My first meeting

Once I had my shortlist of universities, or more importantly supervisors, I booked a meeting to discuss my pre-application. Some people apply to many programs at the same time, mine will take place one at a time just for preference. I would like to treat this like finding my perfect place rather than mass applying and crossing my fingers. I had a lot of questions about the process and so an informal meeting with the head of PhD study was the best option. I had already done thorough research online but I still had questions.

The meeting was not what I expected!

I was prepared for a session telling me a little more about the program with a little Q&A. What I did not prepare for was an 'informal interview'. The professor was incredibly passionate and this came through immediately. He bombarded me with questions about my reserach topic and activley listened and engaged with every word that I said. Although I wasn't expecting the questions, it was a fantastic experience and brought me straight out of my 'holiday mode'.

Here is a rough idea of the meeting.

I explained the research that I had undertaken in my Masters Degree. I forgot the words 'case study' due to my brain fog and described it in a very long winded manner. We geeked out about the possibilities of where my research could go. He confirmed that I have an interesting topic and would suit a Professional Doctorate. We discussed supervisors. He confirmed the order of things for application. He set me homework. He apologised for setting me homework. We agreed to have another informal meeting when my next stage was complete.

I had a great time talking to him and he not only cleared up a few things but made me excited to join the research team there.

My next steps:

-Complete my homework. This consisted of finding recent PhD thesis' and understanding the current work in my field. He also wanted me to see the methodologies used so that I could construct my own. https://oatd.org this link is for the open access of thesis and dissertations and has been incredibly valuable. My second piece of homework was to read the book 'Research Design : Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches by Creswell and Creswell. I am still waiting for this one to come through the post.

-Create a base proposal.

-Contact some potential supervisors and discuss the proposal with them to see if we could work together.

-Have another informal meeting with the PhD director to finalise whether a formal application is possible.

-Complete my proposal and apply.

And so I get to work. I am currently completing my homework and this will take some time. Remember that this process is not a short one and if these steps before application are too much, then perhaps a PhD will be also. For me, this is exciting as well as daunting. One step at a time and I will manage. I will post further about each step, so that someone else might complete them for their own proposal.

Top tips:

-Don't go into the first meeting in holiday mode. Re-read your research from your Masters.

-Prepare to talk about your research in full, it might not be the sleepy conversation that you have had before on an open evening.

-Show your passion. Mine was mentioned in a positive way and we bounced off of each other well.

-Be open to the professors comments and homework.

-Take notes.

-Write down your own questions beforehand and make sure to ask them.