I'm also sooooo exhausted. In addition to the struggle of my 1st PhD week I've had loads of freelance work to do during the last 3 days (but of course this helps me paying my PhD!). Mmmmm I think I'll spend the rest of the day lying in my bed and watching DVDs.

... and I haven't done anything other than compile a list of primary sources I need to examine (my project is basically a research of the content of these primary sources) and find out where I can find them and how can I access them.

How was everybody's week? Have you done at least some reading/experiments and not only browsing bibliographical repertoires and library catalogues?

Do you know "Authoring a PhD thesis" by Patrick Dunleavy? Of course it's more useful for people who are already writing up or in advanced stages of their research, but it has a chapter about structuring the thesis in which he names 4 basic structure types (I found it really useful anyway).

Hi, Vince, welcome to the forum! I've just started my PhD (Music, Royal Holloway) and I feel a bit like you, i.e., not confident enough with my skills, my choice of topic (which seemed perfectly feasible when I wrote my research proposal but now seems HUGE...). I try not to worry much about it and I think that as soon as I get into a PhD routine, allowing time to socialize etc, it will be fine (or at least that's what I hope...).

Doesn't the Research Council in your area or some other association organize basic research training for PhD students? This is my first term and I have already signed up for several training sessions (outside the university), they will be probably quite basic as they only last 1 day or so, but I suppose you can always ask the person who gave the conference to provide you with more extensive bibliography. I would also try to look for undergraduate and masters level courses (at your own uni) in this area and try to attend them (in my university PhD students can do that, you only have to ask the lecturer in advance).

Welcome back!

I would really suggest to take a look at the website of the Department/Institute (which should be easily found in Google or other search engine). Usually EU students are not eligible for Research Councils funding, so the only option would be to look for scholarships or assistantships provided by the own university/department (or you can also look for funding in your own country from Government, charities...)

Congratulations!

I also think that the admissions office/ departments should try to assess better the qualifications of international applicants. For example, in Spain many BAs and BScs last not 3 years but 5. In despite of having a 5-year BA (well, in fact 2) and having taken research-related courses while studying it, some universities I contacted insisted that I should study a MA before starting a PhD (so I would have studied for 6 years before the PhD, while home students would have studied during 3 or 4 years only). In my opinion the universities should examine individually the degree requirements and the preparation of applicants with foreign qualifications and not simply assume that a Spanish, Italian, German or American BA is the same thing as a British BA.

In the admissions process, maybe some more information about the British system and its qualifications would be helpful. Sometimes the same department offers a MA, a MSc and a MPhil and it's not easy to know which will be better for your purposes. The information contained in the departmental websites is designed primarily for home students, but some things are not that easy to understand if you come from a different system.

As said before I can only comment on the admissions and induction procedure. Well, I really cannot complain about anything. All the universities I applied to answered to my mails very quickly and were very friendly (both the academic and administration staff). The induction sessions offered by my university about academic matters/ everyday life/ accomodation etc were also very helpful (specially compared with those in Spain, my home country, or Italy, where I did my year abroad - induction sessions were almost nonexistant).

Do you mean just students from outside the UK or "international" students as most universities understand it (ie excluding EU citizens)? I would be glad to help you (well I could only help you in regard to the admission process/registration/induction as I've just started) but I'm EU and I don't know if I qualify.

I studied my second BA (would have to last 2 years as I already had a BA, I ended up spending 3 years) while working FT. My BA was by distance learning so this helped a lot. Basically I also planified carefully in advance (maybe at the beginning of each week) what would I be doing each day after work, allowing a minimum of 2 hours each day and 4-5 on Saturday and Sunday. Well, now it seems awful to think that this was my way of life for 3 years, but it wasn´t really that awful (I suppose that was because I loved my subject).

I guess not everybody who studies and works has such a schedule, I would love to be a bit more spontaneous but I felt that I need one in order to avoid procrastination.

I know exactly how you feel Chris, I was in the same situation as you and had 2 months of agony until the department confirmed me that they would be offering me a full fees scholarship! Congrats again

Which are, in your opinion, the pros and cons of doing your PhD in a small department as opposed to a large department? The department I'm going to do my PhD in has 40-50 PhD students. I find it quite a lot but the staff is also quite numerous (20-25 lecturers and researchers). As I have not started yet I can only imagine which the pros and cons of working in a large department might be:

-More competitivity, less chances of teaching undergraduates (but if the department is so large and has also a large number of undergraduates, there might be need for more teaching assistants).

-Wider range of research interests both among staff and PhD students enabling richer approaches to your own topic (but maybe too confusing if you intend to focus on a very specific area and you are easily attracted and distracted by other's research topics - like me!)

-Less visibility in the department, more chances of remaining "anonymous" (which is not necessarily a bad thing nor a good one).

Which are your views on that? Thanks.