Hi Emma, I’m currently looking into the Psychology PhD programme on a distance learning basis, following a gap of two years in my education. I currently hold a first class MSc in Psychotherapeutic Counselling, as well as a BSc in Psychology and Counselling. As part of both of these courses I completed an independent research project, and I am confident in my research skills. However as I’m sure you’re aware, psych courses seem to get more specific as you progress along your academic pathway. I have since discovered that counselling is not the career for me, and I’d love to start working towards a career in research/ lecturing. I was wondering if you had any advice/ comments on my eligibility to undertake the doctoral programme especially as you have been through the application process yourself? Many thanks!
Hi – so sorry for the delay replying! I think we’ve had some issues with the system.
In terms of eligibility, if you have the grades (which I would think you do, if you have a BSc and MSc and you have done two independent research projects) then it’s less about competition for a space and more about finding a supervisor and developing your research idea.
Do you have an idea in mind about what you would like to research? Something related to what you’ve done already would be good, as you can show you are interested and passionate, but if you have completely gone off counselling then that’s fine too!
There are two routes to a PhD you can take – you can apply to an advertised PhD, which often has funding attached to it. This is like a job application, so you will be competing against others for the space. The other one (which is the route I followed) is to develop the research idea first, then find supervisors. The down side to this route is that you will likely not have funding immediately, but you do have more flexibility in what you want to research. You can then apply for funding separately, through scholarships, bursaries or research councils – there is lots of info on the uni website: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/postgraduate/pgr/dr-fees/index.aspx
If you pick the second one, I would definitely advise you come up with some kind of research idea before starting to approach potential supervisors. Even if it’s just a draft, or a paragraph of what you want to research, approaching academics with an idea formed already shows that you are passionate and not just trying your luck!
The application process itself isn’t that tricky once you have your supervisors finalised and your proposal written.
I hope this helps – would be happy to answer more questions if you have them.
Best wishes,
Emma