Hello all,

I had an interview for a PhD studentship (Geography) on Friday 22nd July, incidentally it was the one that I was most enthusiastic about, and it went far better than I could have imagined. I received an email later in the day telling me I had been unsuccessful, though they had made me the reserve candidate. They also added that they were 'so taken by my potential' and would investigate the possibility of gaining another scholarship from the University Division which funded the post. They said not to raise my hopes too much as they had no idea whether it was possible - but they would know in the next week or so if it is possible.

After checking my email far too many times in the past week and a half I have received nothing yet :-( - so:
- Do you think I still have a chance of gaining anything?
- Should I email again and ask if there is an update (and if so when)?
- If I am unsuccessful, would it be a good idea to ask about the possibility of being lined up for a PhD next year in their department? I ask this because many of the staff's research interests are aligned with my own).

The wording of their email certainly gave me hope that I would at least hear something! Also I imagine that they either had an internal candidate lined up for the scholarship or somebody with more academic qualifications, as I only finished my undergraduate degree in June (I am 21).

Any thoughts or advice much appreciated.

Matt :-)

Hey Matt. Unlucky, sounds like you were very close to getting it! I would definitely hang onto some hope, since it sounds like you made a great impression. As I found out myself this week- that does count for something. I was interviewed for a post-doc two weeks ago, which I didn't get (it went to someone with a PhD and a practitioner doctorate), but they said that they had been really impressed with me and would be interested in applying for further funding so I could join the team. Yesterday I went back over to see them again and was offered a post-doc; the day of the original interview they found out that they had another post-doc coming up, and were then able to offer it to me without advertising it since they had interviewed me so recently. So it's disappointing, and funding is scarce, but I would definitely follow it up, and even if you don't have luck this year, they might well agree to work with you on funding proposals so that you could join them for a PhD next year. Good luck with it! KB