Hello everyone

i hope I am not the first one to ask about the Phd proposal. I just feel so bad now.

I am a Chinese student in master study in the UK. So far I have finished all my modules and I am writing my dissertation at the moment. I got all distinctions for my 6 modules and I am confident that I will get distinction for my dissertation as well after 2 months.

Then I want to take Phd study in the UK for another 4 years(or 3 years). Frankly speaking, I don't recognize myself is a clever student, but I always work hard. Well, procrastination happens sometime...

I am interested in the stock market, venture capital, private equity. Recently I have read some articles, but I don't seen anything new.... I met a teacher in my university. She is a Phd and from Vietnam. She just negated me when I try to explain some of my ideas.

Now I am being confused. I just listed few questions below, really hope someone can help me:

1, Does it mean I have not read enough article? or just because I am not eligible for Phd?

2, what does mean "a new area"? is it the same as a gap in some articles? For example, a new research has studied on the question A which has never been studied before. And we know this study can not cover everything in that topic. So if I have noticed problem B in that article and found there is no one that has studied on the problem B, is this a new area??? can Any one give me a example?

Interestingly, my dissertation is about the 2008 financial crisis and venture backed IPOs, which is topic that no one has researched on it....I didn't find anything about this topic.... I don't know why, maybe it's not worth researching on it because there were not a lot new issues after the crisis.....

I really appreciate is any one can help me out! Thanks in advance!

any one can help me?

First things first, get a second opinion! And a third, and a fourth. That vietnamese 'teacher' might have had any number of reasons unconnected with your ideas to give you a brush off. Yes your idea might be a load of balls- but don't give up on it yet, there are other universities and other lecturers (Vietnamese or otherwise!).

If it's an unresearched area like your diss then the reading is AROUND the topic rather than on it itself. You ned to focus- identify specific questions that need to be asked and how you would go about answering them you need to write a specific proposal and submit it. However there's no harm asking experts in the field for advice is there. Most will be happy to help especially if it is likely to bring a new student (with those overseas fees you can bring...) into their departments. I asure you you will be pretty popular with HoDs! So if you give them a reason to take you, they will. Get with it now.

First things first, finish the MA. A distinction will only augment your value; don't piss it up now. Good luck!

Well a lot of places accept appllications for PhD all year round rather than at fixed points in the year, so no harm in finishing one thing before starting another.

Congratulations on nearly finishing your Masters! Echoing what others have said, don't let yourself become distracted by this! Definitely talk to someone else - perhaps a trusted lecturer or academic adviser. Is the Vietnamese teacher also your supervisor for your dissertation? Why did you choose to talk to her? Don't be put off by one person's opinion - they may have other motivations. I would suggest that your supervisor is the best person to talk to. They obviously think your work and ideas are valid if they are supervising your dissertation and you feel confident that you will get a distinction for your work.

A new area means a bit more than a research gap. There can be gaps in areas that have a lot of research done around them already - that is why they are GAPS (missing bits) in the existing research. A new area on the other hand is what it sounds like - something largely unexplored - maybe something that has become relevant because of current events or related research, or maybe just something that no one seems to have thought about for whatever reason! Hope that helps.

thanks for your answer! So a new area, and, what about something has been mentioned, i mean just something looks logical, and a lot of researchers have concluded on that thing, but they have different answers, why no one has explained about why the aswers are different, but I want to explore it, is this a new area?