I am now working hard on research and building towards a proposal that is, at last, starting to take some sort of a shape. I am not in a rush and can consider a 2009 start, especially as I still want and need funding. On the side I have also started to look for potentiel supervisors and this has turned out to be a problem. First of all, all those who make authority on my very specific topic are dead. Bless them, they were few and old, so I could easily use their work without fearing their competition, lol. The problem is, it turns out there may well be no-one in the UK who would be obviously/particularly qualified for supervising me. Or rather, there is ONE. And he lectures at Cambridge. And that scares me!

Cont.

It scares me because I got my MA from a polytechnic, and because I have never really considered going to Cambridge! Just the idea of entering the chapel of King's College makes me feel ill-at-ease. So I was thinking of getting in touch with the man anyway, but I really don't know how to do this! Are you supposed to approach someone on recommendation or can you do it just like, out of the blue? Is it decent to ask a Cam Uni senior lecturer for a... chat? Because, to begin with, this is what I would like!

I don't know, I just feel sooooo uneasy about this - am I being stupid?

Just do it. Send an email or phone up.
Cambridge may well be one of the best universities in the world but these are real people working there and they might not be as difficult to approach as you expect. Some are quite friendly, other's aren't. That's basically the same everywhere.

First time I met this professor from Oxford a few years ago I was scared but then it turned out I knew more than him!

Thanks for your reply!

I will probably give it a week - next Friday I am going to the British Library to check out one of the dead guys' books, which should be particularly useful to have looked at before I have a talk with anyone about my topic. Then I will e-mail I guess (I'm just so sure that I wouldn't find the courage to call straight away...).

Also tonight at the pub I saw a former lecturer of mine (my favourite ever in the UK) who told me to come back to that jazz venue next week so we could talk a bit, so I guess I'll seize the opportunity to see whether I could discuss all of this with him some time - I'm sure HE has plenty of good advice to give and could also write references and all if I asked.

Gosh, I just feel so worried and excited at the same time now, it's really odd.

Anyway, thanks again for your answer :). I'll let you know what happens next!

Just out of curiosity... that Oxford professor, was he or she your supervisor? Where were you coming from before you met him or her?

I still seriously wonder how that feels, when you come from such a "less prestigious" background... I don't know, there is just that thing that makes you feel like you are not 100% welcome in such an institution if you have never been to Eton before you apply... I know it is a biased view and I totally agree they must be "normal" people, but it's just it's hard to overcome those prejudices/stereotypes you may have in mind, see what I mean?

Oh, I'll stop biting my nails because of this for now anyhow - and say to myself if the man agrees on meeting me it'll all be fine... at least we share a passion for a very specific topic, that can't be bad...

I came from a "second (old new university) class" UK university and I just wanted to chat with the guy about my PhD research in the same area. It wasn't my supervisor. At that point, I was in my first year of the PhD. He was very helpful and even agreed to have a final look at my thesis before I submitted it. So it's worth trying, regardless of your background.

Any prejudices you have at Oxbridge may well be true(ish) at the undergraduate level, but doing a postgraduate course everyone is as normal and as poor as everyone else. Well most people anyway

Thank you for your replies!

I'll e-mail straight after my visit to the BL this Friday ... If I e-mailed before then and got an answer I'd feel too unprepared and I'd die of apprehension, lol.

I'll let you know as soon as I get a reply