PhD Interview questions and my answers | 23 PhD interview tips | My Oxford interview

[@minhannguyen2258]

Love it when you said "I'm gonna pick myself up and keep running. I can still win this". Yeah I guess this is what we all need in a PhD interview

[@oxford_phd]

For sure, that's the mindset to take to an interview, presentation, anything! Something we can learn from sport is when you see athletes who suffer a a fall pick themselves up and keep running and go on to win! It's very inspiring and we can do the same as students! :)

[@DanielleMarr-i8v]

If anyone has an academic or job interview, you should most definitely request a mock interview. I booked a mock interview with Hira last minute, with an interview the next day and the experience was an absolute pleasure. Hira clearly reviewed all my personal materials (SOP, CV), the course outline and PhD project. She guided me through all the ways I should link my previous statements to the questions in ways that are fluid and easy to recall, and took the time to add her own suggestions as well. Beyond how helpful the experience was and how much more prepared I feel, she was patient and kind with her methodical approach. She touched on all the topics that may be brought up. Given that this project is very niche, and that she had limited time to prepare, I’m so impressed and grateful for the coaching. Thank you Hira! I hope we meet again very soon.

[@shreyapmukherjee]

Thank you for this detailed video. I'll try to give my best for my 1st interview tomorrow. Staying positive at the moment 😅

[@ImranAli-pc4mp]

I am in search of finding a suitable PhD and preparing for application, and this is how i found your youtube channel. Its really helpful.

[@oxford_phd]

Thank you for tuning in! If you have any questions do let me know. Best wishes on your application!

[@vilisaisaanamoronzambrano8071]

Thanks!! I will have my interview in 3 days and this gives me another perspective to preparing myself

[@mariliadalabeneta6436]

Thank you Hira. I'm applying for a few projects this year, and hopefully, I will get something. 🙏

[@GiantCloudInTheSky]

Thank you so much for this really helpful video! I have a social sciences PhD interview next week and found the advice you gave was very relevant despite my interview being for such a different area! :)

[@swatimishra5851]

This video helped me prepare for my interview for University of Glasgow. It went well. Thank You.

[@oxford_phd]

Aww great! Hope you hear back positive news!

[@AnNguyenyds]

Just found your channel today but am already a huge fan. You’re a smart girl. Good luck in your career.

[@muntazirmehdi22]

Thanks for this. I had interview day before yesterday and I passed. Got the admission. But still awaiting full scholarship. Fingers crossed 🤞🏻

[@oxford_phd]

Congratulations!! And good luck with the funding 🥳

[@muntazirmehdi22]

@@oxford_phd thanks for the wishes.

[@庄若璇]

Great video that helped me a lot!

[@marwaaalsharif4819]

Thank you Hira, that’s very helpful. Precise and simple and you delivered your message in a coherent way 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@oxford_phd]

Many thanks, Marwa. Glad you found it helpful!

[@timurguselnikov1210]

Thank you Hira, that was really helpful - not just 5 points but the whole journey! I didn't expect that interview can be so detailed and informal, and it makes me even more concerned: to learn by heart the "ideal answer" to "tell us about yoursels", but to talk freely through the subject... oh gosh, it will be a horrible experience if I get an invitation.

[@oxford_phd]

Hi Timur, the point is there's no ideal answer! So it takes the pressure off. Just think deeply about these things and be ready to talk openly about your goals, ambitions, and research interests. It will be a fun time, not intimidating.

[@gayatri-ydkh]

Super relevant for all academia because you touch on personality, understanding research and mindset 🩷

[@hannahv7474]

Thanks so much for this advice! Even a year on, it's still a great resource

[@muhammadrafique1524]

Ma Shaa Allah, Tabara Ka’Allah Great Beta, proud of you. Many congratulations to you, your Baba and whole family 🎉

[@ffM223]

TYSM for sharing your interview structures, very clear and straightforward. Hope I could succeed in my interview like you!

[@oxford_phd]

My pleasure! Good luck! I can help you if you like by doing a mock interview with you! www.fiverr.com/s2/0dc042bb40

[@UAunited]

Leaving a comment here to show this was a very helpful video! 🙌🙌 I saw your PhD interview presentation video previously which was also amazing but now my anxieties are skyrocketing because I won't be able to answer questions about cancer outside of the one paper I am supposed to present not having any prior bio-tech knowledge 💀

[@oxford_phd]

If your PhD is biotechnology, you wouldn't be asked in depth solely about cancer, so don't worry. A key thing to show is the ability to learn as well. Yes they want it test if you have prior knowledge but if you demonstrate "teachability" that's also great. So be honest if you don't know something, tell them how you may not have this prior knowledge but you are passionate about learning these things and that is partly why you are switching to this field, to study these things in depth as your interests have greatly developed in this field. Then give them an example of how you learned something different or difficult to convince them that you're a good learner. Hopefully something like that should convince them :)

[@UAunited]

That's yet another great tip. 🙌

[@romansokolovskii6941]

Thank you, this is super helpful! (Much of this applies to academic interviews later on as well!)

[@oxford_phd]

Thanks Sokolovskiy, glad you found it useful! You're right about it being applicable to postdocs and other academic positions - I didn't think of that!

[@aymenarifmalik]

Even though my field is Design, the video was indeed helpful. Thank you for the insights and it is comforting to know we can be ourselves, relaxed and even make light jokes in the interview.

[@sanaz4915]

thank you for making these! so helpful!

[@smoothrelaxation5186]

Very helpful thank you

[@PatrickJuma-wv9cn]

Thank you for the wonderful tips.

[@chenh9795]

Excellent video and very helpful. Thank you so much for sharing Hira.

[@ataurrehman1157]

Excellent communication and lot of tips I have learn from this video, thanx a lot

[@rm_123sm]

Really helpful. Thanks for such detailed and to the point explanation, and taking us with your ACTUAL journey. There are others venting ideas,. But very scarce people actually talk about the real situation and experiences, nd just jostles about general stuffs. But yours is really different and helpful ☺️

[@oxford_phd]

Thanks so much, so happy to hear it's helpful. I'm hoping to make more journey videos in the future so it's good to know there's interest!

[@rm_123sm]

@@oxford_phd you are doing a great work😇. It will be helpful if you can do video on how to approach a supervisor for PhD supervision, via e mail. Thanks in advance 😊

[@oxford_phd]

@@rm_123sm thank you! It's on the list and will make a video soon! :)

[@semaalzubaidi4808]

Thank you for your help, wish you all the best :)

[@julianmaier5783]

Thank you so much for this information.

[@lanieko1087]

This is very helpful and detailed!! Thanks for the experience sharing, this really did calm a nervous person that is preparing for the interview🥹🥹🥹

[@biotechsrijana]

That was very helpful! Thank you!

[@mathematicslessonsandtutor8006]

Thank you Hira, great Video.

[@un_verde_cronopio]

Thank you so much ❤️ you are really lovely ❤ I loved hearing to you while preparing myself for my interview ❤ mine it’s in 4 days, so I will return to this message to tell you how it went 😜

[@shiwanaLS]

Thanks for the great video !! Keep it up sister! 👍🏻

[@sarahdrio4623]

Thank you for this!

[@kingsleyibeabuchi3461]

Really helpful video. I sincerely appreciate your efforts

[@oxford_phd]

Thank you so much, Kingsley!

[@AndrejHric-bz4ir]

Great video :D Helped me a lot as I am currently planning to apply for a PhD :D thank you.

[@oxford_phd]

Hi Andrej! Good luck! If you have specific questions or need help, happy to give you feedback on your application if you reach out on fiverr!

[@FreePalestine-tt2024]

It is indeed very helpful.Great efforts

[@TheHongHanhNguyenHannah]

Thank you so much for the great video

[@yebelayberelie5940]

Thank you very much, it is very helpful. I will have an interview on 22 March 2022.

[@oxford_phd]

Best of luck!

[@jackan40]

Make sense a lot, thx

[@marcelaalves7724]

Very useful! Thanks

[@shraddhakunwar2724]

Very helpful. Thanks

[@hasanyolcu8620]

Thank you for sharing that useful information Hira. I wonder about life your story. How and from where did you come to Oxford? How was your high school life? What did you do in High school to prepare for oxford?

[@oxford_phd]

Hi Hasan, thank you for your questions, I will probably do a video on this in the future as others have asked this as well. But briefly I was in an American system from grade 3-8, grade 9 and 10 were done in a pakistani system after which I decided I hated that system of rote learning and no concepts, so I then switched to A Levels for grade 11 and 12, but my schools were mediocre at best. In high-school I never would've imagined I would get into Oxford, even applying to the UK and studying abroad was out of question. A Level years included a lot of self-teaching and using Internet resources and those years were very intense as I didn't have my GCSE background. Had no support for university applications from my school but once I managed to get into Queen Mary, I could then make myself more ready for Oxford by just doing the best on my courses and undergraduate research project, and getting on the Amgen research internship at Cambridge, and some extra curriculars at uni which then meant my CV was good enough for Oxford. However though I got into both Cambridge and Oxford for my Masters I didn't get funding as I'm an international student so had to turn those offers down. Then managed to get funding for PhD. In a nutshell it wasn't a linear route to Oxford but got there in the end :)

[@hasanyolcu8620]

​@@oxford_phd Thank you, Hira for your detailed reply. You should do a video. An amazing journey from Pakistan to Oxford. And also you should do a video about as a Muslim woman what have you lived this journey. Hira, here in Turkey, a school to which my son goes gives a General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and The International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma. With those, it is possible to get acceptance from Oxford for undergraduate education.

[@oxford_phd]

@@hasanyolcu8620 Many thanks for your encouragement, I will do a video on that topic. Yes Oxford accept IB, if you check their website, they have more advice on what scores and subjects are required: www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/applying-to-oxford/for-international-students/international-qualifications

[@anna-sj5yk]

U are inspirational ❤🎉

[@manal93soul]

Thank you

[@zamshedrahman100]

love it .cool stuff

[@wikey-bs1fb]

thank you !!

[@shankerkc01]

Awesome tips.

[@indiangoesraw2254]

Amazing

[@muzaffarahmad457]

Amazing Video 👍🏻

[@oxford_phd]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@Tebsana]

Hello, I found your channel recently and I am really enjoying your content, it's really informative yet concise and interesting. Thank you for taking the time to make these videos, I know they'll definitely be invaluable once I start applying for PhDs. I was wondering, in your opinion, if it is still worth applying to oxbridge if you don't have amazing undergraduate grades? I'm a research masters student at a Russell group uni and I am aiming to achieve a distinction. I would love to do my PhD at Cambridge, but I didn't achieve a first overall (I got firsts in the modules that are related to my current research tho) and I'm not sure if it's worth applying considering almost everyone in the research group that I'm interested in has a first. Would love to hear your thoughts/insight into this if you have time! Thank you again for your videos!!

[@oxford_phd]

My advice always is: of course, apply! If you make it up with a very convincing personal statement, solid research experience, and highlight that you did well on relevant modules, you have a good chance! Grades only say so much.. If you need any help with personal statement writing, let me know, I'd be more than happy to help!

[@Tebsana]

@@oxford_phd Thank you so much for replying! I wasn't sure if I was being realistic or not but what you said makes sense! I definitely plan to purchase one of your personal statement services when when I start applying!

[@aishas5883]

super helpful

[@sakurakoner6764]

Hi, thank you for sharing this amazing information. I wanted to ask if its possible to approach supervisors before submitting an official application?

[@oxford_phd]

Thanks, Sakura! Yes you absolutely can, for my program there were various projects advertised and I emailed my top 3 supervisors to arrange a meeting with them on the same day as my panel interview because I'd be in Oxford that day. So I contacted them briefly before applying but didn't actually meet them till the actual interview. It would differ for different programmes. For example, some supervisors want you to apply directly to them as they have the funding, so they interview the students one-to-one and then you officially get admitted to the programme, rather than it being an application to the department and selection to the programme. I hope that makes sense! Feel free to ask if you have further questions!

[@DRx.samanhasan]

Thank you that’s really helpful mashallah 👏🏻

[@atharvatere6778]

Great video

[@nafisatuna]

It is really outstanding, it would be really great if you could help me as I am intending to apply in cancer genetics field.

[@prarthanidanthanarayana8361]

❤

[@DewkStats]

Ho Dr. Hira, how long do they take to respond after the interview?

[@elfirayonanda1471]

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim🤲 hope i can be like you ..study at Oxford

[@gopalpaul264]

Dear Hira, it was really insightful. Was this PhD in Oxford a predefined project or were you supposed to choose a lab after lab rotations?

[@oxford_phd]

Thank you! This was an advertised project and we had to choose our top 3 projects while applying to the department as a whole. However the project has taken turns into something totally different from what was advertised and that is normal!

[@gopalpaul264]

@@oxford_phd Thank you for your reply. One more question I wanted to ask if you don't mind. Is it mandatory to have publication to be eligible to apply for a PhD in Oxford?

[@oxford_phd]

@@gopalpaul264 Absolutely not, I didn't and still don't (and am in my final year). So it's definitely not a must, not even during your PhD, but good to aspire to one!

[@gopalpaul264]

@@oxford_phd okay, got it. Thank you very much for sharing such detailed information. Now, I am feeling that with good fundamental knowledge and rational research experience, it can be tried to make upto Oxford.

[@Aisha12334]

A nice vedio

[@faiqarehman3895]

Hira! Please tell me what is the minimum cgpa required to get admission in PhD(zoology)????

[@oxford_phd]

Not really! But the higher the better! If it's equivalent to 2:2 you can make it up by having more research experience or doing a masters to improve your GPA a bit

[@faiqarehman3895]

@@oxford_phd okay.thank you so much❤.

[@tasnimsarker4653]

Hi, thank you so much. I am from bangladesh, and I am applying gor phd at fall 2023. You have covered some important notes about interview. It is so helpful for me. Thank you for this elaborate explanation. I have a question. I am applying to biomedical engineering deparment. I have my interview in january. Do they ask questions about their current projects? I have no idea about the onging research in the labs. I applied few month ago.

[@oxford_phd]

I've not been asked this question before. Maybe it's good to roughly know about the main topics the lab has worked on in the past (you can do so by reading their publications) but you don't have to know about ongoing projects in detail. Good luck on your interview!

[@tasnimsarker4653]

@@oxford_phd, thank you so much, keep posting video. I have subscribed your channel after watching this. And hopping to get more suggestion from you in future. ❤️❤️❤️, take love. ❤️❤️

[@atiarasheed7476]

Hello dear, vedio is very helpful. I wanna ask that in how much time you get response back after interview?

[@oxford_phd]

Usually 2-3 weeks but could be longer. Thanks! I'm glad you found it helpful.

[@PeymanENG]

good1

[@HB-if1iz]

👍

[@laboneeyt111]

How does Oxford University take interview for PhD students? May I give it through video call from my home? Or they will give me any option. Please tell me. 😊😊😊 Lots of love from me.

[@oxford_phd]

Yes they can do online interviews if you're not in the UK or Oxford!

[@laboneeyt111]

@@oxford_phd Ok. I have heard from a person that if my interview isn't online, they will provide the cost of my journey to come to Oxford University for giving the interview. Is it True?

[@oxford_phd]

@@laboneeyt111 I don't think Oxford does that but you can ask your graduate studies admission team. Some European universities do it, but probably not Oxford. I was never reimbursed my train ticket :)

[@laboneeyt111]

@@oxford_phd ok, dear. ☺️☺️☺️

[@zainmalik457]

You're doing good but you can increase watch time by just make little short videos beacuse most of people skip bit long videos rest of it it was worthy to listen

[@rafiatunawuridam1291]

😄

[@majidhussain2350]

For algo

[@oxford_phd]

Haha thank you, so kind!

[@Alex-nt1lp]

thanks a lot for your video! I want to book a mock interview with you on the website you listed, but it seems that I can't book it? Is there something wrong with my computer or you decide to not have this project🥲

[@oxford_phd]

Hi, you can contact me on Instagram for a mock interview! @oxford_juggler

[@qqqq9082]

Thank you

[@Bhavana1999]

❤