Thanks for the responses so far everyone!

@Tasha I have considered self-funding the maintenance costs for the time being, until I can hopefully secure some assistance through grants or scholarships. The budgets say it will work, but it will be incredibly tight! I do not need to worry about limited hours for work, as I will not be on a student visa, which is nice. I will not be living in University accommodation, but unfortunately I will be needing to commute a reasonable distance to the University by train, as my fiance (husband by the time I start) is based in another city for work (and no, in advance, we are not willing to do long-distance, as we are currently doing this and have been for the last two years, so I would rather commute than continue with long-distance). I am going to discuss with my supervisor the minimum contact hours he would like, to maybe limit the commute to less than 5 days a week, if possible.

@PhDBug and @Tasha I am meeting with my supervisor this afternoon to discuss the feasibility of working part-time through my PhD (at least for the first year) even if it is 10-15 hours a week, because this would definitely help. I would obviously love to do work within my Department, but if possible I think my current employer might be able to keep me on part-time if I make a good case for myself.

I am glad that there have been other people in this situation who have made it through, it gives me hope! :-)

IFUW - International Federation of University Women (second and subsequent years of study).

FFWG - Funds for Women Graduates (final writing up year).

CSF - Canadian Scholarship Fund (must have completed at least one semester of study).

Those are three I came across that I would be eligible to apply for, but unfortunately not during my first year (and I am not sure what funding they will be offering in 2012/13 and 2013/14).

Hello,

I have been very fortunate to have been offered a scholarship from my University to cover my tuition fees for PhD study (which are considerable, as I qualify for overseas fees). Unfortunately, I was unable to secure a scholarship for a maintenance stipend.

I will be absolutely gutted if I cannot accept this offer and begin my PhD studies in September, however I fear that will be the situation if I am unable to find (at least some) assistance for my maintenance costs.

I would like to know if any of you have any suggestions for organisations, charities, etc which might offer funding grants or scholarships? I have obviously done the rounds and come across the following issues:

1) The deadlines are passed (unfortunately I did not receive my scholarship in the first round of funding, but rather as a reserve candidate - so I had come to terms with the fact that I would defer my offer for a year and then I received notification that I would receive a fee scholarship).

2) They only fund you if you are in: second year of study, writing up year of study, etc.

3) They are only for UK residents (I reside in the UK, but on a temporary permit, and will until 2013).

Any thoughts?

My PhD is in the Department of Archaeology and it's working title is: 'Profiling the dead: demographic characterisation of mass fatality incidents in the past and the present'. I plan to apply newly developed demographic theory and methods to the analysis of mass fatality incidents, which will apply to both archaeology and biological anthropology.

Hi Natassia,

I thought I would put my two cents in, if you are interested. I met my partner six months into my masters and six months from the end of his PhD (he is five years my senior too). It seemed unusual for us to start a relationship, especially since one month into us dating he received a job offer for after his PhD was completed, but it just felt right. We dated properly, seeing each other occassionally on weeknights, but most of our time spent together was on the weekends. We have been together now for over a year, he moved for his job and we travel back and forth on weekends and we spend all of our holidays together. My masters is complete and I found a job at the University, but I am looking to start my PhD soon, and he fully supports it. We know that my PhD will be very different from his, as I intend for my PhD to incorporate life, not put a hold on it like he did with his. I plan on moving over to where he is when my PhD starts and I will commute, as I will be the one with a more flexible schedule. I think despite your new love interest's non-academic background, he should understand the level of commitment you have to your programme, as I am sure there are things in his life that he is full committed to and would want you to understand if he became occupied by them. I wish you the best of luck in your new relationship... they are always so much fun, even if they are stressful, they are worth it for the right person.

PhD fail, I just got the reply. Oh well, I guess I have to have a long sit and think about what comes next now.

That is a good idea, I will have a look around on the website to figure out who I should call. I am only worried that she is the person I should call, since she is the one running the graduate programme for this subject.

For a little bit more background, this is the first year for this graduate programme within the School and this specific Research Group. This supervisor was hired to create a masters programmes (which will start this year) and PhD programme (which will also start this year, with this PhD Studentship) for this particular subject. Before her coming to the University there were researchers in this subject within the School and Research Group, but there were no postgraduate (masters or PhD) students being recruited. [Do not worry, she has a good academic history and she has previously supervised a number of PhD students during her past positions, I checked... and asked!]

I am aware it is also Easter Break though and maybe she is just away!

Dear me, I hope I am not pestering the poor academic. I e-mailed them today, seeing as how the last e-mail I sent on 26 March was not responded to. I tried to be a little more clear in this e-mail, by saying something along the lines of 'I wanted to enquire about the decision timeline for the PhD Studentship position and if you know when you expect to make the decision'. I am not even entirely bothered that I am waiting such a long time for the decision, but I would just like to know when I should expect it by so I can stop thinking about it so much (I freak out every time I have a new e-mail in my Inbox). I am at a loss as to who I would contact in the Department, although I suppose I could look up the Departmental Secretary's number on the website, if I get desperate for any sort of response (the other option would be to e-mail one of the 'contact' e-mails for the Research Group, which are for the two heads of the Research Group).

@ Teek

Hear, hear! You beat me to it, well said (sir?).

Ha, teach me for speaking too soon, I guess I should have actually finished the survey before posting that. :D

I am filling out the survey, but regarding the information I put on my Facebook profile... I have included a lot of those things on my profile, but they are set to be viewed only by people I have accepted. :S

Hi Maria, I am sorry to hear about your situation. I am with Teek and Algae... the best thing you can do is to keep busy and concentrate on yourself for a while. I find a good thing to do when having to rearrange your perspective on things, is to *literally* rearrange some things. Pour yourself a glass of wine (or make yourself a cup of tea), put on your favourite CD (or pop in your favourite DVD), and rearrange your flat. I always find that changing how a room feels, can really help to change how you personally feel (and in this situation in might help to make the place feel a bit more like 'yours' as opposed 'yours and his'). The physical exercise of pushing furniture around and the mental exercise of deciding where everything fits best, can really keep you occupied for a while too!

I hope everyone has had a lovely long weekend. I e-mailed the supervisor on the 26 March, with a relatively short e-mail inquiring about the decision timeline and thanking them again for considering my application and taking the time to meet with me. I have not heard back yet and I am starting to get quite antsy, seeing as how my interview was almost a month ago now. I realise it is still the Easter holidays for a lot of Universities and perhaps they are away... but I am finding myself in quite a 'limbo' situation, having to hold off making other decisions, because they partially hinge on whether or not I am offered this PhD position (ie, my lease end is coming up, my job contract will be up for renewal, etc). Any suggestions on how long should I wait before contacting them again? :S

I e-mailed on Friday before I left work - fingers crossed that I hear back soon!

I am a non-EU foreign national and I was able to apply for studentships (still waiting to hear back, fingers crossed), however because of the Overseas fees status it typically means you will always have to self-fund at least a portion of your PhD. The best deal you can usually get is a studentship that pays for Home/EU fees and has a stipend, then you only have to pay the difference between the Home/EU fees and the Overseas fees (which will vary by institution, but you are looking at about £5000 - £7000 a year). I made it apparent on my application form that I was aware of this and that I was willing to self-fund the portion not covered by the studentship (there is usually a section for 'How will you fund your studies?'). It is a lot of money to spend, but it is the most common funding situation I have come across (plus, you can always apply for supplemental scholarships from external organisations; it is a shame at the ORSAS is gone though, as this is exactly what it was for).

Thank! However, I feel I should point out that the bit in brackets was not what I was going to e-mail, ha. I just meant for everyone who reads this thread that given the normal amount of time I would wait (about a week), would mean that if I did not hear back from the interviewer tomorrow I would send them an e-mail on Monday. :)