Tips, Tricks and Perseverance: Applying For A Psychology PhD With Alia Awan.

This week MSc Developmental Psychology graduate Alia Awan joins The Psychology World Podcast again to talk about applying for psychology PhDs, how to apply for PhDs for psychology students and she offers a whole bunch of valuable, insightful and fascinating tips and tricks for psychology students looking to apply. If you want to learn more about PhD applications then this will be a brilliant episode for you.

Today’s psychology podcast episode has been sponsored by Applied Psychology: Applying Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and More To Real World Problems. Available from all major eBook retailers and you can order the paperback and hardback copies from Amazon, your local bookstore and local library, if you request it. Also available as an AI-narrated audiobook from selected audiobook platforms and library systems. For example, Kobo, Spotify, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Overdrive, Baker and Taylor and Bibliotheca.

Who is PhD Student Alia Awan?

Alia Awan has just completed her Masters in Developmental Psychology at the University of Kent (where she also completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology). She is currently a PhD student in Applied Health Research focusing on adolescent social media use and health. Her research interests also include children’s play, imagination and the science of reading. In her spare time she like to play badminton, read, do some colouring and spend time with family and friends.

What Is It Like Applying For PhD As A Psychology Student?

Connor: So we're coming up to the 38-minute mark. To be honest, we probably are going to split this in, like, two different episodes. But in September, you're going to be starting something very exciting. Did you want to tell us about it?

Alia: Yes, I do. Because it's kind of, like, a full circle moment as I was saying before. So I'm going to be starting a fully funded PhD with the Centre for Health and Service Studies at Kent University. I'm pretty sure I got that right. I'm still learning to get it right. But I should note, actually, I did apply for other PhDs, funded PhDs, through the school of psychology, and I wasn't successful in those. So if you don't... I learnt a lot about, like, resilience and perseverance this year because I applied a lot, and I put a lot of effort into it, and then I didn't get it. But I am a firm believer in, like, the right things will come your way when it's time, if that makes sense. So the right things will come along, and better things do come along if you don't get something. So that kind of helped me, like, stay grounded as well. Knowing that something will come my way even though I didn't believe it at times, and it didn't feel like it was going to happen

But, yeah, so in September, I think in a couple of weeks, I'll be starting the PhD. The title of it is Applied Health Research, but it's part of this project. So it's the World Health Organization funds this type of research across 41 different countries, and it's about the health behavior of school-aged children. So looking at adolescents, and they get adolescents to do surveys, anonymous surveys, and asking lots of different questions. So maybe about vaping, smoking habits, drinking habits, sharing family meals, how many fruits and vegetables they eat, social media use, exercise activity. There's quite... It's just such a broad range of things they get asked. So I'm trying to cover as much as possible and remember as much as possible. But also, like, about body image as well, about eating behavior, loneliness. And, yeah, there's a lot.

And if you're interested in this, it's called the larger project at Kent. Actually, it's not at Kent. It's kind of across the nations. I'm not really sure. I'm also a bit, like, still learning exactly what the whole thing is. It's called Health Behavior of School-aged Children, HBSC. And if you look it up online, you'll see reports that they've done in the past, where they've reported on what they found across these surveys, across the UK, but also across countries, across genders, but also they've looked at it across ages. So mainly in adolescents, so between, it's either 11 or 12. I think it's 11 to 15. In different countries, you report on different ages. But at Kent, specifically for the UK, basically, the government have said to this lady at Kent, like, "Oh, can you hire three PhD students to sort of do these kind of topics." And then I applied to one of those with a research proposal, and she was like, "Yep, we're happy to have you on board sort of thing."

So I haven't met the other two students, but I'm really excited to start, to be honest. I think mainly because they're going to teach me about the stats, and working with such a big data set will be really cool because my undergrad and masters project...my undergrad dissertation project did have about 400 people, and then my masters project was a bit smaller, and it had about 70. So working with thousands of bits of data will be really interesting. I'm also really scared because it's statistics, but it's quite normal to be scared of stats. But they're going to teach me how to deal with that.

But then also write for policy makers and write our findings academically but also for lay people and in different formats. And it really aligns with what I want to do in the future, post PhD, where I want to translate complex information into something that's understandable because rarely do you get, like, people who have spent years in research who can do this. So I want to be one of those people who can spend my time really getting to grips with research, really understanding it, being able to collect, analyze, and summarize data for people, like, policy makers who can make a difference, who don't have those skills and that time to do the research themselves.

Connor: Wow, that sounds amazing, and because I've known you for so long, I know you were going to be incredible at it. But I completely agree about how scary the stats sounds. Like, from my Masters of Research, I was only doing collaborations of like 70, 80 people, having to do statistics for thousands of people just sounds mind blowing and just insane, but well done for wanting to do it because, yeah, it's going to be hard, but I know you're going to be great at it.

Alia: Thank you. Yeah, I know it's definitely going to be hard doing a PhD because I don't think you've ever heard a PhD student go, mine was easy.

Connor: No.

Alia: The best bit of it is that I can make it my full time job because PhDs tend to be, the fully funded ones at least, you are funded so that is your full time job and that's kind of across the UK. If you get a fully funded one, it tends to be that you can do it as your full time job, and some of them have contracts where you can't actually pick up work outside of it because they expect you to spend a lot of time on it. So if you're thinking about doing a PhD but you're not sure if you've got enough funding to live beyond the stipend, just I would check the contracts and information. But, yeah, you do need a lot of perseverance when applying though I will say. It's a tough process as well because your competition are the same people who are getting, like, top marks, they are in the same position as you, and they're really passionate about research, they know what they want to do, and they've really thought about their studies as well. So, yeah, beyond that I don't really know what else to say, but it's good to learn perseverance in that sense.

Connor: Definitely.

Alia: Like, I think that's going to help me in the future for sure.

Connor: Definitely. And if I've learned one thing from you over the past year it is just how much perseverance you have. I remember quite a few of our conversations, especially after some of these other PhDs I fell through, and, like, if it's okay to say this, if not I'll edit it, it's how you were very sad. You put your heart and soul into these things, and then when they fell through, it's a loss for anyone though. But I'm so glad though that you have, like...because I think you're going to do really well though. So have you got any other tips if someone's applying for a PhD besides perseverance?

Tips For Applying For A Psychology PhD

Alia: I think make sure you get on with your supervisor, have a little meeting because supervisor relationship is really important to me. And although I'm not doing my PhD with my supervisor I initially intended to with at the beginning of the year... Her name is Dr. Angela Nyhout, please check her out, she does some really cool research on imagination, mental imagery, counterfactual thinking in children. And although I'm not doing it with her, I did still want to make sure my supervisor relationship with the other person was going to be good, and when we had a little chat, I knew it was and I asked questions as well.

There's no shame in asking questions to a supervisor about what things they kind of...how do they support, like, a little community? How do they...? I don't really know what I was going to try to reword that, but, yeah, how do they create a little community? What sorts of things do they do to help the student learn and the PhD student be supported? How does the student learn or, like, how will you teach me things I don't know? Is there room for being taught how much I don't know? And, like, what the supervisor relationship will be like? What do they expect? Another thing is also the university as a whole. If you're choosing to do it at another university that you've not been to, go in person and check it out, and see if you can, like, meet with the person, with your potential supervisor to see if they can show you around for a bit, have lunch with them. I don't know how typical that is actually, but I think it would be nice to do if you can do it and if they're up for it.

But also remember that if you don't get your first one, that's okay. And apply for a few as well, if you can, maybe across different countries, across universities. But also it does take a lot of time to develop a proposal, so don't try to do like 10, maybe try to do like 3 at a time but also be wary of the deadlines that they have. Because some of them are at different times, but I looked a lot of them up online as well about tips for applying for PhDs in the UK. And remember to specify where you want to do it. So if you want to do it in the U.S., there's different requirements. If you want to do it in the UK, of course, there's different requirements. So just check out all the details to make sure you meet all the requirements so you don't spend your time making a proposal and then, actually, you're not eligible for the scholarship or funding, whatever it might be.

Connor: Definitely. And I'm a bit glad that we've actually focused on the whole relationship bit there. Because I know when I first started thinking about a PhD in a moment of, like, madness...because a PhD is so not for me. Yeah, that was just pure madness, like, that moment. But I know when I was, like, thinking about it, I was just thinking about the whole education side of it. But I didn't put enough focus on the relationship side because you're going to be stuck doing it for three or four years, and you don't want to be with someone that you don't like. And it's going to be a lot of stress and a lot of work though, so you don't need yet another stressor of having a bad relationship with your supervisor.

Alia: Definitely.

Connor: And also, yes, it's a relationship. So there will be some good moments and bad moments. But if you can have a generally good relationship, then that's going to improve your health and your mental health throughout it a lot more. So definitely.

Alia: Yeah. So I chose my supervisor because, well, initially, I read one of her papers, and I was like, "I love this research. It's amazing." And then I approached her and said I want to do a PhD, and she helped guide my ideas so that we could do one that I liked and applied for. I didn't get those in the end, but it was still a really interesting journey, and it was nice that she knew how I worked as well because I did my masters with her. She knew how I worked and knew I needed deadlines, and I had set deadlines.

And I liked that I knew how to work with her. Like, it wasn't a whole new person at my masters. It was the same person who knew me from undergrad, and it's nice that she's seen me progress as well. I think that's also so realizing and having a special kind of relationship.

Like, we don't just talk about academics. We talk about other things too. And when I have something exciting or exciting news, I know I'll just drop her a message or I'll go see her and tell her. And I think that's...yeah, like you said having a good supervisor relationship, I think is important to a PhD especially if you're quite like a personable person. And I feel like it can make or break it kind of in some instances. It can make or break it. I don't want to say it can for everyone and in case it doesn't. But I think it is really important for people.

Connor: Because that's one of the reasons why I flat out loved my masters, and I think that it might be quite similar for you. Because I've heard about your and Angela's conversations have quite a lot, and it was really nice though like for me and Hannah because we did just get on so well. We spoke about each other's lives, and it was almost a sort of friendship relationship. That's what made my masters even more be rememberable, and I think it's the same, like, for you and Angela, both of you love working together.

Alia: Yeah I think it's made it a lot better definitely, and then for my masters I work with one of my colleagues, Rosina Tolley, on a project. And she trusted us fully because she knew us. She trusted us fully to be really independent, and we were, and it gave us a lot of confidence in our decisions, and it was really nice to work with Rosina on... Let's say, like, we collected data together, but we analyzed different bits of it. But it was nice to do together and be trusted. And she wasn't like a helicopter supervisor just checking in all the time. Like, if we needed something, we would check in and we would ask. Rather than her saying, "Oh, like, how's it going?" Every week, if that makes sense. She knew if we needed something, we would come to her. And I think that's really important because it allowed us to build a lot of confidence around research. Especially for me, because I'm always, like, second guessing myself, but this year I learnt a lot about not doing that.

But also, I would say, one of the PhD tips I forgot to mention is that if you meet with your supervisor or if you can see any of their ex-PhD students who have graduated, reach out to the students via LinkedIn or via email. See if you if they respond, explain who you are, and saying that you're planning to apply for a PhD with so and so in this topic. You don't have to go into too much detail, I don't think. Just give them some context as to who you are and why you're contacting them. And you can ask them about any tips or advice they have or reflect about their experience. Because as you would on an open day, you'd speak to students who are currently studying there, so why not do that with a PhD? And you can definitely do with a PhD. A lot of supervisors I was thinking about asking to be my PhD supervisor a few years ago, I spoke to their ex-students because I gave an insight into how they might work during a PhD and how that might be different from a master's supervision...yeah, how that might be different from master's supervision.

Connor: Yeah. Definitely. That's actually a really good tip. Thank you for sharing that. Because I hadn't even thought of that, but that would be really useful. And I think having that open-day mindset is really impactful, and I think that tips are actually going to help a lot of people. So we're coming up to the... So are there any other tips or tricks that you might have for either other PhDs, aspiring psychology students, or just anyone at university?

Any Other Tips and Tricks for PhDs, Psychology Undergraduates or Aspiring Psychology Students?

Alia: My main tip is post-graduation and with the job market right now, it is hard and give yourself some credit. But in order if you're quite early on in your degrees or experiences, try build up your CV doing various different things because the job market is really competitive, and you're competing with people who have graduated for years or just graduated as well. So it is very difficult. So I would say build as much experience as you can without overwhelming yourself.

Connor: I couldn't agree more, never true words have been spoken. I know that pain all too well, and if I don't laugh, I will cry about it.

Alia: Yes, it is wrong. Because a lot of people do psychology, so you just want to, like, help yourself later on to stand out.

Connor: Okay, then, so if the people having enjoyed today's episode, then where could they find you online? Like, LinkedIn or anything?

Alia: Yes, so I have LinkedIn, and my handle...I think it's just my name. It should just be Alia Awan. A-L-I-A. And then space. And then Awan, A-W-A-N

Connor: Brilliant. Thank you. This has been a brilliant conversation. It's going to be really useful, and best of luck with your PhD and in the future.

Alia: Thank you. Thank you for listening as well to all listeners.

I really hope you enjoyed today’s university psychology student life podcast episode.

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