Not shortlisted, what are my options?

El Siglo

Alright folks,

I've just received word that I wasn't shortlisted for the NUI Travelling Studentship in Sciences. I'm hoping to do my PhD in Queen's in Coastal Geology, but word of this has really set me back. Apparently there was a load f applications this year etc... etc... etc...
My supervisor is onto me now as Queen's are onto him regarding my funding status and the university has told me that I need something like £13,000/annum to live in Northern Ireland (so €15,000/annum).
I've secured fees only funding from Queen's (university fees, technical expenses etc...), there's departmental grants for field study and conferences and I've found out that I'll be eligible for a local authority grant again and this is worth €6,300/annum. So all in all I need to make up about €9,000 or so to make it through the PhD.

So what are my options? Can I self fund the rest? Could I get a loan from the bank? Is there anyone willing to foot the difference?

Any information would be really appreciated.

El Siglo

Anybody?

theredletter

Apart from that Northern Irish/ Irish scholarship that was out last year I think you're out of options. Self-funding might be your only option... Unless you look at the UK's government and see if there are any grants that apply to your project?

El Siglo

theredletter wrote: »

Apart from that Northern Irish/ Irish scholarship that was out last year I think you're out of options. Self-funding might be your only option... Unless you look at the UK's government and see if there are any grants that apply to your project?

Cheers for that.

Has anyone here ever self-funded their PhD?

djpbarry

El Siglo wrote: »

Cheers for that.

Has anyone here ever self-funded their PhD?

I don't know anyone who has done it, but I imagine it would be a bit of a headache. You might get away with doing some part-time work when you start off, but you'll find that your time available for that sort of thing will diminish pretty rapidly as the project progresses.

I guess it's no harm to approach a bank and see what options they might present you with, but that would leave you coming out with substantial debts and obviously that's not ideal.

There is another option that you may have not considered, and it's a bit of a long shot, but you could seek out an industry partner who might have an interest in your work. There have been quite a few public-private research projects in my institution.

El Siglo

djpbarry wrote: »

I don't know anyone who has done it, but I imagine it would be a bit of a headache. You might get away with doing some part-time work when you start off, but you'll find that your time available for that sort of thing will diminish pretty rapidly as the project progresses.

I guess it's no harm to approach a bank and see what options they might present you with, but that would leave you coming out with substantial debts and obviously that's not ideal.

There is another option that you may have not considered, and it's a bit of a long shot, but you could seek out an industry partner who might have an interest in your work. There have been quite a few public-private research projects in my institution.

Well it's a project on coastal sedimentation in India, don't know if any industry partners would be too interested in that now in fairness.

djpbarry

El Siglo wrote: »

Well it's a project on coastal sedimentation in India, don't know if any industry partners would be too interested in that now in fairness.

I did say it was a long shot...

theredletter

A colleague of mine did her PhD, which took nearly five years, without any funding. She self-funded and says it's the best approach; less hassle, no one to sign on to (apart from your employers) and generally having more control over what you do. She took out a 15,000 loan and once she got a lecturing job she paid it back in a year or so. It can be done, and if you want it enough you'll figure the rest out

Try getting part-time positions in an area related to your field. Good for your money, good for your PhD.

El Siglo

theredletter wrote: »

A colleague of mine did her PhD, which took nearly five years, without any funding. She self-funded and says it's the best approach; less hassle, no one to sign on to (apart from your employers) and generally having more control over what you do. She took out a 15,000 loan and once she got a lecturing job she paid it back in a year or so. It can be done, and if you want it enough you'll figure the rest out

Try getting part-time positions in an area related to your field. Good for your money, good for your PhD.

Cheers, that gives me some confidence!:D
I reckon I can get by on 10 grand per year, the only hard bit is that I have to live in India for the guts of a year and a half so flights etc... will set me back there. And then living in Northern Ireland won't be too bad I suppose, rent is dirt cheap compared to Dublin and food etc... is also pretty cheap. I'll probably take out a loan and work some amount in the middle of it. My family is very supportive of me so that's pretty good I suppose. It'll probably take about four years, so I'll say that the first year will just consist of me, a laptop and about a hundred or so journal articles, I'll say I can fit in part time work/tutorials as well.
My cousin did her PhD in TCD about twenty years ago, there was absolutely no funding at that time so I guess I'm not doing too bad so!:D

Alliandre

Is there any way that you can apply for funding again next year, so that you only need to self fund for one year?

El Siglo

Alliandre wrote: »

Is there any way that you can apply for funding again next year, so that you only need to self fund for one year?

I'd say so, sure there's no harm in trying!:D