Others have replied comprehensively, but I do have a few thoughts:

Invisible wrote:
> 2. I have insufficient money. (I'm still paying for my BSc. Very slowly.)

I think most science/engineering PhDs in the UK are grant-funded, which 
means you'll get paid upwards of 16k to do it (tax-free). There are 
often conditions on the funding, but if you've got a 2.1 you may well 
qualify.

> 3. I don't think I can spare the time. (I have a job to do, sucky as it 
> is.)

If you do one, it will have to be full-time. As others have said, as 
long as you're funded it's like having a new job.

> 4. It is *highly* unlikely that having a PhD will make any kind of 
> positive change to my employment situation. Nobody is impressed by a 
> BSc, and I doubt a PhD will be any different. Everybody wants 
> "experience" and/or "people skills".

Not true. If you're going for a technical position, even if it's 
unrelated to your field of study, the fact that you are capable of 
completing a PhD says a lot. It says you stick with the job, have a 
capacity and interest for learning, have experience in 
communication/dissemination, etc... and that's ignoring the 
field-specific skills.

> 5. Presumably a PhD is a serious amount of hard work. It's not exactly a 
> pleasure cruise. So I'd need a good reason to do one.

Yep. Be interested in the project. That simple.

> 6. I rather doubt that you can get a PhD in "doing cool stuff". 
> Presumably it must be something rather more specific than that.

This is the interesting part. Certainly, make inquiries into fields that 
are particularly fascinating to you, but as at least one other person 
has mentioned (Andrel?), don't rule out subjects that are new to you. An 
applied computing project could get you into almost any technical 
subject imaginable, and it's surprising what you might find interesting. 
I know this from my own experiences!

> 7. Where the hell am I going to do a PhD anyway?

Wherever. Go where the funded coolness lies!

>  8. Are you mental?

I've got the wrong doctorate to answer that question impartially. :-)


Speculative queries to research groups in fields that sound interesting 
are well worth it. You don't need to follow the impersonal rules of 
regular employment - if you find some prof with research interests that 
look your kind of thing, just email and ask for more information, and 
say what you're interested in. Worst case is they simply don't reply.

Bill

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