First of all congratulations!! I would suggest u enjoy the summer off and make the most of it :) as once u get started.... u wont be having a summer!! Wen i accepted my offer i emailed my first supervisor and he said to get away from uni as far as possible lol :-) If you want to prepare urself for the start in september u can email ur supervisor for reading list to get ur head around the topic. Enjoy the summer 8-)

Hi Lorna, think we are quite similar as I graduated with a First class honours in Forensic and analytical science last year :) with one year industry under my belt too.. maybe we're at the same uni lol :). Im now doing a PhD but it is not forensic related, and i love it!! Are you looking for a PhD forensic related?? if the prospect uni has suggested u do a MSc i would consider it. But with the fees increasing it is very tough to self fund a master with no guarantee of securing a PhD, it is probably worth you gaining some work experience in the forensic sector to gain some experience and some contacts and possibly work first and then do a PhD later on. Or you could contact your current tutors and see if they got any links to other academics and other PhD opportunities. Hope this helps.

Hi Carrie,

Firstly congrats on gettin 2 fantastic offers!! From my friends experiences i would suggest you take the clinical scientist job, as NHS jobs are v tough to get, I have several friends who have graduated with first class degree in BMS but had no luck with gettign trainine biomedical scientist jobs. Like u said, at present the NHS is not in a great state, but once your qualified there are loads of jobs u can apply, its the trainee jobs that are like gold dust. 2 ppl in our PhD office (around 30) who worked as clinical scientist in the NHS are now doing phd (1 full time, 1 part-time) both fully funded and both are still working for the NHS as well (they are on a rota on call, they both work on the renal transplant unit).

But I think the crucial decision, is based on whether u prefer to work and enjoy ur free time, or dedicate ur next few years to a phd project. I started my phd last october, so i am still quite new to all this phd stuff, but talkin to other 1st years who started same time as me, sometime we wish that we did a 9-5 lab job with nothing to worry about, and enjoying urself. But on other hand, the phd experience is exciting and rewarding at the same time, even thu it is hard work.

I donno if it is common practice to do your phd at another university, but there are pros and cons doing a phd at the same uni. I have friends including myself who are doing a phd at the same uni as their ungrad, on the other hand i also have a friend who is doing a phd at a different uni. It would be nice to go to a different uni and experience student life in a different city, but if the uni facilities and supervisor isnt as good as you expected, you will be disappointed. When i was applying for phds, my current supervisor (who was also my under grad project supervisor) hinted out that supervisors are important, as you will be working with them for min. of 3 years you need to be able to get along. One reason i stayed at the same uni, is i enjoyed working with my supervisor, and he was fantastic! if he was rubbish no matter how good the project/uni is, i personally wouldnt have bother applying.

If you have commitments in your current area, it might be worth staying put, plus the advantage of doing it at your own uni is that you know the supervisors, environment etc. and you will be able to settle in quicker than external students. Sorry im not sure if i hav given u any helpful tips.

Hey, i started my phd in october, and one of the first things i had to do was to complete risk assessments b4 i was allowed in the lab, it was such a faff!! i dont think u need to write a separate risk assessment for every procedure, if the same chemicals are used in 5 procedures you only need to mention it. I had to do my own risk assessment but another student who started around the same time as me, her supervisor gave her around 5 RA and she just had to change the front page which include name, supervisors and project title etc. So i think it depends on your supervisor.

Hey, I was in similar shoes when i was on placement, I thought about doing a PhD but I wasn't sure what it really involves, it wasn't until I was doing my research project in the second semester which changed my view completely. I loved my research project topic and the whole “research” experience. I loved every minute of it, it was just so satisfying and I had more questions to answer and I just wanted to carry on!! So I spoke to my project supervisor about phds in general and fortunate for me, he managed to secure funding for a PhD and I have just started my PhD 2 months ago working in the same area as my undergrad project with the same supervisor. If you are doing medical sciences, your final year modules probably includes a research project which would give u a good insight into the field of research.

Im doing my PhD in the biomedical science area, from my experience so far doing a PhD is completely different from being an undergrad. First of all, the lecturers treat you like a staff rather than student. We are expected to treat it like a full time job and be in 9-5, but there is flexibility, you manage you own time, plan and conduct your own experiments. I get 26 days off a year and all public and bank holidays and so its similar to a job. The typical amount funded by the research cancer is 13,590 a year (tax free). What I have found is that I get paid more than while I was on placement and I can live quite comfortable, but it does on location and rent (which takes the most out of your wage). But the exact amount of funding depends on who is funding your project. 

I agree with Aillicec that you do a PhD because you are interested in the subject area as you will end up spending 3 years of your life researching in that particularly area. In my opinion I do think it is beneficial to become specialised, especially if you want a career in that same area of research. Hope this is useful and good luck =)