Hi everyone,

I have an upcoming interview with Queen Mary's Drama dept and was hoping for some advice!
I have submitted my own proposal, which has the interest of a couple of universities but QM is my dream place to be. I think the proposal must be strong given the interest, but how do I seal the deal???

All the phd students I know have has phone/informal interviews. I only know mine will be 20mins but I assume it's formal...possibly panel as I'm competing for one of 4 scholarships. So if you have face to face interview experience, I'd greatly appreciate your knowledge!

Thanks for any advice in advance.:-)

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I can't be specific as I wasn't humanities. I can make general comments though.

You need to treat it as a job interview. I suggest you play safe and dress in standard formal business attire for starters (though you should have figured that already). It may turn out that you're better dressed than the interviewers, however, that does show you're serious about the project as soon as you walk in the room.

At the interview, expect standard interview questions and ensure you've prepared accordingly and read any background information that may show you have a genuine interest in the project. What can you bring to this project (position)? What do you expect out of it (you need to go beyond just getting a PhD)? What are your career aspirations? Where do you see yourself in five years time?

When you talk to them, project a positive image of yourself but don't overdo the sales pitch (avoid oozing as that can put people off).

When it comes to asking questions, try to gain an appreciation of the aims of the project and use those questions to find out a little more than they would normally tell you. Use the questions to open up a conversation about the project that shows genuine interest from your point of view.

I was against another candidate when I went for interview and made sure I prepared before I went in. I think that may have given me an edge as I actually started having an open discussion about the project and was able to display a knowledge of the core material during the interview.

Anyone help with more humanities-related specifics?

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

I'm Social Sciences so not directly related but I did have a panel interview for my PhD. It feels like it was ages ago now though. As Ian has stated, treat it like you would any other job interview. Dress smartly, prepare by doing background reading, make sure you are up to date with the current literature and be prepared to say something about your methodology and any potential pitfalls you anticipate at this point in time, and how you propose to overcome them.

I was interviewed by a panel of 4, one of whom was my now DoS. At the beginning of the interview I had to give a 5-10 minute presentation, giving a brief overview of my proposal, my methodology, methods and any anticipated issues. I was then questioned for another 10-15 minutes about why I wanted to do a PhD, how much I understood about what would be required of me, where I planned to live, why there were gaps in my employment history (a ONE month gap where I left a job and was waiting for CRB clearance before beginning a new job - I was even doing work experience at the time!!!!) and how much notice I would have to give. To be honest, I think they'd made their mind up before the interview but they were just checking I understood what would be required from me.

So in summary (!) dress smartly and prepare by reading about current literature and methodology. You'll be fine, it sounds like you have a lot of interest so good luck! And do come back and let us know how you get on! (up)

I did an interview at QM for drama - so perhaps could be more specific. It's definitely going to be a panel (of three or four) who will have read your proposal and have specific questions. Read up on their guidelines for a good proposal. Almost every question I had was about specifying the methodology and the proposed contribution - quite standard. There's lots of competition so try and be as prepared as possible - confident about your approach but also listen carefully to their advice/ questions which will hold clues to developing the proposal into a viable project. good luck!

Dear all,

I got slaughtered at the interview- they had taken apart my proposal and had a list of questions based on the holes in it.

But somehow I must have pulled it off -they've offered me a place!!!!!

Unfortunately I'm only the funding reserve - so I've been offered the option to defer ( and apply for the funding next year) or start part-time and apply for funding as a student (which eliminates me from school scholarships).

I'm still waiting to hear back from another university about funding, but now I have a tough choice to make.

Congratulations on being offered a place! Don't worry about being taken apart at the interview - standard fayre I'm afraid!

As for the funding, I would seriously think twice about accepting a PhD without any funding, because it's VERY hard to have a job that would enable you to afford to live and do your PhD too. I tried working 20 hours a week part time in my first year whilst studying and I really struggled. If you get offered a PhD elsewhere with funding then I would very much consider taking it. I know QM is your first choice but don't struggle financially if you can get a paid position.

Dear all,

Exciting news, not only was I offered a scholarship from Royal Holloway but a week after receiving that offer I got a letter from Queen Mary offering me a FULL SCHOLARSHIP.

I am beyond chuffed and very excited about beginning my PhD journey.

Huge Congratulations on being offered the P.h.D and funding! You must be over the moon.

Sorry to tag on to your thread, but if you, or anyone else could offer any advice I would hugely appreciate it. I am currently applying for a PhD in drama at QM and the deadline is next Friday. I have contacted my potential supervisor and he says it has promise but the material is too broad, that I need to be much more specific grounding in relevant and recent theatre and performance scholarship and that my proposal needs to give a sense of how my project contributes to the intellectual field into which it intervenes.

As I said I only have a week and need to complete all the research documents, personal statements etc to apply for funding and the doctorate.

Any advice on how to improve on the proposal, and what to include in a strong research summary for funding would be gratefully received.

Many thanks, in advance :-)

Lkpitt,

Given that the money on offer is QMUL principal studentship I think its the proposal that's of the utmost importance when applying, rather than the actual research summary which I was under the impression was more for any AHRC funding.

I'd take any advise that your proposed supervisor has given you and really focus on knotting out all those issues in the proposal. Some prop. sup. are happy to look at a draft of your proposal which is really invaluable in terms of working out what QM want. Although with the deadline this Friday it might be a bit late for that. The good news is that the advice/issues raised by my prop. sup. came up again in the interview, so you can be sure that these are areas that they will be looking to see how you have interpreted and considered their hints/advice.

I don't know how wide ranging your proposed idea is or if it is particularly suited for QM (e.g. my study will be on postlesbian performance - and a quick look at the staff page, you can see that it was very relevant to QM so it wasn't necessary for me to spell out it's suitability for the school) but perhaps if your looking at something 'wider' such as British theatre in 1957 I would stress why QM is THE place for you to undertake your study rather than say RHUL.

Those are just a few handy tips, but given that the prop. sup. has suggested your material is too broad -this is really what you'll need to work on. QM love clarity and specifics. Their application process is a lot more intense than other drama depts, for example while I proposed looking at contemporary performance between 2012-2015 I was pressed for a list of performers/performances I would see! Which is near impossible to predict, remember QM is at the fore of contemporary theatre scholarship, they know their stuff and they expect applicants to as well. The more precise you can be about the scholarship and performances you want to engage with the stronger your proposal will be.

I'd think of it a bit like a formula - put an idea/performer/theory forward - then back it up with who/where/why. Write the proposal and then try to pre-empt the problems QM might see in it. Then try and fill them in, or acknowledge them and detail an approach you've considered around the issue. It can seem impossible but it will stop them from scrapping your proposal for being too general.

As for giving a sense of how your project contributes to the intellectual field into which it intervenes, you need to SPELL THIS OUT otherwise they'll wonder why would they pay you to do the research?! I'm researching a completely untapped area of scholarship which made it obvious how this would contribute to academia but I also widened my scope and detailed how it would overlap and contribute to other areas of theory.

I set out to make my proposal interesting, engaging and also to make the idea as appealing as possible so that QM didn't want to let it get away to another university. While QM are very aware of how desirable they are to students, you as a phd candidate still need to make your idea desirable to them. I know there's a fair bit in the application to do but the proposal is the first thing they look at and what determines who gets to the next stage - so this is where you need to focus your energy.

Good luck, (up)
Let us know how you get on

Justagirl,

Thank you so much! That is all hugely useful advice. I am trying to address his concerns, but feel it is best to focus on solidifying my ideas rather than a mad dash to get more contemporary research material. I will deal with this research in more detail if I get an interview I think. I have condensed the reference material I was using down in order to give the argument a clearer direction and am addressing why QM is the ideal University for this thesis - I am researching the representation and exploration of temporality on stage, a subject which concerns key lecturers in drama, philosophy and literature at QM. I have also spent time on my personal statement, hoping that where there may be holes I do not have time to fully fill in the proposal, the statement of intent will demonstrate the capacity and passion to do so.

Thank you again for your reply and support :-)