Hi all,

Last year I applied for two PhD scholarships with defined projects, somewhat last minute, made it to interviews for both and ended the process with one rejection and one place with no funding. This year I'm deciding to throw my hat into the ring again, but with my own project as a development of my Masters research project - applying to more unis, more scholarships etc. in order to increase my chances.

After doing well on my MA, I really want to ask my MA supervisor if he would be willing to supervise my PhD, funding permitting of course, but do not want to put all my eggs in one basket again and would also like to ask my MA supervisor for a reference for other applications, as he worked closely with me on my diss project. The problem is that I don't know if it would come across as impolite to ask for potential supervision but also a reference for somewhere else. I think he'd be understanding that I want to maximize my chances, and he may not even feel he could/wants to supervise my PhD, but I'm still cautious.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I'd be grateful for other opinions on this!

Thanks in advance ☺

Hi. I knew some Master student asked their supervisors to do a PhD with him. Some of them ended doing PhD with him (fingers crossed). Others were told there is no funding (maybe the supervisors did not have funding or simply did not want them). If you have a good relationship with supervisor (or even a "not bad" one), I would recommend to ask for a PhD with him/her. If he/she said there is no funding, then ask if you can put him as a reference in your application. Moreover, ask him to recommend other potential supervisors. The key in all this, is the worst that can happen if you ask is similar to the result if you do not ask.

Yes , it's fine - just be open about it and ask if he/she is happy to act as reference.

Mine did act a bit funny but she was a funny one... and even she did it in the end!

Thank you all for the reply! It was fine in the end - he did not feel he could supervise me and said he is more than happy to write the reference. Fingers crossed for the applications !!