I am applying for a PhD, i have 3mth background in similar area from my MSc project, but they want me to write a one page statement of my research interest...any tips?! i dont get how i am supposed to propose something when i have not already done exactly what they are researching...

you should look for the supervisors previous papers and see if they can give you any indication of future research interests, sometimes these are stated on their webpage. you could use these ideas to suggest a project! what topic are you proposing to study?

the PhD is in parasitology, I would be kind of guessing what the supervisor would want to hear. other adverts for studentships seem to make it a lot easier, ie just send a CV etc, not a full one page proposal!! but that does sound like good advice, so i will give it a bash!

What was your research project on this year and what is the project that you will be doing at the university. Best way forward is to base it on your completed project. e.g. I worked on mosquito immune systems this year and looked at the cost of mounting an immune response on the protein produced in the ovaries by using a protein assay to estimate how much. I applied for a project at Edinburgh in a similar field and proposed to use natural infections with Plasmodium, and 2 types of artificial

immuno-stimulant to evoke a response. I then proposed using acridine orange to stain the ovaries and test for the amount of apoptosis. I also considered attempting to locate the host molecule responsible for the apoptosis. Best advice is to look around at the research done and think of ways to progress from there using a variety of techniques. don't worry if you don't know how to perform them, this is training they will give you when you start.
If you give me more details on your project this year, I may be able to help