I'm a US applicant, and am looking for insight into my two UK acceptances. I have not yet received my funding offers yet, so I realize that may play a bigger factor later. My field is history of science/medicine/technology.

Is there a big difference between impressions of the degrees themselves, or the institutions? If I am considering a PhD in the near future (in this field or a closely related one), but more as a public scholar than a traditional academic, would this fit better with one degree than another?

I recently submitted my master’s essay but I realised upon reading it back that I forgot to out two references in my bibliography. I cited them in the text. Would this be ok? Would it affect my mark? I’m a bit scared, and also realising I high key might have ADHD which might have contributed to the forgetfulness

Hi all, (I am omitting some of the details to avoid identification)

I am currently a Reader in a Russell Group university (non-Oxbridge), but luckily I recently got an offer to be an associate professor + College fellow at at Oxbridge. I am seriously considering taking the offer, but I just wanted to get your perspectives on the general comparison of two positions.

Some factors to consider:

• I live with my spouse and son, and we all need to relocate if I accept the offer;
• The AP title in the relevant uni is slightly lower in terms of prestige compared to my current Reader title. I will try to negotiate and try to bump up my title, but I'm not sure how this will go because I was just promoted to Reader last year.
• It sounds like various college duties in the new job might take a lot of time although college fellowship comes with various benefits.
• I like the research environment in the current job, where I have been quite comfortable and productive. But, being in the new uni might make sense career-wise in the long run.
• My current dept is in Humanities/Social Sciences and news about job cuts in various unis scare me (although my uni will be proooobably ok). My job security is very solid in the new uni.

Sorry I need to be vague about a lot of things, but hope some of you might give me some general insights. For context, I'm not from the UK and am quite ignorant about how Oxbridge works.

​

I have two offers for life and health science PhD projects that are fully funded and in interesting areas. I have met with the supervisors of one and will be meeting with the other supervisor soon. I want to ask about the following but am sure I have missed some stuff out so would appreciate any thoughts! In one unsuccessful interview they asked me about what I expected from the supervisory relationship and I sheepishly replied that I don’t know because I’ve never done a PhD before!

Programme factors

Programme structure and resources

• What the structure of the formal training is like and how much of it is in person vs online
• Are there additional pots of money to increase the bench fees for training opportunities and research costs?

Timeline and expectations

• What is the timescale for the project? The funding said 3 years up to 3.5 years?

Department factors

Department atmosphere

• What facilities are there on campus and what is the atmosphere in the department like?
• Are there opportunities for cross-department work as my project falls into multiple disciplines.
• Are there many PhD students in on campus usually or do people work from home?
• Is it a collaborative environment or do people do their own thing?
• How many students will be in my stream of the programme?

Department dynamics and collaboration

• Who else is in the department- how collaborative will the particular project be or will there be other researchers and assistants working on it?
• Opportunities within the department to join in with other work and increase my skills and possibly contribute to publications

Supervisor factors

Supervisory relationship

• How they envisage the supervisory relationship to look like: what sort of supervisor they are (flexible, structured, hands on or off, how proactive they are with supporting and searching out development opportunities, grant funding, me being involved in their other work)
• What the supervisory relationship will look like given that the secondary supervisor is at a uni across the country.
• What opportunities their previous/current students have developed through during their PhDs and where they have ended up

Development factors Student development

• Are there paid opportunities for teaching/marking etc?

Hello, I am an American switching to university in the UK. I will be attending the University of Wales Trinity of St David and doing Ancient Civilizations. When I applied, I wasn't aware of the different types of Masters degrees offered in the UK compared to the United States.

After completing my masters, I plan on going to the University of York to get my PhD.

Would an MRes or a PgDip be better for PhD prospects?

I’ve heard it’s bad form to withdraw from a conference but my funder has just said they would not be able to cover my attendance (I applied to and was accepted to present at three conferences and can only afford two).

Is a simple short paragraph similar in length to the one above appropriate or would it be better to be more apologetic? I don’t want to be weird and overdo it but since it’s my first conference I don’t know the professional norms around this.

I have just come across someone who has been made an assistant professor right after finishing their PhD. They have no publications that I could track down online other than a few book reviews and their page on the university's website also makes no mention of any publications. This is in a field of humanities which makes the whole thing even more surprising. The institution in question is a smaller university in the British Isles. Is this even possible or am I missing something?

In Academia StackExchange people suggested this might be a teaching (perhaps even temporary) position. I got the impression most people there are in STEM and based in North America so thought of asking here as well. I tried to ask this question in r/AskAcademia using a throwaway and the post got deleted without any explanation.

Edit: People seem to be getting all wound up by a simple question. I asked because, being relatively new to British academia, this reminded me of the worst aspects of academia back in my country of origin. Thank you to those who clarified that this situation is not as uncommon as I and other foreign colleagues thought. No one is being hurt by asking this question, there is no identifying information here. I'm going to stop engaging now.

Hi! Long story short, I completed my undergraduate studies in psychology and journalism. I'm now exploring graduate programs, but the general consensus I’ve received is that a master's degree in journalism may not be necessary.

So, I have also applied to a few psychology courses, specifically in social psychology. The end goal for me has always been foreign correspondence/ culture reporting. Which path do you think would be a better fit for me?

I’ve applied to Imperial’s science media production msc, UCL’s and U of Edinburgh’s social psych programs, U of Sheffield’s broadcasting program and UCD’s CNN Academy (along w a few others but these would be my top options)

Thank you in advance :)

Hi guys, I'm looking for research assistantship positions in the UK. Here are my credentials:

1. B.Sc and in Animal Biology 2016-19 (assisted projects and gained experience in transgenic drosophila and mice, cell culture, karyotyping, ELISA, Western blotting.

2. 1st internship in 2018: worked on mutational analysis of Parkinson's disease (PCR, DNA extraction, next gen sequencing, gel electrophoresis, nanodrop)

3. 2nd internship, 2019: immunohistochemistry, transgenic mice, gas chromatography

4. M.Sc Animal Biology, 2019-21 (techniques: immunostaining, western blotting, cell culture, flow cytometry)

5. 5 Virtual internships throughout pandemic lockdown 2020-21 (data analysis, participant recruitment, data analysis, systematic literature review)

6. M.Phil Chemistry Dec 2021- April 2024(analytical techniques like liquid chromatography- mass spectrometry, but majority of project was based on biomarker validation of COVID 19 using statistical and chemometric tools)

Is there a chance I'll get through for RA positions that are listed in non-Ph.D. category, i.e. not PDRA. I've come across a number of positions where the required qualifications are a bachelor's degree but a master's degree would be desirable. I'm just finishing my m.phil from a university in the UK, but I am an international student. What do you think my chances are?

I submitted my application two weeks ago and on their website it stated that the interviews will be held mid March. I haven’t heard back from them yet. Will it be appropriate to send a follow up email to admission and/or the supervisor?

I am presently seeking PhD opportunities across Europe. While the overall feedback on my qualifications has been positive, one challenge I've encountered is related to my education at a University of Applied Sciences. Some feedback incorrectly suggests that this may disqualify me for a Ph.D. position. Any advice on how to address and overcome this misconception would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!
(This is a repost as in the post before the attachment was missing for some reason).

https://preview.redd.it/0cod9hskuinc1.jpg?width=2183&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=beb0d50ee865ddc62f9b003aa6eb83376b334cc6

TL;DR: I’ve been working in marketing for 7 years, wondering if a career change to academia is realistic with a 2:1 at undergraduate?

Hi all, I’d love to hear some thoughts on the following…

I’m currently trying to weigh up whether it’s worth pursuing a more academic masters (currently considering MA Social and Cultural History at Leeds) over something more vocational (such as heritage management, museum studies or something similar).

For context, I had a bit of a difficult start in life as well as undiagnosed autism and ADHD throughout school and university. As a result I never self-identified as ‘academic’ as a young person and to be honest felt quite disengaged throughout my education, mostly because I was often in trouble for things like lateness and forgotten books (which I now realise was due to my ADHD) and would usually be quickly written off by teachers. Despite this, I did ok. I achieved AAB at A Level and then went on to graduate with a 2:1 (65%) from a top 10 uni.

Since graduating I’ve been working in marketing and have honestly been hating every moment. 7 years later I’ve found myself at a critical point with burnout and have taken some time out to recover and consider next steps. I have been thinking about a potential career change into the heritage sector for several years as it’s always been an area I’ve been hugely interested in. However, after a bit of soul searching I’ve been thinking I might like to move into academia. As I’ve got older I have realised I do have a deep love of learning and think contributing to research on topics I’m interested in is something I would really enjoy/find rewarding.

All that said, I’m very aware that my academic performance so far has been very average and I understand obtaining PhD funding (further down the road) for humanities subjects can be particularly difficult/competitive. I also feel like because my background is a bit unconventional and hasn’t been super focused on academics I’m not set up very well for a successful long-term career in academia. In which case, I’m not sure there’d be any point in doing a masters that might better facilitate a move into further study over one that might help me more in terms of making a more practical career change.

N.B. My undergraduate degree was in Management and Cultural Studies (which included strong elements of history), rather than a straight history subject, and all the above is based on me aiming to obtain a distinction at masters level.

I am an undergraduate currently working on my dissertation of factors determine job satisfaction of nurses. I'm doing quantitative approach using secondary data. However, there are limitations in my dataset as they were done annonymously, I can't determine which answers belong to the nurses.

I will re-adjust my research focus to general medical workers however, I submited my proposal for ethical approve months ago. Do I need to redo the whole proposal, or I can just move on with the limitation and include it in my discussion?

Thanks in advance for your help! My first time doing this!

What are your thoughts on taking notes in with you to refer to during a job interview? How do interviewers perceive it? What kind of notes do you make?

I have a health condition that sometimes affects my working memory. All my job interviews in the past 4 years have been done online, so I always had notes up around my monitor that I could look at discretely if I needed to (though in practice I didn't often use them). Now that I'm doing them in person again, I'm wondering whether it's appropriate to take notes in with me, like just key words on points to cover, for example.

In my career pre-academia, the only notes I ever took into interviews were the questions I wanted to ask the panel, and a pen to make notes in the interview if needed. I'm wondering if taking more than that in with me (like one A5 page of key words) will count against me?

I've been offered an opportunity to do a PhD in collaboration with an industrial partner.

The problem domain will be specific to this company and I'd apply AI techniques to help solve them.

I have 3 years work experience already, but I'm wondering whether this PhD would also count as work experience. i.e. could I include the industrial partner in the work experience section of my CV?

I've been told that this is 'less academic' and more industry focused compared to other PhDs.

My concern is stunting an already promising career while getting a stipend that is a fraction of the salaries on offer in industry (but that work tends to lack technical depth). However, if I can get industry experience that counts and a PhD at the end of the project then this would really be a win-win.

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

You don't know what you dont know, so to speak, and got a meeting to discuss my new appointment today 1 hour from now.

I live in France, my wife and child will also relocate to UK, what can I negotiate ? I have been told my salary so thats our the question I guess ?

Anything else, it's a T&S pathway? 60% teaching, 40% research.

Thank you all

Anyone here apply for a URF and heard anything from the Royal Society yet?

I am thinking of applying to a job advert for a science technical officer in a local Universty. This would be a bit of a career move for me-its within a science domain. TBH I am not sure what to expect in interview, or what this career looks like/will mean long term. I previously worked in industry and hated it; I had a go at a career move and also hated it so right now I am doing a cert; the cert helps somewhat towards the job. As does my previous degree. As this is a new field for me I am not sure if this job has many opportunities, the starting pay is good but the yearly increments are tiny. I have friends who make double the salary I would make 10 years into this job right now. I am excited about the job but could anyone tell me how this could map out long term? Did they find this job enjoyable if they did it? I am really excited by the role, but I have some apprehensions (eg I do not have a masters degree) that worry me. Anyone any thoughts or opinions?

I found out on Monday that I've passed the initial selection panel for AHRC funding, which is the faculty panel at the department I've applied to. Now my application will go to the general selection panel for the AHRC consortium. I've been given exactly 1 and a half days to edit my proposal to make it more 'accessible' for that panel, deadline is today, so much fun!

I was just wondering if anyone with similar experience knows the likelihood of passing the first round and still getting rejected on the second? I'm worrying because they gave me so little time to edit my proposal for the main panel, it would seem really unfair to be rejected on that basis now.

I have offers for both a grad scheme in data science at a bank paying £50k and a PhD in Mathematics at Warwick and am torn over which one to take.

I did my masters in theoretical physics (string theory, differential geometry, quantum field theory, etc..) at Imperial, but have since become a bit disillusioned with my previous dream of becoming an academic in quantum gravity. I want to do research with more tangible goals, and there is no R&D for theoretical physics so my options would be limited if I ever wanted to bail out of academia.

Long term I want my work to be mathematical and research based, and in particular AI/ML research like what goes on at DeepMind would be awesome to get into. Interesting work + Big salary = Win. I have spent some time teaching myself the Maths of ML (stats, optimisation, networks, etc) and doing Kaggle competitions, but don't think this is good enough to get me on a good PhD in AI/ML especially with no CS academic background.

I could do the 4 year PhD (in probability theory and quantum many body problems), gaining research skills but without much ML focus, and then go from there. Or I could do the grad scheme for 2 years, making way more money than the £19k PhD stipend, develop my data science skillset a bit more and get myself a role as a machine learning engineer and into research from there. I could even try and get a ML PhD at the end of that although I'm not sure how valuable the industry experience would be to that end, and I worry about closing the door completely on the PhD as it is definitely something I want to do at some point.

Any advice on which route to take or other routes I could take is appreciated.

Been offered a really good ecology PhD. I'm interested in the area, but I'm interested in so many areas.

About to graduate with first class MSc in biology. Part of me wants to do research, but part of me isnt 100% sure. And I'm not 100% sure if i want to work in 'pure' ecology or disease ecology. I also wonder whether I would be more suited to something like science communication, or even just a higher paying job in something unrelated to my degree like audits or civil service. I have the skillset. My dilemma is there are so many good graduate schemes for these areas, which I wouldn't be able to access after a Phd. Obviously you can do a PhD at any point, so the smart thing would be to try these areas first and then do a PhD if I'm sure I want to do it.

But this PhD suits me in so many ways, the project, the supervisor, the location. And its a very competitive funded one. So it's unlikely I'd find something as good AND be accepted. But if I do it now, I'm worried I wont be able to change fields if I discover I hate research.

The main thing I want to do in life is travel. But meaningful travel, doing interesting things that I couldn't do as a normal tourist like remote fieldwork. And I love doing research and science. So I'm not sure if its best to pursue being a researcher where I'd get those kinda opportunities, or pursue a higher paying job where I could save up to travel myself. Especially as I've found out recently that my past medical history excludes me from some of my dream fieldwork positions, and I don't know whether this is the norm.

Can anyone help? Im really stressed and confused right now

What would you consider to be the going rate for an honorarium for a talk? I'm possibly arranging one for staff in a faculty at a mid-sized university and I've been asked to estimate costs, but I've no idea what the honorarium should be.

Hi I hold acceptance to both Bath and Henley and was wondering which should I choose as the rankings for FT seem to favour Henley but otherwise for QS. Most posts also prefer Bath>Henley although I'm not sure why.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Just a quick question, as the title says...

Do job applications for academic positions go to recruitment first or will the professor be directly notified?

I applied for a fixed-term job recently and I'm wondering whether the professor (/hiring manager) was notified immediately. I wrote a long supporting statement, is this guaranteed to get through to them?

Many thanks in advance for any responses.

Hey!

I have a PhD interview on Tuesday, and I have to make a 4 minute presentation on why I should get the funded project.

I’ve never had a job interview before.

Any tips on the structure/ any tips in general😂

Thanks!

Edit: PhD is in medicine, mostly dry lab gene work.

I’m a PhD student at a uni in the south west of the UK, but noticed mates at others Uni’s (eg London or up north) have different experiences of academia and the pressure etc. Have you experienced differences in academia and research across different major parts of the UK?

Hi,

Are there any students here who are currently pursuing MSc Business with Operations Management at WBS? If yes, could you please let me know:

1. How is your job hunting going?
2. Since i cant find much information about the particular course and only for MSc Management program. Is MSc Business with Operations Management program on par with the MSc Management program?
3. Is there any support provided by WBS regarding CV evaluation and job prospects?
4. What is the average salary offered by companies to MSc Business with Operations Management students?
5. What are the job profiles offered to MSc Business with Operations Management students?
6. How are the part time opportunities near the uni or Coventry.
7. Finally could you give me suggestions for accomodation. I'm looking for a place thats affordable and is someone what close to city centre, has good part time opportunities and be able to easily commute to uni.

It would be helpful if someone could answer these. Really appreciate your help and support, thanks in advance!