Don't you worry, there my honey

We might not have any money. But we've got our love to pay the bills.

-You and I; Ingrid Michaelson-

Well we know that's unrealistic. Yolah sangat love boleh bayar bill. I stull love the song, nonetheless :P

Motifnya nak cakap pasal scholarship lagi and ada kaitan dengan 'don't worry' tiba-tiba teringat lagu tu lol.

OK let's get serious.

So another question I discussed with a friend not long time ago was regarding pursuing PhD but having enough fund/secured scholarship for Master level only. Fret not my dear, you are not too far from achieving your dream :)

Biasalah kadang-kadang kerenah birokrasi kan. Certain sponsors just want to sponsor up to Master level kononnya taknak take the risk if their scholars can't complete the PhD studies. Or that you've saved money just enough to enrol to Master studies.

Go for the Master studies. Masters in the UK usually takes a year or 2 semesters and in the last 3-6 months you'll be attach to some lab doing some research (speaking for science-related field). This is when you get to know people and potential supervisors for your PhD. Ask them if they have spots available for PhD studentship in the next academic year. And, going back to what I mentioned in my previous post, apply for the international student scholarship. By being a current student (studying Master), you increase the possibility in securing the scholarship, plus you'll get recommendations from people from within the university (your Master's lecturers/potential supervisors). Another thing is that they give discounts for tuition fee for returning students (ex-Master, now a PhD student). Win-win situation I guess?

This might sound obvious but hey I learned about it from my friends here who went through the experience, so not so obvious lah, at least for me :P

So don't worry about not having enough fund. Love can pay for school, NOT! There's a way, you gotta dig deep! Hehehe *get what the title is all about now??*

I can only think of another entry about this whole scholarship thing. So to keep this going I need your help to give me ideas/ask questions. I might not have answers to them but I will try to find them for you :) Help me help you, deal?

Till then, Salam.

James Bond.

Education. Opportunities. Educational opportunities. These two have been my favorite subjects over these past few years. Whenever people bring up these topics to me, I immediately light up and feel so eager to engage in the discussion. Tee hee hee. *semangat habis* 

I've got quite a lot of questions from my friends but much to my delight, I've also received Facebook messages from acquaintances asking for information/advice on these things. Admittedly, I only know a tiny little fraction of the gazillion information out there, but when someone sent me a message telling me he got an offer to do PhD and thanked me for the advice/tips I gave him through this little space of mine, I felt really honored. I'm sure he first thanked Allah for He's the one who made it happened, but the fact somebody took my words seriously and gained from it, I couldn't be happier. Alhamdulillah.

So on one fine night (which was tonight), while having shower (if you know me I usually have my Eureka! moments in the shower), I decided to do this more seriously. If one person could benefit from my advice through private Skype sessions or Facebook messages (with my limited experience and knowledge, which may be outdated in certain cases :P), I might as well share it here so that more people could benefit from it, InsyaALLAH.

So let's cut to the chase. 

Q: 

Where can I find scholarships that are not bonded? (The question was intended for postgraduate studies)

A: 

It comes down to where you want to pursue your studies and what level-Master/PhD. 

Master in the US/UK: I do not know that many local sponsors that are not bonded. I believe JPA only offers their ex-degree scholars to do Master under their sponsorship. It's a bit tricky with MARA because they keep changing their policy from year to year, which all comes down to whether they have money or not in that particular year (sort of) :P. With MARA, even though you are not bonded, you have to sort of pay a fraction of the sponsored amount after you finish (have to double check). CIMB offers CIMB Regional Scholarship where you are not bonded with them but as they say in their website 'you must contribute back to the region by working in any ASEAN country for a minimum of three years upon graduation'. As for Yayasan Khazanah, you have to work with Khazanah Nasional/Khazanah Linked companies or Goverment-Linked Companies (GLC) for a duration equal to the length of your study. Another sponsor which I just came to know about when I started my PhD is Islamic Development Bank. They give scholarships to nationals from participating countries (Malaysia included) and you must be attached to some organizations at your home country when you apply and must return home to contribute to your country.  

However, a great way to have a non-bonded scholarship is to secure International Student Scholarship from the university you are applying to. I think this was my biggest mistake. I always thought it's really competitive to get the type of scholarship so I ended up not applying. Well, belum cuba belum tahu. So while you are applying to the uni, might as well check their available funding and apply to the ones that are relevant for you, in most case the International Student Scholarship. 

PhD in the US: Good thing about doing PhD in the US is, the offer normally comes with scholarship, in which they would waive your tuition fee and they would give you annual stipend (for personal expenses). I am pretty sure you will not be bonded in any way with the offer. Murah hati kan diorang? 

PhD in the UK: Well, unfortunately, UK tak semurah hati US. You need to get some sort of funding before they can offer you admission to their PhD programs. Most of UK researches are funded by private organizations and these mostly are exclusive for EU/UK students. Non-EU students like us must find our own funding, and if you look from organizations from Malaysia, most likely it's gonna be bonded scholarships. But again, you can apply to International Student Scholarship from the university like I mentioned above. 

My advice would be to be proactive in looking for potential sponsors. They are a lot of sponsors out there, you just have to be aware of their advertisements and deadlines. Sponsors open their applications at different time of the year and they advertise in different ways (website, newspaper) so you really have to get on top of things. Take it from someone who always check websites just a few days after they close their applications :P.


Footnote:
CIMB, Yayasan Khazanah and Islamic Development Bank offer scholarships for both Master and PhD at top graduate schools.

Links:
CIMB Regional Scholarship
Yayasan Khazanah
Islamic Development Bank
MARA
Previous post: PhD: The Process

Salam :)

PhD:The Process

Salam,

Happy Friday everyone! 

So since several people have asked me this question, I thought why not do some good and put it in the blog so that others can learn as well. Honestly I thought I have blogged about it before, but after I checked, I just blogged about my interview experience, and nothing on the application process. 

So my dear friends, here you go. Oh btw, this is application process for UK universities :)

1. Where do you start? How do you find projects?

There could have been so many different ways, but it's only fair I share what I've experienced. When I started applying early 2011, I did it in two ways. 

I came across this useful website, findaphd.com. At first I thought it's an unreliable website, but it turned out pretty reliable. Professors/supervisors will 'advertise' their available projects through the website. 

When you get into the website, type in your field of interest, and voila!, there you a list of available projects, together with the supervisors contact details, funding information and other details. Easy peasy lemon squeeeezy!

My second method was to go directly to the university's website, and see if they advertise there. Nottingham doesn't do this, but Manchester does! (I applied to these two only :P) *click picture to see larger image*

It's just an example. Other universities might have different ways to put the projects in their website, so look hard!

2. How do you approach the professors/supervisors? What do you say in your e-mail?

So after you've picked the project you like the most, start e-mailing the professors/supervisors to ask if the available project (on the website) is still available. Give a little bit of background of yourself, mention your interest and then wait for reply.

My very first e-mail to my now supervisor.

Her reply.

The changing of e-mails takes quite sometime because it's the 'sesi suai kenal' between you and your potential supervisor. They will ask so many questions, and hey you should too! You want to spend 3/4 years doing things you like with people you can easily approach, so it's crucial to get your questions, (and theirs) answered. And as you already know, they are busy people, so they don't attend to every e-mails every single day. Patience is the key!

3. What's next?

The process for US and UK application is quite distinct. I think for US, you find the program you like, apply online, interview, and wait for the decision. You don't get to choose your specific project just yet. You'll spend the first 2 years of your PhD doing lab rotations, and the end of that you choose which lab you'd like to work in and work on your project.

For UK, you choose your specific project right away. No lab rotations, you go straight into the lab and start working. That's why PhD in the UK is shorter than in the US. 

At some point of your e-mail changing, the professors/supervisors will ask for an interview to be held. Remember, at this point you haven't officially applied to the university yet. More on interview in this entry. After the interview, they will give you sort of verbal confirmation (usually very prompt) that you may now apply through their online system. Then, you wait. Dup dap dup dap dup dap

Decision time.

ACCEPTED! 

Alhamdulillah.

I hope this helps, if not a lot, just a little tiny bit :P I could go on talking about funding or other related issues, like choosing your supervisor (of course in another entry) if you want me to :)