Hi - I followed the link - great! Hopefully I should be okay - I only vaguely know one of the supervisors (and non of the others) through being taught by him a couple of times, but his colleagues taught me for a whole semester and I can think of at least 2 assignments that I managed to corrupt into a piece of research into chicken behaviour or welfare !!! I'm just stressing more than greater enthusiasts will apply...
any, in today's political climate there might not be any chickens left to study if they did give us the money

Hi, thanks for all the replies. The project is about chickens, hunger and appetite preferences

Hi Everyone,
I have an interview for a PhD next week. The topic has been shortlisted for funding and a named student is needed. So basically I am applying to be named student and, hopefully, be successful. This is my dream topic and I desperately want it. So my question is...
How best to present my self? What am I likely to get asked? How can I best convince them that I want it? Unfortunately the stipend is very generous in comparison with many (circa £16,000) which must inevitably increase the competition.
Also, the topic has been shortlisted. Does anybody know how many projects usually get shortlisted? And, consequently, how good/bad the chances are???
Thanks for your help - stressing out just thinking about it!

I can beat that - I worked as a neutering coordinator between doing my undergrad degree and starting my masters. I spent all day everyday convincing people pepople why it was best to get their balls removed (their cats, that is)!

Hi, what did I decide... well, I'm not really a quitter so I decided to be damned and try for my favoured career path. I have a place on a very good masters starting september and I have elected to study part time so that I can maintain my current career as well (my employers are giving me paid sabbaticals to undertake the MSc) and its always best to cover all bases I think the real test will come when I have to apply for funded positions as my guess is that the old boys network will be alive and kicking but we will see!!!

I took it as far the OIA but they wouldn't consider many of the issues because they were either matters of academic judgement or I couldn't prove that I had been adversely affected. Yes, it was largely about grade inflation, giving the students exam questions in advance of the exam but that wasn't the only issue. I also challenged them re: the appointment of a member of staff who taught us in the final year of the course and about the judicious use of teamwork to mask the weaknesses of some very poor students.

Sorry KC - could have sworn I read stu!!! Must have just read his name on another thread...

Thanks Stu - yes,I got a first and was awarded an independent research scholarship as an undergrad so my experience is pretty solid but I also burst into tears, lost my temper with the dept at the end and referred to them at a bunch of grade-fixing 'b#@$ards' so wondered whether they could get away with writing things like "has anger management issues", "interpersonal skills needing working on", etc. You know, the kind of things that are also looked for when deciding on a student.

sexy

Hey,
What do you think my chances of getting a phD are after lodging a formal complaint against my dept re: academic standards at the end of my undergrad years, taking it as far as I could - and losing?!!! The field is small, the academics I complained about are wellknown and respected and although the dept has agreed to supply a reference this is a very clever way of always knowing where I am trying to get into. I am still willing to give it a go but wondered what you all thought...

Hi,
Concerned about the standards at my uni while an undergrad I blew the whistle and lodged a formal complaint. I couldn't provide all the evidence I needed to as some of it involved my friends giving evidence and I couldn't put them in that situation. I completed a degree there and got a first. The complaint has gone all the way to the OIA but they would only consider a small part of it as you have to be able to demonstrate that you have been personally damaged as a consequence (i.e. whistle bolowing for the ssake of the greater good will not be considered). I have now lost my case. I want to continue in HE. But obviously I am concerned that my chances in the scientific field will have been damaged due to this complaint (the staff I complained about are wellrespected in their field). I am looking at applying for masters in this field. Do you think I should bother? Do you think that I will get work/a PhD in academia afterwards? The field that I am interested in is very small.

Hi, out of interest, how many of you lecture on undergraduate courses? At what stage in your studies (i.e. 1st/2nd/3rd yr PhD) did you start? Did you begin with 1st year courses? Tutorial/lab support? Or were you given sole responsibility for final year courses straight away?