======= Date Modified 10 06 2010 11:06:28 =======
======= Date Modified 10 05 2010 11:05:55 =======
Hello,

I hope this is not too off topic but I was wondering if anyone could give me some advise as I'm going bonkers playing the waiting game.

I applied for 'internal' funding for a PhD at my department of choice and was offered a place immediately. Hurray, Right? Not so I'm afraid. I had mentioned in my application that I couldn't possibly afford to do it unless I also get funding, and which I had applied for. I understand that these 'internal' / departmental fundings are highly competitive, so I was keeping my fingers crossed.

I got an email last week telling me that I was not successful in getting the funding, but that I'd done well in the competition so I was on a 'reserve list'. Should someone secure external funding, or change their mind last minute and withdraw their application, then I might get a chance of getting the funding which they turned down. They also said I won't know for sure until late August when the funding councils have announced their results, so till then I just need to sit tight and hope that someone will drop out so I can get in!

In the meantime my MA dissertation is due soon, my exams are looming, and I can't get my head straight to concentrate because the suspense is killing me........Aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgg!!!

From experience, do any of you know whether people on funding 'reserve' lists do actually get any where in the end? I mean, is it quite common for people to apply to do PhD at more than one institution, be successful at being offered funding at both, such that they turn one down? I just want to know what my chances are so I can get on with my MA and my life! Please help, your thoughts would be appreciated =)

Hey there! Ooh, the waiting game is horrible. I don't know much about waiting lists, but there are quite a few people on departmental scholarships in our department, and these tend to be awarded on the basis that an effort will be/has been made to get funding from elsewhere, i.e. so the department either have to shell out less, or they can then afford to offer it to someone else. I was originally offered school funding and then was awarded funding from elsewhere, and a friend of mine under the same supervisor was also offered school funding and has just been awarded funding from a research council. I suppose it depends whereabouts you are on the reserve list, but I wouldn't lose all hope. Is it possible for you to apply for external funding as well? It might increase your chances- perhaps you could ask your potential supervisor if there are any places you could apply to? Best, KB

I'm in the same boat, waiting to find out if I manage to get funding.

I had applied and been successful for a competition funded PhD, but sadly, like you, I didn't get the funding which knocked me for six because I really wanted the PhD project.  So I've sent out more applications had 2 more interviews and hoping for another one soon.

In the mean time I'm also applying for outside funding for a project at my current university, and so is my potential supervisor, so with any luck I will get one of the two. The latest I will find out if I've been successful is August and the earliest is July.  The wait is unbearable and I'm struggling like you are to concentrate on other things.

My advice, given to me by one of my supervisors, is not to worry about things you can't control but the things you can, so your dissertation and exams. He also said I should get used to this uncertainty as an academic career will involve applying for funding a lot and I will have to get used to waiting.

I agree with Keenbean in that you should look for other means of funding if they are available to you, but in the mean time try not to worry about it, if you aren't successful this year you will have other opportunities, but I'm sure you will be successful this year.

Good luck! :-)

Well I was sort of on the reserve list and I got the funding in the end. It was the ESRC +3 studentship that I applied for. After getting the whole application/proposal done my department told me there's a quota on how many applications each department can submit and they have already submitted 1 (or 2, can't remember, but basically they have submitted as many as was allowed). So the only thing they could do was to put me on the reserve list, and if other departments don't put in as many applications as they are allowed then they can submit mine. And that's what happened. Luckily I got funded (ironically enough as my proposal was given almost full mark!). I know my then situation is not exactly the same as you're in now but just wanna say that it could happen. The waiting bit is terrible I know! I don't know if there are still other funding opportunities for PhD starting this year but if there are I would apply for them if I were you. If not then there's nothing much you can do apart from concentrating on your Masters. If you get the PhD funding in the end that's great, if not having a good Masters will help you get it next time.

GOOD LUCK! Keep us posted.

======= Date Modified 21 Apr 2010 13:16:30 =======
Thank you all very much for your comments, explanations and words of encouragement. It really helps to get a third person perspective on this :-)

I've been decline - so far - for one (out of the four) different funding that I applied for; they told me they have 500 applicants!! So I'm happy - at least - that I'm on the reserve list. Not much may come out of it, but at least - from what you've said - things could change and someone else may decline the offer so I just might get lucky - who knows... Also, I haven't heard back yet from the other funding places, which makes me think it's a no-go since they would've called me for an interview by now (and which they haven't).

Guess I have to defer the place they've offered me on their PhD programmes for a 2010 start, and try my hand again at funding applications next year (2011 start). Perhaps I'll apply to more places - I applied to two institutions this time - so I can increase my chances of getting funding.

Thanks once again & I'll keep you posted if anything short of miraculous does occur ;-)

The 'reserve list' thing worked and I got the funding - Woo Hoo!

Thank you all very much :-)

That is great news! Congratulations! :-)

Hey, well done you! Congrats! Now put your feet up and take it easy for a while! KB

Thank you all vey much. I'm afraid there's going to be no rest for me. I'll be spending the next 3 months writing-up my MPhil thesis & preparing for a viva before I start this new PhD - straight away - in September; oh, and it means moving to another part of the UK, so flat-hunting and moving is also in order. But I'm so happy I just don't care :p

I was declined AHRC doctoral funding in my first year and put on a departmental waiting list. My lucky number did not come up fully, but I still qualified for the reserve list for "departmental doctoral fees scholarship" i..e my fees were paid. In the second year I got the AHRC funding council research.

So it can happen. Maybe work out a way you could work part-time in the first year should you be offered a university fees only scholarship. this is how I got thorugh the first year of my full time thesis.