PhD interview

[NothingElse]

I have an interview in a couple of weeks for a funded studentship. I've been told to prepare a presentation about my proposal. What would you want to hear about in the presentation? Because presumably they've read my proposal and this needs to build on it.
My current thoughts are to focus on reiterating why this question needs to be addressed, why this institution is the best fit drawing on the work of others in the field and potential supervisor and research priorities, and my skills to carry out the research in the timeframe. Then to expand on my method choice, questions of validity etc and explore ethics as this is the major issue to overcome for this project as far as I can see.

Secondly, any tips for confidence? I've pretty much talked myself out of it all, lost all confidence since submitting the proposal and have no idea why they called me to interview. Mostly I don't want to look completely stupid in front of these people I look up to. Every time I think about it, I feel utterly sick.

I'd love to hear from people going through the same thing, who have been through it and those with experience who know what you're looking for in a student.

Actually, rather than tips from uninvolved people I think, in this instance you’d be better off talking to Phd students at the institution you’ve applied to.

Perhaps this might feel easier if it’s a place that is new to you, but either way I would suggest you contact the relevant research dept administrators and ask.

I wouldn't assume that the folks in the interview have read your proposal, nor that they understand the field deeply. What you plan to cover should be perfect, actually! Part of the reason for having you do a presentation is that it is a key element of academia to be able to talk about your work. I know this is daunting as shit, and I threw up a couple of times before my first presentation. It is normal to be nervous, but if your nerves are so bad they will prevent you delivering your talk I would consider seeing your GP and asking for a little pharmaceutical help. You can address your nerves longer term once you are doing the PhD--and no talk will be as difficult as this one.

Thank you for your advice! Speaking to PhD students is a very good suggestion.
I'll persevere. I'm very unlikely to get it but would be mad not to try for this opportunity.
I doubt that this will be the hardest presentation, I'm aware that this is what illl really struggle with if I do the PhD but is also one of my main motivators as I need to practise and improve.
I don't want to pursue a career in academia, which is probably a good thing, but would want to continue being involved in the research community and contributing from a practice or policy perspective. I don't know how thar would go down if they ask about career plans.. it's a long way off anyway.

They’ve probably already promised the position to a preferred candidate or will be selecting based on equality monitoring criteria. Your actual presentation likely will have little effect on the outcome.

Cheers... helpful 🤷🏻‍♀️

DugHug that's not the case when we interview, usually looking for the best candidate- and outside candidates are often that! I know several of my students who have gone to other institutions to do their 1 + 3's or whatever.

I wouldn't say you don't want an academic career. Without doing a PhD you may not know! It is slightly offputting when someone says that before they even start, I find it easier to understand if the person has been in the game for a couple of years and then makes a decision not to continue. It may not be clear how it will advantage them to train you for a policy career alone (as you may not need a PhD for that)- also if you have any contacts/good impact opportunities be sure to mention them.

Good luck!

So...I've done both sides of the academic/industry fence, and you are pretty likely to need to be able to talk about your work in industry too--sorry :(. Can I ask what discipline you're looking at? If it was computing, information systems, librarianship or medicine, the conference circuit is a big part of the discipline and doing research for example, but other disciplines are not so public-speaking heavy.

If you get in, I recommend doing some teaching during your PhD if you can. Being in front of the class regularly is good exposure therapy for public speaking issues, but not so terrifying because you're the expert.

Hi,

I got a PhD studentship in April, much to my surprise!! I had to do a presentation which was an overview of my project. I went to the awarding institution's website and highlighted how my project fit with their primary aims and research arms. I also identified the short term outcomes/impacts of the research and my long term career goals (as also fitting with their objectives).

I was surprised that some of the questions I got asked following the presentation were answered in my submitted proposal so don't assume they've read it!

Do you know who is interviewing you. I searched the interviewers and made sure I was aware of some of the relevant research interests they had and how my project fitted with that.

With regards to confidence I think most importantly is knowing what you are proposing and why you made the decisions you have made to come up with your proposal, inside out and being really sure this is the right project for you and the right project for your research question. Also that there is evidence to support your research question and they are the best people for your project to be based with.

Do you have any mentors or supervisors that could offer you a mock interview or even just a run through of your presentation? This really helped me. I was told to make a list of all the things I thought I might be asked especially the things I didn't want to be asked and to identify three points to answer the questions with.

Good luck

Email them and ask them whether you should assume that everyone in the room has already read the proposal, or whether at least some people are unfamiliar with it.

My general tips are:

• stick to the time limit. Time yourself at home to make sure you don’t go on longer than expected.
• use some kind of aid to comprehension, either a handout or power point.
• be very clear in what you want to say. Try speaking out the presentation and see if it makes sense to you, try it on a couple of friends or family and see if they understand the basics, e.g. what is my research question, why is this question interesting, what is my methodology, what will I be contributing to the existing discussion.
• don’t be frazzled by questions even if they challenge your claims. Challenging questions may be more about how you respond and defend your ideas than thinking you are wrong in the first place. Equally if a question uncovers a problem or weakness, do not be afraid to acknowledge this, thank the speaker and use their expertise to find a way out of the problem. This shows that you have a research spirit already.

Incredible advice, thank you both.
Unfortunately I have no idea who will be on the panel and don't really have anyone to advise me.

The administrator for the department should be able to tell you. I take it you’re not applying to work with a particular supervisor?

What's the field? If it's psychology or neuroscience I'm happy to offer more in-depth advice in PM if you'd rather keep your anonymity.

Definitely don't assume they have a preferred candidate in mind - PhD students are so junior that it's unlikely a panel are likely to do so.

Go to the funding council's website and try to use some of their language to show that your project fits into their overall research aims. I got funding for quite a niche novel brain imaging technique from a council that typically funds social sciences by talking a fair bit about the wider societal impact of my research.

In essence you need to show them two things : that your project is worth funding, and that you are worth funding.

For the project - talk about why it's relevant, why it's doable within the realms of a PhD (don't have outlandish plans for example - show that your methods are stretch goals but achievable by a PhD student within 3 years), and what impact it will have and how it will further the research council's overall aims.

For yourself - talk about what experience you have in being self-motivated, able to stay on track in managing projects, if you have children for example, or a part time job and you're planning to do the PhD part-time I would talk about what arrangements you have in place to ensure you can work. Not that you need to tell them who is babysitting on what day - but in my PT PhD I have childcare sorted for 3 days a week for most of the year, but when I am running an experiment I have childcare 5 days a week, and I am able to travel within the country to conferences but not outside unless it is a really big deal. I'm open about it and have a supportive supervisor.

Good luck and I hope you do well!

And don't be afraid of challenging questions - it's the way academics are and how they assess your mettle. I often reply with "that's a great question, " and so on. I'd stay open to criticism and try to also take notes if they tell you how they'd improve on your research plan etc. But don't roll over just because they're senior academics - you can push back if you feel you've thought this through and your strategy (for analysis, or fieldwork etc) is the best.

You already have so much great advice here. I won a studentship for my PhD recently and whilst I didn’t have to present I did have an interview. I did the following: -

1. Emailed admin to find out who was on the panel. They were not all from my discipline but were from my faculty. I researched their work a bit.
2. Identified the pitfalls of what I was proposing and addressed them as well as addressing that I understood that in other disciplines things were done in a certain way why I was choosing to do it this way.
3. How and why it fits with current work and any impact.
4. Looked at the studentship and their aims to make sure I fit.

I worked really hard at making sure I addressed each panellist and if I was unsure or hadn’t considered that I was honest and said so and speculated how I might address what they raised.