easy...but I've written short emails, long emails, enclosed a proposal (I've written 3 different ones, with recent relevant references), reorganized my CV, tailor-made cover letters, you name it! I've emailed profs, giving them ideas on their own papers! My applications count is nearing 100 and NOTHING so far.
I've read countless articles about tips for cover letters, CV's, how to email profs, etc. and have reworked it all numerous times with different approaches: show-off, modest, polite, straightforward.

Does anyone have ANY idea what I might be doing wrong?? I'm literally near a breakdown :-(

I'm very sorry for the ranting post, but I joined because I really do need help. I've done everything I think I could possibly do alone.