Finding a PhD - how does a science PhD work?
advice ·This post outlines what PhD study looks like in a science subject in the UK, and how funding works. Although there is a lot of information out there about PhDs in general, it is often written with the aim of being relevant to any subject (physics, medieval literature, sociology…). This often results in a misleading picture of what a physics PhD looks like, so in this post I have tried to paint a more specific picture.
A subsequent post will talk about how to go about finding the right project for you, and the application process.
PhD study looks very different in different countries. This post is UK-focused (and physics-focused), but a subsequent post will look at the differences in other countries.
What is a PhD project?
Studying for a science PhD is a training process to develop you into a research scientist. The arena for your training is academic research, but not all PhD students go on to a career in academic research. The skills you learn are also highly valuable for many high-skill roles outside academia, particularly ones involving a high degree of problem-solving, independent work and technical creativity.
Supported by your academic supervisor (boss and mentor), their team of researchers, and the wider university research community, you will tackle an unsolved question/challenge/problem in academic research. Initially you should be guided quite closely as you find your feet with your research, but by the end of your project you can expect to be working with a high degree of autonomy and independence, as you take ownership of your own project. Your project topic may evolve over the course of your PhD, depending on successes and failures, or new scientific opportunities that arise. By the end of your project, you will probably know more about your very specific research topic than your supervisor, and perhaps more than anybody else in the world. But, more importantly, you will have developed as a scientist, learned a huge amount about “how to do scientific research”, and learned general skills that you can go on to apply to any research problem you tackle in future.
Towards the end of your project you will write up your PhD thesis, a substantial piece of work written by you and reporting on your achievements during your PhD. You will submit this, and your two examiners (experts in the general field of your work) will read your thesis. They will then discuss this with you during an oral examination (viva) lasting typically 2-4 hours (with many myths about its format…). Following this you will hopefully be awarded your PhD degree, typically after making “minor corrections” to your thesis (small clarifications and additions, as well as correction of inevitable small errors of fact).
Types of science PhD projects and funding in the UK
There are various different frameworks for undertaking PhD research in the UK, for which the structure of your 3-4 years will look a little different. The different frameworks are largely shaped by where the funding for your PhD comes from. It’s worth understanding the differences between these frameworks, as it will have an effect on how your PhD time is structured.
Who pays whom?
In all cases, you normally expect to be paid (modestly) to undertake PhD study. This comes in the form of a stipend, which is tax-free income. A “fully funded” PhD project will include this stipend and will also pay the university’s tuition fees on your behalf.
The stipend will typically be in the vicinity of £15-20k/year (as of 2021). Combined with the financial perks of official student status (e.g. council tax exemption), this is usually sufficient for a comfortable “student” lifestyle (particularly if flat-sharing etc), although it does not leave much headroom for supporting dependants. Although historically provision of maternity leave, sick leave etc has been lacking (PhD students are not classed as employees in the UK), this provision is (finally) starting to improve.
The supervisor offering the project just wants to recruit the best student they can, from anywhere in the world. However, unfortunately in the UK many sources of funding for PhDs (see below…) will only pay the university’s tuition fees at the “UK rate”, whereas the university would normally expect to charge a higher rate of fees for non-UK-national/resident PhD students, which might not be covered by the funder. Although this is a potential issue for international students, you should discuss this with the academic supervisor for the project you are interested in: fee waivers can sometimes be negotiated in the case of an overseas applicant with a demonstrably strong academic record.
The following sections outline the main types of PhD framework in the UK:
Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs)
A topic-focused consortium of one or more universities that offer a substantial number of fully funded PhD places all focused on a particular thematic area (e.g. “sensing and measurement”, “compound semiconductors”, “renewable energy”) that may span several subject disciplines. You will join a cohort of PhD students working within this thematic area, benefitting from enhanced training and group interactions within this cohort.
CDT training typically consists of one year of subject-focused training leading to an MSc qualification, followed by three years of research leading to a PhD award. You may not be required to commit to a specific research project and supervisor until the end of your first year.
Due to the enhanced training in the first year, it is not uncommon for applicants to apply following a BSc undergraduate degree without an integrated masters year (MSci or MPhys).
There will typically be one or more deadlines of applications and interviews during the year, with the first being around Jan-March and other later rounds until all the places have been filled.
Doctoral Training Awards (DTAs) and project-specific funding
A single project is advertised, with funding (typically 3.5-4 years) available for a student to work on that specified topic. You will join the supervisor’s research group from the start, and start on your project research from day one. During your first two years in particular, you are likely to also take part in structured training activities delivered by the university (e.g. specialist technical skills, writing workshops, communication skills, self-management…).
Project funding is awarded to universities by the government or an external organisation (or may use the university’s own internal funds), and the university decides which projects and supervisors that funding is allocated to. The supervisor then recruits a student to fill that position.
Individual projects will often be advertised on findaphd.com, as well as on university websites and internal messaging. Application deadlines will be set by the individual supervisor, but will often be in February-May.
Industrial partnerships/CASE studentships
Some individual projects are part-funded by a company interested in the research topic. They may contribute a top-up to your stipend, and you may have the option (or obligation) of spending part of your research time on a placement embedded within the company. These projects are broadly similar to DTAs, but there may be a more specific focus on research with immediate commercial applications, and the company may have the right to agree or disagree to any change the direction of research during the project.
There may also be commercial restrictions on what you can publish and speak about publicly from your research. For example, there may be an embargo period on publication. You should discuss this at the application stage to make sure you understand the implications that might have for your own future research career.
Scholarships
Schemes such as the Carnegie Trust PhD Scholarship scheme award a scholarship to outstanding student applicants, based on their own academic record and letters of recommendation, and the appropriateness of their proposed topic. In a scholarship scenario, you have more freedom yourself to choose and shape the research topic that will be the focus of your application. However, in the sciences, it would be common for this to be developed in close discussion with your desired academic supervisor, who will be able to guide and advise you on a suitable project proposal that intersects your interests and theirs, and has an appropriate scale, relevance and feasibility for a PhD project.
In many cases, you as a student cannot apply directly to the scholarship funder, but must instead develop your application and have it selected and submitted on your behalf by the host supervisor. Application deadlines for university internal selection will typically be in December-January, and you would want to make contact with a prospective supervisor well before that, to seek advice and support in developing your application. Even if you plan to apply for a scholarship scheme like this, to identify a suitable supervisor to approach it can still be valuable to look at projects they are advertising e.g. on findaphd.com, to get an idea of what sort of topics they are looking for students to research.
For overseas students, your own government may offer scholarship funding for PhD study abroad (i.e. in the UK). For example, Chinese applicants with a high-achieving undergraduate GPA (either from a Chinese university or a UK or other university) are eligible for the China Scholarship Council (CSC) scheme. In some cases, government scholarship applications for overseas study are submitted by the individual student (often after first identifying an appropriate supervisor). In other cases (including some CSC schemes) a UK university is given a fixed allocation of studentships and some freedom to make their own selection of the best applicants.
Competitive funding
For any of these schemes described so far, a project advert may refer to “competitive funding”. This may mean that the university has not unconditionally allocated funding to this project and this supervisor, but that the supervisor must identify the most suitable student applicant (i.e. you, hopefully!) and then put them forward for a further round of internal selection in which the university will decide which combinations of project+applicant will be chosen for funding.
Unfunded/self-funded
In principle, anybody can undertake PhD study without funding, as long as they can afford to cover both their living costs and the university’s tuition fees… and find an academic supervisor willing to host them. Some overseas students choose to take this route, if they can afford it and if they are not able to secure scholarship funding from their own home country. Often the applicant will respond to an existing project advertisment, but will explain that they are self-funded. In that case, they are not competing against other applicants, and all the supervisor needs to decide is whether the applicant is academically strong enough for the supervisor to want to take them on.
However, for a UK or EU student in the sciences, a self-funded PhD would be an unusual route to follow. In specific cases it might be the right thing for an individual to do, but if you are thinking about this you should talk carefully with your academic adviser of studies (or equivalent) about whether this is a wise move for you. You may occasionally see supervisors advertising “self-funded” projects, but you should not draw the conclusion that self-funding is the norm for UK/EU students - it is not.
Extra income
Many full-time PhD students (whatever their funding source) are strongly encouraged to undertake modest amounts of teaching duties (e.g. assisting in undergraduate teaching labs or tutorials). This is normally paid on an hourly basis. This can be a welcome supplement to your PhD stipend (as well as being useful experience to add to your repertoire). However, it is not a viable way of fully paying your way if you are self-funded: PhD research is a full-time undertaking and you won’t have time to separately earn your full cost of living.
If you are an international student studying for a PhD in the UK on a student visa, the terms of your visa should allow you to undertake up to 20 hours of paid demonstrating per week - no separate work visa is required. Make sure you check that it does say that on your own visa document, though!
Travel, and short- and long-term attachments (LTAs)
An important part of academic research is presenting your work to other researchers at academic conferences. Many PhDs include travel funds to enable you to attend at least one major international conference during your PhD, to present your work and interact with other scientists at the conference. This travel is not just a fun perk (which it is!), it is an important part of positioning yourself for a future academic career. Therefore, you should check whether your funding includes conference travel.
Some PhD projects may use research facilities at overseas laboratories such as CERN, Jefferson Lab, or one of the LIGO labs.
In this case, some funded studentships will include dedicated funding to support a short visit of a few months, or an extended stay of around a year, which is known as a long-term attachment (LTA).
You should discuss the availability of such funding with potential supervisors.
Flexibility and special circumstances
Projects will be advertised as full time. If you have particular reasons (e.g. dependants, or health) to desire part-time study, then many funders will be supportive of that. You may wish to seek advice from somebody you trust about what the best way is to approach this.
However, many funders are also increasingly supportive (as they should be) of peoples personal circumstances. If you would prefer full-time study but have concerns about how to make that work, you could investigate what support might be available for e.g. subsidised childcare (although this is far from universally available). The university (as with any place of work) must make reasonable adjustments to support students with disabilities.