Hello,

I’ve recently been getting in touch with universities to discuss the possibility of a PhD starting this October. However, most of these courses would be self-funded as research councils have already allocated funding for forest conservation. Talking to potential supervisors, my two options seem to be self-fund this year (from government) or wait until next year and try to secure a fully funded project.

I was just wondering if I could get some advice on this please? I seem to be getting the impression that securing a fully funded project next year has more benefits from a self-funded PhD, such as finance (stipends?) and access to networks or working with key people/groups. However, a year can be a long time to wait, especially when jobs in conservation seem to be lacking for entry-level roles.

Thanks,

Laura