The University of Sheffield
Research & Innovation Services

AStar Call for Proposals 2014-15

The Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) in Singapore, together with the University of Sheffield have a Research Attachment Agreement directed towards the education of PhD students. The Programme provides opportunities for students enrolled at the University of Sheffield to spend two years of the Programme at an A*Star Research Institute (RI) in Singapore and provides funding for the time spent in Singapore. A list of A*Star Institutes can be downloaded from the link on the right.

This prestigious programme is an opportunity for both new and existing research collaborations between the University of Sheffield and A*Star Institutes. Potential supervisors interested in the scheme who do not have a co-supervisor in mind should establish via the website that there is a lab at A*Star with the relevant research interests. If a proposal is successful, Research & Innovation Services will broker introductions via our colleagues at A*Star to put supervisors in touch with suitable co-supervisors (contact Deborah McClean, d.mcclean@sheffield.ac.uk).

Number of studentships available

At least five students will be accepted onto the programme to start in the academic year 2014-15.

Period of Study

Completion of all PhD studies is expected to be achieved by the end of month forty-eight (48) from the commencement of the relevant academic year, including the writing up period. It is expected that students will spend 2 years in Sheffield and 2 years in Singapore, the distribution of this time to be agreed by the supervisory team, taking into account the proposed research.

Supervision

Each student will be supervised by a Supervisor from the University of Sheffield and a Co-supervisor from one of the A*Star RIs, which will make up part of the student's Supervisory Team as required by the University of Sheffield's Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes.

Funding

For each student admitted to the 4-year programme, A*Star will provide the following financial support, whilst the student is in Singapore:

Fee scholarships and a stipend at standard RCUK level (£13,726 in 2013-14) will be provided by the University of Sheffield while the student is fully registered at Sheffield. Please note that there is no funding for RTSG, conference expenses, or additional bench fees while in Sheffield.

Eligibility

Proposed student candidates should meet the following criteria:

• a first degree with at least Upper Second Class Honours (or equivalent), or predicted at this level.
• be British or European Union citizens (classified as Home or EU fee status)
• not in receipt of any other scholarship funding for their PhD.

Application Procedure

Applications should be made by academic supervisors using the application form which can be downloaded from the link on the right hand side of this page (students interested in applying should contact a prospective supervisor/ academic department). Applications should include the student’s CV, an academic reference and either transcripts of their marks to date and/or a copy of their degree certificate or other evidence of their academic results. Please combine all these documents into one PDF file and email to pgr-scholarships@sheffield.ac.uk by 12 noon on 29 November 2013.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation from the University of Sheffield, who is designated as the Programme Director, will propose to A*Star a list of candidates suitable for the Programme and in consultation with A*Star will decide on the final selection of students for the Programme.

We expect to be able to let supervisors and students know if their application has been successful by the end of January 2014.