Anyone done / experience of PhD?

[LeftmostAardvark]

I'm just finishing a pgce and have got some very strong grades in the masters credits, to the point where I started discussing PhD with the uni tutors who encouraged me to put in a quick email to one of the professors concerning my specific expertise (from a previous career but very relevant to education). This has attracted interest so I'm meeting next week to discuss further.

Does anyone have experience of going through this process? Anything I should know - funding, what the trigger points are for getting approved (e.g. The proposal has a fair chance of being able to generate fees through consultancy for the university - is this a plus point), etc.?

Thanks.

[LeftmostAardvark]

Thanks, that is lots of useful info. I've come at this at a bit of an angle, so it isn't an advertised position, more a first meeting to discuss a position paper I sent to the recommended professor.

I think it will be a long road ahead, but if this meeting goes well, what are the next steps? What I'm proposing has fee earning implications for the university, how much of an asset would that be in their choice to take my proposal on to the PhD, irrespective of whether I derive any income from that consultancy directly (although I hope I would be on the consultancy team in some format). Also, how much flexibility is there in terms of gaining funding? Is it at the university's discretion or through funding bodies like esrc?

Basically, I'm trying to get a handle on what is likely to come out of the meeting and what the next steps might be, so I can anticipate what I need to prepare and try and get a roadmap of hurdles in my head before I achieve the goal of starting on a funded PhD.