All of this seems to be pointing to option A. In response to what chickpea and Tudor_Queen have said, i'm getting a full ride at A, tuition waiver, stipend at the research council rate as well as Discretionary Funds for conference attendance etc. Plus i actually don't want a change viz city or university, i really really like both. so, yeah A FTW. For those who were wondering A=Edinburgh , B= Glasgow.

That's some good advice!! Thank you.

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Well, i'm under the impression the ESRC is a prestigious scholarship and that this could be helpful to me in the academic job market. The supervisor at place A is a lecturer with under 5 publications and has never worked in my area. The supervisor at B has nearly 40 publications and a proven track record of good placements for his students. There are other students there as well working on projects similar to what mine would be. The research is another problem. While the research at B is 'good' and quite useful, it doesn't inspire me at all. At A on the other hand, a number of professors and students are doing things that i think are quite cool.

I guess at the end of the day, i'd like to go to A, (in fact, i'd actually been looking at flats in the city when i heard that i'd been given the ESRC) but i'm afraid of giving up a prestigious scholarship and a chance to work with a well connected individual since these factors would work in my favor after the PhD. I'm concerned that i only prefer A because it's familiar, which doesn't feel like the right reason.

The area is Economics (fyi).

I'm having a hard time deciding. I'd like your help. I need to decide between two places

Place A
-Higher Ranking (QS, Times)
-I did my masters there
-A couple of my Pals also in same department
-Supervisor is known to me, we get along quite nicely.
-A lot of great research that's Tangential to my area
-Full funding

Place B
-ESRC DTC funding.
-Active research group in my area
-Supervisor is quite well known in the field.

What would you do and why?