I think you've answered your own question. Good luck.

Our point was that whilst a PhD is expected to work with minimum supervision they are not expected to work without support and assistance. A PhD is, after all, a training course in research.

So a PhD student who can work unsupervised is one who will turn up for work even when there supervisor is away, who will take responsibility for their own health and safety, who can analyse their own work to see why things have gone wrong or what their results mean, etc. A supervisors role is to advise the student on research methods, interpretation of results and future goals. They do not want to spend all their time spoon feeding students, but a supervisor who does not listen to their students concerns or ideas is not doing their job properly.

It is possible to do this, but you can't just transfer, you'd need to find and apply for a new PhD studentship. Although, to the best of my knowledge, the BBSRC have no policy to stop people receiving a studentship after leaving one for reasons other than ill health, it may be difficult to find a new place if you're already planning to give one up (your potential new supervisors may consider you a risky prospect).

You should speak to as many people as possible to address the problems you are having with your current research. If you're not comfortable about speaking to your supervisor then speak to your appointed advisors or the departmental postgraduate tutor. If your project is not going well then it is up to these people to make sure things begin to change. In a worst case scenario, if your problem is with your supervisor and not the research itself it may be possible to change to a different supervisor, within the same department. If it's the other way around, then your supervisor may agree to change the direction or focus of your project to areas which suit you better.

You should consider that you have only been in the lab for 5 months. It's not unusual for research to go slowly and sometimes things just don't work.

If you give up within a year your supervisor should be able to appoint a new student the next year under the same grant. If you leave it longer than this then your supervisor will probably loose the grant.

If you're going to be away next year you'll need to try and sort yourself out some kind of a deferred place (in this case you may be offered a studentship, but it will be too early for the supervisor to know if they will be awarded funding and therefore the whole thing could easily fall through) or you risk applying late for a studentship next year. If you begin applying in June or July you may well get a place for the following October, but your choice will be limited and you may be unlucky. You may need to consider starting a PhD in Oct 2006 to give yourself time to do the things you want to do.

No doubt there are sympathetic supervisors out there who will bend over backwards to assess your application fairly, but if you can't be interviewed then it puts you quite a way behind the other applicants.

The University of Ediburgh web site says:

"The International Office estimates that students living in a Hall of Residence should budget for approximately £160 per week (this includes room and board, lunches, personal expenditure and travel within Edinburgh). The corresponding figure for living in a private flat is £170 per week."

You can withdraw your acceptance, and although the people involved may be a bit annoyed, they should understand teat you think you've had a better offer, and they've got plenty of time to find somebody else. Talk to your current project supervisor for advice on how best to turn down your place (they may know the people involved, which might be useful).

As part of our role in this forum is to play devils advocate, I should say that staying at the same institution for your PhD may not be the best idea. It's important to get as many influences as possible as a young researcher and that can mean changing labs and institutions. The most important thing to consider is whether you are tempted to stay because of the research project or because it's an easy option to stay in the same city.

New opportunities come up throughout the year as different grant awarding bodies release funding decisions at different times. Keep an eye on the New Projects section of this site. Whilst more than half the studentships for October 2004 (including ones which are yet to be announced) are probably already filled (or have closed applications), there's still a lot around. Competition is stronger at this point, because as the year progresses more people tend to make the decision to try for a PhD.

You should keep applying now though, as the longer you leave going back into your subject, the harder it will be to find a place.

PhDs by Publication are relatively new, but schemes do exist. Generally the previously published work counts towards the PhD, but course work and/or further research still needs to be carried out. As with a PhD by Thesis, the research needs to 'demonstrate an original and significant contribution to knowledge'. A context document or explanatory essay will also need to be submitted (anything from 5000-25000 words). Such degrees are usually only open to people who have a previous association with the university concerned (eg a member of the technical staff).

You should only approach a legitimate university (in the UK any institution with a .ac.uk web address). Beware of institutions which advertise 'Life Experience' PhDs on the internet - if it's not hard work, it won't be worth the paper it's written on.

It may not be fair, but because they receive so many applications which are apparently bulk mailed, they have the choice of reading applications all day from people who have no specific interest in their research (and who are therefore unsuitable) or spending the day doing some research and teaching their current students.

We go on about this to discourage people from trying to apply to everyone, no matter what the subject. It means that genuine applicants like yourself can sometimes be ignored.

We receive applications to [email protected] asking to work in our lab every day from people who are obviously mailing every email address they can get their hands on. We don't do any research at findaphd, we don't have any studentships and we don't have any labs, but still they come!!

The International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) exam is one of a number of language qualifications which is acceptable for admission to a UK university. The American Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is also acceptable, as are a number of national qualifications in English. If you studied in English for your first degree you will not usually need to provide evidence of a language qualification.

If you have been in the UK for 3 years or more, you may qualify as 'ordinarily resident', which will qualify you for research council funding. If you are an EU national, then, because your spouse is working in the UK, you may be automatically eligible for funding. Your best option would be to visit the international office of your nearest university to ask them for advice. I am not sure if being classed as 'ordinarily resident' would exempt you from the language criteria.

After three weeks you should probably get in touch to check they've received your application. If your application looked in any way like it was part of a bulk mailing it may have been deleted on arrival.

Make sure you have written to the person suggested in the 'Application Enquiries To:' section. If you apply to a personnel department, graduate school or a departmental secretary, you should at least get a quick acknowledgement of your application. If you write directly to the supervisors you can expect delays.

Effectively they are both the same qualification. Some universities (eg Sussex or Oxford) award DPhil's instead of PhD's. Originally the concept of a PhD came from the USA. The DPhil is a more British qualification, but is in fact no different from its American cousin.

For most international students it is funding not qualifications that hold them back. Generally most full PhD studentships are only available to home students. Look at Funding and PhDs Explained on this site for links and further information.

If you can find funding from your home government or from your own resources and your language skills are good then most universities will accept you.

It sounds like some sort of expression of interest. Have a look at the papers you've been given. I doubt that they were after a research proposal from you - either here or on the UCL web site you'll see descriptions of the kind of research projects they have in mind. If you're interested, write or email them saying you'd like to work in their lab. If you want to know more (and it sounds like you do) then phone them up - if you're still unsure just ask them what they'd like you to do next.

Academics want to find good PhD students and it sounds like two of them thought you might be just that, so don't be afraid to ask them any questions. If your first impressions were actually correct and they were both a sandwich short of a picnic then you might want to check elsewhere before you commit to working for a lunatic.