My final year project was based on looking at Drosophila under a microscope. I enjoyed it but I feel like I have missed out on learning a lot of techniques. Most the people I know who have just graduated obtained a number of practical techniques from their projects which they have listed in their CV.

As I would be applying for a PhD which does not involve looking at drosophila, I feel a bit lost. I can't afford a masters in research, and most aren't funded.

Is it stupid to apply for a PhD with out that much lab experience? Did anyone else find that their degrees did not supply them with enough of it? I mean, I did all the typical 1st and 2nd year lab sessions, but is that enough?

Hi Julia,

I'm going to answer both your posts here (if I can):

Re: Master's funding. I have heard that a lot of people apply for Career Development Loans to cover a Master's degree. Apart from that, there are a number of bursaries available - your potential university should be able to give you information about those. But I didn;t do a Master's, so I hope one of the other forum members can give you better advice.

As for lack of lab experience: I think this probably depends very much on your potential supervisor: he or she may be more interested in your motivation (after all, you can always learn lab skills during your PhD). But if you think it will be a problem, you could offer to assist voluntarily on a university lab project for a set period of time (say, 1-2 months).

Let us know how you get on

Thanks Juno. I will.

Good luck. One last thing: don't worry about what other people have listed in their CVs; they're probably fibbing

Hi,
Don't worry about your lack of experience, it's your enthusiasm and comittment that are the important factors for most supervisors.
Have you spoken to your old lecturers / project supervisers? They can be a good source of information about who will be offering what PhD etc. They may even have information about funding attached to a masters if that's the road that you want to take.
I went straight from my degree to this PhD and although it's been really tough at times, it's really been worth it. I think that you'll surprise yourself about how quickly you pick things up and get into the general swing of things...I know that I am!
Did you have a good working relationship with your undergrad project supervisor..would he/she be willing to look into funding for you to continue your research into a PhD? And remember, they're great contacts for networking.
Hope this helps.
R

Hi Julia222,

I started my PhD in October. I did an anatomy based undergrad degree so was more used to dissection than molecular biology which is more what my PhD is. My undergrad project was totally data analysis and I didn't even see the inside of a lab! No one ever questioned that I had no lab experience - not the interview panal or my supervisor! However it has been a slight baptism of fire for the last 3 months. I've found that you have to keep reminding the people teaching you that actually things are not always that obvious (it's just they've been doing that technique for the last 10 years). And be prepared to ask lots of very stupid questions. I reckon as long as you're honest and enthusiastic you should be ok - after all your supervisor would be a bit silly to chose someone who could do lab work already over someone who couldn't but was a better author or who was more enthusiastic - lab techniques can always be taught!

Thank you all, those comments have really helped. I think I have been rather confused lately about what career path to take. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing! Earlier this wk I decided to just go for the phd as I know now (thank you) that I probably would be able to get one with the qualifications/experience I have. However in the last day I have decided I'm going to leave it for a while, and instead, apply for research assistant jobs to find out whether I enjoy research enough to do a 3yr phd etc. And that on my CV itself will help me if I do apply in the future. This way I feel I'm not wasting time, and I'll be more sure in the long run. AND, I won't have to worry about funding for a Masters :)!

Sorry to blab!!!! But thank you once again.

Julia