That is not quite what she was asking chococake!

I am not sure Socopol, I am research council funded and get paid maternity and sick pay. My friend is funded by her Uni and she thinks she is not entitled to anything. I find that hard to believe though, surely they have to pay something as you would not get SMP.

Sorry should have mentioned my PhD is the three year type.

Hi Sciencegirl,

I do not have a masters and I am on a fully funded research council studentship, so I would say no. My field is science/developmental medicine.
(up)

Hey,

Maybe worth checking with your uni that you work in, some offer full Staff Research Scholarships that cover full fees for reserach degrees.

also just noticed that strathcylde uni in glasgow consider graduates for second year of the MPharm.

this is from the RPS website, looks like it is at the discretion if the uni.

Are there any conversion courses to pharmacy and can I study part-time?
Previous studies may exempt some people from parts of the course that their subject covers under APL (Accreditation of Prior Learning). This means that the university will look at the syllabus of course completed and decide if it is sufficient to exempt the student from part of the MPharm course. This decision is at the discretion of the School of Pharmacy and thus should be discussed with the admissions tutor. Unfortunately there is no opportunity to study part-time as the course is intensive and requires full time learning.

I am in science, developmental medicine.

I just started this week too, I am in developmental medicine. So far really enjoying getting settled in and looking forward to really getting into the work!

Hi Catcat,

I am the same, starting my Phd on the 1 October, and I have only had a brief discussion with my supervisor (a few days ago). He gave me some books about the bare bones of my subject so I have just started on them. But apart from that, I have just been getting my life as ready for it as possible, moving, sorting out childcare and now just setting up some good home office space. I have also bought myself some good notebooks, so I can jot down any ideas I have when reading, this makes me feel a little better!

I am really nervous about not being ready, but so looking forward to getting started. My subject is quite novel too, but there are components of it that have been well reviewed and researched.

Hi Siwee22,

Firstly I think it depends on your funding situation. For example my studentship allows for 6 months paid maternity leave, and six months unpaid, the clock is also stopped for the period of maternity leave you take.

As to working with a baby at home, I had my child pretty much during the winter break of the fourth year of my undergraduate degree. I had a few modules of the first semester to finish just after the birth, then I began my honours project when my son was a few weeks old. I picked a project that would allow me to be at home mostly, but had either my husband or mother looking after him so I could work. That meant I could breastfeed and I did not feel I was away from the baby. It was not totally easy though, and there were some stressful points, and that was just an undergrad honours project. But it was do-able.

So what I am eventually trying to say is to check your position with leave and pay etc, and to figure out if you would have the support if you had to work from home. I am just about to begin my PhD next month and my little boy is 20 months now, but I plan to treat it like a full time job, just that I will be tweaking the hours a little to fit around my husbands hours and childcare.

I had an informal interview last week for a biological/medical science PhD. I really did not know what to expect as it was the first. It started with them showing me around an then the informal chat began. As expected they asked me about why i want to do the PhD and asked a few technical things about the study area, to see if i had a look around the subject. They also asked where I see myself in five years. Before this though they asked about what I had done in the lab, this threw me a bit as most of the lab stuff from my degree had been in the earlier years, not so much the third and fourth. So I felt a bit of a gormless idiot, I had to say I didn't know! So if it was lab based, i would look up what machines/procedures you have used. They also asked me what molecular biology was, sounds simple enough but at the time I struggled to answer.
They did say they just wanted to get me to think a bit about what i had done, and were very nice. I even got the PhD!
As for what to wear, I think somewhere in between too smart and too casual, like a pair of trousers and a shirt.

Hey, I am just new here so hello. I am in the same situation. I got the call today, offering me a funded position. I wondered if they ever go back on their offer before the official letter, but I am hopeful this is never the case!
Congratulations on getting the place.