Hi All,

I start my PhD studentship at Birmingham University in September this year. I have no idea what to expect. I have been working for the past two years in research roles for the NHS, which pretty much consists of report writing, meetings, supervision, deadlines etc. Any tips on what is expected of me in the first year of a PhD? Kinda excited but slightly nervous! :-)

Good news microgeek, sounds like you did well! Fingers crossed! :-)

I've recently been offered a PhD at Birmingham Uni. I had a half an hour interveiw slot with a panel of three.

questions included:

- What do you expect a PhD involves?
- What do you think about the methodology we plan to use?
- What do you think the negatives of doing a PhD will be and how will
you cope?
- I got a curveball question about a hypothetical situation and one
of the panel kept interrogating me further about what I would do in
this hypothetical situation.

I got tested on my knwoledge of learning disbailities and was asked if I had any questions at the end.

I also got tested on my fluency in spekaing a South Asian language as the PhD involves liaising with indidviuals from ethnic backgrounds. Overall I was in there for about 40 minutes. It really wasn’t too bad.

I would advise you to read up on the research proposal. Look at the methodology in detail (pro’s/cons) and have some comments on what you think.

Good luck!

Thanks for all your responses and suggestions! This is a really supportive forum!

I've made a list of some questions and answers which I'm going to look over and I've read up on the methodology of the research proposal. However I'm gutted becuase I've managed to catch a cold, so I'm stuck in doors, whilst everyone else is outside soaking up the sun! doh! Oh well I guess it gives me more time to swot up on my interview! JOY!.....

Thanks for your responses! I'm doing some background reading into the subject area, although I'm not sure how indepth I should go. They have given me a copy of the research proposal which I'm going to look at in major detail. The interview is only half an hour, so I assume its going to be quite general.

e.g. Have you read up on area? Why are you interested in doing a PhD? etc

I've still got a week to prepare but I'm already getting nervous

Dear All,

I applied for a PhD studentship at Birmingham University and have been invited to attend an interview in a weeks time. The invitation letter says that there will a lunch before the interview so that all the candidates can meet. This will be followed by a 30 miniute interview. I will also be expected to "converse" with someone in a South asian language as this is the area that the PhD will be exploring. The day will end with a tour of the school.

I've never done an academic interview before, so I'm a little in the dark about what to expect. How do PhD interviews work in general? Are they formal or informal? Are you quized on your knowledge, or asked softer questions about intentions, goals, etc.? Or both? Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks