Hi Stuarte,
Good to hear that I'm not the only "mature" PhD student, - although, have to say, you've got an extra decade or so of experience than I have. I'm starting full-time in October with full AHRC funding, and having survived that insanely competitive process, aided and abetted by 3 kids, I'm determined to see this through in less than 4 years. I've found that returning to study at this stage is much more efficient than last time around: no time wasted on checking everybody else out. Well, not much time ;)

You sound well placed to make a strong start on yours, and wishing you the very best.

Can't say on the bgp, - is there any guidance on the AHRC website? I got my good news yesterday on a fully funded AHRC collaborative PhD. Good luck.

Hi Helena

Glad to hear your good news at last. Mine came through today as well, funded AHRC collaborative PhD. Woohoo.

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======= Date Modified 15 Jul 2010 16:38:25 =======
Bit of a sore topic for me:
The threshold for an MA Distinction at Uni was 80%, rather than the customary 70%.
Yours truly wound up with an overall of 79.08%, ie. less than half of 1% away from an overall Distinction.

Gutted.

======= Date Modified 15 Jul 2010 16:33:00 =======
Hi

I missed the Jan 2010 deadlines, when my OH broke his leg with serious complications. Was pretty gutted, and resigned myself to waiting another year. Then out of the blue, a funded collaborative award cropped up, in June, and I've just heard today that I'm the successful candidate So if you have the time/energy to invest in continuing your funding quest, then go for it.

I'm chewing my finger nails: how many candidates do you reckon would be interviewed for a funded AHRC collaborative award?

I'm up for interview next week, and am wondering about the odds...

Thanks for your well-considered replies.

My first instinct is to delve a little deeper into the reputation of the potential supervisors.

Having said that, though, it's not my intention to follow a long-term academic career: the purpose of my gaining a PhD is to fast-track access to the higher professional roles in my specialist area. And here's the rub: if I'm not aiming to live in academia, perhaps the association with a high status collaborative partner (albeit in conjunction with a weak institution) will be more significant to my future career than being supervised by an academic at a top-notch university.

Thanks for your replies. I'm a mature student, with 3 children under 12, btw, and I feel I need to get started as I've deferred my professional development for years.

Whilst I can afford to self-fund, ideally, I would've met the funding deadlines, for a 2010 start. This didn't happen, owing to an injury, and I'm reluctant to delay for a further year.

So what I'm trying to evaluate isn't the risk of self-funding vs funded, but rather the intrinsic value of the completed PhD, according to the two options outlined in the original post.

Initially, I assumed the world-class institution/unfunded route was better. However, I've recently begun to wonder if the world-class collaborative partner for the funded, 2nd-rate institution, would provide sufficient status to compensate for its academic shortcomings.

Any thoughts?

======= Date Modified 02 02 2010 12:02:13 =======
A PhD from a 2nd rate institution, but still a collaborative funded award in conjunction with a world-class partner?

Or a PhD from a world-class institution, but unfunded?

Magictime - Like you, I have kids and a lack of geographic flexibility to factor in. Like you, solid grades, - but my final 79.4% fell short of the Distinction threshold of 80%. Logic says I should submit a radically revised proposal, in collaboration with the department. But I'm reluctant to let go of my thesis, given how it was received at the time, and its role as the pilot study for my proposal. It's frustrating to be in this situation, given the claimed support for interdisciplinarity, and the prominent role of cross-cutting strategic themes in the AHRC's 'Future Directions.' I expected to meet some resistance, as my approach involves the experimental manipulation of variables, to demonstrate behavioural issues amongst consumers of arts/culture. It's incongruous to have on one side, arts funding bodies insisting upon fiscal accountability/broader audiences, whilst the research opportunities seem to be limited to the perpetuation of introspective practices, rather than engaging with issues that affect the cultural sector here and now. Publishing is appealing, but I'd rather push on. But I can't imagine devoting 6 years to a part-time PhD if I didn't feel passionate about its framework. Thanks for your comments.

Thanks Pamplemousse (in a quiet whisper, whilst trying not to hijack thread):
Just a bit gutted having got a Distinction for my MA thesis, which was recommended for publication, and rated as unprecedented by my tutors. Ah well.

What I'm struggle to understand is the irreconcilable contradiction between the notion of innovation as valued by AHRC, and the necessity for the res prop to fit within the well-established research strengths of academic depts.

Too big a problem for my little brain, I suppose.

Well done Magictime.

I've just heard today that my the uni won't accept my application because my (Arts/Humanities) res prop doesn't match existing research strengths at the Uni.

I've been invited to "shape my research interests in such a way that they could be adequately supervised within the school."

What are the options here?
- Resubmit a completely rewritten res prop?
- Attempt to proceed without AHRC funding?
- Give up?
-Some/all of the above?

======= Date Modified 08 Apr 2009 18:24:43 =======
It's for a funded place within a dept: there's 40 postgrad vacancies over 2009-2013, so I need to be accepted by the dept first.

Why not go for it? I'm 41 with 3 kids <10yrs, a shiny new MA, and I've just applied for an AHRC-funded PhD programme. Never too old.