Hi everyone,

I have had confirmation that I have a place to study a psychology PhD, to begin in February, 2015.

I wanted to choose my own research area, and applied as self funded.

I'm not great at form filling, or the money side of things... I don't know if, now that I have a place, I can apply for funding or grants. Everything I come across online seems to be aimed at those already on a funded course.

This really is weak my area, I just wanted to choose a subject that interests me, and will hopefully keep me motivated for three years... The money side escapes me!

I can fund myself if needed, and made sure before I applied, but anything would help take some pressure off!

You can apply for grants and funding, but you do need to be good at form filling because if you are not you won't get the grant. Selling yourself and your research is important

See this information

Thank you for the link,

I may be misunderstanding the guidance for these routes, I've already researched them on a number of sites, as your page states:

"UK Research Councils do not make studentship awards directly to students, but allocate them to departments and supervisors who then advertise for candidates".

This is also the case with funding from research charities. I'm a UK student and not eligible for international funding routes.

I already have a place and so, although I'm grateful for you taking the time to link me, I don't think I can apply to the research councils or charities. I understood that the university would advertise for funded places, not that an unfounded student could apply to them after getting a place?

You are correct that as an individual candidate you can't apply to research councils directly. However, if you have a supportive supervisor there may be scope for them to put together a project grant application that would support your position. This is unlikely to take effect until your 2nd/3rd year though so you should make contingency plans for the first year at least.

In terms of making applications yourself, I'd recommend looking at:http://www.postgraduate-funding.com/gateway
for potential funds to target. Your uni may have access to it - check the library. Check also whether your uni does any training on applying for grants. If you're going to go down the self funded route then you are going to have to become good at this!

I would strongly caution anyone against doing a completely unfunded PhD full-time. I do not believe it is worth the costs (actual or opportunity costs), particularly for people whose primary motivation is to embark on an academic career, as most will ultimately be disappointed due to the poor nature of the job market. These are my perspectives though, and you will have your own preferences and values. I would urge you, however, to do some homework regarding the likelihood of your PhD leading to whatever your end goal is. If the odds are not good, then a part time PhD may be preferable as it will be more financial sustainable while giving you the opportunity to gain experience and contacts in a field of employment that may become a plan B.

Hope this helps

Thanks HazyJane,

We are fortunate enough to be able to afford a full time PhD... And I work fairly intensively. But I will certainly keep in mind your thoughts on part-time, and also the career outcome of a PhD. Depending on how quickly I progress, it might be useful to get someone cent work on by CV and switch to part time if I have to.

To be honest, I returned to education after a few years in teaching and also a few years in the charitable sector, I just craved using my brain again, and challenging myself!

Of course, the dream would be to have an academic career, I'm sure everyone says the same, but I'm open to whatever routes open up to me.

I'll start planning and thinking over funding routes. It was just more important for us as a couple to get the timing right. We don't intend to stay in this part of the country more than another three years or so.

I've started discussion with my supervisor about grant funding. I guess the form filling practice will all come in useful!!

Many thanks, that was really useful.