i guess it boils down to whether you are happy with the idea of continuing part-time. if yes, well, go ahead, focus on one or two big funding applications and hope for the best. if that really is not what you are looking for, perhaps it would be better to defer. you can still work like crazy on those funding applications, your prof should still be willing to help you, and i believe that your chances are higher if you have not yet started your PhD (but do check that). and if the applications don't work out, you can maybe get yourself through 2 years of self-funded full time study before you need to switch to part time, because you will have been able to save up more money.

i was 30 when i started. i think at 25 you are still young, no need to panic. but think about it: if you start now, don't get the funding, switch to part time, you might finish within 6, 7 years in total, plus you would be broke and looking towards unhealthy job prospects. on the other hand, if you wait a year, get that funding, and do your PhD full time, you could be finished in 4 years, plus 1 year "waiting" - you'd still be faster, and you'd have kept your savings, and your time would have been less stressful.

heya,
well, i did get some stuff done, but mostly it was through working on my funding applications. basically what disturbed me most was that every time i met my supervisor, it was to discuss the applications. that was not really what i wanted from her, overall - and i felt bad because i was using so much of her time, and i still didn't get much out of it. i admit i also lost some time simply because every rejection demoralised me and i sometimes found it hard to get back to work. and not knowing if i was going to be able, financially, to continue, also sometimes depressed me and so i wouldn't get out of bed...

young lecturers or research fellows can be very much like us PhD students, especially if we are mature students. some of them are even still writing up their PhD. they do the same things as we do, they get paid for it, they probably teach a bit more than we do and they probably have a bit more experience with this or that. they could be ideal, understanding, supportive partners! i don't see the point in ruling them all out "because there could be problems later on". if you are going to think like that, you can never start a serious relationship!
on the other hand, you did make me curious - what other complications are you worried about? is this person married? are you worried about publicly coming out as gay/straight? are YOU married? would your family or someone object, due to some characteristic of this person? hah--- a mistery!

or in other words: i don't agree with "dating anyone at your workplace is unprofessional". of course, there are limits - your supervisor for example, is out of bounds, IMHO. and of course, there can be problems. but those can arise out of any relationship. i don't see why dating a lecturer at your uni who has nothing to do with you except socially should be more problematic than any other person you could date. say you date a fellow PhD student - you break up - that can be just as akward as if it had been a lecturer. so i don't agree with the hierarchy taboo, either. my partner was going to apply for a position as lecturer at my university - he got another job first, so didn't. but if he had, then i would have been with someone from staff from my uni, and i would not have seen the least problem with that.

until not too long ago, about 80% of all new partners met at their workplace (not always as colleagues though - you can also meet clients, customers, etc.). it has changed a bit by now, with the internet coming in as strong competition, and then leisure activities, which have become more and more important to us.
what i am saying is: if you rule out anyone who works at the same institution as you are at, you need to start internet dating right now - or you'll never get a partner...

swantje, i turned down a funded position in switzerland. that was a really tough decision! the prospective supervisor approached me in the middle of my final master's exams - so i was a bit distracted, but flattered. but after a few meetings it became clear that what he wanted me to do was totally not what i wanted. and what i wanted to do had no space whatsoever in this position. so i decided to look for something else. in hindsight, sometimes i wonder if i should just have taken the job. it would have been good money. but it might very well have meant that i'd have been miserable all the time.
i would have loved to stay in switzerland. but my problem was that my field hardly exists there. so, had to look internationally if i was going to follow my interests. and had to take the risk of being unfunded.

swantje, i'm english too but never lived in britain before coming here for my PhD. so, like you, i didn't know much about the system. all i can say is - be prepared for some surprises! but if you go about it with an open mind, overall you should be fine

hey rick,
i got a Zoom H2. not the cheapest solution available but i think it should be good enough for focus groups. it has 4 built-in microphones and you can adjust the settings so as that it records best in pre-set directions. it also comes with a tripod, allowing you to stand it upright in the middle of a table.
it was the review at http://www.audiotranskription.de/english/ that convinced me.

oh dear, turned out to be a long post. in brief:

- do you have a plan for what you will do if AHRC funding next year does not work out? will you quit? go part-time? are you ok with that?
it is, after all, highly competitive; and there is a significant element of chance. being a brilliant student is no guarantee.

- do you have a second opinion confirming that your chances will be higher after a self-funded year? with the ESRC it is def. the other way round.

- can you bear the insecurity? do you really want THAT PhD?

as to your other question: yes, i have indeed heard that money attracts money. so even if you only got a little sum from A, that might increase your chances to get that big grant from B. BUT as every funding application is so much work and sometimes for so little money, it's questionable if it really pays. i am SO glad i don't have to grab at every little straw of hope anymore!
as to what kind of charities to approach: you could search http://www.educationuk.org/pls/hot_bc/page_pls_user_advice?x=&y=&a=0&d=4460
and indeed, once you are a registered student, some further options might turn up - for example hardship funding which at my uni is only available to second year students and higher, or your uni could have a good financial support office which might help you.

so, from my experience:
- if you are going to be writing funding applications all year anyway, why don't you wait with starting your PhD until the funding is secured? you know that you can defer your place to next year? i'd really, really, consider this.
- but if you really want that PhD, and i mean THAT PhD and no other, and you are dog-headed and can take set-backs without being set back, and can live with insecurity - never knowing where the next money will be coming from, if there will be money coming in or not, if you are really going to finish this PhD or rather quit due to financial reasons... and you can bear working with other PhD students who might seem dumb and/or lazy but got these generous grants, several of them even, and who still complain about their lack of money... well, i guess it's doable. not easy, though.

anyway, at the end of that year, i had nothing. and as some people here might recall, i was indeed very close to quitting. then i got a grant from my uni, which covers the 2nd year fees plus a little extra (but far from enough to live on, just about £150/month - and by now my savings had vanished). and that made it harder to quit... my partner, my family, all pitched in and didn't let me. so i started into my second year, same as first - writing funding applications. oh and behold - one of them worked out! ah, it's just 16 months that they are paying me, but hey, with the 1.5 years that i'd already done, that adds up to nearly the end. except that, as i put so much time into all those applications, my PhD didn't get as much time as it should have. so, there is still a big question mark about how i'm going to get by for the last 12 months or so. at least, the fees will be less.

my whole first year i was basically caught up with applying for funding. i managed to get into the ESRC open competition but was told that it is harder to get their grants when you've already started. and indeed, it didn't work out. in total, i got about 10 negative answers. that in itself was extremely demoralising. i still don't know which ones i hated more - those that gave reasons or those that didn't. every single application takes so much work - i'd better have done some regular work for a wage in that time ...

hi there, yes indeed, i was in a similar situation. i applied for my PhD when it was way too late for the standard funding pots, and i really wanted to come do my PhD here with this supervisor, and thought that once i had secured the PhD position, funding wouldn't be too hard to get by (due to my excellent grades, the good name/rating of my university, excellent recommendations, etc.). how wrong can you be?
so i gave myself a year of self-fundedness - i did not want to do my whole PhD self-funded (plenty of experience of that in the past) and decided if i hadn't managed to get funding by the end of that year, i'd quit.