cointegration Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 Dear all I will ask for your advice for one last time before I start my PhD. I am stuck between two offers and I am not sure which one is ultimately better. Option 1 Mannheim PhD - Fontana Fellowship (tuition + 1200Euro per month) Option 2 Nottingham PhD - ESRC Scholarship (tuition + 1150Pound per month) I had my master in Nottingham and had a great experience with my dissertation advisor. I did my dissertation on culture/trust/simulations/evolutionary game theory/complex networks. I really like my master diss. advisor and I will be working with him for my PhD if I go to Nottingham. ESRC is from what I have heard a pretty respected scholarship; thus, I am guessing that it will help be get a job after my nott phd graduation. Nottingham's phd graduates are doing ok but not great. For those who have not heard of Nottingham. It is a 3 year program with some modules on the first year but nothing too comprehensive (I think). It is one of the top places to study behavioral, experimental and evolutionary gt, and all these topics will have some parts in my phd dissertation. Mannheim is also, in my opinion, a great school. 5 years long US style education (with the 1 year of various adv. modules). They have the opportunity to send you as an exchange student to either US (berkley or yale) or Europe (Toulouse, Stockholm, Barcelona etc.). While Nott. is excelled on behavioral and experimental, Mannheim is more of an overall good school. I do not know who will be my advisor nor what will be my phd diss. topic (I will have 2 years to decide on it -i think). Nottingham is a place I already know which actually makes it a bit boring compared to living in germany for 4 years and figuring out the language. It looks like Mannheim as a better placement record. I am not sure why this is the case -perhaps being in europe rather than in UK. I am an international student, so I feel like Europe is more welcoming compared to UK thus I'll have a higher chance at finding a job graduating from mannheim. I will really appreciate if you can help me out with my decision! Thank you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantinity Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 I think you answered the question yourself several times there... Mannheim is better, it's a no-brainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cointegration Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 Well the thing is I do not have the PhD experience yet, and perhaps studying with a dissertation advisor that you know and like is much more important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scilab Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 This is a classic risk & return situation. Nottingham is your safe bet and you know what you're going to get. Mannheim is definitely the better program imo (look at their very decent 2012+13 placement) but you can't be certain about whether you'll like your advisor as much as the one in Nottingham. I'd say take the risk. To be honest, I can't see you not finding a likeable prof among their large micro faculty. Also, 1200€ will make for a much more comfortable living in a cheap city in Germany. If you have a day or two left, why don't you go through their faculty and see whether you can find a professor in your area, send him an email and see what he thinks about your situation / research so far -- nothing to lose here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sulebrahim Posted July 19, 2014 Share Posted July 19, 2014 Just curious, did you make a decision yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cointegration Posted July 19, 2014 Author Share Posted July 19, 2014 Just curious, did you make a decision yet? Gave myself time till monday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidus87 Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 In case you haven't decided yet. My :2cents:, Mannheim is a great program with great profs and very good students (I have no conflict of interests cause I am not a student at Mannheim). Their faculty is quite large, so I don't see why you should not be able to find a nice supervisor. Having been in several different places for my studies, I can only reccomend you to change scenario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevejones Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I'd choose Nottingham. Your post seems to suggest that you've already made your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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