INTERDISCIPLINARY PhD SCHOLARSHIPS 2013/14 CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
Deadline for applications 5pm on 30 Nov 2012
Aim
To establish interdisciplinary supervisor/student networks across the University. The PVC for Research and Innovation invites applications from academic staff for student projects to start in the 2013/14 academic year.
Proposals are expected to address ambitious PhD interdisciplinary research topics that are likely to open new avenues of research and new interdisciplinary collaborations across the University. The panel members will be looking for new networks that either involve people who have never worked together before or integrate disciplines that result in novel partnerships.
Scheme
Network:
• Each network must include a supervisory team of 6 academics from at least 3 different discipline areas;
• Each student must have a lead supervisor and co-supervisor from different disciplines;
• The 6 supervisors and 3 students will in effect form a small research group. The nominated lead/principle investigator should put in a single bid for the network;
• Proposals should include an explanation of how they will prompt wider collaborations and how the network will attract new funding to the university;
• Collaborations with industry/ external organisations are welcome but not required;
• Academics who are currently involved in supervising a student in one of the cross-cutting student networks are not eligible to apply.
Students:
• Students will receive a scholarship which will provide tuition fees at UK/EU rate, an annual maintenance amount equivalent at the standard RCUK rate, and a contribution towards research and travel expenses of £1,000 p.a.;
• Scholarships will be tenable for 3 years full-time;
• Students will be expected to submit by month 48 at the latest to encourage timely completion.
• Student applicants to the selected projects must hold at least an upper second class degree or equivalent.
Remit of the networks
Unlike previous rounds of the competition networks can be in any thematic area and do not have to align to any existing RCUK grand challenges. However, colleagues may wish to consider the following topics:
• Resilience – including but not exclusive to resilient economies, sustainable environments and secure societies.
• Engineering for Life – defined as engineering solutions for medical or biological challenges.
Application Procedure
Applicants must complete the Interdisciplinary Scholarship application form which is available to download from the box on the right.
The deadline for proposals to be received is November 30th at 5pm. Proposals should be sent by email to pgr-scholarships@shef.ac.uk
Enquiries about these networks may be made to the Research Development Section:
Dr. Mel Bradford (m.knight@sheffield.ac.uk) or Dr. Paula Eves (p.eves@sheffield.ac.uk)
Assessment Procedure
A panel chaired by the PVC (R&I) will consider the proposals and select those to support. The outcome will be known early January and the successful networks notified.
Proposals will be assessed according to the following criteria:
• The added-value of the proposal. In what way does the project provide an opportunity for collaboration between disciplines which would not otherwise exist?
• Whether the proposed supervisory team has a suitable track record. Proposals from new supervisors are welcomed, but proposals must demonstrate that there is suitable experience within the team. Supervisors should be contracted at the university up to the end of the scholarship.
• Likelihood for the project to result in longer-term more extensive collaboration in the topic area.
• Proposals on ‘resilience’ and ‘engineering for life’ will not be viewed more favourably during the assessment process.
It is expected that the selected projects will be advertised for student recruitment by the end of January 2013 with a closing date at the end of February to encourage early recruitment.