It sounds like you're in with a good shot. I was interviewed by my 3rd year undergrad supervisor for a PhD with him and whilst the interview itself was still fairly formal (mainly due to the other member of the panel) it was a little less stressful for me because I knew that he already knew what I was capable off. It felt a bit like I had one less person to impress at interview. I think my situation was similar to yours as well because originally I let him know I was interested in applying for one of the general semi-funded PhD places the department had, and if I did I asked if he would be interested in being my supervisor. He was all for it and then later when he secured specific funding for himself asked if I wanted to switch my application from the general position to his specific one.

So, I'd expect it to be as formal as normal. You'll still be aiming to impress more than just your potential supervisor but with the background you mentioned it sounds a little bit like they've lined you up as a firm candidate for the phd. The lunch is interesting as well but I wouldn't read too much into it though as a lot of interview processes involve staying for a tour of the department/Uni or in some case taking the candidates for lunch/dinner.

======= Date Modified 26 Jun 2010 15:54:32 =======
I'm finishing off my psychology PhD :)

In my interviews there was a 'panel' of two people, one being the potential supervisor. They started off with a brief hello and getting to know you before going on to describe the PhD and what they thought it would involve etc. Then the questions to you start. Then at the end it's usually your turn to ask questions before leaving and worrying about the whole thing :D

I had a couple of interviews and the questions I got asked fell into two areas. Some questions where about being able to do the PhD (Self motivation, organisation, experience with lit reviews etc) and the others were about the specific research area (Why I was interested in it, fave study, what I thought about theory X or recent paper Y).

The ones about doing the work are pretty bog standard and so are the replies really. If they ask whether you can handle working independantly, motivating yourself for deadlines then there's not much else you can say than yes. I think the questions about the research area are more important, you don't want to be caught out there. I think having questions of your own to ask at the end is pretty important too.

You might be asked to do a short presenation on something, usually the research area, but if they want that they would have told you when they offered the interview. I didn't have to do one for mine but I've done one for an academic job interview since and it doesn't change the structure of the interview much - you just do the presentation, answer questions and then it procedes as normal.

I'm not sure about teaching ability. Is teaching something that's definately going to be part of your PhD duties? I wasn't asked about mine as they said they expected to be something I wouldn't currently have exerience in, but would develop during the course of the PhD. I doubt they'll expect too much from you on that unless it's a major part of your course, and even then they won't expect you to be a lecturer standard right from the off (or even by the end of it all).

Hope that helps!

Today's not been a waste 'cos I've handed in chapters 1 and 2 to my supervisor, and I'm feeling pretty good about them :)

======= Date Modified 17 Jun 2010 18:09:20 =======
I'd ask him :) Sometimes supervisors need a bit of a push, especially around busy times of the year. If they've got a lot on they'll forget and they'll need reminding. I've been pestering my supervisor, who's got the HoD job as well, so we can get on with putting together a paper and I've finally managed to chase him down and arrange a meeting.

Also when you say you've finished the chapters have they seen them since? If you've written them up but they've not seen them they might not be aware of just how publishable it might be. You're more acquainted with your research than them so it might take seeing it for them to catch on. Either way I'd definately say something and arrange a meeting to go over the results. I wouldn't be disappointed with them not starting it off, it's probably not a reflection on the results.

Definately helps! Part of the criteria for a PhD is generally that the work done is of a publishable quality. If you already have parts of your thesis in print like that then it stops any concern about that dead.

Sorry to hear what's happened :( Is there a postgraduta officer or general point of contact in your department for post grads? It seems to me like they'd be a good person to go to and make aware of the problem in an official capacity. Even if they only take note of it. That way an eye can be kept on things in case it escalates.

Has some sort of code of conduct not been breached by them talking about you like that to another student?

Hola one and all. I'm a first time poster :D I'm actually at the end of my PhD (plant to submit end of july/early august) but I only just realised these forums were here when I used the findapostdoc site.

I've been desperately searching for jobs and came painfully close with getting a research associate/fellowship. I was told I was more than appointable and impressed but they the other applicant had a slightly different back ground which they favoured. So I've got back to job searching in earnest but it's a bit of struggle. The jobs I find either require more experience than I have, need a PhD now/start more or less now, or just aren't related to my background in any way shape or form.

So, that has left me wondering about applying abroad. Maybe Canada or the US, or Australia. I'd rather get a job in the UK at the moment because my better half has a year left on her post grad course and long distance is getting rather irksome. But...beggars can't be choosers and I think I should at least look overseas.

I'm having trouble finding ads though. Does anyone know of any useful sites along the lines of findapostdoc or even jobs.ac.uk but for other countries? Or is it just a case of trawling through individual Uni's?