The MRC DTP: what it means for you John Kirby Alison Tyson-Capper

History In the past the MRC allocated students to Newcastle in proportion to our grant income We have been receiving 3 studentships per year – Doubled to 6 using local money These students treated as a small “cohort” – MRC Mission days (with all MRC PhD students) – Additional funding

The MRC’s 2015 training review Universities have been divided into 3 categories on the basis of MRC income: – Group A (10 members) – Group B (20 members) – the rest… Newcastle lies towards the top of Group B

The consequence for studentships Group A are large enough to go it alone Group B universities must form strategic partnerships to generate meaningful MRC student cohorts – If the partnership is too small it may not be funded – If too large, any student allocation may be stretched too thin for any individual member to benefit We formed a partnership with Sheffield, Leeds and Liverpool – All the Group B within the N8 “powerhouse”

Strength of our partnership The MRC requires each DTP to focus on: – 3 or 4 areas of demonstrable research strength – Excellent training provision aligned with Institution strengths MRC/BBSRC priority skills areas Our DTP is called “Discovery Medicine North”

Discovery Medicine North (DiMeN) Doctoral Training Partnership in Discovery Medicine over the Lifecourse. Newcastle Liverpool Sheffield Leeds MRC/ARUK Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing (CIMA) White Rose studentship networks 4 th Largest MRC funding allocation in UK 6 th Largest Wellcome funding allocation in UK Most MRC CASE studentships in UK (Joint with UCL) academics in combined doctoral academy MRC/BBSRC Centre for Ageing and Vitality NIHR BRC in Ageing and Chronic Disease MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases MRC Centre for Drug Safety Science Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine MRC/NERC Centre for Genomic Research Bateson Centre for Lifecourse Biology MRC Centre for Medical Bioinformatics BBSRC DTP

Our (broad) research foci Two main scientific themes: – Genetic influences on health – Ageing and disease Cross-cutting theme: – The best treatment for every patient Stratified medicine Precision diagnostics and molecular pathology Whole body imaging 63% of Partnership MRC income maps within these areas (80% of Newcastle income).

Leeds QS Bioinformatics ID Molecular Imaging Newcastle ID Human Imaging QS Genomic Medicine WP Applying the 3Rs WP/QS Molecular Pathology Sheffield QS Image processing WP Model Organisms ID In silico medicine Liverpool QS Genome research ID in vivo imaging Harwell WP Mouse Genetics ID Molecular Imaging MRC Strategic Skills WP =Whole Organism Phys ID = Interdisciplinary Skills QS = Quantitative Skills Strong training in MRC Priority Skills

Stephen Renshaw Administrative Lead Stephen Renshaw Administrative Lead Strategy Board John Kirby Samantha Aspinall Graham Kemp Strategy Board John Kirby Samantha Aspinall Graham Kemp Management Board Student representative from each RO PGR leads from each RO Training Lead from each RO Management Board Student representative from each RO PGR leads from each RO Training Lead from each RO External Advisory Board Local PGR committees DTP management

The outcome The MRC has awarded our DTP 12 x 42 month studentships per year for 3 years Doubled using local money to 24 per year – All studentships will carry the MRC brand There is no pre-determined allocation of students to each institution – All studentships are held centrally by the Partnership – Students will be allocated using a 2-step competition we know this works well for our BBSRC DTP.

The competition Stage 1 – Supervisory teams form Existing MRC support is not a requirement We estimate 20% will be cross partner in year 1 – Supervisors propose projects In future we will hold sand pit(s); no time in 2015 There is a web-based pro forma to guide you through the process – sKYtUzf9bF1JaWMqEMx1Y/viewform?usp=send_form sKYtUzf9bF1JaWMqEMx1Y/viewform?usp=send_form Deadline: 27 th November.

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If you are an early career academic, please use this box to indicate how the studentship will help you to establish your group

Project selection Project proposals will be scored centrally by the DTP for: Scientific excellence and novelty How will this studentship add value to the partnership? How will the project address MRC strategic skills priorities? How will the project address MRC priority areas? Quality and engagement of the supervisory team with DTP objectives All projects above a quality threshold are supportable and will be advertised – We will advertise more projects than we can finance Students will apply directly to supervisors.

Student selection Stage 2 – Supervisors draw up shortlist and proceed to interview Interview is attended by a DTP representative for uniformity The best applicant is scored using a pro forma Important: supervisors do not offer the studentship – Details are fed back to the DTP Management Board – A final list of successful students is agreed – Supervisors are informed that their project/student combination has been successful – Successful students register using the normal university portal Become students of the lead supervisor’s institution At Newcastle, they will be hosted by a Research Institute and our Graduate School as normal.

The cost Total cost per studentship ≈ £82,000 Established supervisors: – MRC will pay 50% – Faculty will pay 25% – Supervisor/institute responsible for 25% Early career academics (NURFs, Fellows, etc): – MRC will pay 50% – Faculty will pay 50%.

The benefit A prestigious MRC studentship Consumables budget (≈ £4K per year) Opportunity to build scientific collaborations Access to scientific facilities at 4 leading universities Enhanced student training activities Access additional MRC “flexible funding” to support: – High cost courses, laboratory and industry visits, etc – High cost experiments (in vivo skills, facility access charges, etc) – Career development (bridge to first post-doc).