I must be slightly mad, but I’m going to be chasing a PhD through the Open University as a follow-on to my Masters. I’d offered a research proposal and then got called for an interview with the Dr.s and Profs. who will be my supervisors.

The first attempt to get down to Milton Keynes went pear-shaped as a train broke down on the line leaving me stranded at Rugby but the second attempt the following week was successful. Although I’d done a fair amount of thinking and rehearsing potential questions before-hand, the actual interview seemed rather scary and not quite according to rehearsed plans. It wasn’t that the questioning was on obscure issues (“What… is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?”) but was more a discussion about possibilities of the research. Thinking quickly about potential avenues and implications of your proposal when your still vague about what it actually is … well it made me feel rather dumb.

However the advantage of having been through a few such hoops is that you recognise the situation - it was the same starting A-levels, the same starting as an undergraduate and the same when starting the Masters dissertation. And after a quick private meeting they decided to accept me as a student so my answers couldn’t have been too wild, though with hindsight I’ve some much better responses!

It’s also in interesting contrast to past job interviews as a software developer where I’m the expert who knows way more than the interviewer. It’s a much easier situation. So while I don’t know how it will all pan out, particularly in terms of time and money, it seems I’m at the foothills of the biggest mountain yet.