3rd year here as well, in engineering field. How time flies.
I'm remaining with about 20% of experimental work which I hope to finish next month. I have to write two journal papers and I'll be attending a conference next year. Haven't done much in terms of thesis writing but hoping to start the ball rolling once all experimental data is at my disposal.

You will be hired based on your capabilities, skills you possess, track record such as publications, how closely related your PhD research is to the advertised post, etc. If you don't meet any of the outlined KEY requirements, you may not be offered the job even if your PhD is from Harvard or Oxford.

Well said janjansen!!!
4 years is quite sufficient to make connections with prospective employers through conferences, collaborations with other universities etc. The world is dynamic, credit crunch or economic boom can hit the country in a split of a second. So just go and enjoy the PhD experience and worry not about job prospects.

If I were you, I wouldn't hesitate to go to TU/e. Never been there but I visited the other Dutch university, Delft and I was thoroughly impressed with facilities there and the level of research in my engineering field. TU/e is a reputable institution especially in the engineering. I'll be shocked to come across anyone based in Europe who hasn't heard about TU/e. Good luck

I found the WORD thesis template developed by some Cambridge guys quite helpful. Though WORD is user friendly, at times it can go wrong as someone has already pointed out. With this free template, all I have done is to make cosmetic changes to it, e.g font style and size etc, in line with requirements for my university. Hope other colleagues will find it helpful

I did quite a number of phone/Skype interviews during my search for a PhD position. For me, most questions centred on my academic background; my Bachelor's degree, my MSc with emphasis on my MSc thesis and most interviewers were keen to know exactly what experiments I had conducted (coming from Engineering background). I think interviewers wanted to know how my background closely matched with the PhD topic I was being interviewed for. As a prospective international student, one question which featured prominently was about my ability to cope in foreign land, if I were offered a place. I had no journal/conference paper on my CV and on certain times, I was asked why I had not published, so I assume those who've published some papers may be asked a question or two on their paper(s). My advice to you is to take it as an ordinary conversation, you must be relaxed, there's no reason to feel pressured or to panic. Since it's a phone interview, put down some critical notes, like your MSc/BSc thesis title etc. You never know, when adrenaline levels rise, you can even forget the name of your former university and the interviewer will be wondering if it's really you or you have hired someone to "attend" the interview on your behalf. Lol

@gotta_m
I applied for another position that same month but I got references from other professors, luckily I was offered the position. Out of courtesy, I sent an email to the same professor informing him about my new position and thanking him for references he provided for me in other positions I had applied. Guess what, he responded within minutes and wished me good luck.

I found myself in a similar situation when I was searching for PhD positions. A research body had advertised funding for potential PhD students and there were several places on offer. You had to nominate 3 referees; 2 academic referees and a potential supervisor from your chosen institution (where you intended to pursue your PhD) had to submit a reference/report. The process of searching a potential supervisor was a daunting one, luckily I found one and we agreed on a topic and he asked me to polish it up and this professor was extremely helpful. The application process took so many days to complete because it involved answering several essay-like questions. Potential supervisor guided me through the whole process as he was familiar with the whole system. He was really eager to have me as his PhD student.I was beaming with confidence as I submitted my application (online). As I tracked my application, I realised that one academic referee (who was my MSc supervisor) had not yet submitted the reference and the deadline was fast approaching. This is the man who was always keen to write references for me in my previous applications. I sent him an email, but the man didn't reply. As the deadline was fast approaching, I sent an e-mail to the research council asking them if I could replace the referee but the answer was a categorical NO. To cut the long story short, the man never submitted the reference and that's how I missed out. I felt for the potential supervisor who toiled so much to make sure that my application was perfect. I realised that the man was probably weary of writing references for me.

In my university, every PhD student must have at least 2 supervisors. Assuming this is the case with your university, how about getting a reference from your 2nd supervisor? (Assuming he/she is not among those two)

This article published in The Guardian is worth reading

It's too early to expect the whole process to be concluded within 2 weeks. You are probably not the only one interviewed, some interviews are scheduled over a period of two weeks, depending on availability of interviewing panel and/or the candidates being interviewed. A decison can only be made once all shortlisted candidates have been interviewed. Some PhD interviews that I did took up to 3 months to get a response. For my current PhD position, I was interviewed around 20th March and only got a response on 22nd May (I always commemorate this day, lol). So just give them time, they'll make a decision.

TreeofLife and jennypenny, congratulations to both of you. Wishing you success in your research

Congratulations Emaa,
Just out of curiosity, would you be in position to share with us the country where your university is based, the set up of the viva sounds different from the UK setup.
Congrats once more

@glowworm
You're absolutely right. In my research group 2 guys were offered post doc positions immediately after viva. A PhD colleague currently in his 2nd year has also been promised a post doc position upon completion. The university/research group is obliged advertise (to fulfil government regulations or conditions set by research funders) for those positions even when the Professor/PI knows very well that he has someone in mind.

We have a new post doc in group and I asked him how he got the post, he told he attended a conference and after he made his presentation, a Professor approached and asked him to apply for a soon to be advertised position. When the post was advertised, the guy applied and the interview was just a formality

I would go for Uni A.
Going by statistics, lightning rarely strikes twice. One has to be extremely lucky to have two PhD offers. It's quite rare.