Predicament, PhD in Politics

NordicJimmy

I'm currently thinking of pursuing a PhD in Politics as I think it will benefit my career in the long term. I completed my B.A. at UCD in 2009, I then completed an M.A. in 2010 and an M.Sc. in London in 2011. So, my past education should render me reasonably competitive for funding. I have recently been offered a job as a junior lecturer at a university in another EU country. Ideally, my plan from here would be to take up this job, gaining the teaching and research experience that come with it, while concurrently taking my PhD at an Irish university. With this plan, my predicament is two fold;

(1 I presume under the 'traditional' route to a PhD this plan would be straight forward. The candidate's whereabouts should be of little concern as long as the research criteria is being met. However, the 'traditional' system is seemingly being phased out in favour of structured programmes that entail methods training and other modules where attendance might be obligatory. Trying to hold down a job in another EU country, a structured PhD would certainly be out of the question for me if this was the case. Does anyone know a way around this? Are early stage modules obligatory as I assume they are?

(2 Having been a student for the last five years, I am now broke. However, I will be employed concurrently with taking my PhD, so I will be able to fund most of it myself. Nonetheless, funding covering tuition fees, likely to be around €5,000 per year, would still be a big boost. I have read the eligibility guidelines of the IRCHSS. On initial reading I see nothing that would disqualify me outright. However, I am unsure that my situation would sit well with this funding body. They state that research must be "full-time". I definitely would aim to finish the PhD in 3/4 years. However, working abroad while enrolled for a PhD at an Irish university may not be compatible with the IRCHSS's understanding of "full-time". Does anyone know what the position on this is? Furthermore, does anyone have information on other "in-house" scholarships/tuition waivers? I will probably apply to either one or two from UCD, TCD, NUIG or UCC.

amym87

Hi,

Firstly congratulations on the job!

I am aware that a lot of the PhD programmes are becoming more structured nowsdays but non-structured programmes are still being offered in some of the universities in Ireland. I am currently in an unstructured phd programme so it may be worth investigating each university individually to see what the score is. Furthermore as you will have more than likely built up a working relationship with some of the staff at the institution(s) where your pursued your MA and Msc over the period of time you studied tere, that/ those institution(s) may be more accomodating towards your situation with regard to offering your an unstructured PhD.

with regard to funding, IRCHSS is EXTREMELY competitive and although i dont doubt that you are of excellent pedigree, I wouldn't be relying totally on the idea that you might get it. university or college fellowships may differ from institution to institution, some may be publicly advertised or some may advertised very informally. From my own experience it was the latter, I heard about it through word of mouth. So its worth checking out the universities on a case by case basis. Another possibility you could look into is registering part-time, this may solve both problems, as a part time candidate you may find that that the only way they can offer it to you is on an unstructured basis, and the fees would be significantly less. Even though it is part time you could still potentially submit within 3-4 years.


Dont know if this is of any help but wish you good luck!

gutenberg

I'm not sure about the regulations surrounding internal university funding, but IRCHSS have a residency requirement which may prove problematic:

"Scholars are expected to maintain an actual presence within their respective departments/schools during the period of their Scholarships and to reside within a reasonable travelling distance of the host institution. This is monitored carefully by the IRCHSS." (Terms & Conditions, p. 8)

Judging by their exacting application process alone, and from speaking to people who have IRCHSS funding, they are very strict about this. In addition, you cannot be engaged in ANY kind of paid employment during your first year:

"The first year of the Scholarship should be devoted exclusively to research. The Scholar shall not engage in any activity other than developing the stated research project for which the Scholarship has been awarded. Scholars undertake not to engage in any other type of paid employment during
this first year." (emphasis in the original), (T & C, p. 9)

So if you are thinking of IRCHSS, please be careful. A friend I know almost had his scholarship revoked for as trivial a thing as sending them back a form filled in incorrectly, and it was only after several grovelling emails that they relented.
Internal university funding may well be different, but a lot of them (e.g. TCD's Ussher scholarships) also have the stipulation that you cannot work for at least a certain portion of the PhD; others come with teaching obligations to your department (e.g. TCD's Postgraduate Research Studentships), which could also be problematic for you.