Pre-placement

• Once you have confirmed with the student about undertaking a PIPS within your organisation, the student will need to complete a PIPS placement description with input from the PIPS supervisor.  This will need to be submitted to the DTP by the student for approval.  To confirm approval from the PIPS host, the PIPS supervisor will either be copied into the e-mail or their signature include in the placement description.
• For guidance on designing a placement and requirements to take into consideration, please refer to the ‘Key points for organising a placement‘.
• Following approval, a SWBio DTP PIPS legal agreement will be initiated by the registered university.  This will then need to be approved by your organisation before being signed by the registered university, your organisation and the student. This can be a lengthy process (between 1-2 months) so please ensure your legal teams respond in a timely manner. Importantly, the placement cannot commence until this legal agreement is signed by all parties.

During the placement

• The SWBio DTP Hub and the student’s PhD supervisor will be in contact with the student at monthly points via e-mail.  However, if there are any issues during the placement, please do contact the SWBio DTP Hub and the local Implementation Group Representative of the student’s registered university as soon as possible.
• The student will receive a visit from their PhD supervisor during the placement (this is recommended to take place midway through).  As part of this the PhD supervisor will meet with the listed PIPS supervisor briefly to see how the placement is progressing, suggestions for improvements and for student welfare support.  The student is responsible in arranging this visit at a time that is mutually convenient for both the PIPS and PhD supervisors.

After the placement

• After the placement, the DTP Hub will send a follow up email to the PIPS Host including a survey link asking for feedback and expressions of interest to take on future DTP students and input on a new career mentorship scheme. 
• The student will also be required to submit a PIPS placement report, both to BBSRC and SWBio DTP, to monitor, review and report on the PIPS scheme.  The SWBio DTP will also include a section of the report on restricted area of the website, only accessible for SWBio DTP students (as highlighted in the report).  This is for students to share their experiences and encourage others to undertake a placement with the organisation / within a similar area.
• The student will also feedback their experiences to their student cohort (via a presentation or a poster) at our SWBio DTP Annual Careers Conference.
• If you wish to take on students again in the future, we very much welcome this and you can advertise to our students through our website.  Many of our students find PIPS through these advertised opportunities.
• Template for advertising PIPS opportunities to our cohort of students: PIPS advert template >>

Forms and reports mentioned in the above can be viewed via the relevant link on our ‘placement forms’ webpage.

Please contact the SWBio DTP Hub (swbio-dtp@bristol.ac.uk) for further information about hosting a PIPS student.