MRC PhD student recruitment 2018-19 Research councils are moving away from supporting individual students in individual HEIs and towards creating cohorts of students, supported by their supervisors and their institutional support teams across HEIs. LSHTM and SGUL are in a partnership for MRC funded PhD training

The LSHTM – SGUL partnership Shared research priorities Global infectious diseases Causal inference from large data sets Evaluating complex interventions Collaborative research Antimicrobial resistance Genomic medicine Understanding asthma Cardiovascular disease Built environment, lifestyle and health Complementary training Genomic Medicine Quantitative skills Interdisciplinary skills

Enhanced training for future research leaders Academically excellent Highly motivated Outward looking

Who is eligible to join the cohort? Individual training fellows Population health scientist fellows Strategic skills training fellows CASE students Doctoral training programme students MRC Unit students registered at LSHTM/SGUL - MRC Gambia, MRC Uganda, Clinical Trials Unit Х Staff funded on MRC research projects

The current MRC cohort at LSHTM/SGUL 2016-2017 academic year: 35 students 11 Vaccine DTP 9 MRC LID 5 MRC CTU 3 CASE/MRC tech 2 MRC Gambia 2 Population Health fellows 1 MRC Uganda 1 MRC Farr Institute 1 Strategic skills fellow 2017-18 academic year 17 MRC LID students (including 4 studentships from Industrial Strategy round)

MRC London Intercollegiate DTP (MRC LID) Up to 12* new students per year for at least 3 years Each funded for 3.5 years Includes a fully funded 3 month internship Collaboration/co-supervision between SGUL and LSHTM strongly encouraged Strategic skills: Quantitative skills; Interdisciplinary skills; whole organism biology Three themes: Global infectious disease, quantitative skills for big data; complex interventions

CASE Awards Bid submitted for iCASE funding Outcome due October 2017 MRC are keen for projects to be converted to CASE 3 months at non-academic partner organisation Research costs of £1,400 p.a. Supplement to stipend £2,500 p.a. SMEs do not have to make financial contribution (staff <250, turnover <50m Euros)

Research Degrees Committee Research Degrees Committee Governance Student Representation Research Degrees Committee (LSHTM) Registration, performance monitoring, progression and regulation Research Degrees Committee (SGUL) Registration, performance monitoring, progression, regulation Progress monitoring reports Progress monitoring reports Annual report Board Strategic direction, programme management Supervisor and project selection Student recruitment and support Student Council Student Council Board Membership Academic Leads (Chair/Deputy Chair) Pro-director of Teaching & Learning, LSHTM Head of Graduate School, SGUL Theme leads Student representatives Secretariat: PGR admin lead, SGUL and LSHTM

Management Board Members: Academic Lead/Co-Chair For Pro-director Teaching & Learning, LSHTM Head of Graduate School, SGUL Theme Leads, Global Infectious Diseases Theme Leads, Quantitative Skills for Big Data Sets Theme Leads, Evaluating Complex Interventions iCASE/ Industrial Engagement Leads Student Representatives Neil Pearce, Rachel Allen Suzanne Filteau (EPH) Rachel Allen (SGUL) Julian Ma (SGUL) John Edmunds (EPH) David Strachan (SGUL) Fizz Williamson (EPH) Steve Cummins (PHP) Cally Roper (ITD) Alexis Bailey (SGUL) Ian Douglas (EPH) Jenny Thompson (LSHTM) Jade Bearham (SGUL)

What does the studentship provide? Fees paid at UK/EU rate Stipend for UK resident students for 3.5 yrs Research support grant of £5,300 per year Access to a pot of flexible funds to pay for additional research costs, networking activities, additional training, field work, internships, visits etc

Recruitment Timetable 2018-19 (indicative) Supervisor project form sent out – week beginning 11th Sep 2017 Supervisor projects submitted - week beginning 23rd October 2017 Board meeting to select projects – 3rd November 2017 Advert live – week beginning 13th November 2017 Closing date for student applications – 14th January 2018 Supervisor assessment of applications – 4th February 2018 Board meeting to shortlist applicants – week beginning 19th February 2018 Interviews – March 2018

Submitting potential projects No more than one project per person as primary supervisor You may be named as a co-supervisor on one additional project You may not be named as a primary supervisor if you were the primary supervisor for a successful candidate in the previous round. Collaborative projects (i.e. LSHTM/SGUL joint supervision) are particularly encouraged but single institution projects are also eligible. Consider potential for CASE conversion Projects and supervisors will be vetted by the DTP management board and supervisors will be informed whether their project has been selected or not Accepted projects will be advertised (week beginning 13th November 2017)

Criteria for assessing project and supervisor suitability Does the project address an important issue in Global infectious disease? Quantitative analysis of big data? Complex interventions? Does the project provide high quality training in one or more strategic skills areas? Quantitative skills Interdisciplinary skills Whole organism biology Does the supervisory team have a good track record in research and in student supervision and meet institutional requirements? Can the project be carried out within the student’s £5,000 pa research budget or Do the supervisors have access to sufficient additional research funds to fund the project?

Student shortlisting: 1 Potential students may apply for only one project Primary supervisors will receive copies of all applications received for their project In discussion with the co-supervisor, they should indicate for each application whether they would be willing to supervise this student or not Supervisors are encouraged to make contact with strong candidates at this stage Supervisors should resist the temptation to support only students who they know (e.g. current or prior BSc/MSc students or RAs) List returned to mrclid@lshtm.ac.uk.

Student shortlisting: 2 The DTP Management Board will review all the applications. Those classed as suitable by supervisors will looked at in detail and the very best candidates will be shortlisted for interview. Any apparently high quality candidates that have not been ranked by the supervisors will be looked at in particular detail and, if necessary, we may revert to supervisors for an explanation/reconsideration.

Interviewing Interviews will take place over two days. Day One: A briefing of the programme, Guided tours of LSHTM and SGUL Meeting with their potential supervisor Social event with current MRC cohort Day Two: Interviews by DTP board Two panels: lab /non-lab Two panels meet together to decide on final allocation

Distribution of MRC LID Awards 1 SGUL 2 LSHTM/SGUL 6 LSHTM 2017-18 Awards 5 SGUL 2 LSHTM/SGUL, 1 SGUL/LSHTM 9 LSHTM