phd @ ucd

pilson

Anyone doing a phd at ucd? Im thinking seriously about doing one next Summer. What kinda money are you guys living on and whats the jazz with demonstrating etc... are you obliged to work in the department as a tutor etc... ??
:eek:

Frank_einstein

Who cares about the pay commie when you look as good as this life is just too good...

irlrobins

ola,

What you thinking of doing your Phd in? Depending on the subject area the level of funding can vary.

I'm in the science/engineering area so my experience is based on this.

Scholarships range from 9k to 19k. Though 13-14K is the average. If you're in a science/technology area then there are a wide range of funding sources (heanet, ircset, SFI, Enterprise Ireland). Sometimes the project you join has funding for you, other times you have to apply for your own funding. All scholarships are tax free.

In addition to scholarship you can earn money by demonstrating and invigilating. Again the rates vary. Some departmental bursaries require you to tutor/demo but you don't get any additional money for this.

Rates for demo tutoring for 2005/2006 are:

Tutor: 27.68 ph
Essays Corrected: 1.03 pe
Major Essay Corrected: 2.11 pe
Question Script Corrected: 0.71 ps
Undergrad Demo: 9.04 ph
Postgrad Demo 13.37 ph
Senior Postgrad: 19.53 ph

You can earn up 3-6k in demo and invigilating work. But some depts (CSI for example) have so many postgrads that not everyone gets demo hours.

So in summary you can expect to get anything between 9K -19K in scholarship and 2-6K in extra work.

That help?

pilson

Thanks a million irlrobins.. Im in the computer science area myself....your post helps me a lot with deciding thanks...



Thanks for the response frankenstein.
Even though youre the only 22 year old virgin I know you have a good point and Id like to subscribe to your newsletter.

irlrobins

who u thinking of doing ur phd under? I'm in CSI myself.

Oh and those are actually last years rates. But they're close enough to this years.

pilson

Im thinking of doing it under the supervision of Dr Aaron Quigley... I worked with him as an intern last Summer and this year for my final year project... He's a cool enough guy - he mentioned the letters phd to me a few weeks back and it got me thinking.......

Frank_einstein

He's already looking forward to doing Quigley with his P.H.D.
But I'm shure that Pilson's rates are higher than that...

irlrobins

Don't know much about him. He's quite new to dept. (I'm old school )

But his research looks interesting. And if u've worked with him before you know what he's like etc.

If you're interested, ask him what project has he in mind for you (new or existing one) and how will you be funded.

pilson

frank_einstein - Idiot!

Frank_einstein

No more from me. I swear.:D

pilson

irlrobins wrote:

Don't know much about him. He's quite new to dept. (I'm old school )

But his research looks interesting. And if u've worked with him before you know what he's like etc.

If you're interested, ask him what project has he in mind for you (new or existing one) and how will you be funded.

when you say what project he has in mind - does that mean he picks it himself??? - Id like to pick my own project, is that typically possible?

We talked briefly and he said he might be able to get funding for a project in the aviation sector - which is where my interests mainly lie... - So Id say it would definitely be a new project!..

pilson

edited.
Top secret information was nearly revealed... :-)

ChemoInf

Pilson,
You'll be lucky to 'pick your own project' from scratch. The system in Ireland works basically like this: A principle investigator (PI, lecturer, senior lecturer, prof.) applies to the funding agencies (IRCSET, SFI, HRB) to fund work that THEY are interested in. Under huge competition and peer review - read ~13% success rate - they may get funding for a PhD student to do the work. This is then advertised by the college/university. The funding agencies have set the bar this high because they don't want to waste taxpayers money. They want to know exactly what will happen to the money they give to the student - i.e. is it valid research. That said, there is some room to move once you're on a project, because science can't be predicted 4 years in advance (else it would all be in textbooks, and wouldn't be called research!). Some of the bigger programmes, like the IRCSET-funded UCD PhD in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology (http://bioinformatics.ucd.ie/PhD/index.html) have generous stipends and consumables money attached, and a wide range of projects. Sure - you won't find an aviation project - but if you're a programmer interested in biology, then this is for you.

delta_bravo

Well hopefully he has decided after 5 years

IM0

delta_bravo wrote: »

Well hopefully he has decided after 5 years

must look at thread start dates, must look at thread start dates, must look at thread start dates

I would say Noob of the year, but there will be another candidate along soon enough Im sure :rolleyes:

ChemoInf

Guess you spotted that I'm a newbie! My first vaguely useful post and I botched it...

...must look at thread start dates, must look at thread start dates, must look at thread start date...

ronaldoshaky

me@ucd wrote: »

must look at thread start dates, must look at thread start dates, must look at thread start dates

I would say Noob of the year, but there will be another candidate along soon enough Im sure :rolleyes:

I'll take that description

Does the Physics department take in many PhD students?

ghostchant

There were a good lot of first year PhD students in physics this year, though not as many the year before (the year I started). It depends on the funding available of course, and although the IRCSET call (the only one this year) is over, there's a few groups that always seem to be on the lookout.

This following is slightly out of date but will give you some idea:

http://www.ucd.ie/physics/preston/staff_opportunities.html

dyl10

I wonder whatever happened to old Pilson...

delta_bravo

dyl10 wrote: »

I wonder whatever happened to old Pilson...

I think he was either Hugh Brady in disguise or the ucd bum.

ronaldoshaky

ghostchant wrote: »

There were a good lot of first year PhD students in physics this year, though not as many the year before (the year I started). It depends on the funding available of course, and although the IRCSET call (the only one this year) is over, there's a few groups that always seem to be on the lookout.

This following is slightly out of date but will give you some idea:

http://www.ucd.ie/physics/preston/staff_opportunities.html

I had a look at this page before. I liked the Photoelectron Spectroscopy project, but there isnt much updated info on it. I suppose its from a while ago.

ghostchant

ronaldoshaky wrote: »

I had a look at this page before. I liked the Photoelectron Spectroscopy project, but there isnt much updated info on it. I suppose its from a while ago.

To my knowledge that position is filled (though you never know), think I know the guy who's doing it. If you're interested though it's well worth emailing the PI in question, the spectroscopy group always seem to be looking for students. If you've any specific questions about any of the research topics in the department or anything like that feel free to PM me, if I can answer I will, or at least point you in the right direction!

ronaldoshaky

Thanks for your help. I was just curious for the time being.