I was wondering if anyone can help? I have applied for a Wellcome Trust PhD at Liverpool. I have applied manily because I wish to work with a specific supervisor at the Uni, who has already agreed to supervise me. My background is not typical, (mature student, 2 i degree in Animal Science, currently working as a senior lecturer at a college), and I am worried that I may be hitting above my target with applying for this funded place. I was just wondering if anyone could give me any insight into the type of questions that maybe asked? Thanks

I interviewed for my PhD with a large pharma company the summer just gone. The questions I had were very broad based;

1 - Finding out my lab skills
2 - Questions on ethics (in vivo work)
3 - What would you do if you needed to find out a method

Most aimed at seeing the candidate has the ability to work unsupervised for some of the time and help themselves when stuck.

If your well read on some of the key facts in your project area most superviors are more than happy to sit back and listen to you speak thus you avoid any awkward questions!

I had the same thing with pharma as well. I got the usual questions:
1. Experiences
2. Why should they give you the job?
3. Knowledge of the subject area, etc
4. Random questions out of left field. Usually utterly irrelevant.

Just be honest, that's the most important bit and feel free to offer your opinion. After all, they want someone who can think, not an automaton. My advice: don't worry about it, just go in, relax and take time to think about your answers!