Negotiating the AHRC maze: Some (more) tips on PhD applications and securing that all-important funding.

Photograph: Connor Brook 

Jennie Dziegiel did an MA in Religious Studies at Lancaster University, and is now a first year PhD student in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. Her PhD looks at how working in healthcare shapes people’s spiritual and religious world views, and is funded by AHRC Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership. 

In October, I’m moving back to Durham to start a PhD, funded by the AHRC Northern Bridge DTP. Frankly, I can’t believe I’ve ended up feeling capable of passing on wisdom about PhD proposals and funding applications. This time last year I was almost entirely clueless. But I ended up with three funding offers from three different AHRC consortia. If, like I was, you’re looking at the application processes with fear and trepidation, I hope this post might help. I’m spelling out the things which I think not only helped my applications stand out, but kept me sane while I was pulling them together.

1)    Give yourself as much time as you can

This is probably the most basic but most useful piece of advice. PhD proposals and funding applications should be marathons, not sprints – they take time, care and attention. The process isn’t easy, and – for me at least – rushing would have made it much, much worse, and probably made my proposals far weaker. As it was, I chewed over my ideas for almost seven months before I hit the submit button on my last AHRC application, starting almost as soon as I had finished my undergraduate finals (though that was as much happy coincidence as good planning). In that time, my ideas changed and developed. I had the chance to get a bit of a head start before my Masters got under-way. Time is a huge help, if you can get it.

2)    Create yourself some headspace

Applications take up time and energy. For me, it was definitely important that I had some mental energy spare so I could focus properly on getting everything ready to the best of my ability. I was writing my applications while doing the first term of my Masters, and thankfully I had the foresight to set up my taught modules so that I had one less that term, giving me time and space. I maintain that pulling everything together was the equivalent of at least a module’s worth of work anyway. Plus (don’t say it too loudly) you might actually want some time off. Try not to fill your life up to the brim, if you can avoid it.

3)    Ask for all the advice you can get

I just did a quick count, and I think thirteen different academics at seven different universities had sight of my proposal in some format at some point before I submitted it anywhere. In every case, it was because I bit the bullet and asked for help from the people who know what they’re talking about. I received a real mix of feedback. Some was really affirmative and gave me an important burst of energy. Some highlighted things I would absolutely never have thought of otherwise. Some was constructively critical. Some was destructive and made me cry. But all of it was useful, and my applications were far, far better for it. Ask for help; go to application sessions put on in your faculty or department; read the online advice from funding bodies and departments; check out this blog. If you’re likely to be invited to interview, maybe go to some practice sessions. You’ll learn a lot about constructive criticism, as well as developing a level of boldness you probably didn’t know you had. Lap up the advice, even if it makes you cry.

I personally found it really useful to ask people who knew absolutely nothing about religious studies to read my applications. For some subjects this won’t make sense at all, but I knew that if I was invited to an AHRC interview then the panel would include some people who weren’t experts in my field. So I made sure my applications (and, eventually, my interview presentations) were clear and easy to follow by testing them both on my parents. They loved me enough to be honest, and I loved them enough not to get cross when they pointed out my spelling errors and the sentences that had been edited so many times that they had ceased to make any sense.

4)    Impact, impact, impact

We all know that a PhD needs to be original, but nowadays it needs to have research impact too. Spell out your academic and non-academic research impact early on; sing it from the rooftops, loud and clear. I can’t be sure, but I suspect that the phrase ‘of interest to the NHS’ did a lot to make my proposals competitive. I also got in touch with some relevant organisations before I submitted the application, so I could state sincerely that I had their initial go-ahead. If you’re uncertain about research impact, ask for some of that advice.

(When it comes to originality and impact, someone very helpfully reminded me early on that being original isn’t enough: there might be very good reasons it hasn’t been done already...)

5)    Tailor it (and don’t bite off more than you can chew)

I ended up with a lot of final proposal drafts, all based on the same ideas, but subtly yet significantly different. Each of them was tailored to either a specific university or a specific funding body. When it comes to different universities, take some time to research and explain exactly why that university and that department is the perfect place for you to do your PhD. It doesn’t have to be long, but that couple of sentences might make all the difference. For funding applications (and interviews, if my experience is anything to go by) spell out in the plainest terms possible how your PhD will fit with that funding body’s aims and goals. For both, give a short comment on why you think your supervisor is perfect for the job. I tried to shape each application according to the advice I had been given by that particular supervisor as well.

I was also advised early on not to apply to too many different universities or funding bodies. Partly it’s because prospective supervisors invest a lot in you, so you don’t want to waste their time if they haven’t got at least a decent chance at a return on their investment. But it’s also a case of retaining your sanity. I put in three university applications and five funding applications, and it’s a lot to juggle and research. There was a sixth funding application I abandoned because it would have tipped me over the edge. Pick the supervisors that are the best fits, and run with the most relevant funding bodies. Other than that, don’t bite off more than you can chew.

6)    Pay attention in Theory and Methods

This one probably only applies to those expecting to go from a taught masters to PhD relatively quickly. Theory and Methods was not my favourite module (at all). But it was useful. It rammed home some things I knew anyway, and taught me some things I wouldn’t have known otherwise. Learning about quantitative methods was almost entirely useless for my MA, but was definitely useful for my PhD proposal. If Theory and Methods isn’t your thing, sit tight, and savour the bits that are useful. If it is your thing, I admire you.

(And work hard on your masters – I’ve heard it said more than once that funding panels would rather see someone with a 2:1 at undergrad progress to a Distinction at Masters than drop from a First to a Merit. That said, I’ve not got my MA results yet…)

7)    Stay organised

How many times have we heard this? With PhD and funding applications, it makes a huge difference. Get a diary, and put all the application deadlines in it. Make a spreadsheet, detail the document requirements for all the different applications, and stick it on your fridge. (Then check it off as you go - we all need that positive affirmation.) File and label your documents carefully, and keep some form of backup. Scan all your transcripts and certificates so they’re to-hand. Proof-read your applications one last time before you send them off, so you don’t come within seconds of sending an application to Lancaster which explains how wonderful Exeter is. Don’t scupper all your hard work with poor organisation.

8)    Persevere

I’ve just about got to the point where I can joke a bit about how stressful my PhD applications were. But the whole thing was hard work. I have never come so close to giving up on my dream of being an academic as I did last November (yet). I shed hours of tears.* I took ridiculously long train rides all over the country for interviews. I had to pick myself up when a prospective supervisor accused me of being failed by the school system because my grammar was all over the place. And once that was all done, and the applications were in, I had to stay sane long enough to find out whether all of the hard work had paid off, or had all been for nothing. I always said I would be perfectly happy to miss out on funding and go and find myself a sensible nine-to-five instead, but deep down I knew how much I wanted it, and how in love I had fallen with my proposal. That love (and occasionally re-reading a particularly edifying reference) helped me persevere through the dozens of different document drafts, the curt email replies, and the occasional bout of stress-fuelled insomnia. Be ready for it to be tough, and remind yourself regularly why you’re putting in all of the effort. Persevere. It’s a great feeling when all the different documents are ready to go.

(* I’m a big crier though, so don’t panic. If my tear-ducts can survive, so can yours.)