Hi guys, during an interview what sort of questions is the panel likely to ask and what do you think is a good answer to the questions being asked?

Anyone would like to share their experiences?

mine asked me if i could talk about a article i had recently which was really interesting or relevant for my project proposal...

mine asked me if i could talk about an article i had read recently which was really interesting or relevant for my project proposal and if i could just summarise and discuss it for them...

Was that all? I appreciate as much help as I can possibly get

It depends on the the University and the Supervisor, and whether it is funded or not, and whether you needed to make a proposal ( I am in the sciences so did not need to do one). I had interviews at four different universities, lets call them A,B,C,D

University A - Asked questions by Supervisor relating to basic scientific knowledge, his post doc asked all the difficult questions, - Tour around the lab - Two people "interviewed me"

University B - More technical questions, I did a little presentation, wherein I was the lecturer and he was the student, and had to answer various questions that an undergraduate might ask - tour of lab met one phd student

University C - Taken to supervisor by uG on sandwich year, go in room professor(tosser) half his students and his admin gal all in there, various questions asked, tour of lab by one of his lackeys, go out to lunch with him and post doc asked questions while trying to eat shepards pie!. Go back to uni, explains project, talk to his Phd students for an hour

University D - No tech questions asked, CV transcripts, referees and First Class degree, graduation awards mean that he does not need to ask typical questions, asks why I want to do PhD though. Tour of Labs, Lunch at South american restaurant (in the UK, obviuously!!!), go to place where I will be based, shown labs there, meet postgrad research admissions person, questions on why, and what I plan to do, informs me accommodation options and so on. End of interview.

Have a guess which University I accepted an offer, which was rejected, which came a close second and which rejected me, lol

I think you should always be able to answer the standard interview questions.

You should be able to answer: why do you want to do a PhD? how is it going to progress your career? (consider that you dont necessarily need a PhD to do research in many feilds )

what is your interest in the specific project? what skills/experience do you have which makes you suited to doctoral study?

Also remeber an interview is a two way process: you are interviewing them as well. find out as much as you can about the supervisor. read their publications ask intelligent questions about their projects.....

I am guessing you rejected University C and D? Acceprted either A or B? Am I right?

why do you want to work on this field; what is your motivation ?
thew sometimes want a presentation on your MSc thesis.

good luck !

I'd suggest that you try and do some research on the interview panel (even on their uni web page) to find out about the directions they are going in and work out where your interest fits into their field. They have to feel that you are enthusiastic enough (as they probably are about their particular field) to be able to complete a useful masters. Also try to think about the modules in the masters course and what you bring to each one. I think if you have a message in mind that you want to get across you can bring any question round to it somehow.

mine never asked the "standard" questions which i thought rather surprising. i was warned in advance to prepare a 10 minute talk about my project proposal, they asked a few questions about it, then the "article"-question i mentioned earlier. then they asked whom i thought would fit to me as a supervisor and then i asked quite a few questions.

Hmmm, seems like you were lucky then.