Oh gosh! I've been invited for a first telephone interview for a PhD position. Can anyone tell me what kind of questions to expect? Thanks :)

Great, thanks a lot Dunham! I'm not a bla bla person, thus I'm always a bit worried that I'm not writing enough. But anyway, I should not use a 10 point font anyway unless I submit a magnifying glass together with the statement :)

Yiha, I found a few PhD positions right within my interest. They do include funding alternatives to NERC, for which I don't qualify. And the profs supporting these projects tell me I need to apply, given my background. I'm trying to write a research statement at the moment and am wondering what should go in it.

From what I read online:
1. general summary of my research interests
2. the big research projects I worked on: methodology, theory, outcome
3. how this fits into ongoing research on that topic
4. publications
5. sumary of why I want to do this project and how it fits into my overall development

about 1. no problem
about 2. that would be my bachelors and both master theses (yes, I have two). Plus, as I'm out of university for quite a few years the work relevant to my research interest I've been doing since then I suppose <- only the work absolutely relevant to the PhD project I suppose as all other things will be in my CV anyway. On the professional part I need to stay somewhat vague as I had to sign various confidentiality agreements on not giving out too much information.
about 3. hmm.. I really have to think about that, especially as I don't have access to scientific papers.
about 4. All professional publications are internal and not publically available. Plus I think it's common in the UK to publish papers on ones theses. Unfortunately, that's not the case in the country I studied. Leave this out completely and hope for the best?
about 5. no problem

Does this make sense?

Cheers.

Well, I read the following on the NERC website (copy/paste doesn't work from how this PDF is constructed)

http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/howtoapply/forms/dtg-faq-students/

Q: I am an EU student...
A: Cannot receive maintenance grant, but ... would be eligible for a fees-only award (fees and research training support costs [whatever that means]). After being in the UK for three years, you can convert to a full award during the period of the studentship.
[the last part is unclear. that would then be for the last year of the PhD or in retrospect?]

Anyway, I'm currently writing a research statement and contacting my old professors for references. Could easily provide professional references as well.

Thanks a lot guys,

yep, I'm a natural scientist with kind of a R&D background. I do have experience directly related to the PhD projects I'm looking at and those are an excellent extension to what I was doing. One btw, is in the UK, the other in France and both have very tight ties to 'my' industry. The one in the UK sounds more interesting. I don't need to do a PhD in the UK, however I'm in a slightly unfortunate situation at the moment: I'm laid off and on extended garden leave in a country where I won't be allowed to stay once my work permit gets cancelled in a few months. If I don't find work until then I could sit the current crisis out in my country of origin, though I won't be able to find any work there and will have to pay a fortune for health insurance. The UK would be the better place to move to as surprisingly even without work I could sit out the crisis for longer (I do have good savings!). Having looked at the numbers again, I think I could probably even fund a complete PhD myself with a weekend job next to it provided I can still make use of lab and computer facilities. If it's a good idea, and if such is allowed for a NERC-funded project is a different question. The prof at least sounded happy that someone is reacting to that PhD project at all :) The alternative might as well be to not work, or work in a similarly uninspiring job until 'the industry' is hiring again.

Hiya all,

I'd like to hear your opinion on the following.

I left university after my Masters due to financial difficulties and started an industry job, though a PhD was always my big target. It paid well, but I never got the experience/job I hoped to gain. I stumbled upon a yet unfilled PhD position which would be in exactly the right direction for me. I've just been laid off and I'll probably not find a new job within quite a while (guess that makes it clear which industry I'm in?). I still would love to spend 4 years on an extensive research project. Is it considered funny in the UK to do a PhD if your gained your degree 7 years ago?

Well.. and the big issue: it's a big project involving a massive amount of training (at least 10 weeks in the first year and more in the following), lab work at companies, fieldwork, conferences, and learning a lot of things I'd never dreamed doing. And it's NERC funded. Unfortunately I don't qualify for NERC funding. Are there other ways to fund a PhD that might be too busy to work for a living for EU citizens that have not lived in the UK for the last three years? Next to living of course I'd also need funds for traveling and lab work. I tried to forget about this project, but my thoughts keep on returning to it.