Cheers for you thoughts guys. I know what you are saying but we have lived apart for over five years now, and we're both sick of it! She's not pressuring me, its something we both want to do. So do I take it you think I have less of a chance of finding a suitable PhD if I narrow my search to one (albeit large) area of the county? Surely other people have location as a criteria in a finding a PhD?

Hi all,

I am working as a Ecology Research/Field Assistant for the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, getting great experience gathering data in the field (extensive verging on excessive experience of this!), as well as project planning, data input and analysis and a project I am running myself. I'm getting a lot of support from my line manager, who is involved in putting together PhD projects and has put a few under my nose. My only concern is that I am working up North, and all my work is in upland ecology. My fiancee however has landed a job down in Wiltshire that she is absolutely besotted with and has no intention of leaving! I will be applying for PhDs starting in mid-late 2009, and am finding it difficult to narrow down my preliminary searches to the South/South West. This is especially the case as I have something of an inside track to those in the North of England thanks to my current job, and I feel I may be letting opportunities pass me by. Will I be able to find a suitable studentship if I have such a narrow geographical area to search?

Cheers for your advice everyone. So far I've got the captaincy of my university riding team and am on the exec of the uni forum, involved with arranging guest lecturers etc.
My interest is roughly focussed on environmental economics and policy, but finding placements in these fields is quite challenging. There are some research assistant positions available at the Allerton Trust and the Game Conservancy, but I'm not sure how relevant these would be as they are very ecology oriented, and my interests are more in the social science side of environmentalism. Or do you think any research work would be an advantage?

First of all, hi there, I'm new.

I am currently studying for a BSc Countryside and Environmental Management, and I hope on graduation to undertake ESRC 1+3 funded postgrad work, as the vast majority of the courses and institutes that interest me are covered by this method of funding, and there's no way I can afford to continue studying after my degree without external funding.
So my question is this- as all ESRC quota places seem extremely competitive, what can I be doing while studying for my BSc to improve my chances of acceptance? Also, I have a placement year incorporated into my course, and was also wondering if anyone had any advice concerning how this could be best spent. Thanks in advance for any help anyone can offer.