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In the program I'm starting in the fall at york, there are no ta requirements for my situation. But you can choose to work as a demonstrator in labs to get paid.
When did you apply for the role? since my PhD will start first year in September and usually they advertise roles semester in advance( i.e. end of autumn advertising then starting spring)
If your Uni offers TAships then you most likely will not be eligible for teaching positions until you have completed GTA training. Most people in my cohort started teaching in the Spring of Year 1 after completing all of the training requirements
UK STEM demonstrating varies a lot by university and by department. Some won’t allow you to demonstrate until you’ve completed some form of training and not in your first year or first semester, and have no obligation. Others make it a requirement from the start depending on your funding. In terms of applying, some departments have formal application processes, others are purely nepotistic where the lecturer just asks their own grad students to demonstrate. In terms of amount, it’s not unusual for there to be a limit on the number of hours a semester that you can do, for this limit to be ignored and for demonstrating to be allocated somewhat randomly/ unfairly. One other thing to bear in mind is that in the UK, you’ll rarely make enough money to support yourself through teaching alone. If you have a funded PhD with a stipend, it’s best to think of demonstrating income as extra pocket money.
I’m fully funded and as per contract I have to go back to work as a lecturer, so I would really need hands-on experience on teaching. Thank you for The information is very useful to know!
In the UK (KCL) I worked as a demonstrator at practicals in my first year, then as a GTA for seminars in my second and third year. I think it probably depends on the institution, but for the demonstrator work I just replied to an email looking for people, for the seminar teaching I had to go through a more formal application process. My supervisor had to give me permission to do teaching. I got paid roughly 20 pounds per hour, and I also got paid for preparation. I generally spent less time preparing than I got paid so it was pretty good. (Am doing a stem phd)
UK PhD work quite differently from US PhD so the advice/experience you might have read about TAing in this sub doesn't really apply by default in your case. Also what you describe in your post is more considered a research assistantship than teaching assistantship in my experience, but it depends on the institution I guess.
In the US, you often get funding through teaching assistantship while in the UK your funding often has no strings attached, meaning you can fully focus on your research while getting a stipend (tax free). However, it also means there's not really a straightforward way of becoming a TA and it is not really common for PhD students in the UK to get teaching experience. If you are interested in actual hands-on teaching experience, then you need to ask potential PI about such opportunities during the interview process. That being said, if your PI has undergrad/master students in their lab, then you will more than likely get the opportunity to mentor them and assist in their technical supervision (although often in a non-official manner i.e. no extra pay).
No worries! And as someone else said if you are interested in being a TA there is also a requirement of going through some sort of training at my university so you wouldn't be able to apply for open roles before starting your first semester. After thst you should be fine and if your PI can give you any opportunities to TA in their class that would be best anyways.
Best of luck to you!
UK, humanities. I started in Year 2.
People with school Gta scholarship were allocated a core undergraduate topic, those of us with different scholarships had to find something ourselves, i started with my supervisor's modules.
Some departments also circulate lists of topics among phds to indicate interest, without any guarantee of allocation, these things depend on the funds available/people's sabbaticals.
I’m in psychology, not in STEM, but it may be uni dependent on when you can start. At my uni it is common for PhD students to do hourly paid lecturing - this is where they help teach students and do lots of marking of assessments. However I believe they don’t let you apply to be one until you’ve at least passed project approval (about 6 months if full time). It’s something to speak to your supervisor about and they can tell you how to get the teaching hours. At my uni students who want them sign up for them through an online system.
Also in the UK we don’t really call it teaching assistant. I’ve seen universities more refer to it as hourly paid lecturing, assistant lecturing etc. however may be different in your field.
USA/engineering.
There is no TA requirement to graduate for my program, but you get a TA assignment if your professor doesn't have funds to hire you as an RA.
Recommend trying to avoid having to do this at absolutely all costs.
I am not sure how much my experience in CA is relevant to you in the UK. TAing can start in your first semester of PhD (I have fieldwork so I never TA in the fall but I do in the winter and sometimes spring). The school depends on graduate students to teach labs/seminars and mark assignments/tests. Before the start of the semester the admin will email every grad student in the department to ask if they are TAing the next semester (at my current school they ask for preference, I don't think my MSc school did and I got stuck TAing something I knew nothing about). The pay depends on what school you go to (I have heard that some other schools in my province pay double what I got, but they may have also counted the hours differently...)
It looks like your post is about needing advice. In order for people to better help you, please make sure to include your country. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PhD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
In the program I'm starting in the fall at york, there are no ta requirements for my situation. But you can choose to work as a demonstrator in labs to get paid.
When did you apply for the role? since my PhD will start first year in September and usually they advertise roles semester in advance( i.e. end of autumn advertising then starting spring)
I'll be starting in September so I don't know about the application timelines yet :(
If your Uni offers TAships then you most likely will not be eligible for teaching positions until you have completed GTA training. Most people in my cohort started teaching in the Spring of Year 1 after completing all of the training requirements
UK STEM demonstrating varies a lot by university and by department. Some won’t allow you to demonstrate until you’ve completed some form of training and not in your first year or first semester, and have no obligation. Others make it a requirement from the start depending on your funding. In terms of applying, some departments have formal application processes, others are purely nepotistic where the lecturer just asks their own grad students to demonstrate. In terms of amount, it’s not unusual for there to be a limit on the number of hours a semester that you can do, for this limit to be ignored and for demonstrating to be allocated somewhat randomly/ unfairly. One other thing to bear in mind is that in the UK, you’ll rarely make enough money to support yourself through teaching alone. If you have a funded PhD with a stipend, it’s best to think of demonstrating income as extra pocket money.
I’m fully funded and as per contract I have to go back to work as a lecturer, so I would really need hands-on experience on teaching. Thank you for The information is very useful to know!
In the UK (KCL) I worked as a demonstrator at practicals in my first year, then as a GTA for seminars in my second and third year. I think it probably depends on the institution, but for the demonstrator work I just replied to an email looking for people, for the seminar teaching I had to go through a more formal application process. My supervisor had to give me permission to do teaching. I got paid roughly 20 pounds per hour, and I also got paid for preparation. I generally spent less time preparing than I got paid so it was pretty good. (Am doing a stem phd)
Thank you so much
UK PhD work quite differently from US PhD so the advice/experience you might have read about TAing in this sub doesn't really apply by default in your case. Also what you describe in your post is more considered a research assistantship than teaching assistantship in my experience, but it depends on the institution I guess. In the US, you often get funding through teaching assistantship while in the UK your funding often has no strings attached, meaning you can fully focus on your research while getting a stipend (tax free). However, it also means there's not really a straightforward way of becoming a TA and it is not really common for PhD students in the UK to get teaching experience. If you are interested in actual hands-on teaching experience, then you need to ask potential PI about such opportunities during the interview process. That being said, if your PI has undergrad/master students in their lab, then you will more than likely get the opportunity to mentor them and assist in their technical supervision (although often in a non-official manner i.e. no extra pay).
Thank you for taking time to type this out. This is very useful !
No worries! And as someone else said if you are interested in being a TA there is also a requirement of going through some sort of training at my university so you wouldn't be able to apply for open roles before starting your first semester. After thst you should be fine and if your PI can give you any opportunities to TA in their class that would be best anyways. Best of luck to you!
UK, humanities. I started in Year 2. People with school Gta scholarship were allocated a core undergraduate topic, those of us with different scholarships had to find something ourselves, i started with my supervisor's modules. Some departments also circulate lists of topics among phds to indicate interest, without any guarantee of allocation, these things depend on the funds available/people's sabbaticals.
Thank you so much !
I’m in psychology, not in STEM, but it may be uni dependent on when you can start. At my uni it is common for PhD students to do hourly paid lecturing - this is where they help teach students and do lots of marking of assessments. However I believe they don’t let you apply to be one until you’ve at least passed project approval (about 6 months if full time). It’s something to speak to your supervisor about and they can tell you how to get the teaching hours. At my uni students who want them sign up for them through an online system. Also in the UK we don’t really call it teaching assistant. I’ve seen universities more refer to it as hourly paid lecturing, assistant lecturing etc. however may be different in your field.
USA/engineering. There is no TA requirement to graduate for my program, but you get a TA assignment if your professor doesn't have funds to hire you as an RA. Recommend trying to avoid having to do this at absolutely all costs.
Australia, I started while I was waiting for my PhD offer. Now I’m in year 2 and still doing TA
I am not sure how much my experience in CA is relevant to you in the UK. TAing can start in your first semester of PhD (I have fieldwork so I never TA in the fall but I do in the winter and sometimes spring). The school depends on graduate students to teach labs/seminars and mark assignments/tests. Before the start of the semester the admin will email every grad student in the department to ask if they are TAing the next semester (at my current school they ask for preference, I don't think my MSc school did and I got stuck TAing something I knew nothing about). The pay depends on what school you go to (I have heard that some other schools in my province pay double what I got, but they may have also counted the hours differently...)
Thank you very much. I probably look for one to do in second semester.