Look through the research opportunities on this site. Select the ones which are available to you according to your nationality. Write to the name listed under 'Enquiries to' for the laboratory that interests you. When you write your email mention the research project you are interested in, supervisors will not reply to an email which has obviously be sent to a dozen other supervisors.

You need to find a supervisor who is working in a similar area of research who will take you on as their student. A literature search should help you do this. Write to the person concerned, explain your current position and ask if they would be willing to take you on.

Contact the British Councils Iranian offices. They will have information of any schemes which are available.

An MSc won't look bad and would help you change disciplines. However you may find that it is unecessary, particularly if your final year research project involved/involves molecular biology.


If you want to do a masters degree before commiting to 3 years of a PhD, then an MRes may be a much better option. This will give you a much better idea of what a PhD will be like. You may also be able to convert to a PhD before finishing the MRes, thus saving yourself an expensive extra year in education.

It is true that many supervisors are very busy and it is also probably true that some are just being lazy or rude. You many never know which. If you haven't received a reply, write to the name listed in 'Enquiries To' in the departmental information, and explain that you're waiting for a reply from the supervisor. These names are often secretarial staff and are generaly better organised.
Departments and supervisors are as keen to recruit good PhD students as you are to find a good PhD place. If they mess you about, look elsewhere.

You will probably find that a small number of studentships are available in this area each year. However competition will be extremely intense for such a popular subject area. Most studentships starting in October 2004 are not yet advertised.



A self funded PhD is not cheap. On top of the £3000 university fees, you will need to cover research expences, such as field work (flights, food, accomodation etc). If you're lucky the supervisor may be able to get some of these costs covered for you. To get accepted you will still need to show that you have the ability to complete a PhD. Even though you're paying the bill, the supervisor will be the one in charge.



Use the internet to find labs working in the area you're interested in and write to them explaining that you'd like to fund yourself. Some of the following may be good places to start: Primate Society of Great Britain, The Primate Information Network or The Leaky Foundation

If you have been offered a place at Cambridge ask your potential supervisor what the procedures are. Competition for such scholarships is very high, as there aren't many of them.

Try searching this site for bioinformatics. When you write to a potential supervisor begin your letter by saying that you have access to your own funding and would like to work in their lab. Providing your English is good, you should not have a problem finding a lab who will accept you.

The supervisor should be able to help. Which country is this PhD in?

An integrated PhD course will probably provide a better training than a traditional 3 year UK PhD. The taught elements of the course may make your experimental work easier to manage. However it will be more expensive and takes an extra year to complete. If English is not your first language, an extra year of study may provide more time to improve your written English before writing your thesis.

Some opportunities are available in europe, but they can be hard to find. I would recommend using this site to narrow down your options and then visiting the web sites of the departments you're interested in to find out more about available funding. Do not send lots of generic emails out to potential supervisors, most of them will just be deleted.

Unlike in most careers, references are taken quite seriously in academia. Asking the head of department or the head of your MSc course would be a good idea. A reference from the academic who supervised your final year project in your first degree would also help to balance things out. Of course if this person is also likely to give you a bad reference, then it may just be that you're not cut out for lab work.

Probably not. Try UKCOSA. The British Council has information for Caribbean students, but you may have to dig about a bit to find information on PhD funding.

There are currently no USA universities advertising on FindAPhD. Therefore you cannot apply to them through FindAPhD. You can get direction on how to apply by visiting the links listed in our previous reply.

To the best of our knowledge there is no such Canadian site. If you are a citizen of the British Commonwealth then the Association of Commonwealth Universities may be able to help.