I am a social worker, and I have an idea for a piece of research. My boss thinks its a great idea, and my old tutor says its an interesting piece of research. I would want to do it over 6 years, part time, while continuing to practice social work part time. Is this possible? How do I apply? Do I apply for funding first? Does it matter that I missed a first by 2 marks, and only have a 2:1? Am I nuts for wanting to do this?

I know this is a lot of questions, but to be honest, I had never considered the possibility of doing a phd(although I had always thought I would do a masters), and now I have realised that I could research this topic, I am really buzzed about it.

Not entirely sure but I think there was a similar post quite recently. I'm relatively sure the answer was you're generally expected to have a masters qualification to gain entry. Someone will know, or you may like to scan back through the forum.

Sorry. I should have been clearer, I am hoping to enroll on MPhil Program, which should take me to the point of doing phd.

If you're working, you may be able to self-fund (in the sciences, typical part-time fees are around 700quid per year; might be less for you). Or, since your boss is excited by the idea, maybe he/she would be prepared to sponsor you? This is quite common in other fields; not sure how common it is in social work but it seems a good idea - you get funded for your research, and your boss gets a highly qualified memner of staff (and kudos for supporting the employees).

Your grade should not matter at all in the above two cases. Even if you applied to a council for funding, a 2.1 is acceptable. Good luck. My advise would be first to ask your boss to consider sponsoring you.

"Advice", I meant, not "advise".

As for applying: I think you just need to make informal (at first) contact with a university that has an appropriate department; perhaps in conjuction with your employer. My supervisor is always happy to hear from potential applicants (esp. if they are self-funding), and if they like the sound of your proposal they will assist you with the application to the university.

just to add: some universities offer part-time (fees only in most cases) funding. This can be departmental or school-wide. It's worth checking the bursary and funding pages of each Universitiy.

I'm part-time and my fees are £1585 a year, so check the individual university before applying!
I work 3 days a week, and if you're organised it's perfectly possible!

So, if I aimed to apply for September 2008(does it have to coincide with the start of academic year), I could take my time applying for funding, and applying to universities?

depends on the institution. Some let you start any time, some have standard times only (usually September, January and April) but other universities have only one. September or October. If you want your studies to commence in September 2008 (or October depending on the university), it would be ideal to start applications by March 2008. If you want to start this coming September however, now is a good time to start applying for places.

also, if you applied for a funded place, you won't need to make a separate application for funding. But if you were to start in September 2008 and make sure you had funding set up, it would be best to get an offer from a University first (let's say around March 2008) and apply for funding asap after that. I don't know all councils' deadlines, but AHRC's funding application deadline is usually end of May each year.

Is there a limit to how many funding applications I make, and do I have to inform each place i apply to, of any other funding applications I make?

Sorry, if I sound very dim. So what I am getting from this thread, is that it would be best now to start exploring avenues of funding, prepare funding applications, and contact university to get guidance on formal application to do PHD. Then hopefully get offer about March 2008, then actually submit funding applications and hope for the best- and also hope that a funded place is an option?

I think the first step would be to identify supervisors/universities suitable. Have you considered applying for full-time funded places by the way?

About funding: If you are going to apply for funding separately (i.e the place does not come with pre-agreed funding), then you will need to secure the place first with a University. Research council funding is usually attached to the studies and you apply with the support from that university, therefore you will not be able to apply to the council more than once. So, you can apply to as many universities as you want for a place, but you can only apply to a research council once you accepted one of these places. Does it make sense? But you can submit funding applications to other funding bodies, such as charities etc.

Just another thought, but I believe there is such a thing as a 'doctor of social work' research degree (DSW). Depends what your project idea is, but if it is practice oriented this is another option.

For a PhD, you'd need to find a supervisor and institution first, before the funding. they are inter-dependent, but generally place before funding. Dont know how it works with DSW.