Postgrad step-by step: PhD application

Salam and good day!

After the first few postgrad step-by step for masters, it is time for the next step which is for PhD application.

If you are thinking of studying in the UK, the preparations that you needed to do like VISA and IELTS can be found through the link. If you did your masters in the UK, you don't need to worry much about these stuff because you've gone through it before.

Applying for a PhD is different than applying for masters degree.

1) Find the research field that you're interested in. If you are unsure about what to pursue, try to read publications on the field that you think you might be interested in to have a general idea about the research growth.

You don't want to waste 4 years doing something that you know nothing about or have no interest in. PhD is not like bachelors degree. You need passion to survive.

2) Search at which university offers those field of study. You can also try search engines like findaphd.com to search for advertised projects. They will show at which university is the project and whether it is funded or not. Remember that most funding bodies only goes for top universities.

3) Find the research team involved in the field of interest

4) Email the principal investigator or any supervising lecturers in the team. Be sure to read a bit about their research and publications before you email them.

You can either find them here,

or here.

Sometimes, they do not provide personal emails on the web, so try enquiring the postgraduate or research coordinator (usually listed as contact person-right hand side) to ask for anyone that can supervise you for your research.

5) If the potential supervisor have an available PhD position, they will get in touch to ask for further discussion. Don't worry so much about this. Usually they will ask about what type of research that you're interested in and why you wanted to study with them. Prior reading of their publications will highly benefit at this point.

The discussion usually will be better if face to face. But if you're abroad, just ask for a conference call or skype. If you're very lucky and they are very desperate, they will accept you without question.

6) Last but the most excruciating part is waiting for a reply whether they will accept you or not. Usually they will tell you immediately after the discussion.

Finding a sponsor should be simultaneously with the application process.

All the best in your pursue for knowledge!

Until next time...