Hi Everyone,

Its my first time on this forum, im hoping to get abit of advice from all you prestigious PhD students.
Well, i graduated last year with a really good 2:1, i was actually only 2 marks off a first. I have been applying for science related PhD studentships everywhere since December and i am having absolutely no luck at all.
I really want to undertake a PhD but didnt realise it would be so disheartening.
I had an interview 3 weeks ago and although it was an informal interview and the superviser seemed really nice he said he had loads of other people to interview so i dont think i have a chance of getting that, as i do not have a masters maybe.
I dont know where im going wrong, can anyone possibly offer any advice please?

Hi Becci, how much time did you invest in each application? In my case, I chose to apply only to a few labs, but spent a lot on time on each. I read a few papers by each group and then made subtle changes in my CV to highlight things that would make me an ideal candidate. When writing about my interests, I took care to mention why I got interested in their work (in my case, it was because of a distantly related undergrad project). Also, I read their webpage info carefully and included some of it (though obviously only the stuff I actually thought interesting, and without just copying what they had written).
All in all, I tried to come across as very enthusiastic about their research, knowing a little bit about it already, but also having some unrelated experience that (ideally) could add something to the group.
Oooh, this sounds a bit pretentious perhaps. What I mean is: Pick a group that you love and then let them know how much you love them...

I agree with Zingo - get to know the powers that be and in particular your prospective supervisor. I had several weeks of informal discussions with my prospective supervisor even before submitting the application. We eventually got to the stage where they improved my application such that they were looking for it amongst all of the other applications when they arrived at the university.

So go on a charm offensive so that you get ahead of the other candidates!

Aww, thankyou for your advice zingo and sylvester.
I will try and contact the supervisers of the projects i am really interested in by phone because, emais, well they dont really back to me other than can you please apply online or send a CV and two refernces. Its just that i am currently working in a lab within the hospital but it is a medical lab as opposed to research so i have no moleclar cell biology or experience as such other than in am a qualified medical scientist, and i thought this would work to my advantage but its not been the case, anyhow i will make ammendments to my CV stra.ight away and re-apply.

Thanks again guys