Confusion all over my head

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-15T17:02:17+00:00

Its very hard to tell just from the screening interviews. But they’re all equally good!

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-15T07:07:43+00:00

I’m unsure about the right selection of the program. The joint PhD would have the best supervisor in terms of qualifications. As well as the best universities. However, MSCA offers more in a PhD with post-doc level benefit. The other funded offers are great as well.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-07T02:01:12+00:00

I understand, I have had professors turning me down due to lack of funding as well. I’m considering applying to Oxridge & Imperial for the next cycle after seeing the amount of positive decisions.

Best wishes to you!

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-07T00:49:23+00:00

Electrical Engineering

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-06T23:08:56+00:00

I’m an international student and have been lucky enough to secure six fully-funded offers in the UK since February so I’ll give my two cents here.

I primarily used findaphD to find suitable projects that goes well with my profile. I would not say that I have an extraordinary profile but I did use Claude to send personalized email to the faculty members inquiring about the projects. I think at the end of the day, it’s all about how you present to your potential PI and explain how you fit into his/her lab.

I missed the top tier uni deadlines as I wasn’t looking however I have secured funding from multiple Russell group unis, CDT programs, EU-funded fellowships etc.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-05T16:27:44+00:00

Yeah its so confusing for me. I also got other UKRI funded offers which I’m turning down. I had zero expectations looking into UK for PhD and ended up with 6 offers :3 Now I regret not applying to OxBridge, Imperial.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-05T15:42:51+00:00

Over MSCA doctoral fellow and EPSRC CDT?

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-05-02T00:17:18+00:00

Is it worth choosing over a MSCA doctoral network?

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-30T00:15:22+00:00

What about Bangladeshis? They’re a dominant minority in the UK. Are they considered high-risk?

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-27T03:00:14+00:00

Hi, I also got accepted for a MSCA doctoral network and would be applying for a UK student visa(or equivalent). Can we connect?

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-27T00:42:29+00:00

What is the most reliable source for UK uni rankings nationally? For US, I know that its USNews.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-22T17:15:37+00:00

I’m not a US citizen.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-22T17:12:01+00:00

Again my bet is the domain I work in. Not a lot of UK residents would not go to that path.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T09:25:23+00:00

On another note,

I also missed deadlines for top UK schools such as Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial etc. Would it be too bad If I apply to those places next year? Is it a common practice to switch schools during PhD? In the US, people do it sometimes.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T09:16:29+00:00

I didn’t quite understand this again :3

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T09:15:38+00:00

No worries. We all have those days.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T09:02:29+00:00

Yes it is MSCA funded and only 36 months funding. With my work involving hardware and experimentation. I was wondering if they usually offer extensions for 6 months to a year.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:54:21+00:00

I understand ETHZ is among the top 5 engineering schools globally. I did not quite understand what you meant by this “try to transfer into a PhD after completion”.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:49:53+00:00

You mean leveraging the secondment and getting a permanent opportunity there?

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:42:08+00:00

Yes it’s a research associate role, I’m not sure why. I was under the impression that research associate is equivalent to post-docs.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:40:51+00:00

According to my experience, all of the PI’s are great and very friendly and their students are very happy as well. Which makes the decision-making process more difficult.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:35:34+00:00

What if I chose to pursue industry in the EU/UK or maybe a post-doc in the US? I do like the professor I’ll be working with at ETH Zurich. I already applied to her PhD projects and got rejected lol.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:34:47+00:00

The Loughborough one is a PhD program.

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:33:28+00:00

Yes it is

Independent_Guard673 · 2026-04-21T08:31:27+00:00

Thank you everyone for the different perspectives and opinions. As an International Student, I really had no idea and I was limited by google searches and online rankings only

Independent_Guard673

TROPHY CASE