Has anyone noticed how many PhDs are advertised when the people offering the PhD already knows who they want to do it? It wastes our time because we spend valuable time and money applying for something which has already been given to someone. I think the institions advertise to appear open and to look as though they give everyone a chance, but what is the point when it is all just a sham?

Most universities follow very strict equal opportunities rules, which you will be able to find on their web sites or by writing to their personnel departments. Many of the research projects/profiles placed on FindAPhD may not have funding guaranteed or may be already filled for the forthcoming academic year. Universities are still keen to attract interest, hoping for students with their own funding or who may wish to work in a particular lab should opportunities come up in future. We do our best to encourage universities to select the correct availability option to encourage enquiries. The earlier you apply for a project the more likely it is to still be available.

I also feel that the decision for a position is done in a short time as if it were known at the time of announcement(in many cases, but not in all). I have also applied soon after the announcement but have replied that the position was recently filled up. I don't know if people offering position already have identified someone to start the same.

I work for a very prestigious university and can tell you that in my lab an advertisement was only put out AFTER they found the person they wanted. Blatantly stating that they have to do it in order to comply with university regulations.... but it was just for show!

Just a sugestion but how about putting the application deadline next to the studenship on the results page when you do a search! (Like on jobs.ac.uk)
It can get a bit of a pain in the arse having to trawl through and find up to date entries!
I've actually applied or enquired to a few, only for them to turn round & say the application date has already passed!

Josh, i can totally understand your frustration. It appears that at this stage, a lot of the PhD's advertised on this site are already taken - i know this for a fact. Actually, i have just checked and MY PhD is still bloody on here!!!! Thats just cheeky. In all seriousness though, im sure its just a case of whether or not the supervisers can be arsed to notify the team here that it has gone. After all, the site has served its purpose by then!!

I can understand that, I just think it'd be useful to show the application deadline so that you at least have a rough idea whether it may have already gone or not!

Many departments using FindAPhD, particularly the larger ones, choose to advertise for students on a year round basis and although a project may not be available for this October, they may still wish to attract students for the following year for a similar project. We are working on a system which will cover the needs of all our advertisers, unfortunately this is unlikely to be in place to cover studentships for October 2003 admission. I recommend a short email to check project availability before writing a full application. We do email supervisors to remind them to update availability, but they do not always respond.