PhD fees

kellyi3

Hi all,
I'm starting a PhD in DCU at the end of the month and was just wondering if anyone here knew how funding them worked in DCU. The advert for the PhD said that it was funded but so far I haven't been informed by DCU if it is. When I went to register I was asked to pay fees. I'm just wondering is this a normal course of events in DCU, do I pay the fees and get reimbursed? Because I was finishing up in work I didn't have the time to find out. I was just wondering if anyone out there knew about the process or even if they knew the appropriate person I could make contact with in DCU.
Thanks

baby and crumble

I can't tell you specifics for DCU, but if it was advertised as funded, then that means fees are paid for by someone other than you. I'd make contact firstly with your supervisor, who should be able to sort it out. I know I had to get a letter from the Head of Postgrad Teaching & Learning from my School in TCD, and give it to the fees people myself, and then they bill the School for my fees and put a note on my file so I can register and get my card and email and all that guff. Usually it's just academic fees that are covered, if there are any SU levies or anything like that it's usually up to you to pay them.

kellyi3

Thanks for all your help, your course of action seems to be the one I'll be taking. It's just very confusing navigating all this PhD madness. I'm the first in my family to go this far and we're all just groping in the dark trying to figure out what has to be done.:)

baby and crumble

Well in general, I find the best course of action if you're confused is

1) Supervisor
2) Postgrad officer in your dept/school
3) Grad studies office
4) Grad students union.

Usually that does the trick!

Congrats (and commiserations! ) on starting your PhD and securing funding. Best of luck!

djpbarry

kellyi3 wrote: »

It's just very confusing navigating all this PhD madness.

Yeah, dealing with admin side of things can be a bit of a pain in the posterior, but you'll get the hang of it! Your supervisor should be able to tell you if your fees are covered by your grant – they probably are.

woodchuck

If it was advertised as funded, there should be money to cover your stipend and fees (and consumables if you're working in a lab).

The only way to know for sure is to check with your supervisor, but I'd be surprised if you were expected to pay for anything yourself as they should have mentioned that already. It's a good idea to get a breakdown of how much money you have now though, especially if you're working in a lab (reagents can be very expensive, so you need to budget from the very beginning).

I don't know about DCU, but where I was we just had to fill out a form and include our grant code. So the money was deducted directly from the grant, so no reimbursement was necessary.

kellyi3

Having just spoke with my supervisor it turns out I won't be funded, the advert had misleading language. Suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere.

djpbarry

kellyi3 wrote: »

Having just spoke with my supervisor it turns out I won't be funded, the advert had misleading language. Suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere.

That's odd - is the advertisement still up online somewhere so we can have a look?

woodchuck

kellyi3 wrote: »

Having just spoke with my supervisor it turns out I won't be funded, the advert had misleading language. Suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere.

:eek: That's really bad form on their part for not making it clear from the outset. I hope you get something else sorted.

baby and crumble

kellyi3 wrote: »

Having just spoke with my supervisor it turns out I won't be funded, the advert had misleading language. Suppose there's a lesson in there somewhere.

That's awful! God, best of luck sorting something OP.

kellyi3

http://www.dcu.ie/~cis/news/details.php?NewsID=37

That's the link apparently the monies mentioned only refer to those getting scholarships