cs, you think my definition of basic research is misleading, but how do you know my definition of basic research? i don't remember giving one. i suppose you infered from some kind of other statements.

hey there,
yes, do apply for AHRC - it will be "fees only" but that is a lot of money! if you have the fees taken care of for all three years, you can be quite optimistic of finding a way to muddle through even if things don't go perfectly.
many universities also give one-off, yearly grants, that you need to re-apply for every year. usually the deadlines are quite early.
check out german sources of funding. i think there might be age restrictions, but otherwise the government and diverse foundations do fund PhDs abroad.
then, look for topic-related funding, try the german member federation of the IFUW if you are a woman, look at what scholarly organisations have to offer (for example there is a society for the sociology of health and medicine which provides funding for PhDs in this area, and such things).
also, contact your potential future supervisor who might have further ideas for funding!

cs, you are very quick to dismiss bourdieu. i still suggest you read some of his work - you might find that you are mistaken in some of your judgements of him (for example the claim that he doesn't substantiate his claims empirically).

btw what happened to the idea of scholarly independence? the discussion keeps turning about "return on investment" that the state should get out of higher education/research. to that i ask, how many of the important discoveries of the past which enable us our lifestyle today would have been made if only research had been funded that promised to give "return on investment" before it started already?

i'm not saying "the state should pay for my hobby". i'm saying "the state has a real interest in funding basic research, because even if some of it will be 'wasted', there is no way of deciding beforehand which research will and which will not lead to profit"

btw, i recommend that anyone who is genuinely interested in the value of academic titles (and the change over time), and the functioning of the educational system within society (allocating and legitimising status positions within society), should read some bourdieu. for example the book "social reproduction".

in a nutshell, bourdieu argues that it is only logical that at the same time that a certain educational title becomes genuinely available to large segments of society, based on (more or less) merit, rather than social background, it loses its function of providing status and income.

commonsense, i agree that if you have some results worth publishing, there is not much reason to wait just because you don't have your PhD title yet.
BUT your argument implies that results should be published immediately in the social sciences, else they will lose all relevance due to being "out of date". i strongly disagree with this as it assumes that only empirical "facts" about society are relevant results of research (which can indeed go out of date fast), whereas i believe that advancing conceptual notions and challenging theoretical paradigms is just as relevant and does not go out of date so fast. also, the "facts about society", whilst maybe being out of date when published, still contribute - without them, no-one could ever seriously study developments over time.

no - but sometimes i think "what if (nickname) was that person just sitting next to me in our open-plan PhD students office?". weird thought.

Hi,
also a social scientist, I personally do not find google scholar very useful, as when I'm looking for journal articles published by a particular author, usually I have to click through pages and pages of science stuff first. That's why the web of science is more useful to me because you can limit the search to social sciences. But it is not very complete, so do add searches of "sociological abstracts" and/or IBSS : International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, which should be available through your library. Still, you will find little non-english stuff, so if you want to include things published in other languages you will have to find specific search tools (for German, try WISO-NET).

i wanted to leave on the first day of induction week.

and many more times since then.

but i'm still here and butting on. all i can say is, don't let the bad experience get you down too fast. give the good experience time to come knocking. because there is both, good and bad - it might just be that you started with the bad.

it's been a full year for me. looking back i'm sorry for all the time spent procrastinating, time i need now! i also feel, however, that i did a LOT of things in that year, although perhaps not always with visible results. not the least of my achievements, i would claim, is settling in to a new country, learning how "my" discipline is different here than what i was taught elsewhere, and learning how to deal with repeated rejections (funding).
i have talked/presented at several small "workshops" - meetings of an international research group, but only 6-10 listeners. i have presented my project to my research centre and my department. in november i'm going to speak at a gradstudents conference, and my abstract just got accepted for my first "real" conference in february. haven't written anything yet, though.

waaaay to early. what dam would that be, anyways?

hm good question, i would like to know the answer too!

what i usually do to "solve" the problem: i print the slides+notes then use this as my base notes for the talk. i find that works really well. but i WOULD like to know if/how you can display the slides on the projector and the notes on the computer screen...

hi mokey,
congrats on getting the departmental funding! i applied for esrc during my first year, but didn't get it. a colleague of mine who is now in her third year did get it after applying during her first year. the process is the same, and you will be in competition with all those who are applying before they start. if you cannot make a good case you will only ever get two years of funding, your second and third. for that reason your department is not very likely to give you a quota place, but might support your application in the open competition.
best talk to your department right away, as it is them that will have to get all the formalities sorted in any case! some departments have regulations that they won't support applications from first year students so better check!

i had quite a clear idea of what i wanted to do, but changed it quite a lot since i started a year ago. a friend of mine however started just like you: she didn't have a clear question, only an "area of interest". since we had to submit a detailed research plan at the end of 8 months, she got quite nervous - everyone seemed to have their "question", everyone was writing up their report... time was running out and she didn't have a "question" yet! but then all of a sudden the question cropped up, she wrote up her research plan in very little time and passed with no problems. i think it's dealing with the pressure that is hard, but if you keep trusting that it will work out, it will! good luck!

hey, jay. although english is my "first" language chronologically, it is not my first language from point of view of versatility, capability etc., because i went through school and uni in german, and just have soooo much more practice writing in german than in english.

so i find that although people usually tell me my english is fine, i am constantly frustrated and annoyed at how haaaard it is to find the right words, the right expressions, to get my ideas across in the same precision i aim to in german. like you i have high standards for my language, but found that experience in writing (in german) helped me develop as a quite good writer. now it feels like i'm back at square one. sometimes it really gets me down!

the AHRC is the "arts and humanities research council". the research councils are the biggest funders for all kind of research in the UK, including at PhD level. i'm sure you'll find their webpage easily through google.
i don't know the details of their funding opportunities as I am in social sciences and therefore more concerned with the ESRC (economic and social science research council). but as i said, assuming it is similar in AHRC and ESRC, they advertise "1+3" studentships which, if you get them, will provide you with a fully funded MA AND a fully funded PhD. fully funded meaning, they will pay your tuition and about 1000£/month towards living costs, and some other perks.

sometimes limited funding is available through your university. when applying for your place, do talk to the department about possibilities for funding!