Teaching is good, and fun, but I'd focus more on the research side of things at interview, myself. Great to discuss in passing, but I would personally be wary of making it sound like the crux of why I was there.

I think it's always good to know what funding is like for going to conferences. If you're Research Council funded, there is normally a budget for this (although I imagine it varies amongst the various councils).

One thing I enjoyed was reading some recent research by the folks interviewing me. They all seemed to rather enjoy being queried about it (all the more so, when I tied it in to aspects of my own proposed work).

Let us know how it goes :)

Good luck!

Only thought that comes to mind is: what questions have you prepared for them? Interviews work both ways, after all.
Hope it goes well.

Marcello, you mention universities advertising PhDs. Have you been in any contact with potential supervisors, directly? Specifically, do you have a particular research question in mind that you can prepare and produce a research proposal for?

In my experience (although I don't know if other European systems would view it differently), supervisors were generally extremely keen to talk with someone who:

A. Had a broadly defined research proposal
B. Were interested in working with them (it's nice to be thought of so highly, I guess, right?)

Now, that won't be true in all subjects, universities or of all people. However, it's also my thought that if a supervisor is really engaged, sees you have initiative, and your interest ties nicely with their own, you're in for a much easier application process. The supervisors can (and do) push for their potential students when it comes to funding opportunities.

I find it hard to believe that a university should have 1000+ applications for one PhD position: unfortunately, with the state of affairs in our economies, it doesn't seem impossible.

Keep on trying: the feeling you will get when you finally get the confirmation you're going on to do your studies will be worth the pain and frustration.

Dunham, I am really sorry to hear that you've encountered that. Are you applying in the UK / EU? Age Discrimination over Ph.D. application - I would have HOPED - would surely be against the rules(?).

Very best of luck with your application process!

I don't mean to start an argument or detract from the validity of your many good questions, Dunham; however, should age be an issue? I'll be 32 (and "relatively" is relative, I guess) when I kick off my Ph.D. - didn't encounter any prejudice issues along the application routes.

I would be interested to know if anyone thinks age comes in to it...

Found the page linked below, might be some use?

All Best
Semp

First, congratulations!

The condition could be any of a number of things (and, by thunder, there are some weird conditions: have one myself).
The only thing I can think of is that you say "master's grades": have you graduated from that degree, yet? If not, the offer might be conditional on completion of that degree.

Then again, it could (in theory) be something as simple as checking your references or seeing sight of your official transcript from other degrees.

I imagine there will be more experienced, better qualified individuals able to post on this. I just know how frustrating it can be when you're waiting to understand conditions.

What will likely happen is that, if the offer is made, it will clearly state what the conditions of that offer are. I would, if I were you, leave it a couple of weeks and then - if you haven't heard back at that point - send them a little email just asking for an update.

Hope it works out :)

From a specific ESL perspective, I can't give much advice; however, I've always found David Crystal to be a valuable companion when it comes to all things English Language.

First book on grammar of his that I came across on a search linked below.
He's a very prolific author, and there are a good number of his works that you might find useful.

In terms of vocabulary, I'd recommend a good thesaurus.

In general, I would always be extremely wary of an electronic 'grammar checker'; as you rightly say, they are not good enough.

All Best.

It is perhaps a very short and simple question, but it's an oldie and a goody:

What value will pursuing the qualification add to you?

In otherwords, what do you want to do? Having spent the last decade in commerce and industry before recently returning to academia, I would advise that there's certainly no need for a recent graduate to pursue an MBA. Indeed, without solid grounding in industry, personally I would suggest that it could well act against you. Taking a few years to ground yourself in the industrial field you want to work in would serve you extremely well in both building a strong C.V., developing valuable networking contacts, and letting you find out if it's really where you want to be longer term.

If you think that doing an MBA will automatically prepare you, qualify you, and land you a senior industry role, I would strongly encourage you to reflect on how realistic that is.

Either way, and whatever you decide to do, Good Luck!

Hi

Has anyone any experience of this (particularly for CDTs) and whether there's any leniency demonstrated to individuals who perhaps miss by 1-2% against the required grade?

Thanks

Afraid I've no idea what the admissions process will be like for North American institutions; however, for the vast majority of well rated UK MSc Comp Sci Conversions, it's really just an application form, personal statement, and a couple of references. Interviews are generally very unusual for these courses.

Hi There,

Currently finishing off the MSc Comp Sci Conversion at a university in the South West of England and I have to say it's been a fabulous experience in the main.

You'll probably not need to worry too much about hardcore maths for most conversion courses; however, there's always the opportunity to put your maths to use in most of the programming you'll be doing, as well as with your project / dissertation.

The admission process was nice and smooth in my experience - applied end of December, heard back second week of January with my offer.

Touch wood, and provided I don't mess things up, I'll be sticking on to do PhD after this! (And the Department have a strong track record of conversion students successfully completing)

I would say go for it :)

Hello...

Help.

This morning, I received a conditional offer for PhD with full funding in a centre I'm already conducting Master's research in. Here's the snag:

The offer is conditional on getting a distinction in the taught element of my current degree.

I am currently sat on a 71% average. Whilst I don't anticipate this going much lower, there is a real possibility that it could slip below 69.5%.

Does anyone have experience / knowledge of similar situations and what the likely outcome of slipping just below the boundary might be?

I can understand the condition being based on the taught component, as my thesis won't be marked and returned until long after the PhD commences.

Just feels like I'm being forced to run the gauntlet.

Any views / thoughts / opinions most readily welcome.