HELP I've got an Interview for PhD with funding on Tuesday - any inside tips or help?!?!

(13 Posts)
RoseGarden123 Fri 08-Feb-13 13:57:10

I've applied for a funded place to complete a PhD in the field of Sociology/ Social Policy.
Any tips on what i may be asked at interview? Will it focus on me as a person or on the proposal or a bit of both. Interview is only 30 mins. I've interviewed 1000s of times in my career so why is this making me so nervous!!!!!

P.S. Should add I am heavily pregnant!

Miffytastic Tue 12-Feb-13 16:08:52

Yes a bit of both - why you're interested in the topic, your proposal.. and then how your experience to date has prepared you for doing a PhD, why you want to do it. Think about what the challenges might be to doing the research, and how it fits to current developments/debates.

You're not alone - I found it very nerve wracking, I think it's because you feel like your intelligence is being tested on top of everything else!

drmummmsy Tue 12-Feb-13 16:14:31

why do you want to research this?
why is it important?
how is it relevant to our current research/research clusters in the department?
what can you/will you bring to the department? - this is about you, so any student activity you did as an undergrad (student union? student rep? awards?) or if you've been working in employment outside of academia
what are the potential problems of the study? what are your back up plans/plan b?

drmummmsy Tue 12-Feb-13 16:18:20

i'm not sure if it would be appropriate for them to ask about your pregnancy, although something like, 'what is your research schedule/timetable?' might be asked

for eg:
-first year - compulsory modules (?), recruiting participants and data collection, literature review
-2nd year - analysis and write up
-3rd year - write up, revisions and output (journals/conferences) etc

RoseGarden123 Tue 12-Feb-13 18:45:44

Thanks, had interview this morn, seemed to go well and felt confident about all the questions, but it was super quick due to the time limits so was impossible to say overall!

RoseGarden123 Tue 12-Feb-13 18:45:46


TinyDiamond Tue 12-Feb-13 23:17:01

glad it seemed to go well. any indication of how long you need to wait to find out?

RoseGarden123 Wed 13-Feb-13 09:24:21

There is still another stage i.e. if you have a secured place or a reserved list etc and sorting out student movements if people accept elsewhere, but from this bit I should know in the next few days. I have to say the interview wasn't nearly as daunting as I imagined it would be!

drmummmsy Wed 13-Feb-13 09:49:42

that's good - fingers crossed!

hairtwiddler Wed 13-Feb-13 09:54:52

I went through this last year. It was a bit daunting but I got the funding. Depends on who the funding body is. Mine was a charity so I needed to tick their boxes that I was a good investment for them. Ie that I planned to carry on with a career in research and that this wasn't just a whim to fill a few years then go back to what I was doing before. So my advice is to think about what your plan is for the phd. What will it give you in terms of future career.
Try to give equal focus to what the institution will give you by way of research training. Learning to become a competent researcher is a big part of a phd, as important as your topic, if not more so...

They may ask about your methodology, just to know you've thought about it... development will come later.

They may also ask about research experience. Have you done a pilot study? Is there anything in your current post that has involved research.

Good luck! These things are tough but worth it in the end.

hairtwiddler Wed 13-Feb-13 09:55:41

Ah, sorry, just realised you had it already!!
Well, might help someone else I suppose.
Will go and drink more caffeine....

RoseGarden123 Tue 19-Feb-13 09:59:32

Looks like I did it, being put forwards as nominated for ERSC and backed up by university funding if not successful. huge grin !!

drmummmsy Tue 19-Feb-13 10:03:47

yay, well done! that's great news RoseGarden the beginning of the marathon! massive grin for you

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