I just finished my master's and achieved a distinction (MSc) and have a 1st class degree in Biomedical Sciences. I want to apply for PhDs, presumably for September/October 2020 entry although I am taking a "gap year" so able to start whenever.
I was really confident during my master's that once I finished I would dive into PhD applications, but now my master's has finished I have found my confidence has just dropped and I feel overwhelmed and nervous about applying for PhDs, particularly regarding the interview.
I have a few questions I would like to ask:
- I will be asking my master's thesis supervisor and my personal tutor to provide academic references. All PhDs I have looked at request the referee's contact details and they automatically send a request for the reference once the application has been submitted. The field I want to go into (neuroscience) has quite a lot of funded PhDs being advertised and therefore it is likely I will be applying to quite a few PhDs, I am worried that their inbox will be spammed by automated emails asking for references for me. Is this a problem or something that academics expect? Will they have a written reference ready to go and will just simply attach it and send it or do they have to craft a reference to each particular PhD I apply for?
- I am worried about how competitive a candidate I am. I have good academic results and have won a couple of academic awards. However, outside of my degrees I do not have any relevant work experience or lab experience. The lab experience I have had, as part of my master's, I have made the most of and learnt a lot but I am aware that other candidates are likely to have had summer internships and summer research projects that I have not had.
- The projects I am interested in are specifically advertised as such with funding already available. Do I still need to informally email the potential supervisors to introduce myself or can I just submit the application? If I should email them, what kind of thing should I be writing?
Thank you