The call for project proposals (starting October 2018) for the MRC Discovery Medicine North Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) is now closed.
Successful applicants will be informed in December 2017 of the outcome.
If you have any queries please contact the DiMeN DTP Manager, Dr Emily Goodall: dimen.dtp@sheffield.ac.uk
For future calls:
Project requirements
Project proposals should include details of a lead supervisor (who must be based at one of the partner institutions: Universities of Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle or Sheffield) with a minimum of one co-supervisor. Interdisciplinary research and cross-institutional partnerships are welcomed but not essential. Inclusion of non-academic partner organisations are also strongly encouraged. Supervisors should pay particular attention to the overarching objectives of the partnership, which are outlined in brief below. Academic supervisors will be expected to engage with the work of the DTP and to contribute to the training of the DTP cohort of students through participation in workshops, seminars and online journal clubs.
The DTP welcomes proposals involving appropriate collaborations, including the with the following associate partners:
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Research Complex at Harwell (RCaH), Harwell, Oxfordshire
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MRC Harwell, Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire
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Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR Singapore)
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MRC/Arthritis Research UK Centre for Integrated Research into Musculoskeletal ageing (CIMA), Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield
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MRC Centre for Drug Safety Science, Liverpool
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MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases, Newcastle
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MRC/NERC Centre for Genomic Research, Liverpool
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MRC/BBSRC Centre for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle
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Wolfson Centre for Personalised Medicine, Liverpool
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NIHR BRC in Ageing and Chronic Disease, Newcastle
Project and student selection process
The appointment of students to this DTP will be through a two-stage process. Supervisory teams formed within or between the four partner institutions will be invited (this call) to propose projects for 2018 entry. These will be scored by the DiMeN Management Board and the 50 highest scoring projects will be advertised for application by appropriate students; we will be advertising more project opportunities than we can support within the funding envelope. In the second stage, shortlisted student applicants will be assessed at interview by the DiMeN Management Board and a final selection of supported project/student combinations will be made on the basis of student quality.
Project proposal process
Project proposers should fill in a case for support, presented in a way that is understandable to a non-specialist.
Proposals will be evaluated by a cross-institutional panel against the following equally weighted criteria.
1. Excellence and novelty of the project
2. How the MRC DTP student would add value to this collaboration
3. How the project will address MRC strategic skills priorities (https://www.mrc.ac.uk/documents/pdf/mrc-strategic-skill-priorities/)
4. How the project will address MRC and Government Industry strategy (http://www.mrc.ac.uk/publications/browse/strategic-plan-2014-19/)
5. Quality and engagement of the supervisory team, including strength of publications in the relevant field
6. Quality and strength of non-academic partners will be considered where appropriate