Advice Needed: Multiple PhD Studentships at the Same University?

[Caillie1]

Hello everyone,

I am seeking some guidance regarding this matter please.

A university in my home country has advertised 10 PhD studentships, and I am particularly interested in 5 of them. The university advises prospective applicants to contact potential supervisors (noting that two of the projects I am interested in have different supervisors) before applying and to submit a tailored proposal. Given my interest in multiple projects, I am unsure of the best approach to proceed. Additionally, I want to maximise my chances of being accepted. I would greatly appreciate your advice on how to navigate this process effectively. I am really stuck.

Thank you.

Take it step by step: contact the supervisors of the 2 that you are most interested in. You really do need to understand what they're looking for.

But we can't really tell you what to do here. It will depend on how the university selects and evaluates applications. You need to find out how administers the studentships & the selection for them, and ask about the way they'll treat one applicant applying for more than one project.

I would think (in terms of how we do them at my place) that if the selection process is undertaken collectively across the 10 studentships, it's likely that eventually they'll hold you in contention for the one you are best qualified for.

In other words, applying for multiple studentships in this situation won't necessarily increase your chances of being offered one.

I’ve also seen situations like this (often in big funded centres) where there were a few less popular (and therefore less competitive) topics or supervisory teams among the list. These can be a great way to get a funded PhD because many/most students want total control over their topic.
but you need inside info for this institution.
Good advice above to contact your top couple of options (be open and up front that you are
contacting more than one - they will know each other) and try to establish the match.

be open and up front that you are contacting more than one - they will know each other

This!

I recently had a situation where someone I was supervising (postdoctoral status) set up something with me, and on which I had spent a fair bit of time, who then told me that they were going to take this work to work with someone else. Most unprofessional, and not a matter of discord or my lack of support.

Thank you for this useful advice. I'll narrow down my interest and contact the supervisors by the end of the week.

Can I ask for your opinion on this? I currently teach at a local university, though I am unsalaried, and I also teach the subject proposed in the studentships. Do you think this might put me at a disadvantage, as they may prefer candidates who are fresh from a master’s degree, for example?

That sounds frustrating and unprofessional on their part. I'm sorry you had to deal with that situation after investing so much time and effort.

To reply to your question on teaching, I think all experiences is good, so MSc & teaching is better than MSc alone. But teaching is not a substitute if you don't have research experience.