i had my degree transcript translated by my old university. that is, i translated it myself, sent them the document, went there, they had very slightly adapted the translation and printed it out, and they put a stamp and a signature on it. that was free and it was perfectly enough.

as far as i am aware the unis in GB will decide about what they accept as equivalent or not, you don't have to provide them with it - but in many cases you do need to provide them with a translation. the easiest and cheapest way to get an english translation of your degree is to ask your old university, in my experience.

i was teaching a class on "money" and that inspired me to get my age-old ABBA Gold CD out. money money money...

pamw, what kind of "work" is it? i am also in my second year and have been finding that between teaching, marking essays, preparing presentations for conferences, a little money-making job, and working on diverse research projects/interests, i find practically no time at all to actually proceed with my PhD project.

but now my funding has arrived, my money-job is finished, the teaching is finished this week, and some other things are coming to an end, to - i am sooo happy and so looking forward to being able to concentrate on my PhD again!

oh yes. that kind of stuff can drive me mad.

glad to hear the info was useful.

yes you can apply to many universities. but only one of those applications can go forward to the ESRC. but if you are offered a quota place, that doesn't matter as it is as good as set. just take care to inform any uni that offers you a quota place which you don't want (because you have another one that you like better) very quickly, so that they can offer it to someone else.

the open competition might yet become important - if none of the unis offers you a quota place but some do offer you a competition place instead. it is not a separate application on that level. you apply for quota but are just third-best, you get the open competition instead.

about the 20 students for 2 quota places: well the majority of those 20 aren't eligible for ESRC funding. or, they go ahead selffunded although they didn't get it. i heard that there are usually 8-10 applications for those 2 quota places and one open competition place at our dept.

so, if you get an open competition nomination, i would advise you to ask your department for previous students' successful applications in the open competition. that way you can get an idea of what is expected, what detail of project description for example.
if you are nominated for the open competition, your department WANTS you to win the place, because that means additional funding for THEM, too. so they will support you and help you to put together a good application.

i hope that helps. good luck!

and finally, about the criteria: - first, when applying on department-level, the criteria of the department count, and they can vary. if you can convince a department to give you a quota place, you don't need to worry about the ESRC criteria. if you can "only" convince them to give you an open competition place, your next step is to match the ESRC criteria for highest-priority projects. you will get a chance to re-write your project for that. - second, on ESRC level, if you have a quota place, you are as good as set. if you have an open competition nomination, criteria are NOT primarily grades, supervisor match, etc. but rather: does your project match the ESRC priority topics (can be found on their homepage)? Does your project promise some economic profit - can it be used for "applied" social science, will the expected results be "useful"? (sad but true). There are other criteria of course.

so as to your strategic questions:
- if more than one university offers you a quota place, you can simply choose which one you like better. quota places are as good as guaranteed.
- if a prestigious uni offers to nominate you for the open competition, but a less prestigious uni offers you a quota place, it gets harder. take the sparrow in the hand or the dove on the roof? do you want the funding for sure, or the "maybe-funding-plus-prestige"?
- if more than one uni offers to nominate you for the open competition, you need to decide for yourself which one of those nominations bears more chances. it has, however, nothing to do with how many other students are nominated by these universities.
- you can apply for quota places/open competition nominations to as many universities as you want. however, you can accept only ONE nomination (either for a quota place or the open competition). only one of your applications can go forward to the ESRC.

b) further to those (for example) 2 quota nominations, the department can nominate 1 or 2 other applicants for the open competition. the ESRC has about a 100 (i think) studentships that are not distributed by the quota system. about 300-400 students from all britain compete for these awards. but as far as I understand, you can only compete if your department nominates you for the open competition. so a department that has 2 quota places might nominate the third best candidate for the open competition. this means you have two hurdles to take: first, you need to be selected by the department as third best. second, you need to be selected by the ESRC as a highest-priority applicant.

hi,
well as you know by now, it is complicated!
There are two kinds of nominations. a) quota nomination and b) open competition nomination.
a) in relation to the last RAE results, every department got allocated a specific number of quota awards. at my department, that was 2 (compared to about 20 new PhD students every year). The department now decides independently who should get those awards. They can invite applications and then choose from those, or they can contact promising Masters students (or undergrads, for the 1+3), or nominate existing 1st year PhD students. They forward these nominations to the ESRC. The ESRC checks the nominations for formalities but NOT for quality. That means, if the department selected you for a quota nomination, you are as good as set.

the whole experience has also taught me the lesson that in some things, I am simply alone. there is no-one out there who has experienced the same, who can TOTALLY relate. at the end of the day, your personal experience is yours alone. it's the gaping hole between people. but it is also what makes you unique.

talking things through definitely helps. being swiss and studying in london, everyone else in my students' residence was in similar circumstances and we spent endless evenings in the kitchen chatting. nobody had the exactly same situation, but if you are willing to see beyond the differences, you will find the commonalities. my australian flatmate for example had lots less trouble with the english than me, but couldn't fly home for quick weekends. my south african flatmate didn't have to use plug adapters, but was shocked at the disinterest of students from "rich" backgrounds. so maybe you don't need to hook up with other australians - but definitely find people who can, in some way or other, relate.

well done! hope it lifts the gloom!

eddi, so sorry to hear you are not well.

but do not give up to easily. i mean, if you sit down in a calm, relaxed, healthy state, and think about it carefully, and come to the conclusion that it is not for you, then by all means do quit, rather now than later. BUT probably right now you are more like exhausted, in an emotional turmoil, half-sick... not the best situation to make important decisions!

it seems your body is telling you that you REALLY NEED A BREAK. you should listen to your body. it is usually right! then you can always make the big decisions after that (extended) break.

oh sassy, good luck with the baby!

i moved out to the greenbelt in january, it now takes me an hour and 20 minutes door to door. i still go in to university 4days/week. the reason, here too, was to live with my partner. but i suppose that is not the kind of distance you were asking about, pamw.