This link shows an example of a good scholarship application.

I think that this is the minimum amount of effort required to be short-listed.

Please focus on the formatting as the content is for illustration purposes.

I think that a YouTube presentation is important to add, or some sort of digital presentation that gives your audience a feel for you the person.

Hi Folks

I estimate that about 95% of international scholarship applications that I see are one paragraph requests for cash that are sent via a gmail, yahoo or hotmail account, with no supporting documentation. I estimate that about 99.99% of these surely must be unsuccessful. This has inspired me to produce a document of what I think a successful scholarship application must look like as a minimum to be short-listed. Applying for a scholarship is a bit like applying for work in a competitive job market. You need to invest a lot of time and carefully match your skills to the specifics of an application. I also suggest complementing your application with a digital presentation that introduces yourself.

Best
Jay

http://media.wix.com/ugd/654734_4bd2a8946ea04b84823c536d18354191.pdf

Hi Folks,

The resources attached offer simple, quality tips about how to succeed with your scholarship applications.

Regards

Jay

http://media.wix.com/ugd/654734_830bc00d815a46649680740b49befb7b.pdf

This document provides a brief summary of the research methods skills and theoretical knowledge about research methods that a doctoral examiner might expect from a doctoral candidate during examination.

http://media.wix.com/ugd/654734_ab25b27b191f49fbb7ab11e7559af4dc.pdf

Thanks Treeoflife. I appreciate teaaddict's intention and for sharing. However please note that I have no association with that website - I had never heard of it until I clicked that link. I support open-access scholarship within the bounds of the law :-)
All of my scholarship is open-access and copyright waiver if citation of my work is used.
Study hard,
Jay

Hi All

I am currently working on a self-funded volunteer project known as the "How to write a winner doctoral thesis project" which offers accessible slideshows for struggling PhD students, especially in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Topics covered including writing the literature review, data analysis, PhD grammar conventions and so on.

This project is inspired by my own feeling of total isolation as a doctoral student for almost nine years. For all of those nine years I never truly believed that I would actually pass. No person who works hard should have to feel like that for any extended period of time :-)

These presentations are shown at:

http://www.collegeprofessor.ca/phd-writing-project.html

Feedback is welcome. I plan to add voice over to these presentations in a month or so.

They are not copyright, although citation is required.

Enjoy and share with your network if you wish.

Please let me know if you want a presentation shared on a particular topic.

Best

Jay

Dr. Jay Jericho

Hi everyone

I am happy to supply any person a journal article or digital resources once (maybe twice) if you genuinely cannot access it via your institute and urgently need it - free of course, as education should be! If you are enrolled at a college/university that has a very basic library subscription to the big names Elsevier, Sage, Routledge, Blackwells, I do believe that you might be eligible to be a temporary subscriber to one of the big universities (e.g. London University) and piggyback on their very comprehensive system for about USD$150 a year. I am not promoting the system, I have no interest in the system, as I have not looked at this for about two years, but the system definitely exists. Who is eligible varies, but it is definitely intended to support students who study elsewhere. For example see:

I am not just saying this, but postgrad forum is my favorite forum! Scour the other forums and you won't see me say that!!! Anyone else out there agree? There is a good collegiate energy on this site - fun, informal, supportive. Wish we could upload a face pic.

Best

Jay

I posted a long reply to tamecat and it has disappeared. If you want me to write it again tamecat I am happy to. I don't think my comments violated any forum rules.
Best
Jay

Hi ANZ07

Wow what a drama. My advice for now is to think positive and assume you will pass. Otherwise you are worrying about a negative outcome that is unlikely to eventuate.

I was a panelist on the University's Academic Appeal Board for two years. From this, I learned to document everything about your experiences. For example, do not assume that you will keep your uni email access. Forward all your emails about the sorts of experiences you refer to above to your gmail or hotmail etc. Keep all postal mail received and so on.

For example, should you not get the outcome you were looking for and deserve, it sounds like you could argue duress. Doing a PhD is hard enough without having those sorts of foul ups made by others playing on your mind.

Fails are very rare if students have competent supervisors and listen to their supervisors advice. Generally speaking, supervisors will forward your thesis to examiners who have a reputation for fairness as opposed to an ideological bias for passing/failing certain types of arguments.

Possibly as little as 5% of thesis submissions return as a fail. It is that small from my anecdotal experiences. The fails are in in non submissions and non completions.
I estimate that around half of all PhD students to not complete. That is why I am so passionate about this topic. I am keen to see this number drop.

An experienced supervisor usually knows with about 98% confidence that a thesis submitted for examination is definitely not an outright fail. I don't refer to the pass categories as these are more open (e.g. pass outright, pass minor, pass with structural changes, and the latter which is neither a pass or a fail - resubmit with major changes).

For now, think positive, hang in there and publish, apply for jobs, take a holiday etc.

What country are you in? Most countries have state/provincial and national freedom of information laws. Your student union can advise.

Please keep me posted.

Congratulations on submitting.

Best

Jay

Hi All

The literature review is important and this is why many (most?) supervisors ask us to write this chapter first. Of course it will likely change numerous times after your first draft.

The conceptual literature we choose shapes our data analysis.

This presentation summarises the core aspects of writing the literature review. I hope someone finds this helpful.

Best

Jay

Hi Shapol46

I have seen this time-limit requirement in Australia for PhD equivalent degrees at good universities and I completed one of these programs in 8.5 years part-time. Check out how this PhD equivalent degree allows part-time candidates to complete within 3-8 years (please note that 3 years completion time is a full time student load).

http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/future_students/postgraduate_research/deg_dsw.shtml

(arrow down to the bottom of the page of that link 3-8 years).

My global observation is that most full-time PhD students who do not work and have a living scholarship still need to take the full allowable time of 4 years. Many need a six month extension. Being part-time and working can be a tough but very rewarding mix.

I have seen this system before and offer some caution. It is very difficult to do a PhD and work more than 50% of a part-time load at a good university and complete on time. Be careful about how much you work. International students need to keep an eye on the clock for visa purposes.

I suggest that you make the most of the university shutdown period when no classes are taught and spend the maximum amount of time on your thesis. If you have coursework during the first year, still try and make good progress on your thesis during this time.

Never underestimate how long it takes to finish a thesis and always aim to finish as early as possible. It is not unusual for an entire chapter to be written over many months in polished form and then discarded as it later become 'not useful'.

I am not being alarmist. You will have a lot of fun with your PhD over the years. My core point is to not work too much on paid work if possible. Always aim to progress as fast as you can and finish the thesis as fast as you can.

Germany has excellent universities!

Enjoy.

Best

Jay

Hi Adam

I think it depends on how much overlap there is time wise. The longer the time overlap between the two degrees the more difficult this is. There is an issue about whether you need that MA thesis completion and grade for admission into the PHD, and if so, by what date.

If the time overlap between the two degree is minimal and you are not engaged in paid work, then it might be achievable if you work hard and surrender your leisure time.

You don't state how much more work there is to do on your MA thesis OR if completion is a pre-requisite for admission - these are the two key facts to offering better advice.

The situation you describe is not common or ideal. I am not even clear if you are at the same university. The MA at most North American universities has research coursework units and coursework units but not a thesis component. So I am wondering if you are talking about to different universities here. You sound like you have been already admitted into a PhD at a different institution.

Best

Jay

Oops this message got posted twice. Please see the reply below. Jay :-)

Thanks for your welcome. I hope your tree bears an abundance of sweet juicy fruit ! :-) Jay

What a shame we cannot upload a profile pic on here.

I am convinced that this is unacceptable on a number of levels, if what you are saying is true. The issues you raise are many and I personally think the University's Human Resources Department and the Student Union have an interest in multiple separate issues here. Not to mention external agencies such as the Department of Labor (state/federal). Quite often when it comes down to it many of these things cannot be proven as the expectation that you will do (a) in response to the supervisor's support (b) is obvious but not written down or official. I suggest you access policy documents about employment and supervision arrangements and check what documentation you have in case things go sour. For example, referring to you as his "employee" on e-mail or in front of colleagues (witnesses) is a bad look if you are a PhD student only and are funded as part of a government program or you are a full fee student as opposed to a fee-waiver student assistant. There is much 'slavery' and abuse of position in academia. Hang in there! All the best - Jay