I'm at the moment starting to look around for funded PhD's and I've noticed that a sizeable proportion of them are funded by the EPSRC for my subject area. My problem is that although I already have an MPhil and one year's research experience overseas, plus 2 years industrial experience, I am anxious that any application I submit will be instantly thrown in the bin because of the 2i rule.

After having been rejected within 5 minutes of having sent my CV to a professor (because of "research council rules"), I tried to email the EPSRC directly but recieved a non-committal reply......

...I can completely understand the reasoning behind the 2i or above policy of research councils, but I believe the circumstances surrounding my having performed badly for my first degree are exceptional, since I was experiencing health problems at the time - for which I could obtain a medical note for if I had to. My question is; will it ever be possible for me to be accepted for an EPSRC-funded PhD or not? If so, how should I approach things during the application stage? Can anyone comment? Findaphd team?

We would have thought that your MPhil would make you eligible, but the EPSRCs rules have proved hard for us to track down. One thing you could look out for is schemes funded under the EPSRC DTA (Doctoral Training Account) schemes. These do offer more discretion to departments in admitting people based on experience rather than qualifications.

Of course academics will sometimes use 'research council rules' as a polite way of turning people down. Whilst many people will understand the effects of a medical condition on your degree result, others take the view that these factors will (or at least should) have been taken into account when the degree mark was awarded. It might not be a fair conclusion to come to, but you should be ready to preempt people who take this view (but try not to sound like you're blaming other people).

Thanks findaphd team, that information was very helpful. Since my original question, I have come across one or two available opportunities that I think would be ideal for me. The thing is, even though the admissions people accept the difficulties I had in the past, it would seem that I am still at a big disadvantage to other applicants. I realise that there may not be any black and white answer to this, but would it be possible to win research council funding purely on the strength of a very successful MPhil?

References are taken very seriously when appointing PhD students. Unlike other applicants you will have references from your MPhil and your year in research. References of the other candidates may be good, but yours are based on real performance in a research environment whereas your competitors will be based on a final year undergraduate project. If any publications resulted from your MPhil, most academics would put you in the pile for interview and after that it's up to you.

If you think you are having problems getting recommended for interview then speak to your MPhil course tutor and ask them for advice.