PhD interview tips please

[TotorosNeighbour]

I am being interviewed(yay!) for a PhD fellowship position in an Arts & Humanities subject, I have submitted a project description of what I intend to do set on a quite specific bigger project (by uni). I am very excited but also incredibly stressed...basically looking for any tips or questions others have been asked before, to prepare! Thank you 😊

[TotorosNeighbour]

Thank you SarahAndQuack ! This sounds more relaxed than what I was imagining, hopefully will be the case for me too.

[SarahAndQuack]

It's as much about you seeing it's a good fit with them - so what do you want to know? How will things work with you and the larger team - how much room is there for you to go your own way? Will you be expected to co-author publications? Is there anything about the larger project you want to understand better?

My PhD interview was so informal I didn't realise it was an interview until afterwards - this is not uncommon IME. My supervisor-to-be chatted to me about her work, asked me where I might go with a research question she had (I remember speculating a bit awkwardly, which didn't matter, but it might be worth thinking about answers to the research questions your larger study has - or, what's going to stand in the way of getting to the answers). I got asked about what languages I had (so, relevant pre-existing skills). And we talked briefly about practicalities like getting funding secured.

Good luck!