Finding a PhD - choosing and applying for a PhD

Finding a PhD - choosing and applying for a PhD

advice  · 

This post outlines how to go about finding the right PhD project for you, and the application process. 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.

It follows on from a previous post that talks about what PhD study looks like in a science subject in the UK, and how funding works.

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.

Choosing a project and a supervisor

Project

People often distinguish between undergraduate degrees on the basis of which university is offering them. For a PhD, the lower-level details are often more important than which university it is hosted at. Most importantly of all: is the project topic something you are excited by? Is the supervisor excited by it? For an experimental project, will you be working in a well-resourced lab? For a theoretical or computational project, will you be embedded in a vibrant community of people working in related areas?

Everyone will go through highs and lows during their PhD study, and to get through that you will need to be working on something you are really motivated by. It is very rare to fail your viva exam at the end of your PhD; most of the ~20% of people (overall UK statistics across all subjects) who “fail” their PhD do so simply because they leave before completing it. That might happen for all sorts of reasons, but make sure you give yourself the best chance by finding the right project and environment for you.

Environment

You will be working in your supervisor’s research group (PhD students and postdoctoral research staff) for at least 3-4 years, so it’s important to think about whether that is an environment you will thrive in. If possible, try and chat informally with some of the current PhD students working with the supervisor. Ask them what they like about the environment, and what they think are the biggest challenges of that environment. How much one-on-one time do they get with their supervisor each month? Who else supports them as well? What do they do for fun outside work?

Try and get a sense of what the work ethic is in the group, and think about whether that matches yours. A PhD is challenging, and scientific research does not lend itself well to a 9-5 schedule. You may find yourself needing to run experiments out-of-hours, and few scientists manage to completely switch off when they “leave work” (some of my best thinking happens when I am halfway up a mountain, in the shower, or after waking up in the middle of the night with an idea). BUT, some supervisors have an unhealthy expectation that people will work long hours and weekends all the time. That should not be necessary or appropriate as the routine expectation for a PhD student, and if that is the impression you get when you visit your supervisor’s lab, you should think carefully about whether that is the environment you want to commit to.

On the other hand, many research groups have a strong bond together, work well together and socialise after hours, and forge friendships that last a lifetime.

In addition, some projects are conducted in the context of very large international collaborations such as those at CERN. This adds another dimension of interactions, which can be exciting and stimulating and can open up many opportunities, but can also add different pressures. Again, when choosing a project you should make sure you understand how the project will be structured, and consider what environment you think you will suit you best.

Supervisor

Is your supervisor a new academic just starting out? If so, you might well have a relatively large amount of one-on-one time with them, and find them working alongside you in the lab for an experimental project. You may be their first student, in which case you may not have other peers alongside you, but you may have the satisfaction of helping your supervisor build their lab from the ground up. But, a new academic may not have as well-resourced a lab, or as many connections to help you build your own international network.

Conversely, is your supervisor a senior professor with a large research group? You might drop straight into a well-resourced lab, surrounded by plenty of experienced people. You may even join a project that is already in progress. You will benefit from your supervisor’s years of experience and a wide international network of collaborators. But, that senior professor may well be so busy that you get very little one-on-one time with them.

There are advantages to hedging your bets and apply to a mix of different environments. A well-known senior professor may have tens or hundreds of PhD applicants to choose between, so even if that is where you want to work, you will be competing against many other applicants. A more recently-appointed academic may have fewer applicants to choose between, in which case they will be delighted to receive each and every application from a promising-sounding candidate, and your application will be in with better odds.

Visas and fees for international applicants

If you are a non-UK resident applying for a PhD in the UK, you will almost certainly need to apply for a student visa once you have an offer of a PhD place. You can find some information on how to apply here. Note also my earlier comments about funding for international applicants: you may not be eligible for some funding sources, and you may be liable for higher tuition fees.

Glasgow University has more information here about visas and immigration, and prospective applicants for PhD study at Glasgow University can contact our international student support team with any specific questions.

The application process

What are we, the supervisors, looking for in a PhD student? We want somebody who is smart, imaginative, capable of working fairly independently on a challenging project, and resilient enough to handle the setbacks and challenges that will inevitably arise in a 3-4 year project. But, most importantly, we want somebody who will be enjoyable to work with! Both parties are committing to an intensive multi-year professional relationship, and that’s a big commitment. You need to demonstrate to your supervisor that they should make that commitment for you (and vice-versa), so keep that in mind throughout the application process.

The majority of UK PhD places are advertised from December-March, and many are filled by March-April. The standard start date is 1st October, although there may be flexibility to start earlier (in the summer, after your exam results) or a bit later (if you have a good reason).

Informal inquiries

Before you submit an application, many supervisors would welcome an informal approach by email. It is really uninspiring to receive an email saying “I am interested in your project, please can you tell me more about it?”. Do your research first! Read around the topic a bit yourself. Your supervisor has probably previously published journal articles on similar topics (which you can probably access for free through your own university’s library). Read and digest what you can of those. Does that help you understand the context of the project? Do you have questions about your understanding of the specific topic of this project? Now you are in a position to write an email that will come across as being interested in the project. This initial informal dialogue can help you decide if you want to invest in the effort of submitting a formal application. It is also an important chance for you to make a good impression before you submit that formal application (if you decide to).

Formal application

A formal application for a PhD will typically involve you submitting your CV (including academic transcript) and some sort of a personal motivation letter (sometimes referred to as a “cover letter”) explaining why you are interested in this project and why you are a good candidate for it. Just like with a job application, that motivation letter should be specific to the project you are applying for, because it’s purpose is to help us understand why this is the right project for you, and why you are the right person for this project. We know a generic letter when we see one, and we can tell if it’s the exact same letter you sent with ten other applications!

Particularly for applications from overseas, it can be hard for us to assess what a degree classification or GPA means in comparison to another university or country. So, try and highlight particular modules you have studied (and done well in) that are relevant to your chosen PhD project, describe the relevance of your final-year research project, summer internship, etc.

You may be asked to provide the contact details of 2-3 referees who can be contacted to provide more information about your suitability (for example, your academic adviser of studies or your final-year degree project supervisor). Alternatively, you (or they) may be required to submit letters of recommendation upfront as part of your application. You should ask somebody’s permission before nominating them as your referee.

If you are asking somebody to write a letter of recommendation, you should give them as much notice of this request as possible (several weeks as a minimum, I suggest). Hopefully the person you are asking knows you reasonably well, and can write a meaningful letter of recommendation for you. However, they will be busy, so help them out: you could politely offer to suggest some things you hope they could comment on in their letter (e.g. do you have any particular skills or project achievements you hope they will attest to, any relevant extracurricular activities you have been involved with, etc).

Interview

If you pass the initial selection round, you will probably be invited to an interview. Formats vary, but you can probably expect a 30-60 minute interview with 1-3 academics asking you questions. They might ask you things like:

Offer

Following an interview you will be hoping to receive an informal offer of a place from the supervisor. That would normally be followed up by a formal offer letter from the university, setting out the terms on which you are being offered a place on the PhD programme. That should also specify any scholarship or funding that you are being offered. The offer may be conditional on you meeting certain requirements. The most common is a requirement that you achieve a 2.i class undergraduate degree or better (or equivalent classification from the country of your undergraduate degree).

You might receive an “academic offer letter”, but without any offer of funding. That is saying that you are academically suitable for the project, and the university and the supervisor are willing in principle to take you on as a PhD student, but you are not being offered any funding. The usual reason this happens is if you have made it known that you wish to apply for scholarship funding from your home country, and you need to provide this academic offer letter as part of that scholarship application, to demonstrate that there is a university and supervisor willing to take you on. If you aren’t planning on applying for a scholarship like that, then unfortunately an academic-only offer letter (stating that you need to find your own source of funding) often amounts to a de facto rejection, since most people would not take up a science PhD place that did not come with funding.

Accepting an offer

If you have applied for more than one PhD position, you will need to decide whether or not to accept this offer of a place. This may be difficult if you are still waiting for a decision from another application. You should not be placed under unreasonable pressure to make a snap decision, but equally it would often be reasonable for a supervisor offering you a position to ask you to respond with a decision within 1-2 weeks. You may then need to use your negotiation skills to try and delay that deadline while also speeding along a decision from the other application you have in the pipeline!

Some funders impose conditions that prevent universities and supervisors from putting you under undue pressure to make an early decision at short notice. For example STFC (who fund UK “big science” such as particle physics and astronomy) specify that you should not be pressured to make a decision about a PhD offer before 31st March.

Once you have accepted an offer of a place, you should consider that you have made a binding commitment to take up the project and see it through to completion. Unless you have a truly unexpected and severe change in circumstances, it would be unethical for you to back out. The supervisor will have made a commitment to you, and will almost certainly have rejected other applicants who could have taken up the project instead of you.

Late applications

As mentioned earlier, most PhD places are filled in the spring or early summer, for an October start. However, sometimes funding does become available at the last minute, so a smaller number of projects will be advertised very suddenly in June-August. Therefore, if for whatever reason you miss the main annual application cycle, it is still work keeping a lookout all summer if you are set on PhD study.