2012 President's Doctoral Scholar Awards

The University of Manchester has launched a significant £2.5m investment in PhD training with the creation of the President's Doctoral Scholar Awards (PDS awards). These prestigious awards are open to outstanding candidates of all nationalities seeking postgraduate research opportunities.

Within the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences, PDS awards will be allocated to applicants starting PhD or MD training places from October 2012. We aim to award up to 20 scholarships as part of our 2012 PhD recruitment round, which will include a number of collaborating schemes such as:

Based on the academic track record of applicants, and evidence of research potential, we will select our Presidential Scholars from successful candidates across our 2012 funding schemes. For this reason, PhD projects will not be listed as offering PDS awards at this stage. Instead, our most outstanding applicants will receive confirmation of their PDS status alongside confirmation of their PhD place and funding.

Candidates not eligible for the majority of our funding schemes due to nationality or UK residency requirements are encouraged to apply directly for PDS award support. Please refer to the guidance below.

PDS status will entitle our successful candidates to:

Attend a series of exclusive events - providing opportunity to meet the University of Manchester President and Vice Chancellor, interact closely with our academic community and network with other PDS students.
Benefit from international research leadership under distinguished scholars.
Become a PDS ambassador for the University.
Benefit from our extensive transferable skills training for PhD researchers.

Successful applicants will receive full scholarship support, including a maintenance stipend enhancement of £1, 000 per year above the minimum Research Council UK rate (currently £13, 590), coverage of the annual tuition fee and all research expenses.

Criteria

PDS award status will be offered to candidates with exemplary academic records able to demonstrate engagement with research and significant potential to develop as an independent academic researcher. The focus of the proposed research for the PhD/MD should hold significant scope in terms of impact from a societal, health or economic perspective.

Applicants must have obtained (or expect to obtain) a minimum first-class honours degree (or equivalent), and ideally hold a Masters-level qualification at merit or distinction. They should also be able to evidence early research potential. This may include contributions to publications/articles, promoting research to a wider audience, prizes/accolades for previous research work, setting up research collaborations with other groups etc.

Most importantly, candidates will be expected to demonstrate enthusiasm and commitment to their area of research and an ability to develop into an outstanding member of the Faculty research community.

How to apply

Applications for PDS funding are open across the Faculty. Our research activity covers a wide-range of disciplines impacting upon the medical, biological, health, clinical and psychological sciences. Full details on our research groups and activity can be found on our website:

Faculty of Medical and Human Science research

There are two routes by which you can apply for PDS support:

Submit an application for one of our funded PhD projects listed on our 'PhD Opportunities' iFrame: studentships and funding. You can search for suitable projects by keyword, subject area, research group or School in order to identify those of interest. The application process for each project will be clearly stated and you should follow this. In applying for a funded PhD project in this way you do not need to submit a separate PDS awards application. You will automatically be considered for PDS status with successful candidates being notified in April.
Apply by submitting the Faculty PDS awards application form below. You should only submit an application following this route if you are ineligible for our funded projects or have developed a separate research proposal in partnership with a supervisory team within the Faculty.

Candidates applying through this route must also hold a formal written offer for PhD/MD study within the Faculty by the time PDS awards are allocated in April. For this reason, applicants not yet holding an offer are encouraged to apply online at their earliest convenience. Please select the appropriate research area when prompted and clearly state the project title and academic supervisors associated with your training. PhD research areas reflect the School in which you will be based if successful such as 'medicine', 'psychology', 'pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences' etc. Applications for PhD/MD study should be submitted online:
- Apply online.
If you are unsure which PhD/MD programme to apply to please contact james.k.power@manchester.ac.uk for advice.

PDS Applications

Please download and submit the Faculty President’s Doctoral Scholar Awards application form:

PDS award application form (Word, 67 KB)

Alongside the application, candidates must also submit the following supporting documents:

CV
Official academic transcripts from your undergraduate degree (and Masters if appropriate)
Two references (signed, on official headed paper)
Supporting statement from the proposed primary supervisor for the PhD/MD (signed, on official headed paper)
Evidence of external sponsorship or alternative financial support (if applying for partial PDS funding)

Candidates may use the same references submitted in support of their PhD/MD application. The supporting statement from the primary supervisor of the PhD/MD should clearly demonstrate why you are an outstanding research prospect and would act as an ideal ambassador for the University.

The Faculty PDS awards application form and full set of supporting documents must be submitted by 5pm, Friday 6 April 2012. Please send your application, including all supporting documents, to:

James Power
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences
Room 3.44B, Simon Building
University of Manchester
Brunswick Street
Manchester
M13 9PT

james.k.power@manchester.ac.uk
+44(0)161 275 1436

Applications should be submitted electronically where possible but include signatures. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Please direct any enquiries to the contact above.

Successful candidates will be notified by the end of April 2012.

Further Information

Any enquiries on the application process or Faculty PDS awards scheme in general should be directed to the scheme co-ordinator, James Power at james.k.power@manchester.ac.uk.

Other PhD funding opportunities

Funded PhD projects are available throughout the year, for further details and to search for PhD opportunities, see: Studentships and funding.

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