THREE years at university may have left your finances firmly in the red. If you are considering furthering your education, the thought of accumulating yet more debt can be a frightening prospect. But before you surrender your soul to the devil, it鈥檚 worth considering that in 2006, the UK had 545,370 registered postgraduate students who, more than likely, obtained funding through more traditional routes.
鈥淚 find there鈥檚 a lot of pessimism where there鈥檚 no need for pessimism,鈥 says Duncan Connors, general secretary of the National Postgraduate Committee (NPC), an independent charity that represents postgraduate students. 鈥淪cience and technology in particular has a lot of money and as long as you have a good undergraduate degree, you鈥檙e realistic and you play the game, you鈥檒l get funding.鈥
Take on the competition
The British government invests 拢2.8 billion in research each year 鈥 enough to buy roughly 6 billion Petri dishes. This money is passed to seven councils that disseminate it to the nation鈥檚 research institutions. 鈥淲e allocate funding through a highly competitive process,鈥 explains Ian Lyne, head of postgraduate training at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). 鈥淚f a department holds our funding it鈥檚 a hallmark of quality.鈥
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To get your postgraduate paws on some of that money, students must approach a well-funded department directly 鈥 along with all the other hopefuls. In 2006/2007 the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester enrolled 39 PhD students out of nearly 150 applicants. 鈥淚f you want funding it鈥檚 very competitive,鈥 says Professor Paul Glendinning, head of the department. He advises students not to blow hot and cold. 鈥淜eep us in the loop with what you鈥檙e doing. If we鈥檙e met by silence at some point we鈥檙e going to assume the person isn鈥檛 interested any longer.鈥
Do it for charity
Many postgraduate research positions are sponsored by charities. The Wellcome Trust, the UK鈥檚 largest medical charity, recently promised an extra 拢137 million in four-year PhD programmes over the next nine years, so there鈥檚 plenty of money floating around.
Charity funding carries different responsibilities and experiences from public funding, particularly if the money comes from a small organisation. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very much a community,鈥 says Selina Wray, whose PhD is funded by the Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Association. 鈥淵ou meet people who have a personal connection to the disease 鈥 this helps to maintain a focus on why you are doing the research. It makes you more determined to work hard.鈥 Wray says the biggest difference about being funded by a charity is the necessity for good communication. 鈥淧eople from the charity come along to conferences and are genuinely interested to hear about your work. It鈥檚 important that the fund-raisers understand what is going on with their money,鈥 she explains.
Tick the right boxes
A bewildering array of grants and scholarships are available for further study in the UK. Often these have very specific requirements, and it鈥檚 worth carrying out some research to see if you fit anyone鈥檚 criteria. If you can demonstrate a special interest in weaving or woven textiles, for example, you could receive a 拢1500 donation from the Worshipful Company of Weavers; provide evidence that your course is relevant to the activities of the Milford Haven Port Authority and you could receive a 拢2000 scholarship from them. With a typical master鈥檚 costing around 拢3000, these sums represent a significant potential contribution towards your studies.
Ask the boss
If you are already employed, consider taking the boss out for lunch and asking whether they鈥檒l fund your course. 鈥淢ost businesses will want some assurances in return for their investment,鈥 says Simon Briault of the Federation of Small Businesses. 鈥淔or example, a prospective student could have to agree terms which state that on successful completion they will stay in the business for a certain amount of time or pay back a certain percentage of the fee.鈥 Convince them you鈥檙e worth investing in and you might find yourself a sponsor.
Hit the road
If the cost of studying in the UK is troubling you, then it might be time for a change of scenery. And where better to seek inspiration than the home of the Nobel prize? Higher education in Sweden is fully subsidised by the state, and even foreign students are entitled to study for free. What鈥檚 more, with more than 450 master鈥檚 courses taught entirely in English, you won鈥檛 even have to learn a new language.
Be industrious
鈥淚鈥檇 definitely encourage postgraduates to consider seeking industry sponsorship,鈥 says Claire McAleer, who is working towards an engineering doctorate at the University of Southampton. Funding for McAleer鈥檚 studies comes largely from Rolls-Royce, where she spends much of her time working on ways to reduce the noise emitted by aircraft engines. 鈥淚t鈥檚 much more interactive than a typical PhD,鈥 she says. 鈥淵ou get to see how your research applies in an industrial context and how it鈥檚 useful in the real world.鈥 Combining university education with industry placements can also give you valuable experience of the business world. 鈥淚t opens a lot of doors for the future,鈥 says McAleer.
Get a loan
The prospect of more debt might bring you out in a sweat, but a career development loan (CDL) 鈥 offered by Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Co-operative Bank 鈥 is an option to consider. You can borrow between 拢300 and 拢8000, and the Learning and Skills Council will pay the interest on the loan until a month after you have finished studying.
鈥淚f you are up to standard and can realistically do the course then yes, I would advise taking out a CDL,鈥 says Duncan Connors of the NPC, but he urges prospective students to think carefully. 鈥淚 would not use a loan if you don鈥檛 have a defined career outcome, because all that鈥檚 going to happen is you鈥檒l get into thousands of pounds鈥 worth of debt.鈥
Don鈥檛 be parted from work
If you鈥檝e been gainfully employed since leaving university, you could be reluctant to reinstate beans on toast as your main meal of the day. Part-time courses offer a compromise, allowing students to earn while they study.
鈥淚 wanted to carry on studying but didn鈥檛 want to leave my job,鈥 explains Carol Boags, a teaching lab manager at the University of East Anglia. She continued to work full-time, devoting evenings and weekends towards studying for an MSc with the Open University. Boags estimates that her studies took up some 20 hours a week which, she warns, is a commitment not to be taken lightly. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to be dedicated and a good time-manager to take up distance learning,鈥 she says, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 a good experience and I would certainly recommend it.鈥
And if all else fails鈥
鈥淭hink outside the box,鈥 says Alex Tew, who earned a cool million during his studies. Dreading the thought of university debt, Tew invented the Million Dollar Homepage, selling individual pixels on his website to advertisers for $1 each. 鈥淲ithin three or four weeks of launching the site I鈥檇 covered the average student debt,鈥 he says. 鈥淢ost postgraduate students will have knowledge of a very specific area and probably some interesting insights into their own subject.鈥 Tew recommends using this inside information to make some money. 鈥淕et thinking about ideas and if you think you鈥檝e got a good [moneyspinning] one, go and do it,鈥 he advises. 鈥淟ook at Sergey Brin and Larry Page 鈥 they were IT postgraduates, and Google was born out of their research.鈥
Careers 鈥 Find out how to make the most of your career in our comprehensive special report.
Top Tips
鈥淎pplicants need to be able to communicate and explain science to a lay person. We want our researchers to be ambassadors.鈥
Ayesha Kahn, scientific liaison officer, Alzheimer鈥檚 Society
鈥淕et advice from people in your university department. It鈥檚 very important to demystify the funding process.鈥
Ian Lyne, head of postgraduate training at the BBSRC
鈥淧ostgraduates have got the analytical ability, basic probability and maths skills 鈥 so why not try online poker?鈥
Jerome Bradpiece won over 拢30,000 as a University of Oxford philosophy student
Case study: Going the extra mile
Sabine Bahn is director of the Centre for Neuropsychiatric Research at the University of Cambridge. The department has around 拢4 million of funds including a recent 拢2.5 million grant awarded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute, a US-based charity.
Despite such generous funding, much of which is for postgraduate studies, Bahn says the battle for research positions in her laboratory is very competitive. 鈥淚 get up to 10 applications a week even without advertising. If I advertise I get hundreds.鈥
When she鈥檚 faced with so many candidates, it鈥檚 enthusiasm that makes one applicant stand out from the rest, says Bahn. 鈥淚鈥檓 not so interested in their CVs to be quite honest,鈥 she admits. 鈥淭hey have to have read about what we鈥檝e been doing and thought about it carefully. And most importantly, they have to have common sense and a clear idea about where they want to go.鈥
鈥淚 like those who want to prove themselves and be given a chance,鈥 she says. True to her word, Bahn currently funds Yishai Levin who, despite having 鈥渕ediocre鈥 grades and no research background, spent the time and money to fly over from Israel to convince her in person that he could bring new skills to her team. 鈥淚n such a large group I haven鈥檛 got time to do too much hand-holding so I need people who are self-motivated and can think independently.鈥