In this video, I highlight the key ways in which you can put forward a strong PhD application in order to receive funding. Feel free to comment on any key ideas you want broken down further.
Where to find studentships (I forgot to mention):
https://www.findaphd.com/
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/
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⌛ Time Stamps
00:00 Introduction
02:19 Applying for Studentships
05:45 Finding University Funding
08:35 UKRI & Research Council Funding
11:14 Standing out Academically
13:47 Do Something Unique
15:01 Looking at Previous Successful Applications
16:46 Reach Out to a Supervisor
19:25 Demonstrate the Impact of Your Project
21:14 Conclusion and Key Points
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🎓 About Me:
– I’m Éireann (said Air Run)
– Current PhD student at the University of Cambridge
– 7+ years experience supporting access and admissions to top universities
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💬 Keep in Touch:
– My website: https://www.eireannattridge.com
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_student_journeyy
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/EireannAttridge
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#PhD #phdadmission2023 #Academia #studentjourney #PhDlife #gradschooltips #Productivity #phdadvice
I haven’t said this on my channel before but I actually applied for a PhD six different times so of those six different times there were two occasions in which I was just completely rejected they decided I should not be there there were two occasions where I received an
Offer to do the PHD great but there was no funding attached to it and finally there were two occasions where I received an offer to study for the PHD and then an offer for full funding so that essentially means that my tuition fees would be covered as well as my
Living costs and one of those was to study at Cambridge which is why I’m here today this mixed bag of outcomes this rejection failures half failures um essentially do mean that I have a a lot of knowledge as to you know how to secure funding how to not secure funding
What a strong application looks like and that’s what this video is about today how can you prepare yourself so that your PhD application is as strong as it can be in order to enable you to receive funding now whilst this video is specific to the UK higher education
Institutions um it is still open to everyone it doesn’t matter what your background is what it is you’d like to study that being said I will pay close attention to the Arts Humanities and social sciences because these are notoriously difficult to get funding for there is so much more explicitly
Advertised funding available for those wanting to do stem projects and in the Arts Humanities and social sciences it’s just so unclear so confusing um there are slightly different roots to do in phds in those fields and as an education student so as a social science student I really struggled with this so that’s
What I’m going to focus on a bit more today but this video will still be helpful regardless of what field you’re looking to apply to in terms of the structure of this video we will look at different funding sources but there will be a key focus on ukri funding um which
Is one of the kind of biggest funding bodies for UK higher education institutions and again one of the most confusing so we’ll start with um some kind of key places you can look for funded opportunities and then we’ll talk about ukri who they are what they do and
How to make a strong application in the hope that your PhD can be funded by a research Council so the first means by which you can get funding is to apply directly for a student ship so this is again very common in the stem subjects and the science subjects but they are
Still available to Art subjects social sciences and Humanities now a student ship is a project that has already been slightly molded um and that will be molded by a professor or a pi who wants some data collected who wants a research project done but doesn’t necessarily
Have the capacity to do it themselves so they’re quite High um in their level of expertise and the project they’ve proposed is at a lower level more a PhD level so they say we want this project done we want these questions answered we want this explored and we just need
Someone to do it with we’ve got the money we’ve got the support we’ve got the place in our lab or in our Research Center we just need to interview people to take that student ship on so it’s a bit more like a job in that the role is
Very much predefined you apply for it directly and I guess there pros and cons to that the pros of course being that a lot of decisions have been made but isn’t pressure on you to come up with this new and exciting project it’s just about suitability if you see a project
And you really like the look of it you can apply for that and take that on and yeah I guess rest assured that big big key decisions have been made it’s just up to you to really shape what that research project looks like and you know
Kind of fix the nooks and crannies of it in addition to that because it probably feeds into a bigger project for that Professor or that Pi you’re part of a nice Research Center or research Network um and in that way you probably will feel you know very supported like you
Are part of a team you can I guess more easily see where your data is going or where your findings um are going and what ideas they feed into so that can be really reassuring another obvious Pro is you don’t need to search for funding
That is kind of part and parcel of the application um the funding is already guaranteed they are just trying to find the right person to take the place in addition to that they do start at any point of the year so some people really like the idea of that um you know
Perhaps doing a PhD starting in January or starting in March I did apply for student ship um and that was one of the cases in which I was rejected my feedback was very much like oh Erin should do a PhD but you know we’re not too sure if she is completely suitable
For this one in particular she has the enthusiasm she really cares about the field um but she maybe just wasn’t as strong as other applicants and with that student ship I would have been expected to start basically as soon as possible to move on to the cons I guess a thing
About those student ships are there is is limited flexibility if you are doing a PhD because you have a passion project because you have an area of focus then a student ship probably isn’t the way for you unless magically there is one that just really meets your kind of you know
Ideal expectations and reflects the project you’d really like to do in a similar vein although you have say your research center and your more immediate Network unfortunately you may not get the feeling of being part of a bigger cohort in the way you would if you directly joined let’s say the department
For engineering um in Autumn term or if you started the department if you started at the department for English with everyone else at the same time there isn’t necessarily the same kind of cohort feel or sense that we’re doing this all together the other place you can look for funding is just the
Different University web pages um so universities will have specific ports of funding that are separate to student ships that are separate to ukri funding um perhaps they’ve come from alumni perhaps they’ve come from Partnerships with a corporate partner but they will be detailed on the website and they will
Say you know here is who is eligible here is how you apply and yeah they’re good but difficult to find so I would do your research see what is available to you and see if there’s anything that you’re eligible for and just to look at
An example if I go on the University of Cambridge and I look at their postgraduate funding search I can see that there are a range of options so you can refine your search uh to say that you are a prospective applicant you want to study full time you want to do a
PhD and if you scroll down you will see all the different sources of funding that are available I’d really welcome or I’d really encourage you doing this you can see there are some that are specific to particular Labs particular um research bodies and you can see some are specific
To colleges which is a unique thing about the Oxford system if we click on this one here so Professor CH Lee and M studentship in applied medical biotechnology you can scroll down and you can see that there is some key eligibility criteria so essentially to be eligible you must be female and
Accepted as a post-graduate student so they are saying you’re only eligible once you apply as a student um and if you meet particular conditions you must be in a particular department and you must be a member of this specific College of course you can also tell by the title that this is in
Applied medical biotechnology so the pros of this are essentially if you do meet that particular criteria you have a safety net you have a second potential source of funding so as well as perhaps applying for the main roots of funding um this is another kind of pot that you
May be able to access in addition to that again it may come with some networking benefits if it is a funding source that has been donated by by um some alumni they may have an idea as to how they want this student to develop what part of networks they want them to
Be a part of they might have expectations that you do a particular amount of work experience so they may come with those kind of small packs that being said these parts of funding are extremely limited and difficult to find just because they’re there and just because you meet the eligibility
Criteria does not by any means mean you’re the only person applying for them so for that reason I would say look out for them um definitely give them a shot but don’t expect them to be your only source of funding or your only potential source of funding okay so now we’re
Going to talk about the meat and bones of this which is thinking about ukri funding so ukri essentially UK research and Innovation is this huge huge body um that funds a whole load of research both at PhD level but also even higher than that under them if you think of UK right
As a big umbrella you have the smaller research councils which are dependent on the field of study so you have ahrc which is Arts Humanities research Council you have esrc economic social research Council who I have funding from as well as arraigned from engineering to medicine and medical research so to
Reassure you there are enough research councils to cover absolutely every subject they are that broad because they want to ensure that you know any projects within the UK might fit under some of them and these research councils collaborate with institutions so universities to create what we call dtps
Or maybe dtc’s which are doctoral training Partnerships and when you apply for your PhD if the institution you are applying to as well as the department have a dtp you’re automatically considered for funding from the dtp so for example I applied to the faculty of education at the University of Cambridge
Who have a dtp a doctoral partnership um doctoral training partners parip sorry with the esrc the economic social research Council and when I applied what happened was they saw my application and internally within the faculty they decided if I should be put forward and considered for esrc training but that
Decision is made very much internally within the department that you are applying for when you apply for ukri funding um through this method what you normally do is you write your research proposal you write your personal statement you write your PhD application and then that is what is considered so
Different to a student ship where you are saying oh I see this project It looks interesting I want to be the PHD student who runs it you are saying hey I thought this myself I’ve got I’ve got this all covered I can tell you what I
Want to do in three years and what the outcomes will be that’s your application and I have a video on that where I go into much more detail so do feel free to watch that to get that step-by-step guide as to how to apply for a PhD so
Let’s say you are in a position where you want to apply for a PhD you have your own project idea you just need a university to accept you and for that University through their dtp to offer you funding here are some top tips as to
How to go about that and how to be as successful as possible the first thing I would say in terms of top tips is if you are in a position to control it so you are still studying for an undergraduate degree or studying for a master’s degree
I would do as well as you can academically as possible um so when I first applied for a PhD I was a master student at Oxford um I received an offer but I did not receive funding and when asking for feedback I was told well you didn’t have your Master’s grade yet we
Didn’t really know if you’re academically capable of doing a PhD they clearly did not like my ba grade enough they didn’t want to take a risk so they didn’t offer me funding they wanted to give their funding to those who looked more academically competitive that being
Said if you are like oh my gosh I’ve already done my undergraduate I’ve already done done my masters and you know I maybe don’t feel so confident with my grades that is okay there are other ways in which you can demonstrate academic Merit and also remember that particularly in some
Fields work experience is also really really important so I applied to my PhD having worked in the field of education and higher education in particular and that really supported my application because it meant I was an expert perhaps as an expert in a more practical way but I had years of experience understanding
And kind of yeah dissecting that field in addition to that I did write an academic journal with some of the findings from my masters um I did that during Co so the time where everyone thought they had more time and being honest I do think that is probably the
Only reason I’m funded um It Is by no means you know something you have to do before you apply for a PhD um it’s not necessarily something everyone has at all but if it is something you have because you’ve been you know working in the field for a long time or you have
Had time since doing previous studies to kind of write stuff up that does look really good I guess to reassure you there are many many ways in which you can demonstrate academic Merit but if you are in a position where you still have some control either over you know
Your current grades or the grades are working towards or um yeah your work experience do really really try to polish that academic CD so you look like an attractive academic hardworking individual and the thing about the research p paper um I don’t think it’s the fact that my research paper is any
Good at all I think it is more the case that it showed I was a practice student who could get that work done so they didn’t have to train me or push me to be somebody who contributes to research they were like cool she’s got that that
Makes our life a tiny bit easier the next thing and this may be obvious is make sure you’re doing something that has not been done before so nobody wants to give away a place at their department or give away funding to somebody who’s just going to replicate a project the
Whole point of a PhD is to contribute something new to the field to fill a gap in the literature is something people often say and that doesn’t have to be a completely new wacky invention but it’s you saying hey no one’s done this I’m going to do it I’m the right person and
This is the right time for me to fill this Gap in the literature and I’m going to do something that hasn’t been done before and if you’re in a place where you’re thinking I don’t know if this has been done before one make sure you’re researching thoroughly to write your
Application you will do quite a lot of research and reviewing of the literature if you do that well you will definitely see if someone has done this already and if you’re like um people have kind of done it but I’m not too sure have a think spend some time reflecting is
There something unique about your methodology is there something unique about the context in which you’re doing this make sure that you are really demonstrating your in your application that this is something new that this this offers something new and different the next thing I would really recommend is looking at previous successful
Applications and this requires reaching out on your part so it’s not something that you know the department that you’re applying to just gives out to people but it is something that you can you know you can look on LinkedIn who is funded by the research body that you’re
Interested in and is at your institution this is something I did when I was applying to Cambridge again the one of the few times I was successful there was somebody there who I knew because we didn’t undergraduate at a similar time but we weren’t necessarily close friends
I sent them a message and they said hey I can see that you have this particular source of funding that you are at this department would it be possible for me to ask you some questions about how you received that how did you go about writing your application and this person
Really really kindly shared their application and in looking at a successful application I could see how intentional they were about getting this research funding and they were intentional through their normal applic application sorry so it wasn’t just they did their application and then they hoped funding would come along they very
Much streamlined their research proposal and their personal statement to demonstrate they had this funding in mind and that included um really tying up the impact the key themes the suitability of this project to the needs and the wants of say the research Council the department their supervisor
So that when you read it it just all makes sense you look at it and you think okay I get why they’re applying for this funding I completely see the suitability and I just see everything adding up and that’s what you want to do and sometimes
The only way you can really see and make sense of that is by looking at someone’s successful application another important thing to do is contact your potential supervisor now different department websites say different things about whether you’re expected to or whether you’re not expected to but I would
Always just give it a shot in formally reach out please please please do not write the same thing to everyone reach out and demonstrate that this person really is the right person to supervise you so saying dear doctor or Professor whoever um I am a potential PhD student
Looking to you know run a project focusing on give your a little elevator pitch I thought you’d be really suitable as a potential supervisor considering your expertise in x y and Zed would you be happy to meet for a quick chat would you be happy to you know read a draft
Proposal would you be happy to give feedback do this do that or whatever now one thing I will say is being in touch of a potential supervisor it does in no way guarantee you a place on the course nor does it guarantee you funding and a good research supervisor would make that
Clear to you in your conversations that being said I think it’s still extremely helpful because again it just means things link up very well if you don’t contact a supervisor um if you don’t research who is at the department then the project you put forward may be rejected on the
Basis of you know suitability it’s not the case that it’s a bad project it’s just that there isn’t anyone there who is appropriate to supervise it or oversee it so being in touch of a supervisor just better shapes your project it again makes it seem as if
This is all very intentional this all makes sense there is a real you know relevant connection between your project and your supervisor’s expertise whether that connection is on the basis of methodology on content on previous kind of experience and previous work again whilst being in contact with a supervisor doesn’t mean you’re
Guaranteed a place or guaranteed funding do listen to their feedback um you’re way more likely to be rejected if you have spent loads of time working with a supervisor and they have said hey I’d recommend you change this or I recommend you think about this more if you then go
To your interview and you’re asked about that thing you were told to think about and you haven’t thought about it that Supervisor has every right to be like no I don’t think I want to work with this person because they are not receptive to feedback they don’t necessarily take the
Time to think through things that I have actually guided them towards so again contact of a supervisor manage that relationship well and in that relationship building demonstrate that you’re receptive to feedback demonstrate that you can get the work done demonstrate that you are really serious about this work and that there’s a real
Relevance of this work to that supervisor and their expertise and finally make sure that in your application you are demonstrating the impact of your project now me personally I believe that this is why there is so much funding for stem subjects as opposed to the Arts Humanities social
Sciences Etc that’s because in the stem field sometimes it’s easier to see the tangible outcome of that project you can see that okay this is um you know a drug or this is a finding that’s going to feed into you know this bigger research that is much harder to do and
To measure in in these other subjects so make sure that you have taken the time to reflect and think about how this has any real world impact and a way you can do that is thinking about the wider world so let’s step back from the PHD research itself how does this feed into
Our wider understanding of the world is it the case that there are timely conversations happening is this something that politicians are talking about is this something that is in the news media cycle at the moment is there something that is you know kind of on the collective Mind of a society or a
Smaller group why is it that you need to do this research now why is it almost urgent you need to show in your application you know I’m the right person to do this this is a great project but this has to happen and this has to happen because it has a big
Impact on this group of people or the world or this particular institution or context and remember that can come from the findings or the recommendations of your work but it can also come from your methodologies is that there something new and exciting that you’re offering um that you know could really support
Academia but also public knowledge essentially what you’re trying to answer is apart from you gaining a PhD at the end of this all what does this offer us and in writing this impact piece in writing your entire application just really take the time to make sure everything adds up this is essentially
Storytelling you are talking about why you are the best person to do this so again that’s your your academic experience your relevance your work experience why this needs to be done now think about the impact what this project has to be has to offer think about the
Relevance to your department and to your supervisor why is it that you need to do this here specifically why can’t you do this at University y or university Zed and of course make sure youve looked at successful applications who have done and demonstrated this well it’s very much about the person receiving your
Application reading it and going oh my goodness this this all makes sense this all works so well together it is very well packaged and yes this person is the right person to do it this is the right supervisor for them to be supervised by this is the right department for them to
Be in and this is the right time for them to do this PhD if you can demonstrate those things if you can do them well and create you know as much as you can this narrative um and perhaps a narrative of urgency of um yeah of things being the right time then
Hopefully hopefully hopefully you will receive both an offer and funding I really hope this video has been helpful if you’re interested in more postgraduate application advice or undergraduate application advice depending on who you are um there are loads more videos on my channel so do subscribe and I am uploading on a
Regular basis in addition to that I do create Vlogs sharing my experience as a PhD student so feel free to subscribe for that reason to if you are applying for a PhD at the moment please do remember that rejection isn’t necessar assign you should never do a PhD
Sometimes it is just about timing and Circumstance and there will be more opportunities most people who would doing phds have applied quite a few times um and as long as you kind of get that suitability piece right hopefully things will work out for you thank you
So much for watching best of luck with your application and see you in the next video
3 Comments
Are your eyes myopic?
Not Peterhouse getting free exposure 😂 This was such a helpful video!!!
Really useful, thank you! 🙂