Graduate Student Opportunities with me
If you are interesting in doing a PhD with me you need a relevant Masters
degree, the background to do one of my projects, and the ability to write
a coherent proposal that demonstrates your own knowledge and ability to
synthesise material.
I am not looking for students so do not approach me unless
you have a very strong case that you should work with me.
Your first step
Study the departmental web page for details on
how
to apply.
Your next step
In addition to the departmental requirements, should you attract my interest,
I will ask you to write a short proposal showing you know how to
frame a research question and cite literature.
If you submit an proposal that’s a copy and paste job, I will not
consider you for PhD study. Please make sure you understand what plagiarism is.
In particular, it is terrible note-taking practice to copy text verbatim from
your sources because that creates the risk that you reuse text inadvertently. Any
significant amount of reuse of words of others is not acceptable; a small amount
of reuse of words specifically placed in quote marks and citing the original is
acceptable. There are some useful hints on note-taking
here.
If you have previously-published work that is a plus. However, be aware that there
is a cottage industry in substandard journals and conferences. If your work was accepted
with little or extremely quick review, be suspicious. It is not meant to be easy
to publish in a good journal or conference.
Masters entry requirements are highly variable; the main requirement
is an Honours or equivalent 4 years of study. Your options are:
- MSc by research over 2 years – you need to identify a
a research topic up front. Talk to me about what I can supervise.
- MSc coursework over 1 year of study: I am not currently involved in
any such programme; if you sign up for one and you want to do a project in one of
my areas, this may be an option.
Funding
I sometimes have funding from the National Research Foundation for some students.
The NRF generally only funds South African students. If you have a strong
track record it is possible they will make an exception, and there are
other funds that may be possible to access. I strongly encourage you to apply
for your own funding as NRF grantholder student support is inadequate.
Please check the Rhodes financial
aid pages for more options. Apply early – many options have closing dates long
before the February start of academic year.
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