Home / MRS-RCPSG Clinical PhD Studentship Application Guidance Notes
These Guidance Notes constitute part of an application for an Medical Research Scotland (MRS)-Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (RCPSG) Clinical PhD Studentship and should be read before completing your application for an MRS-RCPSG Clinical PhD Studentship. Any queries should be sent to applications@medicalresearchscotland.org.
1. What is a Medical Research Scotland (MRS)-Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (RCPSG) Clinical PhD Studentship? 2. What projects are eligible? 3. Who can apply? 4. What must the Administering Institution provide? 5. How many Supervisors can be appointed? Can they be from another institution? 6. Can I supervise more than one Clinical PhD Studentship? 7. What about other collaborators? 8. What about the student? 9. Will MRS-RCPSG Clinical PhD Studentships fund projects involving animal research? 10. What information does MRS require about ethics, regulatory issues and consents for the proposed research? 11. What funding do the MRS-RCPSG Clinical PhD Studentships awards provide? 12. What else does MRS provide? 13. Under what criteria will my application be assessed? 14. Who will assess my application? 15. How are applications submitted? 16. How do I complete an application? 17. Can I submit figures or tables with an application? 18. How do I sign an application and who has to sign it? 19. What happens after an application is submitted? 20. How do I accept an offer of an award? 21. How is a student appointed to an MRS-RCPSG Clinical PhD Studentship? 22. What happens at the start of the Clinical PhD Studentship? 23. When and how must progress reports be submitted? 24. How do we receive payments from MRS?
A three year fully funded (at Home fee rate) full time Clinical PhD Studentship designed to provide a first-class Clinical PhD Studentship programme to research into any matter relating to human health that is clinical or patient focused. These Clinical PhD Studentships are jointly funded by MRS and RCPSG. The Administering Institution must provide academic PhD training and career development opportunities and the training and project should enhance the prospects of the appointed Clinical PhD Student to pursue a future clinical academic career.
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Proposed projects must be academically stimulating and address a question of relevance to human health or disease which is clinical or patient focused. They can be in any discipline.
The application must be made by a recognised Scottish University/Research Institution (the Administering Institution) and will be the Institution in which the Clinical PhD student will be matriculated and which will award a PhD degree, subject to successful completion of that institution’s assessment and examination requirements.
A minimum of two suitably qualified Supervisors (the Principal and Second Supervisors); expertise, facilities and resources to support clinical or patient focused research; an approved academic PhD programme of study, including training and transferable skills development; and appropriate facilities to successfully complete the research. See also the Medical Research Scotland-Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow Clinical PhD Standard Conditions Applying to the Award of Medical Research Scotland Research Funding. ADD LINK
It would be advantageous for the appointed student if the Administering Institution had a Clinical Research Fellow’s training programme in which the student could partake.
There MUST be two Supervisors from the Administering Institution. There may be projects where the expertise of additional Supervisors is advantageous, in which case the student should be provided with clear guidance at the outset of the project as to the responsibilities of each Supervisor.
Additional Supervisors from an institution other than the Administering Institution can be appointed, but the additional Supervisor’s Head of Department or authorised signatory must also sign the application form. By doing so they are:
A Principal Supervisor can only hold one active MRS funded PhD Studentship at one time (an MRS-RCPSG Clinical PhD Studentship or an MRS PhD Studentship), though they can apply as Principal Supervisor for a subsequent MRS funded Clinical PhD Studentship to commence after the completion date of their current PhD Studentship. A Principal Supervisor can be Second Supervisor on another MRS-RCPSG Clinical PhD Studentship and/or MRS PhD Studentship. Supervisors can be a Second (or additional) Supervisor on more than one MRS funded Clinical PhD Studentship and/or PhD Studentship.
If the project is dependent on additional collaborations these should be outlined in the application form and a copy of a more detailed, signed letter of consent to that collaboration MUST be submitted with the application.
Consent letters must:
Prior to submitting the application, the Principal Supervisor must have identified a student to be appointed to the Clinical PhD Studentship, if awarded. The proposed student’s details must be entered at Section 6 of the Application Form. The student’s suitability to be appointed to the Clinical PhD Studentship and to conduct the proposed research will be taken into consideration when reviewing the application and making an award decision.
Applications which include a proposed student who has current affiliation with RCPSG are particularly welcome, though this is not a requirement. Successful students who are affiliated to RCPSG are welcome to take part in the activities of RCPSG.
If the application is successful, the Administering Institution is responsible for entering into any contractual agreement with the student. MRS and RCPSG does not have any contractual arrangement with the student and the award is made to the Administering Institution with the Principal Supervisor as the named grant holder.
The proposed Clinical PhD student must have been awarded their undergraduate medical or dentistry degree and must have completed their foundation training. It is expected that the proposed student will be at an early stage of their clinical medical or dentistry career and will be undertaking their specialist training, but applications with a proposed student who is at a later stage of their career are welcome. Please note there is a maximum PhD Student Clinical Salary that will be awarded (see Section 11).
It is expected that the proposed Clinical PhD student will have had some experience of research. The application form should provide evidence that they have the potential to successfully complete a PhD project that has a clinical or patient focus.
Yes, but wherever possible, procedures should be used which do not involve live animals. When it is essential to do so, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 must be scrupulously observed. There must be proper care, limitation of pain and use of the minimum number of animals to give valid results. Research proposals involving the use of animals must implement the principles in the cross-funder guidance Responsibility in the Use of Animals in Bioscience Research (http://www.nc3rs.org.uk/responsibility-use-animals-bioscience-research). Research proposals involving non-human primates must comply with the NC3Rs guidelines Primate Accommodation, Care and Use (http://www.nc3rs.org.uk/non-human-primate-accommodation-care-and-use). The species of animals to be used, the number of animals to be used and whether any genetically modified animals will be used or created must be specified when completing the application form.
Approvals and licences do not have to be obtained before an application for a PhD Studentship is submitted, but Supervisors and students carrying out research involving animals must hold the necessary licences (Project and Personal) from the Home Office and the project must have Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body (AWERB) approval before any work is done.
Approvals and/or licences do not have to be obtained before an application is submitted, but if one is awarded the Administering Institution must ensure that all necessary approvals and/or licences are obtained before any research requiring such approvals and/or licences is conducted. Details of those required must be provided in the application form.
Annual Researcher Development Events for all its Clinical PhD Students. These provide training and networking opportunities as well as social activities for the students. Students’ attendance at these is a compulsory component of their Studentship. MRS also provides public engagement opportunities – we take a keen interest in the students we support and pride ourselves on the supportive environment we offer.
Applications will be assessed against four broad criteria:
Expert peer reviewers including members of RCPSG Scholarship Committee and MRS Trustees will review the applications.
The Board of Trustees of MRS and members of RCPSG Scholarship Committee will use the peer reviewers’ assessment of the applications when making the final award decisions.
All reviewers will be required to treat discussions, documents or other information relating to the work of MRS, RCPSG and applications, in a confidential manner.
Individuals involved in making recommendations or award decisions must declare any conflict of interest, including inter alia, previous working relationships with the applicant(s), commercial conflicts or the intention to conduct similar research. Where a conflict is declared, the conflicted individual shall not be involved in any decision which requires to be taken on the application and shall not have access to any papers relating to the application nor be party to any discussions in relation to that application.
Reviewers’ and Trustees’ scientific and medical expertise may lie in a different specialism to that of your proposed research, which should be taken into consideration when completing the proposal: it is important to make the application understandable to scientifically literate but non-specialist reviewers.
Applications must be made using the prescribed forms (Clinical PhD Studentship Application Form and Clinical PhD Studentship Appendix Form, if applicable) which can be downloaded here. Once all parts of the Application Form are complete, the application (including any consent letters from collaborators, see Section 7) must be submitted as a single pdf file.
The Application Form must EITHER be printed, signed, scanned (including the Appendix Form, if applicable) and saved as a single pdf OR the Word document can be converted to a pdf, the Appendix Form (if applicable) and letters of consent from collaborators (if applicable) should then be inserted into the pdf and the pdf electronically signed. The final single pdf should be emailed as an attachment to applications@medicalresearchscotland.org.
The Principal Supervisor is primarily responsible for completing the application form and should download the Clinical PhD Studentship Application Form and Clinical PhD Studentship Appendix Form, if applicable, from here.
The following collaborators to the application should contribute to the relevant sections of the Application Form and/or sign the Application Form:
All sections of the Application Form must be completed, unless stated as optional. Your applications will not be considered if information is missing. If a particular section is not applicable to your application, please say so or select ‘Not applicable’ from the drop down options.
Many of the fields on the Application Form have been character-limited. Please be concise while remaining aware of the need for clarity to non-specialist readers.
Applications larger than 10MB will not be considered. If you choose to incorporate an image or a table in the separate Appendix Form, please ensure that the size and/or resolution of the inserted graphic has been reduced appropriately to ensure that the combined file size of both parts of the completed application does not exceed the 10MB application size limit.
When entering the name(s) of research institutions, the same format must be use eg University of Dundee, not Dundee University.
If absolutely necessary to support your application, up to two A4 sides of figures or tables can be submitted with your application using the prescribed Clinical PhD Studentship Appendix Form available here. The combined file size of all parts of the completed application must not exceed 10MB.
The application must be submitted as a single pdf. The Application Form must EITHER be printed, signed, scanned and saved as a pdf OR the Word document can be converted to pdf and electronically signed. The final pdf should be emailed as an attachment to applications@medicalresearchscotland.org. No additional documents, other than the combined Application Form and Appendix Form, should be included.
The application must be signed by the necessary individuals (Tier 1 and Tier 2 signatories; see below) by the published closing date for applications.
Tier 1 Signatories
The application must have been signed by all the following Tier 1 signatories and submitted by email by the published closing date for applications.
Tier 2 Signatories
The application must have been signed by all the following Tier 2 signatories and the Tier 2-signed copy of the application must be submitted by email within one week of the published closing date for applications.
By signing the application the signatories are:
An application that is not signed by the requisite individuals by the required dates will be considered withdrawn and will not proceed to review.
Eligible applications will be accepted for review and the Principal Supervisor will be notified of the outcome of their application by email. We anticipate applicants will be notified by the end of February. The Principal Supervisor is responsible for notifying the other parties to the application of the outcome of the application.
If your application is successful, the Principal Supervisor will be sent an Acceptance Form. The Principal Supervisor, Administering Institution Signatory and the proposed student must sign the Acceptance Form, agreeing to the conditions of the award and the Principal Supervisor must return a pdf version of the signed Acceptance Form, as an attachment, to applications@medicalresearchscotland.org.
The Administering Institution must appoint the student to the Clinical PhD Studentship and the Principal Supervisor must notify MRS once the student has accepted the Clinical PhD Studentship position.
At the start of the Clinical PhD Studentship, and each subsequent year of the Clinical PhD Studentship, the Administering Institution must advise MRS of the full cost of the Clinical PhD Student’s salary for the current year of the Clinical PhD Studentship. MRS will pay the Administering Institution the Clinical PhD Student salary and fees for the first year of the Clinical PhD Studentship. The Administering Institution is responsible for paying the student their salary.
The Principal Supervisor and Student will be notified at the start of the Clinical PhD Studentship when progress reports will be due. Report forms will be available to download from the MRS website.
Funds will not be released for the next year of the Clinical PhD Studentship until a progress report is received for the preceding year and the report is reviewed as satisfactory by MRS and RCPSG. Annual reports will be due before the anniversary of the Studentships to enable them to be review and assessed in advance of the next annual payment of funds from MRS.
The following reports are required.
At the start of each year of the Clinical PhD Studentship, the Administering Institution must advise MRS of the full cost of the Clinical PhD Student’s salary for the current year of the Clinical PhD Studentship. MRS will pay the annual student fees and salary to the Administering Institution, provided the previous year’s annual report has been scored as satisfactory by the MRS and RCPSG Scholarship Committee.
Other costs must be met initially by the Administering Institution, which should submit fully itemised quarterly invoices in arrears to MRS for Research Expenses, open access publication costs (if approved) and claims from the Travel Allowance for expenses for attendance at conferences/scientific meetings for reimbursement. Invoices must include the award reference number, the claim period and a fully identifiable description of the items being claimed.
All claims from the Travel Allowance component of the award must be accompanied by a Travel Allowance Claim Form which should include an explanation of the purpose and relevance of the travel to the PhD Studentship.
Payment of Research Expenses and Travel Expenses cannot be made in advance.
September 2024
