Wednesday 19 August 2009

How to arrange funding for PhD / Masters research in abroad?

PhD Hunting - Beginner's Tip

It is always a tricky business to arrange funding for pursuing a PhD, MPhil or MS degree in a foreign university. It is quite frustrating some time despite having excellent academic background. There are few ways where one can try for:

1. Arrange funding through a research project
One has to browse through various Universities and/or academics web pages for applying to them. They may have any project to fund your research!


2. Apply to the University directly
In this case, applications can be randomly make to various universities. University may contact you if anyone from its faculty has interest in individuals CV or research proposal. Though one should not totally rely on it.


3. Self- Funding
It is a most definitive case to get PhD admission offer from an University, if got a decent academic profile. Although it is quite unlikely that anyone would like to spend a big some on his research degree. However, if this is the case, one can get admission in a good university even with a relatively weaker academic background.


4. Arranging a Scholarship / Fellowship
There are various independent bodies such as Commonwealth Trust, Gates Cambridge Trust, Cambridge Nehru Scholarship etc., that can fund your entire research programme. Although it is quite competitive but 'no pain - no gain'. Few of them are listed here.


5. University Scholarships
It is a good idea to browse through various Universities' web pages and apply for University scholarships, if are available. Click here and here for examples. Outstanding candidates have good chances to obtain one.


6. Web subscription
A good option can be to subscribe to this website for receiving regular emails; this site is particularly good if one is interested to pursue his/her research in the Europe. Other places to look at could be this and this.

It should be noted that many European Universities require a decent TOEFL and/or IELTS score while US Universities require GRE despite your first degree being taught in English. However, there are also exceptions for exemption; it is always better to check with the University before sending an application to them.

Good luck,
Prashant
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