Hi there,

Following the good advice of some of you guys on this forum, I made a lab visit and now have an interview this week! After the numerous rejections, I really really need to do well on this interview and I would really appreciate if anyone can give me some good advice on interview questions what may come up and whats the best way to respond. The question that for some reason worries me is what my career aspirations are - the problem is I know I want to do research but is it good enough to simply say that following a phd, i want to follow an academic career route in which i do a post doc, then look for a research role because in reality i dont really know exactly - i want to do clinical/translational research but this is not a patient centred phd i have applied for. Would they like to hear that i want to go into clinical research? If I say i want an academic research career on the bench but want to eventually progress to a position where I am leading my own group, conducting my own research - does that sound silly? I really dont have a clue what to say to this question.

Any advice asap would be appreciated.

I recently mentionned in a post about the numerous phd applications i made and got rejected for. Some of you suggested that visiting the labs before submitting an application may be useful. So I have now arranged a visit this week to meet a supervisor and see the labs. I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice on how to impress potential supervisors and as a female, should I be dressed casually eg jeans as it is not an interview or in formal attire? Any advice will be appeciated. Thanks.

Thanks for all the advice everybody. I have tried to cover all angles. I contacted a careers advisor who gave some great advice etc, I try to make my applications specific to each individual project and I have been told by the careers advisors that my application and CV are strong which is why I am feeling worse because I really cant see where Im goin wrong. The only thing I havent done is gone to visit the labs because I live in the British Isles and would have to fly over and that is expensive. Although im planning to pay a a few lab visits now but theres not many PhDs of interest at the moment and Im worried I'll may have to wait till the next academic year with this one coming to an end, taking my age to 30!

One of you kindly suggested that you guys might be willing to check some of my applications. If anybody can do that, I'd be grateful if you can provide an email address to contact you on as I'v got a deadline coming up next Thursday.

Thanks

Hi everybody,

Im hoping someone could give me some idea of whats happening with my applications. I have applied for about 15 phd studentships now if not more and have been rejected by everyone and Im not entirely sure why I havent even received one interview. It is so demoralising.

Funny thing is I had great A Levels and GCSEs and consequently managed to enter Medicine (MBBS). Due to some unforseen extenuating circumstances, I had to terminate my medical studies after 2.5 years. At 23 I got married following certain disturbances in my life to an island with no universities. I didnt want to give up on my studies after showing such potential. So I decided to do a BScHONS in Life Sciences with Open University and got 2 years credit transfer from my medical degree. However, I had 2 young children while studying and working but managed to attain a very high 2:1 with all but one module mark nearing 80% or more. For some strange reason, while most universities would award first class for anything above 70-75%, Open University only award a 1st above 85%!! Anyway then I went onto do an MRes in Medical & Molecular Biosciences from the reputable Newcastle University and got a distinction yet again showing my academic potential.

Despite all this, I am being rejected over and over again and I really dont know what to make of it. Now Im thinking is it because my BScHons was with Open University? Or is it because I am now 29 and 'too old' for a PhD? With the MRes I also got 6 months oncological research experience at a research institute. I thought after getting into a reputable university like Durham initially and then finishing off with a MRes at another reputabel university like Newcastle, this would make up for any doubts they might have for Open Uni.

I would really appreciate if someone could tell me what is going wrong here. Has everyone being offered a PhD studentship got a 1st in their BScHons but even then my marks are similar to people who get a first.

Please help somebody!