Hi all! I am very puzzled. I had my interview for a funded PhD about 2 weeks ago. The reply from the university was a bit delayed and since i contacted them they said that although i did well I didn't get the place. However, they are looking for adequate funding so that I can actually do the PhD. Do I stand a chance? How difficult is it for them to find funding? I really don't know whether I shall be happy or not... :(

Hi Ap1303! I think it's definitely a positive thing- they obviously think you are capable of doing a PhD and would like to have you on board. It looks like they're trying to find extra funding for you- they may be applying to research councils but this would take a long time so it could be that they are trying to get the department/university to fund you. Quite few people in my year are funded by the department, and when I applied for a external scholarship for my PhD my sup had a word with the department and they then offered to fund my PhD if I didn't win the scholarship- in the end I got the scholarship, but obviously there was a bit of extra funding floating around for people. It depends on the subject and the department (some departments dont fund any PhD students themselves), but my guess is they're trying to squeeze some funding from the department for you. Good luck with it! KB

I agree with KB, it sounds very positive - the same thing happened with my PhD. I had an interview for a PhD on a funded project but they offered that place to someone with more specific knowledge for that particular project, then they put an application in for me to get some departmental funding to do my own research project. It wasn't guaranteed that I would get the funding but because they were inside the department they knew how to give me the best chance. Anyway, I got the funding so am doing that PhD. But how likely that is for you depends on the department and where they're going for funding. But it's definitely a positive thing, so congratulations on getting so far, and fingers crossed that the funding is found!

Thanks for that! Fingers crossed!! I doubt it that they'll apply for external funding as they said they will get back to me fairly soon.