Hello all,

I have a story to tell and wondered what other people's perspectives are on it who are unbiased!!

I am currently working as an RA and have support from my boss to apply for a couple of studentships, which I did. I have not been successful for one and still awaiting the other reply. It appears due to political reasons (surrounding my research group) I am unlikely to get the other one either!

I am very annoyed that even though I have more than enough qualifications/experience to at the very least be offered an interview, I am not getting a chance because of internal politics. On top of that I fail to understand or believe how my boss did not know my chances were unlikely as they are prominent in this field and institution and would have known.

One of my senior colleagues had tried to negotiate (with our boss) funding from a new grant for me to start my PhD now. However she did not want to give it to me and wanted me to try external sources first. Today I find out that she has given the funding to another colleague. This colleague has a primary supervisor who can source funding for him, plus he has no intention of staying in research and can just about speak English.

My boss has said that her Plan B is to get funding from me from two other grants that are currently being negotiated, but she won't know for sure if she can secure the money for me specifically until 2011 with me starting approximately Oct 2011!!

I have worked there for over 1 year, have a BSc and MSc in relevant subjects from top universities and extensive experience. Really I wanted to start a PhD by now but am willing to wait up to the end of 2010 for something that is as close to guaranteed as possible. My time there has been great and I have impressed. Plus I get on well with my boss and would like to stay there. It is a great uni with world class academics.

So, what I would like another perspective in is this:
- Am I right to be annoyed that I have been put forward for studentships (and discouraged form applying elsewhere) that were impossible for me to get. A fact that would have been known.
- Is it fair for me to think waiting another nearly 2 years to start a (possible) PhD with this group is unreasonable? There is only so far and so much you can learn as an RA right?

Also, can anyone suggest an approach I could take to see if I get a better deal out of this (i.e start sooner!). I do not want to cut my ties so do not want to offend.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, I am very confused and a bit emotional about it all!!

Thank you

:-)

Hey Moumou! I 'm not sure I can offer you any helpful advice particularly, but stuff to do with funding is often very political and sneaky and I'm not surprised you are frustrated with the whole situation. I was very lucky and ended up with several offers of funding for my project in the end, but I have seen friends being messed around and hanging on for ages just hoping that the funding will eventually become available. I wouldn't be so sure that everybody involved would have known that you had no chance of getting the funding- my first application for funding was rejected, and we (me and my supervisor) found out later on that the funding was only ever going to go to specific supervisors and projects, yet others had been encouraged to apply. My supervisor is very high up in the department and she hadn't been aware of what was happening- it was all very dodgy and underhand. My supervisor kicked up a fuss and persuaded them to offer me funding (which I didn't need anyway in the end as I was then awarded a separate scholarship), so it turned out fine. But one thing I have noted is that people who really persist usually do get the funding in the end. I have a couple of pals who spent all of their MSc degrees and then a further year looking for funding, and both got it eventually and have now started. So don't give up. And a further thing I would say is, don't compromise too much on your project and supervisors if it's tough to get the funding- it's tempting to just say sod it, and go for a different project with funding already attached, but you need your PhD to be right for you. Best of luck with it all, let us know how you get on! KB

Hi Keenbean, Thanks for your reply.
Unfortunately I discovered that my sup did know that my chances were unlikely as the only poeple who have been awarded the studentship here have all had a specific background (obviously not the one I have). I was quite annoyed that my other chance of funding was given away to someone who didn't need it (plus they are not even going to use the money to work on the project it is coming from! or intend to stay in research!).
I am trying to not think too much about that and really am wondering if it is reasonable for me to be more direct and ask for funding from another grant that will be in play sooner than Oct 2011.
Like I said this is a world renowned group I am in and do not want to leave. Plus I get on with everyone really well and know I could easily stay here for a 3 year programme.
Obviously I do not want to create a fuss and bad feeling but think I should be able to start sooner than is being proposed.
I  could go somewhere else with my degrees and experience but really want to stay where I am. It is so hard to find a sup you can get on with.
Just trying to think of a strategy and thought other people might know a good way to deal with this situation. Or to give me a dose of reality, that loads of people would love to be in my position and I should just wait! Or I should be brave and look else where.
I don't know!!!
Thanks

OK reality check time - I would really make sure you take a step back from your anger and think rationally about this.
Firstly, you are not the group leader so you do not know all the ins and outs of the other person's situation and why they chose to give him the studentship - if though you broadcast your feelings around the group then you are more likely to damage your own future chances than those of anyone else.
Secondly, I imagine you've read the papers so you know that people are losing university jobs all over the place. Getting grants is getting harder and harder. Even if your supervisor knew that the studentships were more likely to go to people of certain backgrounds, then it was still right to encourage you to apply because nobody knows until the applications are on the table exactly how things will pan out. You might have been in with a chance. That's the way she will be thinking herself about her own grant applications. Academia is tough and you have to develop a very thick skin.
So basically you have a choice. You either start applying elsewhere to try and start in 2010 and do recognise that getting a funded PhD place, while still comparatively easy in science, is more competitive now, so you might have to face more knockbacks. Or you stay put, feel grateful that the university is still able to pay you as an RA and hope your boss can deliver on the 2011 post. If you do that, then don't foul your own nest by complaining too much, however angry you might feel now.
Sorry if this sounds unsympathetic but I've just heard two postdoc friends in genetics are losing their jobs because a grant application failed. If you want an academic science career, you need to understand that a lot of things around grants are deeply unfair simply because there's too many goo people chasing not enough money.

Have to agree with bewildered here. There is nothing to prove that the person who got the funding isn't better qualified or has better experience than you. These things happen and it really isn't anyone's fault. My friend went for an RA role in a really obscure field thinking no one else would apply or get it. Another bloke got it who had a PhD in that exact subject, he came all the way from china - so you can never tell! I would concentrate my efforts in making my CV, personal statement, application as good as they can be and hope for better luck next time!

Hello Moumou,

What I think you should do is, start applying for other positions at different university. Life is cruel! And it doesn't wait! 2 years is a long time.

This is what I think, since you are open to others thought, I felt like replying to your thread.

I am pretty sure you must have found your way through your problem by now!

All the best!