I realise that certain projects are funded by e.g the MRC, or wellcome trust, and these projects are advertised. However, what about a project that is self- proposed, and the prospective student approaches the university/institute with their own idea? Is it up to them to acquire funding for you from a grant giving body if they are interested to take you on? or is the student required to obtain their own funding from somewhere, and if so anyone know of a body that gives funding to individuals rather than to institutes?

Which area are your research interests in?

immunology/epidemiology of malaria - interested in vaccine studies and fieldwork

Part 2
An increasing number of 4-Year (or New-Route) PhDs are becoming available. For the first year the student has some formal seminars and moves from lab to lab to get experience of different research groups. After the first year they can select a supervisor to work with for the next three years - however this does not mean they will have their own research proposal taken on.

In other words in science and engineering the funding (and usually the research proposal) almost always comes before the student. Obviously if you have access to your own funds then you will be in a better position.

If you can convince an academic to apply for funding for your own research proposal and they are successful you should be able to start within 12 months. However funding is hard to get and most academics will be more inclined to apply for funding for their own research ideas rather than yours.

Once you have a PhD place you will usually have some input into the direction of the project. Look for academics who are working in the area you are interested in, discuss with them whether or not your ideas can fit in with the research project(s) they have on offer.

Part 1
In the sciences and engineering the UK research councils do not accept funding applications from students. As far as I'm aware this also applies to the Wellcome Trust and most other charities which fund scientific research. Studentships are applied for by academics who submit a research proposal to a research council or charity. This is reviewed by experts in the field to see if the project is viable and achievable for a PhD. The academic then advertises for a student. Other research council studentships are allocated directly to departments (based on their RAE rating). These are usually allocated to a shortlist of project proposals from academics who then compete to attract the best student (the one with the best student gets the funding). Occasionally some departments choose to allocate these studentships by inviting research proposals from students and you'll have to check their web sites/press adverts to see if this applies. This is not a very common approach as departments who do this are putting recruiting the best students as a higher priority than pursuing the precise research interests of their academics. It is also difficult in many highly specialised and complex areas of science to expect a new graduate to be able to formulate a coherent research proposal.