Hi Saxonwhittle, if you plan to do a PhD, you don't have to do PGCE, as a PhD would qualify you for teaching, and you will be exposed to teacher training courses during your first yr of a PhD.

well done on the first!

You deserve it, bunk_medal. Glasgow is a very good uni and you are indeed bright enough to get it! So yours will be a 1+3 one as you come from a degree? Good for you.

thanks, both. As they need two refs, and yes, I've already got an academic one but seems unlikely to get the other one,so have to substitute one work ref. I've asked other academic staff to write one based on my transcript, guess what, the first sentence is " It is hard for me to comment on this student's academic ability as I do not know her". Then he reiterated my grades which are already on the transcript, and the whole ref is just two/three paras, half page! I decided not to use this so-called academic ref as it will jeopardise my application. The pigheaded professor knows much less about me than my employer whom I face five days a week! Sigh.......

Cannot get hold of uni lecturers at this time of year. Have to ask employer for a reference for the scholarship, which seems somewhat naff. What is the chance of success then? I'll definitely ask my employer to highlight the transferrable skills and my abilities to meet up deadlines, work independently with minimum supervision, ect. Would this help?

What is your area of research, *pineapple*? I got a first and a good Msc result but didn't get a single penny for sociology funding, which makes me distraught!

why you started your PhD in March? Normally we start in Sept.

but why a BSc? you can change your PhD research area.

Rationale?

undergrad or Mphil?

Oh, sorry for the digression here. Do you know how long does a PhD in Canada or Australia take? Are funding opportunities abundant there for overseas students? Do they need GRE score? What is the structure/time frame of a social science PhD which involves fieldwork?

Oh maybe I should ask my undergrad tutor to comment on my strength in the related components. It is more convincing than I sell it to them myself. How important are references in getting such kind of pre-funded post, I mean, in comparison to your own one?

Hi kronkodile, I don't have any relevant work experience. And the only undergrad module I can think of which is related to social research methods.

Yep, maybe a CV and some writing sample work will also help although they don't ask for them.....

thanks, Matthew82, that's very helpful. I'll write it up in the way of a marketing material...haha...

In the PhD application, what do you have to write about yourself for an already funded project which the professor passes it onto you? The research questions have been identified, so no proposal is required. It is just a matter of answering them and write it up into a 100,000 word thesis. I am not clued up about this sort of thing. Any advice is much appreciated.

BTW, the suject area is way off what I was doing for undergrad and postgrad, so have to learn it from scratch. but I've read some other posts saying that people with background in physics can be taken in to biochemistry. So I assume prior acquired knowledge should not be regarded as a priority?