Hi all,
I recently obtained a 2:1 MPhys in Physic with Astrophysics, which is an Undergraduate Masters, and have left it till too late to start looking for PhDs for 2009, although there are one or two that are still available but not quite my interest. Didn't realise how hard and long the process was. :-(

Recently I was interviewed for a fully funded PhD but unfortunately I came in second place. :-( The supervisor stated that its a shame to lose a candidate such as myself as I was more than appropriate for the post and mentioned that I should try again next time.

My main question is:
If applying for a PhD in Physics or Applied Mathematics in 2010 for a specific university, what is the best way to go about this?

I will be trying the same university as my previous rejection to start off with, but will plant some seeds in a couple of other Universities, just to be on the safe side.

The main points I've picked up since looking over this forum for several hours is that I should contact possible supervisors and perhaps the admissions tutors. My line of thought so far has been:

1.0 Contact admissions tutors for the university departments and get advice about the application process
2.1 Depending on the admissions tutors advice I'll decide whether or not to come up with a possible PhD topic
2.2 Contact possible supervisors who and inform them that I have a possible project but am also willing to scrap it for another if the other interests me.
3.0 Plan and wait for the applications for funding to go through.

My second question is:
Assuming I do manage to get my PhD is 2010, I've graduated and have no job currently. Any advice on what kind of job I can get that would look good on a CV and where to look for them?

I believe that in another topic somebody suggested something like a Research Assistant. So similar suggestions might be useful.


Any comments or advice on the above would be very useful before I begin planning my life ,-)


I thank all those who took the time to read this, have a big thumbs up (up)

Timballisto 8-)

Seems like there have been a lot of views but no comments so I'll just keep updating on my current progress and hope that it gives others some inspiration in their applications. Still feel free to comment :p

I've e-mailed the admissions tutor who has passed my email onto the head of the group I wish to join, still waiting to hear from him. To summarise my e-mail, I stated what my research interests are, that I was encouraged by rejecting supervisor to send off a few emails and that I had a potential PhD idea from my time during my undergraduate course. Then I mentioned that the I'm willing to look at anything within my preferred research area and that I'm also willing to edit my PhD idea for funding if they decide to look at it.

I think that my e-mail was so detailed that the admissions tutor felt it best to let the head of the group deal with it ;-) (or reject it :-( )

Timballisto