I start my MSc this September, yesterday on my School's website I noticed an advert for Postgrad solutions and the £500 bursary (2x) that they are awarding for 2 students on any course at any British university. My plan was always to pay for my masters myself, then get a studentship/ESRC funding for my potential PhD but I thought I might as well go for this as I've got nothing to lose, and now I have a first class degree I feel a bit more confident about trying things like this.

My main questions are whether anyone knows about or has any experience of Postgrad Solutions Ltd, and what I could do to maximise my chances of getting funding. As there are only 2 bursaries being awarded I know my chances are very slim, as I can only use 200 words to support my application I need to come up with something quite special! I am in the social sciences as well, and studying at an ex-poly, though the state on the website that there is no institutional bias.

Any advice really appreciated, Natassia

Curious. I'd never ever heard of them. Looking at their website, it looks like a commerical enterprise as much as anything else. So I don't think that writing on your CV that you received funding from 'Postgrad Solutions Ltd' would have the same impact as 'Research Council Studentship'. But hey, cash is cash, and £500 off the cost of fees is not to be sniffed at.

Do read any terms and conditions very carefully though. I note that you have to join their website in order to apply, that their 'about us' section (http://www.postgradsolutions.com/corporate/sections/about/aboutus.jsp) talks more about marketing and consultancy than it does education and research, and that they describe the process as 'winning' a bursary. It's a very commercial sounding set up. But if your happy that applying doesn't bind you into some contract where they get the credit for your first 20 research publications, then go for it. :)

I've actually found the T&Cs now, and it's very much like a competition - they don't care about your qualifications, only your 200-word 'Pick me!' bit. Given the amount of advertising on their site (and the income I assume that generates), the fact that they are only offering 2 £500 bursaries isn't exactly Philanthropy of the Year.

Essentially, I see no reason not to go for it, but don't agonise over it, and don't take it personally if you don't get one - it's not a reflection of your achievements but rather your skill at marketing yourself. 'Winners' are effectively used for advertising, so as long as you're comfortable with that then I guess have a go.

Let's face it - it will be by far the easiest funding application you will ever make in an academic career!

Firstly Jane, thanks so much for taking the time to go through everything for me...I feel a bit naive and stupid now, especially with all the posts about successful ESRC funding applications around at the moment! I've never made a funding application before basically due to a lack of confidence from coming from an ex-poly, but as I said now I have my First I feel a bit better.

Admittedly, I didn't like the website much when I first looked at it as it is so different from the ESRC website. It makes you wonder who is actually looking at these applications and what they base their judgement on...they probably aren't experts in any field or whatever. I think I will go for it, even if I do get it I can always leave it off my CV if that would be a better idea than putting it on, and £500 would pay for a few books at least. I don't know whether its worth bothering any of my tutors about this, they do know me as I did my undergrad there at the same university.

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No need to feel silly - everyone starts not knowing these things at some point.

Essentially, this is not a funding application. A funding application to a research council, government organisation, charity, foundation etc will involve some or all of the following:
(i) a list of your qualifications
(ii) a list of your publications (if you have any)
(iii) funding awards previously received (ditto)
(iv) CV
(v) references
(vi) a decent length of statement
(vii) a research proposal
(viii) well defined eligibility criteria
and so on...

This is not a funding application. I'd put it on a par with a competition from a student insurance company or associated with one of the student bank accounts or something. Essentially (and I am no marketing/advertising expert here) I imagine how it works is:
- They get advertising revenue/consultancy fees via their business, of which they have put aside a small amount for bursaries
- People apply for bursaries and in doing so have to join the site
- They can then say that membership of their site has grown by X number of people in a short space of time. This makes them more attractive to people who were thinking of advertising somewhere as they will feel they have access to Y% of the potential market they wish to reach.
- Having joined the site, prospective applicants might then see other things of interest, which they check out, thus boosting the 'click through' rate of their site, again making it attractive to clients.
- They also pay the bursary direct to your uni, which means if your uni hadn't already heard of them, they will now.
- You can also be quoted as a happy customer, having provided them with 200 words of text on why you're a worthy recipient
- It's also tied in with Hobsons who are a commercial careers service that you might not have otherwise heard of but may notice via their website, and who thus get some publicity too. They probably contributed some money to the bursary too.

I'm impressed by their business model. £1000 is really quite a small amount to spend on marketing, and they get quite a lot out of that!

So, in summary:
(i) applying for it will probably do you no harm
(ii) if you get a bursary then great - you've saved some money on fees
(iii) consider it more analogous to winning a holiday by coming up with a slogan than applying for and receiving a PhD studentship.

Thanks again for writing such a detailed response, I never compared this to proper research council funding or a studentship as they don't ask for references or any information about my course and/or proposed research. Like you said, it seems so much more to do with marketing than proper academic funding. I guess this late into the year they know that many postgrad students will still be desparate for funding (which I'm not really but a little bit of money would be nice) if they missed out on research council funding, so they will do this as a sort of last resort. I wasn't looking for funding but saw the link so had a quick look.

I am definitely going for research council funding or a university studentship (am interested in 2 institutions at the moment) if I do a PhD afterwards. I'm already worrying about the application as it has to be completed so far in advance, so looking into some potential areas for research at the moment. Obviously I need to talk to my tutors about this in much greater detail in September but thanks for clarifying things about this particular company.

Also, is it quite 'normal' to pay for a Masters yourself and then get funding for a PhD? Would there be many questions asked about why I paid for the Masters myself?

Natassia x

Hi Natassia,

No not at all, I paid for my Masters myself (well, parents did!), and am now completing my PhD with research council funding, and no-one's ever batted an eye-lid about it. It's extremely common for people to pay for the Masters themselves, whether that be with their own money or borrowed by way of career development loans etc. The fees for the Masters are nothing compared to the cost of doing a PhD anyway!
Best of luck!
S x