As the first-call deadlines for PhD studentships start to roll around, I’d thought I’d share some tips, hints and insight that I’ve learnt from my personal experience of applying for a PhD. It is worth putting in a disclaimer now that I will be drawing on experience of applying for PhDs within the life-sciences in the UK but hopefully there will be some content that is useful to all, regardless of your specific subject area or location.
Step 1 – Figuring out where you want to be
For me, this came before anything else. By this point in your life, you’re probably starting to think about your future more and more. Your friends, family and partners may be moving on to new things as well and your location in relation to them can be important
In addition to your relative location to the important people in your life, most people applying for PhD positions tend to be in their early 20s and the institution and city that you chose to live these informative years is an important choice as well. Busy cities with lots to do and good train links like London, Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester were all high on my list (and this is not an exhaustive list by any means).
Some people will argue that the research comes before everything else, but with the number of PhDs available, the chances are that nearly every institution will have something that will interest you. Of course, if you’re interested in a particularly niche area of research, then proceeding straight to step 2 might be the best bet as you probably won’t need to narrow down the places too much.
You may also be thinking about starting a PhD abroad, the states have many good options for PhDs and they have a strong focus on your continuing career progression that sometimes UK institutions don’t. It is worth bearing in mind though that PhDs in the States tend to be much longer (UK PhDs have a broad range but tend to be 3-4 years, US PhDs can be as long as 5-7 years). There are also some stipulations that graduate students have to work to cover some of their costs, so just bear this in mind when applying. In addition, many PhDs require a GRE test to be sat so remember this when applying.
This brings up a very important point that at this stage, practical considerations shouldn’t be thought of too stringently, the idea of each step in this process is to narrow down your choices until you have somewhere in the region of 4-9 PhDs you want to apply for. This number is obviously flexible (I applied for 5) but do bear in mind that each application has to be tailored for the specific PhD (even if they are in similar fields) and this takes time, along with any interviews. Applying for too few may also leave you without any choice. Even if you’re set on one particular PhD, that interest can change and projects can change so apply for a few.
Step 2 – Identifying Programs and labs
Now that you’ve narrowed down WHERE you want to work and live over the next 3-5 years, it’s time to work out WHAT you want to do. You’ve probably got to the stage of knowing the rough area you want to work in, but my advice would be to still keep your options open. Don’t just cross something for example like immunology off because you’ve had no experience of it or didn’t find it interesting at university. Read at least the descriptions of what each lab does as often the titles can be deceptive and deliberately misleading due to funding restrictions. If you get time, read some papers by the lab, not in any serious detail but reading the abstract and flicking through the methods used will give you a feel of what the lab is aiming to achieve and how they do it.
In reality, there are two types of scientific PhDs in the UK, those with a ‘programme’ and ‘conventional’ PhDs. The programme format is something more similar to the American system and, more often than not, involves a period of undertaking rotations in different labs in the first year and then picking a lab at the end of this first year and starting your 3-year PhD then (hence why they are sometimes called 1+3 PhDs). Some programmes also offer PIPs placements (e.g. BBSRC, EPSRC) where you can work in a different sector such as scientific policy. This was introduced to counteract the lack of jobs available to PhD students after they finish, enabling them to transfer into new sectors. These programmes are typically funded by organisations such as EPSRC, BBSRC, Wellcome Trust, and many institutions now offer these. These programmes can also have additional classes and tuition in the first year to give their PhD students additional skills such as computational skills.
The ‘conventional’ PhD structure will involve you approaching the head of a lab to enquire about undertaking a PhD in their lab. Lab websites often state whether they are accepting PhD students, but in any case, it’s a good idea to email anyway if you are really interested in their work as chances are they can point you in the direction of another lab with similar interests if they are full. These potential supervisors will then probably start to talk about funding and will have some idea of where to start. There is funding available from research councils, their department, and sometimes they’ll even pay you from a previous grant they’ve won if all else fails. Going to a supervisor with funding in mind already also looks really good and you can search around on the internet and also attend fairs e.g. https://www.postgraduatestudentships.co.uk/postgraduatestudentships-phd-funding-fair
https://www.facebook.com/PhDFundingFairs/?hc_ref=ADS&fref=nf&ft[tn]=kC&ft[qid]=6342017992852638549&ft[mf_story_key]=-7678712666634315433&ft[ei]=AI%40aeeb0fc15d780064cc5474cb9f5c7fb3&ft[fbfeed_location]=1&ft[insertion_position]=35&__md__=1
Good places to start searching are research bodies and councils which have programmes they support listed on their websites and an overview of what they entail. https://www.findaphd.com is also a great resource which usually lists both types of PhD. Knowing the location/Institution you want to work at helps with searching as you can browse through the lab pages associated with that institution rather than skimming through google. Pharmaceutical and other private sector organisations may also offer PhD funding/projects (E.g. the EPSRC iCASE studentships).
Competition for funding can be quite tough and so the ‘conventional’ PhD is being superseded in some senses by the programmes which at some institutions struggle to fill their annual quota (even with 3 separate deadlines). The programmes also offer the additional training and skills workshops that are aimed at making you a better student. The one downside to programmes is the time. Programmes are often 4 years long whereas the ‘conventional’ PhDs are prescribed at 3 years, so some may argue the first rotation year in programmes is wasted time. In reality, the rotations allow you to ‘interview’ labs, and prevent the scenario one could experience in a ‘conventional’ PhD where you end up in a nightmare lab. In reality, PhDs often overrun anyway and so once all the work is completed (including work done after submission), it will probably run into 4, whereas the programmes have a tight deadline for submission, meaning there is often little excess time past 4 years. This is because institutions often get fined or face difficulty renewing their research programmes if the students don’t hand in on time.
As a slight aside, some PIs may suggest a part-time PhD. This is essentially a 5 year PhD where you work half on the PhD and part-time as a research assistant (RA). The main reason perhaps why they would offer this is because they get a PhD student and an RA for half the price and for a bit longer. They also don’t have to retrain someone every 3 years, rather every 5 years. One massive plus in this option for the PhD student is that their publication record over their PhD looks much better as they are more likely to publish, more often. 5 years also may seem fairly long but compared to the American PhDs, it’s still fairly short and also you may get paid more. Interviewers in the future may consider the length of a PhD for postdoctoral positions and so may query this but ultimately if you’ve published and you’re going for a job vs. someone that hasn’t, the extra year won’t matter that much at all.
Step 3 – Applying
So you’ve got your shortlist down, now it’s time to actually apply. Things you’ll need:
CV
Cover letter (sometimes)
Academic Referees
Academic Transcripts
I could include an entire article about how to write a scientific CV but there are many great examples out there on the internet. I have also attached my CV to my website on the tab above so you can check out the layout I used there. Different PhDs will have different application processes. Ultimately, most will require a CV of sorts (whether this is broken up into an application form or included as an upload form). Academic transcripts can often be scanned in and sometimes sent electronically depending on your institution. Academic referees can be your tutor and perhaps a summer placement supervisor but you can use two from your university if needed.
For cover letters, many people will have their own personal approach and there is no general formula. My advice would be to cover your interests and evidence your interest with books read/labs worked in/papers read/activities participated in. If applying for a program, identifying labs you are interested in on the program helps too. A small section should be reserved for extra-curricular activities and try to relate them back to science-related skills you have learnt. E.g. sports help you build team skills that are important in lab work.
Step 4 – Interviewing
If you are applying for a PhD whilst studying, it can be hard to fully prepare for the interviews. A week may be all the time you get to prepare for a week of interviews. Read papers related to the lab/labs in the program. There are lots of resources on the internet for general interview prep too.
They may ask you some standard questions such as:
Why do you want to do a PhD?
Why do you want to do a PhD here?
General ideas about projects you might want to do during your PhD.
Some other quirkier questions may be specific to lab skills:
How do you read a paper?
Describe your favourite experiment
How would you spend a £1 million pound budget if you ran your own lab?
What’s your favourite model organism?
Name a piece of research from the past year that you’ve enjoyed.
Don’t panic with these questions. Sometimes the more you talk, the better here. This may seem counter intuitive but they will probably stop you once you’ve answered their question and they are keen to see how your mind works. You will have an answer to these questions if you’re considering scientific research so just don’t let it throw you and take your time before answering.
Questions that are more probing are perhaps more common on programme PhDs as they are interviewing a large cohort, whereas conventional PhDs may have already accepted you with a casual interview on principle and funding usually requires applications but no interview.
One really important question to ask is when you’ll hear back, sometimes deadlines for responding to offers can be the order of days (as short as 2 days for some) and so it’s best to be prepared for this if you’re offered a place.
Try to talk to current students about the environment, atmosphere and city to gain an insight into life as a PhD student there.
Remember, after all, you are interviewing the place as much as they are interviewing you so ask lots of questions and make sure you have all the information you’d like when making a decision to spend the next 3-4 years there.
Step 5 – Choosing
Congrats, you’ve got one or more of your shortlisted PhDs, you’ve made it into the wonderful world of academia! If you have been accepted onto a PhD, try and wait as long as possible to hear back from your other options before you make a decision. I’d strongly advise against accepting a place knowing that you won’t take it up if a better offer comes along so it’s better to delay until the deadline if you can. This is because they may lose candidates to other programmes during this time and be unable to fill their places which is bad for the institution when they come to renew their funding.
Take into consideration the place and all the things above again, draw out pros and cons too. Ask for people’s advice and if all else fails, go with your gut instinct. If you’re stuck between two places then, chances are, you’ll enjoy both equally and so it doesn’t matter too much where you’ll end up.
Good luck with your application, and if you have any questions, I am always happy to help if I can. Just drop me an email or comment on this post. Additionally, I’ve tried to be as honest and open about my experience and perspective on the application process but if you think there’s something I should correct, or if you have a different opinion on something, then please point that out too in the comments or email me so that readers can see it.