Hello and sorry to annoy anyone with my ignorance...

I am currently an undergraduate, considering applying for the MPhil/PhD course in comparative politics at Oxford. I would only be able to do this if I got ESRC funding.

Is there any hope for a student with a first from a non-prestigious university, with no relevant work placement/internship to my name, to get 1+3/2+2 ESRC funding?

Is it harder to get 1+3 funding than 3 funding?

I have read on here that your research proposal is really important. But I presume I would be considering and developing my project during my first year. Would I have to have already come up with something by the time I apply to have a chance of getting funding?

I have read a lot of posts about applying for advertised PhDs, which sems to imply a specific topic and funding. Is this more common in the sciences than in the social sciences? I haven't really come across these for Politics, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

Thank you for any info. I have been through the relevant websites but am still confused about these things.

And i just realised I should have posted that in the funding section. Sorry.

Hi Stevie,

the research proposal is an important part of the ESRC application, so yes, you do need to get something coherent together. However the proposal is only a start, mine changed a lot during the PhD and what I have ended up doing doesnt bear a lot of resemblance to what I said I would do!

have you identified a supervisor you would like to work with? They will be able to give you help with putting together a proposal, if they agree to supervise you. The ESRC application also assesses your suitability (qualifications, experience etc) and the suitability of the potential supervisor and institution. My advice would be to start a dialogue with your potential supervisor sooner rather than later.

cont ...

specific projects with funding attached are more common in sciences. there is some ESRC funding where the ESRC gives money to a research group and the group appoints students but generally with more flexibility in topic than the science-type projects (quota awards) so worth seeing if the group you are looking at has these.

good luck

I guess that there will be a lot of competition for places at Oxford and getting an ESRC funded PhD there will be very difficult. However, if you have a first class degree you will have a chance and there is no harm in applying.

Applications for both 1+3 and +3 require research proposals. However, for a + 3 PhD only a detailed and in-depth research proposal is needed, whereas for 1+3 a much more general idea of what you will do for the three year PhD part is necessary. This general research proposal is still very important and is one of the main things to be considered in applications.

If you are planning on applying for ESRC funding this year (to start in September/October) then you had better hurry up! The ESRC deadline is in early May but most departments have their own internal deadlines that are normally in March.

Thanks for the advice. I'm not applying for this year so no rush just yet.

It may be worth identifying an area you'd like to work on and get in contact with a potential supervisor asap - they can help shape your proposal