Applying for a funded PhD?

[DoEyeDare]

Am I mad? . I am very tempted to apply for a 1+3 for next year. I have no idea how to write an application, nor in fact, can I pin down what I would like to research . Does anyone have any words of wisdom of things to think about in terms of 'is it a good idea?'!

On a more practical note, if I were doing a PhD, would it be a full year job, or more like a term-time student iyswim? I have two primary age children to include in the equation.

Thanks in advance for any views whatsoever

Anyone?

Look up FindAPhD for a bit of inspiration?

In Science a PhD is full time with 4 - 5 weeks holiday a year. Not term time only. It might.be different in arts subjects or if you were part time perhaps?

If you are orgnised, very motivated and all goes well it could be like a term time job. That depends on how much teaching you do (if any) though. It is what you make it. I made mine into a 70 hour a week every week job because I dithered about and was rubbish - but that was before children.

What subject is it? My PhD was funded because the money was allocated to a particular topic, I just had to pretend to be hugely enthusiatic about their topic. That was mainly what I did in the application.

I don't think you are mad. I would do it again now (in a more organised way) if I hadn't done it already.

My PhD was funded by an NHS Training Fellowship. I am not sure about current criteria but I found the areas quite broad - could certainly include qualitative social science areas. We got 6 weeks holiday but I ran my own diary so could work the hours I wanted as long as I kept to supervision targets. I managed 4 children quite effectively. Very easy to work from home, especially with Internet ( was still dual up when I did my PHD)!

What do you want to do after the PhD, i.e. where do you see it leading you?

IMO it's like a full time WAH job. If you have all the holidays off you might struggle, but it's certainly possible to be flexible. Depends on your fieldwork and topic area I suppose.

I don't know about the entry system for 1+3. Is there a particular uni / department / person you could approach for an informal chat first?