I wouldn't have done my masters if it wasn't funded because I couldn't have afforded it. Actually I just wanted to do a PhD but there were no funded ones available in my area at my uni so I did the MSc instead.

I agree with kiko, there's no point in doing a PhD if it's not funded. Masters are unlikely to be funded though. I was just in the right place at the right time for mine.

And yes, picking a uni with a good social life is important. Try to find out about this if you can. Pick somewhere in a city, rather than a campus in the middle of nowhere, since you are unlikely to be staying in uni accommodation. I find it's better when people live close enough to the uni to walk to places and then be able to walk home etc.

I think that's rather going to to depend on the discipline, project and approach chosen.

It's really hard to say on that basis. You need to be able to narrow it done a bit. Pick a country and look from that point, or pick a course and see who offers it. Data science is a good choice, I think there's quite a lot of use for modellers, statisticians and bioinformaticians in Biology for example.

If you are looking for Masters, then you have to think about how you can fund it as well, and maybe some places are cheaper than others or might offer scholarships.

For me, I picked my MSc because it was funded and was at my undergrad uni and was a subject I was interested in. I picked my PhD because it was another subject I was interested in and it was just down the road from my house!

Those probably aren't the best reasons for picking courses though - probably best to think how useful the qualification will be afterwards.

Why do you need a new supervisor?

You're not alone Talented. There are loads of us in the same position. Too many PhDs and too few jobs. Not all of us can do the jobs we would love to do. It doesn't mean the people with academic jobs are better than those without, there's a hell of a lot of luck involved too.

I would write to the admin and ask for feedback and they should contact the supervisor for you.

I would just cite the reference at 2x

I can confirm that the East coast of Scotland is freezing in Winter (well actually, it's almost freezing in the summer too...). Beware if you're from warmer UK climes...

My CV is also 5 pages long and my cover letter is 1 page long for academic positions. For non-academic positions, I have not yet been asked for a CV, just have to keep filling in those boxes... and then address how I meet the selection criteria, which generally takes up 4 pages.

Your best bet really is to find projects that come with EU funding. Check findaphd.com. Scholarships outside of this are hard to find and I don't know of any international students with them.

It's a tough one. It depends really on how well you would cope for four years if you don't like the place. Some people handle this well and others don't. Since you got a lot of interviews this year, there's a good chance you will get more next year, plus other opportunities may come along earlier as well. Although like you said, Brexit may be an issue.

It's a personal choice really, no-one can answer for you. I guess personally I'm risk adverse so I'd probably take it.

Congratulations! You have won the prize for the shortest and least specific post!

Rejection of papers doesn't really bother me to be honest. When one of my papers was rejected, I thought they had made the right decision, so I couldn't really feel bad about it! I just submitted it to a lower tier journal. If it gets rejected again, I will just keep playing the submission game until someone accepts it.

Rejection of other things that do bother me though.. I do just like Pjlu says.

But I think Sci-hub is sharing papers illegally...

Personally I wouldn't tell them, just in case they don't check it as thoroughly as they would have otherwise, as you mentioned.