2020-21 Recruitment
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GW4 BioMed MRC Doctoral Training Partnership 2020-21 Recruitment The Student Application Process Frequently Asked Questions FAQs for Students Contents The GW4 BioMed MRC DTP ................................................................................................................. 3 Who We Are ....................................................................................................................................... 3 What We Offer ................................................................................................................................... 3 Eligibility ................................................................................................................................................. 4 Residency Requirements .................................................................................................................. 4 Academic Requirements .................................................................................................................. 4 English Language Requirements ..................................................................................................... 5 Funding .................................................................................................................................................. 5 The Application Process ....................................................................................................................... 5 Stage 1: Applying for an Offer of Funding ......................................................................................... 6 Stage 2: Applying for an Offer of a Place ........................................................................................... 7 Data Protection ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Application Process ........................................................................................................................... 8 If you become a student on one of the Programmes ..................................................................... 9 Accessing your personal data .......................................................................................................... 9 Contacts ............................................................................................................................................... 10 Appendices .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Key Dates ........................................................................................................................................ 12 Selection Criteria ............................................................................................................................. 15 Application Form Template ............................................................................................................ 16 Recruitment 2020-21 2 The GW4 BioMed MRC DTP Who We Are The GW4 BioMed MRC DTP is an exciting and dynamic PhD project, which aims to develop the next generation of medical researchers. The DTP operates across four research-intensive universities (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter), providing students within our programme access to the combined research strengths, training expertise and resources of each institution. As such, many DTP projects are co-supervised across two or more of these universities, allowing students to join existing and emerging research partnerships. What We Offer The GW4 BioMed MRC DTP offer competitive, fully-funded studentships in one of our three research themes: • Infection, Immunity and Repair. • Neuroscience and Mental Health. • Population Health. All projects within our programme reflect on the collective strengths of the DTP: • Quantitative skills (including mathematical modelling). • Using data for discovery. • Interdisciplinary skills and approaches (including physics, engineering, chemistry and health economics). Students in the GW4 BioMed MRC DTP have access to a broad range of training opportunities across all four universities in addition to bespoke training specific to students within the programme that spans the three strands of our training programme: • Research skills (e.g. Poster Presentations, Advanced R and Statistics and Small Group Teaching). • Professional and career development skills (e.g. Project Management and Science Entrepreneurship). • Opportunities to broaden horizons (e.g. placements, research visits, public engagement internships and clinical exposure). Recruitment 2020-21 3 Recruitment 2020-21 4 Eligibility GW4 BioMed MRC DTP studentships are available to UK and EU applicants. Please note that international students are not eligible to apply. Residency Requirements To be eligible for a full award (fees and stipend) from a Research Council, a UK or EU student must have no restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the studentship. EU students who have been resident in the UK for at least three years will still be eligible for funding even in the event of a no-deal Brexit (please see Universities UK for more information). The DTP has additional funding from the partner universities to support a limited number of EU students who do not meet the UK residency requirements, providing they meet the criteria for a fees-only award. For full details on eligibility, please refer to the Terms and Conditions of Research Council Training Grants. Academic Requirements In addition to those with traditional biomedical or psychology backgrounds, the DTP welcomes students from non-medical backgrounds, especially in areas of computing, mathematics and the physical sciences. Further training can be provided to assist with discipline conversion for students from non-medical backgrounds. UK applicants for a studentship must have obtained, or be about to obtain, a First or Upper Second Class UK Honours degree. EU students will need to have gained the equivalent qualifications outside the UK in an area appropriate to the skills requirements of the project. Applicants with a Lower Second Class degree will be considered if they also have a Master’s degree or have significant relevant non-academic experience. Recruitment 2020-21 5 Recruitment 2020-21 6 English Language Requirements If English is not your first language, you will need to have achieved at least 6.5 in IELTS (and no less than 6.0 (Bath) or 6.5 (Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter) in any section) by the start of the programme. Please refer to the relevant university for further information: • University of Bath English Language Requirements. • University of Bristol English Language Requirements. • Cardiff University English Language Requirements. • University of Exeter English Language Requirements. Funding A studentship with the GW4 BioMed MRC DTP comes with the following funding: • Full UK/EU tuition fees. • A stipend in line with UKRI recommendations. • A Research and Training Support Grant (RTSG) of between £2-5k to support your research and training needs. • A £300 annual travel and conference grant. The Application Process There are two stages to the GW4 BioMed MRC DTP application process and both stages of this process will need to be completed prior to starting your project. Stage 1: Apply to the GW4 BioMed MRC DTP for an Offer of Funding. Stage 2: Apply at the university where your project’s lead supervisor is based for an Offer to Study. For the Key Dates for this year’s recruitment round, please see the Appendices. Recruitment 2020-21 7 Stage 1: Applying for an Offer of Funding •You will need to read through the project descriptions carefully on our website (https://www.gw4biomed.ac.uk/available-projects-2/) and select up to three projects to Selecting Your apply to, ranking them in your order of preference. Project/s •You will then need to submit an application via our online form. Please note that the online application does not allow for drafts to be saved. As such, to help you with your application, a copy of the application questions and the selection criteria can be found in Submitting an Application the appendices. •After the closing date, all applications to the DTP will be anonymised and reviewed by a theme-specific panel, which will represent all four institutions. Following this review Student process, up to 60 candidates will be invited to interview. Shortlisting •Shortlisted students will need to arrange an informal interview with the lead supervisor of each project they have applied to in order to determine a suitable match between applicant and project. These interviews can be in person, via telephone or by Skype but Informal Meeting will need to take place by 9am on Wednesday 15th January 2020. •Shortlisted students will then be invited to interview, which will take place in Cardiff towards the end of January. These interviews will be run by a theme-specific panel and will include representatives from across all four institutions. Skype interviews can be arranged for those Formal students unable to attend in person. Interview •Following the interviews, panel members will meet to select approximately 18 applicants to award with a GW4 BioMed MRC DTP studentship. Projects will be allocated based on the rank order of students. Therefore, if your first choice project has already been taken by a higher- Student ranked applicant, you will be offered