Project pro-formas

** Project call for studentships starting in Sept 2025 is now OPEN ** – Deadline: Midday, Monday 16 September 2024

IMPORTANT: For this year, we are in the situation of waiting for funding approval from BBSRC for SWBio4 (outcome to be announced September).  If successful the first intake of students for SWBio4 will be in September 2025, and as such we need to proceed with our normal recruitment cycle starting with the annual project call for this anticipated first intake.

Our partnership includes the following organisations:

  • Core partners: Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, and Rothamsted Research
  • Associate partners: Marine Biological Association (MBA), University of Plymouth, Swansea University, SETSquared Bristol, UCB Pharma (Slough), University of the West of England (UWE)

Note: Where the form indicates where the project will be based, this is the institution where the student is expected to spend the majority of their PhD project in person.  This will also be the submitting and lead institution for the project.  For standard with associate partner studentships, the core partner should be listed (this is just for administrative purposes).

This year, there is just one single project pro-forma which captures the 3 separate pools of studentships.  Further information about what is required and eligibility for each of these 3 pools of studentships can be found below.

Standard studentships

  • Eligible to act as main supervisor: Supervisor based at any core partner (Rothamsted-based studentships: referred to as Rothamsted supervisor)
  • Eligible to act as second supervisor: Any core partner or associate partner. (Rothamsted-based studentships: referred to as academic supervisor – needs to be based at a university core partner)
  • Local supervisor required if second supervisor based at a different institution: To meet institutional supervisor requirements (Rothamsted-based studentships: need a local supervisor at the university core partner and at Rothamsted)
  • Opportunities to act as other supervisor/collaborator: Any core partner or associate partner.
  • Student location: Students will primarily be based at the core partner institution.

CASE studentships

Projects in collaboration with a CASE partner.  The CASE placement is expected to be directly related to the PhD project and contribute to the thesis.

  • Eligible to act as main supervisor: Supervisor based at any core partner or UWE (Rothamsted-based studentships: referred to as Rothamsted supervisor)
  • Eligible to act as second supervisor: Any core partner or associate partner. (Rothamsted-based studentships: referred to as academic supervisor – needs to be based at a university core partner or UWE)
  • Local supervisor required if second supervisor based at a different institution: To meet institutional supervisor requirements (Rothamsted-based studentships: need a local supervisor at the university core partner and at Rothamsted)
  • Opportunities to act as other supervisor/collaborator: Any core partner or associate partner.
  • Student location: Primarily based at the main supervisor’s institution but will spend between 3-18 months on a placement with the CASE partner.
  • SME’s within SETSquared Bristol* and UCB Pharma (Slough) are eligible to act as a CASE partners (subject to meeting BBSRC CASE requirements).

*SETSquared Bristol are a business incubator for many new and emerging SMEs (small or medium-sized enterprises).  As part of our new partnership with SETSquared Bristol, we hope to support future and current collaborations with SME’s, of whom could act as CASE partners.

Standard studentships with associate partner

Projects designed in full collaboration with our associate partners.

  • Two lead supervisors: One lead supervisor based at core partner and one lead supervisor based at an eligible associate partner.  (Academic supervisor required at collaborating university if both lead supervisors are not based at a university)
  • Two local supervisors required at each of the lead institutions: To meet institutional supervisor requirements
  • Opportunities to act as other supervisor/collaborator: Any core partner or associate partner.
  • Student location: To spend ~50% of their time at each of the lead institutions
  • Eligible associate partners: Marine Biological Association (MBA), University of Plymouth, Swansea University, University of the West of England (UWE).

Completing the online project pro-forma

A few points to note on completing the online project pro-forma:

  • A number of sections to be completed are listed as ‘required’ to ensure these are completed.  Please just list N/A where you have no text to include.
  • There is a ‘finish later’ option so you do not need to complete the project pro-forma in one sitting (ensure you click the ‘finish later’ link at the bottom of the page to save your document).  A unique link will be provided which you can share with others to help you work collaboratively.
  • We recommend using a word document for text heavy sections incase there are any technical issues with the online platform.
  • You can download a copy for your records once you have submitted your project pro-forma.  Of note: do not download a copy of your completion receipt as will remove the option of downloading your responses.
  • Once you have submitted you will not be able to make any further changes to your project, so please ensure that the copy you submit is the final copy.
  • Only project pro-formas submitted by the online project call survey will be accepted.