How to apply

Main Recruitment Round

EASTBIO DTP invites applications for UKRI BBSRC-funded 4-year PhD studentships for PhD projects, including Collaborative projects with non-academic partner organisations, for a start in the autumn of 2023. EASTBIO PhD projects are currently available across our partner institutions -- Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Stirling, JHI, MRI and SRUC.

From October 2022 onwards, EASTBIO invites applications from candidates with a minimum of 2.1 undergraduate degree or equivalent. EASTBIO is committed to recruiting students from a broad and diverse range of backgrounds and ensures equality, diversity and inclusion principles throughout our recruitment process. We will consider and review all candidates on the basis of their academic and professional experience, knowledge and skills, and we will assess each application on the basis of academic merit and potential, motivation and fit to the EASTBIO programme.

Statement from the EASTBIO DTP Management Group
“We understand that our applicants may have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways and we are prepared to take such mid-term effects into consideration during our recruitment decisions.”

Student eligibility guidance:
UKRI-funded studentships are open to students worldwide and will cover tuition fees at the UK rate, plus a stipend to support living costs and an annual research grant of £5,000 for the first three years of the PhD research. Please note that UKRI has recently announced an increase of its minimum stipend levels in response to the ongoing cost of living crisis. The increased stipend of £17,668 full time equivalent has come into effect from the 1st of October 2022 and will apply, with annual increments, to the new intake of students starting in autumn 2023.

The proportion of international students appointed through the EASTBIO DTP is capped at 30% by UKRI BBSRC.  All students must meet the eligibility criteria as outlined in the UKRI guidance on UK, EU and international candidates. This guidance should be read in conjunction with the UKRI Training Grant Terms and Conditions, esp. TGC 5.2 & Annex B.
 

Closing date 5 December 2022
We encourage early applications and enquiries.

 

Guidance for all EASTBIO applicants

 

BEFORE YOU APPLY
 

  • Read this guidance carefully.
  • Check your eligibility for the EASTBIO funding scheme.
  • Check Find-A-PhD for all EASTBIO available projects and read the application guidance on the Project Advert you are interested in carefully.
  • Contact the PhD Project Supervisor (name appearing first on the advert) to discuss your application with them.
  • Download all the required EASTBIO forms from this page and start completing them.
  • Contact two of your referees - academic or professional - to ask them if they agree to provide a reference for you; download the EASTBIO Reference Form, fill it with your details and forward it to them to complete, according to the guidance provided on the Project Advert. It is your responsibility to inform your selected referees about: (a) the deadline by which they need to send their reference; (b) the institution hosting the project(s) you are applying for; (c) an email address for queries.
  • If you have any questions, first contact the local administrator, if mentioned on the Project Advert, or one of the institutional contacts, listed below.

 

TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION
 

  • After you have approached the project supervisor, download and complete the online EASTBIO Equality, Diversity and Inclusion survey; the survey will automatically generate a Unique Number that you should copy and paste on the relevant section of your EASTBIO Application Form.
  • Download and fill in the EASTBIO Application Form. If you apply for more than one EASTBIO projects, submit a separate application to each institution hosting these projects (max of 3 EASTBIO projects in total).

Your application for an EASTBIO Project is to the Institution hosting that Project, so please follow the process specified in the relevant Project Advert. Note that some institutions may require additional documents to those required by EASTBIO.

  • Check with your referees to ensure that they have all the information they need and they are able to submit their reference for you within the deadline for applications.

 

SUPPORT WITH YOUR APPLICATION
 

Make use of the following mechanisms for support that EASTBIO provides:

  • Application Process Flow Chart
  • FAQs
  • Q&A drop-in sessions: EASTBIO will run a series of 1-hour online sessions open to applicants who have queries about the application process. Before you join any of the sessions below, please register via this link. You can drop in for any of the sessions below, taking place via Teams between 13:00-14:00 (UK time) on the following dates. Please contact EASTBIO if the following dates and time are not suitable for you and you'd like to speak to a member of the team about your application.
     

27 October 2022

10 November 2022

14 November 2022

28 November 2022

1 December 2022

8 December 2022

 

AFTER YOU SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION
 

EASTBIO will conduct online interviews per thematic area in February 2023. We will then proceed to make PhD offers to successful candidates and we will notify candidates who were either unsuccessful, or added on to the EASTBIO reserve list. EASTBIO offers and notifications will be issued after the EASTBIO Management Group completes the selection process in March 2023.

 

USEFUL CONTACTS:
 

If If you have specific queries about your application, the PhD project you are interested in, or questions linked to the documentation that you will need, please use the links below to contact the local administrator.