My PhD is in Molecular Biology but my MSc was in plant conservation and genetics.

Good luck in your search :)

You really need to make sure your CV is up to scratch, that you sound enthusiastic and have relevant experience in the topic. You need to tailor your CV and cover letter for every position, ensuring you mirror the things they are asking for in the application.

I had no practical experience in my field at all, although I had completed the required classes and seemed pretty good on paper. There were four candidates interviewed and I was told I got the position as I was enthusiastic and determined.

They will be used to being asked, so just explain to them the project you are interested in and they will happily write them for you. You can also ask your undergraduate tutor or project adviser if that's easier for you.

They will probably have templates they use anyway so it won't be a too arduous task!

Next time you have a meeting, why don't you explain your frustrations and try to find out what the problem is. Is she too busy, or maybe she just can't be bothered? Tell her that you need more from her and see what happens. If it doesn't improve then you need to go to the appropriate person in your department for assistance.

Is there anyway you could steer your topic in a direction you are more interested in? That way you wouldn't have to quit at all and wouldn't have to be so bored for the next 3-4 years.

Hi,

Maybe you can explain more about why you feel you aren't making any progress? Are you nearing the end of your PhD? What goals to you still have to reach? How is your relationship with your supervisor?

You've come so far. It would be a shame to quit now.

I"m sure the reason they are calling you to a meeting is due to concerns about your health. They won't want to kick you off your PhD; they just want to help you to finish it. They are likely to offer you counseling which you should consider taking.

In my experience parttime students get the same access as everyone else. The only difference is they work fewer hours per week than other ft students.

Some governments also directly support their students to study overseas. It depends what country you're from.

Sorry that you're feeling so bad. If it's any consolation I'm in the third year of my PhD and I still feel this way. It's impossible not to when everyone else around you has between 5 and 30 years experience! Of course you are going to feel overwhelmed and out of your depth.

Things will improve - you won't be the newbie forever! Eventually someone else will start in the lab and you will be the one to show them around and reassure them that everything will be ok. Trust me, you'll look back on this time in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and realise how much you've learnt.

Your PI, if he has any sense, will expect you to be like this. A PhD is a training program. You are not supposed to have all the answers right now - if you did you wouldn't need to be doing a PhD! It's better that you kept quiet rather than pretending you knew what you were talking about because it's obvious when someone is doing this. Next time though, if you are unsure but want to say something, just add a caveat to it like: "I'm sure you all know better than me, but isn't xxx?" or: "I don't know the answer but maybe..."

Your lucky that your PI recognises you need to read some books about your subject - it shows he cares and can recognise when someone needs help and when they don't.

Try to let this hardship make you stronger and not get you down. Things will improve! Good Luck!

My experience of supervising undergrads is that you have to have the idea of the projects and the possible outcomes in mind. You will need to know how to do the techniques so you can suggest to them where they are going wrong. It doesn't matter if the project has already been done previously, just put a new twist on it whether it's species, medium, temperature... it doesn't matter how basic the difference is.

I would give the students key papers to read, give them an idea of what you want them to achieve and then let them make the plan. Be prepared to severely revise this plan once they have completed it.

The amount of supervision you need to give will depend on the students. Some will have experience and be independent, others won't have a clue what they are doing and you will need to go through everything with them step by step. You will have to gauge their abilities by asking direction questions and assessing not just their answers, but associated body language.

You will need to learn to encourage them every step of the way. Look up how to give honest, constructive feedback so that the recipient gets the truth and feels empowered and motivated to apply it simultaneously.

Also, talk to your colleagues that have more recently been in your situation and see where new staff members can go for guidance.

I wish you luck!

Also, give it some time. I know it's really hard leaving somewhere and starting somewhere new. I'm 2 months in and I still wish I could go back to my old lab, with the equipment, supervisors and friends that I was used to... but I know I can't and I have to make the best of the situation I am in now. I'm sure when it's time to leave here I won't want to go either!

Have you spoken to your old supervisor about returning? That might be your best starting point.

I think just discuss it with the lecturer, I'm sure they'll understand and you'll be able to work out some solution together.

I'm not sure about how many applications is normal prior to obtaining a position. In my case, I applied for 2 and got 1.

I would say about 5 on average, since there's never too many available positions in a specific areas anyway.

Just apply for the ones you are really interested in - enthusiasm in an interview goes a long way.

I think between now and December is the best time to look for projects, however a lot of projects are advertised around March/April too.

I think your best bet is to look for funded PhD places open to worldwide applicants on sites such as findaphd.com. You need to be continually looking as places are advertised all the time. You will probably find that most of the places have a start date of between 6 months and one year in advance, but these are often flexible.

If the PhD is funded when you apply, the funding won't be withdrawn so you don't need to worry about being accepted and then not taking it as long as you apply for a funded course initially.

You can also look on websites of the labs and see if they list any projects with funding on there directly.

The only advantage of doing a MSc first is that you gain valuable research experience. It just makes it a little harder without an MSc but perfectly possible, since the majority of people in sciences go straight from BSc to PhD these days, as MSc funding has been drastically reduced.

Good luck with your search!