pastures new

[troll]

Sith-meant to be tongue in cheek.As a caveat, nice to hear there are some consultants who give a proverbial however-they must be rare-we don`t see your sentiments reflected on the ground.......

[achingknees]

quote:Originally posted by troll

Understood sir- no misreading at all- your point is nice and clear.Poses me with quite a job in answering it though! Ok, here goes...
I am at risk of being seen as a cop-out by using an analogy but:
a nurse or paramedic will inevitably see the ultimate results at ground level of being shafted by an apathetic government imbued with a silver mouth. Said practitioner will however, continue to do their best at ground level because thats what they do and, they love it.Not only that, they can go home knowing they did their level best and in some way-made a difference. I certainly don`t put myself on the same footing as these underpaid/overworked angels of the NHS-all power to them by the way-I love em` all but.....I hope you can see why staying where I am is important to me.I have in the past been lucky enough to play roles both way above and below my current station and it is in the field where I am happiest. Yes, I currently work in commercial arch although I digress into research as often as possible until someone-somewhere liberates me!!!!

Why not be an analogous matron then? Supervising can be fun and rewarding. Just see it as being the guy that keeps the immediate line managers in check.

[sea-surgeon]

Alright, in all seriousness, funding for post-graduate studies in archaeology. Forget about it, the AHRC seem to choose at random, trying to get funding from them would be akin to playing the National Lottery. Speaking from experience the best you can hope for is a fees-only studentship and these tend to go to bright young things as opposed to more senior diggers. So it looks like you may have to spend some more time on your knees making repetitive movements. Also, speaking from a digging background you will probably find academic life frustrating and largely pointless and long to be back in the field. Will contact you off forum if I think of anything.

[troll]

Thank you peeps. Am tempted by another round of supervision roles-I did enjoy the part.Not sure though, in a way, us old scrotes do this anyway with our younger colleagues-tiz a good working environment when everyone learns from everyone else.When I stop learning from others-I`ll give up and go home! On the academic front-I`m one of those sad bas*tards that can read as an Olympic sport.The very idea of study in an academic environment again makes me drool.Think your all spot on about the masters though.Depressing isnt it? We`ll see.Thanx for all your kind support guys and girls.

[sniper]

there's always the part-time route, if no one has mentioned it yet. Decided to start my PhD part time cause AHRC had rejected me for the second time in 2 years and suddenly a fee bursary turns up courtesy of the department. I am thinking that if I get my thesis started part tme, AHRC may decide to fund it in future when they can see that its an important topic and that its already been started(and pigs might start their own airline)

++ i spend my days rummaging around in dead people ++

[star-nosed mole]

Don't let these posts put you off applying for funding for an MA! The AHRB (now AHRC) have recently set up a new section called Professional Development, which gives grants out to students wanting to do courses that will improve their chances of moving up the employment ladder. In the past they only gave grants for proper academic research but that's all changed. I got a maintenance grant and all my fees paid for a one year professional archaeology course from them.

My advice would be go to apply for a grant from them - if not successful, you haven't lost anything! Just spend some time filling in the application form and stress the fact that it'll improve your career!

Good luck