Hi everyone,

Following my last post about not having an ESRC recognised masters, I’ve been deliberating over my options for further study. My current choices are between an ESRC recognised MRes or a part-time PhD in criminology or related area. I’m uncertain as to the best option for the following reasons:

1) I’d have to do the MRes part-time as I can’t afford to do it fully funded. I’d also have no option but to start it in September 2011 as the tuition fees are going to go up to ridiculous amounts the year after. I’ll already have an MA by that time and, due to the uncertain future of the ESRC, am wondering whether studying for another two years for a very similar qualification will be worth it?


2) The PhD would have to be completed part-time because I couldn’t afford to do it full-time. I was also unsure as to whether the lack of an ESRC MA would reduce my prospects further down the line? The university say that I don’t need an ESRC masters if I’m not seeking funding, but I’m still a bit unsure. I also feel a bit under the cosh with this option because of the proposed tuition fee rises that, put simply, I won't be able to afford after 2011.

I’m not in a job that is relevant to the field, but it does pay enough for me to be able to afford the current part-time tuition fees. I do a lot of relevant work and research for the voluntary sector, meaning that if I do any of these options I will have very little professional work experience.

All in all I genuinely don’t know what the best course of action would be. I would love to go into research but the majority of vacancies seem to require the completion of a PhD.

Any help would be very much appreciated as I’ve been looking into this for weeks and I’m none the wiser and probably a little more uncertain than when I started!

Thanks very much :-)

The obvious thing to say is don't make a decision now - wait until the ESRC actually announces what the situation is going to be. THey were already planning big changes before the spending review so I think you should wait until January when they let everyone know. I think the ESRC itself will survive by the way (it sounds like even the AHRC is safe and that was the most vulnerable) but just will have less money.

Why are you ruling out applying for a 1 + 3 scholarship that would fund both the MRes and the PhD full-time (or indeed part-time if you needed that)? It would seem the obvious solution assuming they will still exist (can't imagine that they won't).

But yes the underlying question you're hovering around is - is doing a PhD likely to pay off in terms of a research career? For that you'd need a crystal ball and there's no point denying that the future for ESRC subjects does not look that rosy (unless you're in economics or law which presumably will still attract students). But it's very unlikely you'll get any research jobs without one given the numbers of unemployed / under-employed PhDs around.