Hi everybody,

I have some questions again. I have been trying to get back into research for a long time. I completed my MSc in Psychology and applications from UK 9 years back. I am keen on going back to UK to complete my Phd.

I approached my previous professor and his feedback was that i should do a MSc in research methods in psychology and then apply for a Phd.

I did apply for the MSc and have received offers from Manchester, Stirling, Swansea and Southampton.

I am very confused as though i am planning to self fund (if required) my MSc, for me it is very important that i receive funding or a Research Assistantship/ teaching assistantship for my Phd.

So my final choice also needs to consider that. So though Stirling has the research that i am looking for it does not mention any studentships for Phd.

What do you think i should to do to maximise my chances of getting a RA/ TA for my Phd.

Thanks
N

Hi Nevyn! I'm in my final year doing a psych PhD, and did an MSc prior to this. The MSc is pretty important for getting a funded PhD in psych in the UK as they're pretty competitive, so I definitely think you're going in the right direction with this. In terms of funding for the PhD, there are a number of places you can apply to. Sometimes there are departmental scholarships (several people in each year here are funded by the department, and they offered to fund my PhD if I couldn't find alternative funding). Aside from this there are research organisations you can apply to such as the ESRC, MRC (depending on your project) or WORD (if you are in Wales). It is also worth looking for a 1+3 ESRC award which would pay for your MSc and PhD, but I'm not positive the scheme is still running so check it out. Sometimes there are one-off scholarships for PhD students to compete for, so have a good look on the internet to see if you can find anything like that. But I think the best thing to do is approach the potential supervisor for your first choice project and ask him/her about funding opportunities. If you do your MSc there you will have time to put together applications with your potential PhD supervisor throughout the year. I am in a really large department and nobody here is self-funding, so hopefully with a bit of perseverence you will find something. I wouldn't recommend taking on a full-time RA position and trying to balance your PhD with that- it would take you well over your three years to complete and you would most likely have to go part-time. There is always teaching work on offer but I think you would have to do a lot to cover your costs for the entire PhD. I would defo aim for full funding. Good luck with it! KB

Hi KB,

Thank you very much for replying. Especially about the RA ship. I had couple of more questions, which i would appreciate if you could answer.

1. I just wanted to check i got a reply from Stirling that ESRC and MRC does not fund international students. Do you feel that they do at times fund International students.
2. I found about a Doctorate training center which gives a Doctoral training grant. Have you heard of this? How is it different from the regular Phd.
3. Possibly a stupid question:$ but i read you saying that your department is big. How does on define a department as big. It would help me in making my decision about which University to go with.

Thanks
Siddhi