Hi all,

This is regarding a friend who also happens like me to be starting a PhD this year. Now for my University it seems they follow the average route of a 9 to 12 month review before upgrade onto a PhD based upon your current lit review etc.

However my friend who happens to be at a differant university is having it quite differant. It seems they have forced him on to do a full MSc course bar the diss at the end, totalling 7 or so modules over the first 9 or so months.

Now he already has a MSc in his project subject and area, (by Research) and from a better University in my regards (Bristol). Now i have my views which i have expressed to him :), i.e what a waste of time, why are you faffing about doing modules you have generally done or are in areas unconcerned with your project.

Now the University in question (Reading) has the "Our MSc courses are better then your Uni MSc courses" view that i have come across on some interviews where they feel that their MSc students who are now doing PhDs there don't have to do these modules while students from other Uni's do.

His supervisors take the typical lazy view of which i warned him lol of "Just muddle through" this first 9 months then you can begin on the PhD project.

The main problems i have with it are. That one he is going to be assessed i.e exams/coursework on something which bares little to his PhD bar background knowledge of which I have pointed out he isn't an undergrad and can handle his own decisions on what he needs to learn by now. Also some of the modules are math / physics heavy which he will admit isn't his forte and is now stressed and worried he will fail because of it.

Secondly he has been given a studentship for a typical 3 years from the EPSRC for the project, which means that as i'am sure the Uni would love to have another MSc student on the books, he loses out on 9 months of money due to the fact he is having to put his PhD on hold because of it.

Unless they somehow expect him to finish his Lit review in under 3 months.

Has anyone else here had any similar problems? Doing one or two modules over the course of the year is fine, so long as it doesn't take over and your not being assessed. However a full blown MSc of which he won't actually be awarded anything for it goes a bit far in my opinion.

Any suggestions, he is admitably nervous that if he somehow dissents and puts up a fuss they will suddenly and arbitrarily kick him of his PhD project, which i have told him is nonsense.

Regards Wolfe

Hi All,

Starting soon myself, first meeting with supervisor is next week Thursday so hopefully by then i will have moved into my new abode and be slightly settled :). Have to also it seems prepare for a 3 month review eek :) but I'am sure it won't be as frightning as it sounds.

On a side note, who would have though moving would be so damn expensive :D, i've been bled dry, I can't imagine how someone waiting for studentship money to clear could move in any earlier given i have had to fork over around £1,500+ to just get moving into this flat lol. I suppose it is best to get used to being broke early on eh ;).

Good luck to everyone.

Regards Wolfe

I would agree with going for the informatics and machine learning project, i also was looking into computational biology projects and they certainly look a goo bet for the future. Also the techniques and skills you will learn from the machine learning part could prove usefull in other fields.

Regards Wolfe

Congrats, Hopefully you can speak with your supervisor and clear up anything beforehand that you feel you may need help in with regards to the research aspect. I'd agree that you get taught hopefully :) some useful aspects during a research orientated MSc, however i wouldn't let that deter anyone from applying or taking on a PhD.

Good luck and have fun :)

Regards Wolfe

I would say keep at it, having a masters can give you an edge and for all you know some other applicant may have just pipped you in the end because of one. It is dissappointing to get rejected for sure, i have a 2:2 in a biochemistry degree along with a masters and therefore it gets tough getting over that final hurdle, i think it's about 10 or so interviews to date 6 rejection and waiting on 4 more :-(. How do you feel your interviews are going? do you manage to highlight your lab work experience effectively?

Here is an interview tips PDF which i felt highlioghted some key points you should get across when interviewing, of course this example is for people who already have a PhD but certain aspects are still applicable.
http://career.eng.ohio-state.edu/documents/ho-interview-tips-phd-candidates.pdf

All in all keep at it, it is a marathon not a sprint and though some people get it first time for others it may take a bit longer.

Regards Wolfe

Besides the burden of £65,000 worth of debt, crikey i swear Universities in this country have a nice way of fleecing foriegn students.

Good luck anyway with your application

Regards Wolfe

I guess it depends on any restrictions the supervisor may put on you with regards to undertaking the PhD. If they allow you to undertake the majority of it at home, with say weekly commutes to meet the supervisor for a talk or check up and you are OK with that then i would agree that there is little point tomoving the whole family.

However as someone pointed out you do miss out on University facilities and the natural communication you'MAY' get from other PhD students and academics.

Good luck anyway what ever you choose.

Regards Wolfe

First Question,....
"Why do you want to do a PhD"

Second Question....
"Please explain what you did in your previous degree dissertation"

:D

By thw way good luck.

Regards Wolfe

I believe what the person means is that, they have completed a master dissertation and has got a grade of around 80% and therefore feels there 'Standard' is that of what would achieve an 80% grade at Masters level.

The person is wondering whether the ability to write at that level i.e to achieve an 80% score for a Masters Dissertation is enough to allow them to write at a level to pass a PhD review i guess as it is there first year?

I have no idea personally :), but i would imagine it to be a bit more ambiguous then a simple comparison of a masters grade and a PhD level.

Still though 80% is very good, and 26,000 is not a small chunk of change either, though emphasis on quality not quantity would be more apporpriate for the PhD.

Hehehehe, lets hope not eh

Those may be old, here are some more recent ones which may be still active.

"Understanding cellular organisation via analysis of protein structure, function and evolution"
"Antibiotic resistant bacteria in your gut: mathematical and computer models gene networks and population dynamics of plasmids"
"Modelling mitochondrial metabolism and bioenergetics by comparative genomics"
"Learning Classifier Systems"

And finally i have an interview for one this Friday at UCL.
"Application of A.I technologies to rapid Bioprocess development"

The Biologial/Computer science Ph.Ds are definately out there as i would say it is a HOT topic

Regards Wolfe

If your interested here are a few examples i have applied for with regards to named PhDs.

"Investigating genomes and their adaptation using computational evolutionary analysis"
"Development of novel algorithms to identify potential drugs to bind to a protein receptor using in silico screening"
"Developing bioinformatics tools for data mining pyrosequencing data"

Well i have had 4 interviews so far and today just got my 4th rejection :(. So on the bright side there are plenty of opportunities out there :). Also i got a 2.2 on my Biochemistry degree so don't fret about at least getting to the interview stage.

If you are quick there are a lot of doctoral training centres focused on the two disciplines.

Oxford, Warwick (+MOAC), Liverpool, Manchester all have Systems Biology centres / Complexity centres which combine both fields.
Check out FindaPhd and look at computer science section

I'am also in computer science so to speak, though the majority of applications i'am concerned with are combining the biological with the computational.

For me i would say that area is pretty 'Hot' :) certianly up and coming.

Regards Wolfe

I'd agree with spanky, i've got a 2:2 (Biochemistry) and a Masters (Computer Science) and i've managed to get 3 interviews so not all hope is lost :).

In my case most applications were specific to my academic area, i.e bioinformatics / systems biology but i see no reason why this would be the case with everyone.

Good luck on your applications

Regards Wolfe