I've been offered an MRC funded PhD at a very prestigious university doing a project I have some interest in but ultimately don't feel I have "ownership" of. I've got another project in the pipeline at a much less prestigious establishment but which consists entirely of my own research ideas in an area that is vastly untapped and could be an area I could carve a niche and make my name in - but I have no real certainty that I will be offered a place there.

My head is telling me to take the one I've been offered, but my heart is telling me to hold out for the project that will be truly 'mine'. Has anyone been in a similar situation from which they can offer some advice? :-)

Difficult! I would say go for the one that you can make your own, but that would depend. Would it be fully funded? How soon do you need to make your mind up about the other one? How sure are you that your own research ideas would 'work'? How much influence would you have over the project at the prestigious university, i.e. is there any chance you could make it your own?

Good luck with whatever you decide! :-)

It's a hard one to choose between them but it depends on when you are going to hear from the other project. If it's not going to be for a while I'd go for the MRC funded one as it is a definite offer. It would be worse if you hung around waiting for an offer of funding which may/maynot be there and then the offer of the funding from MRC expired. When do you have to tell them know by?

Although you will be given a brief to work to if it is a pre-defined project I would think there would be some flexibility to what you do so that you will be able to take some ownership of it. It may not be exactly the area you are looking for but maybe you can adapt it to suit your interests/needs. Have a chat with proposed supervisor about what the project entails and ask if there is flexibility for developing ideas? Ultimately your project is what you make of it so there will be some degree of ownership - some people just get more than others! It's a good idea to be flexible in your approach as things maynot always turn out the way you intended and new opportunities may occur when you least expect them!

Good luck with your decision!

Thanks for the replies. I decided not to take it, for additional reasons to the one I originally posted about. Currently in limbo with no sense of what the future might hold, but I hope it all works out for the best!

Thought I'd update this more than a year later... I turned down the MRC PhD but got a job as an RA with them instead. During that time the other PhD project was successfully funded and I have deferred the start date until September this year so I can get as much experience in the RA job. It all worked out in the end :)