Advice for improving PhD application next year (UK)

[AstroJH]

Hi Everyone,

I applied for some PhD positions in astronomy this year and was unsuccessful. I was wondering if anyone could offer up some advice for improving my applications for next year.

To give you some context:

• I gained my Master's in Physics with Astronomy from the University of Southampton in 2018 with a 2.1 result.
• My research experience consists of my Master's project, a research project at Tenerife Teide observatory, a literature review for my dissertation and a couple of Master's-level programming projects.
• My best grades at university were in my astronomy-specific modules and research modules.
• Since leaving university, I have completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, which involved a limited amount of physics education research. The course taught me a lot about time management and working under pressure. I would personally say it was much more demanding than my Master's in physics.
• I have also worked in various physics education roles. I'm currently project managing a physics education research project into children's misconceptions.
• I cannot afford to go back to university.

Is there anything I can do to improve my chances next year?

Thank you.

 

[Office_Shredder]

You didn't mention who your references were. References are typically the most important part of an application.

 

[AstroJH]

Unfortunately, I could not get a reference from my Master's supervisor as he has left academia and I've been unsuccessful in contacting him through email/LinkedIn/Facebook.

I had a copy of a reference that he wrote for me when applying to teacher training (obtained via UCAS), which mentioned that my report was the best he'd seen out of the students he'd supervised, but it didn't comment directly on my research skills.

My other referees were my current manager and a physics academic who is a research lead on the physics education research project I manage.

 

[Office_Shredder]

That's not an awesome state to be in. It seems like the single biggest thing you can actually do is get in touch with your master's supervisor and get a true recommendation for grad school. If he's not in academia though I'm not sure if that impacts the value of it.

 

[f95toli]

Are you applying to CDTs? Or directly to open positions advertised by supervisors?
I am not quite sure how the funding works for astronomy, in my area (condensed matter/quantum) most PhD funding is now with the CDTs which means that the process of applying is a bit more formal than it used to be.
The fact that you have a 2.1 does mean that you should meet the eligibility criteria which is the only thing most supervisors look for, your actual grades in individual courses are not that important.

If you are applying directly to potential supervisors then a good recommendation from e.g. someone who has supervised a Masters project is indeed very important. Ideally, that should be more than a name on a CV ,potential supervisors do like to be able to call/e-mail to people who have supervised you directly so they can get some first-hand information.

Note also that it is only the CDTs that have specific application deadlines and start dates. Positions you can apply directly to can pop up at any time. Just keep looking at e.g. findaphd.com
I had a quick look and there are some astronomy related ads up right now.

I suspect a large part of the problem could be that you are applying for a PhD in astronomy...It is not exactly a well funded field and I suspect the number PhD positions will be very limited. There are lots of very good candidates competing for very few positions.

Btw, be a bit careful when you read posts on this forum. Most advice is very US specific (we don't really have "grad schools" in the UK) and much of it won't be applicable to the UK (where the system is very messy...)