Completed applications (CVs and cover letters/personal statements) are forwarded to the primary supervisors of the project after the closing date, and the supervisors will select the candidate they wish to put forward to the NEEDL Management Board for interview based on factors such as research and other experience, educational background/academic track record, motivation for undertaking a PhD.

Nominated candidates will then be invited to a formal interview. The interview will take place via Zoom or Teams or a similar online platform.

The NEEDL BBSRC doctoral landscape funds approximately 20 studentships per year, which will be a mixture of CASE and non CASE awards.

UKRI have a comprehensive document outlining eligibility - please see Annex B of the UKRI Training Grant Guidance. https://www.ukri.org/publications/terms-and-conditions-for-training-funding/ukri-training-grant-guidance/#section-annex-b:-international-eligibility-criteria-for-ukri-funded-studentships-

Please note that according to UKRI rules, NEEDL may recruit international students up to 30% of the total cohort.

We would advise you to please check the information regarding English language requirements with the partner University you are applying to. This will not affect the progression of your application however if you were successful and an English Language certificate was required this may be added as a condition of your offer.

If you study in a country where English is not officially the first language you will need to check the list of countries which are exempt on the University English Language requirements. If the country is not on the list then you would need to provide and English Language test certificate.

Please note that a 'English Language Proficiency' letter is not normally accepted.

If you have studied a Degree or Masters in a country where English is officially their first language please check with the University you are applying to as an English Language Certificate may not normally be required.

The funding NEEDL receives is normally match funded by each partner institution, therefore students offered a studentship are ultimately funded 50% by BBSRC (UKRI funding) and 50% by the University they register to. In practice, successful students will receive a single stipend and research training support grant (RTSG) funding, and tuition fees will be paid on their behalf.

These funds (called a Research Training Support Grant) are available for buying lab consumables, travel to partners, conferences and similar. An RTSG fund is available for each student for the duration of the PhD.

Further information about NEEDL is available at this website: https://www.needl.org.uk/ . You may also contact the NEEDL team via email if you have any questions. In addition, for each NEEDL project advertised, the primary supervisor’s email address is noted on the FindAPhD advert and on the NEEDL website. Supervisors welcome enquiries from candidates

We strongly encourage you to speak with the project primary supervisor before you make your formal application. .

You will not be judged for having been out of academia, whether it is for work, caring duties, illness or anything else. Like everyone else, you will need a degree – however, there is no time limit on when this was awarded. We fully appreciate that experiences outside of academia can be a rich source of key skills that you would need for a PhD so be sure to think carefully about skills this experience has given you and make sure you tell us about this.

It is likely that the supervisor or interview panel might want to know what drew you back to academia, so use this time to show how passionate you are about research.

The easiest thing to do is to speak with the supervisor for the project you are interested in and ask them to send you the key literature for background on the project. If there is a specific paper you want to read and it is not freely available on the internet, you can either ask them to download it, or you can always ask the authors.

You will not be penalised for not having a Master’s qualification. However, NEEDL PhDs are highly competitive and the majority of successful applicants have a Master’s qualification. This is because of the experience a Master’s degree provides rather than the certificate. However, experience can equally come from many other sources, such as work, both academic and non-academic.

Please submit contact details for your referees only, using the application form. If required a standard email will be sent from the NEEDL administration team to your referee, requesting the reference prior to your interview, if you are offered one. We advise that you contact your referees to advise them that they may receive a reference request.

You will require two referees, one of which must be an academic reference. This could be an undergraduate or Master’s project/dissertation supervisor or personal tutor, but could also be a module director/organizer, or someone you have worked for in an academic context from your University.

If you are applying for a position with your current (or past) supervisors, you should not use them as a referee. Supervisors are also competing for funding, so there is a conflict of interest. If in doubt, your chosen supervisor can provide guidance on the most suitable referee to include.

A regular CV should be approximately 1-2 pages depending on how much experience you have (but please make sure to note all your experience).

The personal statement should state your project choices, and should include whatever additional information you feel is important to your application. You may wish to add why you are interested in the project or projects you have selected, and why you are choosing the particular institution or institutions to study at. You may also wish to note why you want to apply to the NEEDL partnership.

There are no formal word limits for your CV or cover letter.

Newcastle University is the administrative lead for the NEEDL Doctoral Landscape. NEEDL has a centralised system for candidate applications to the programme, and the Newcastle-based administrative team look after all applications, regardless of the partner University to which you are applying. This is why we ask for all applications to be emailed to needl@newcastle.ac.uk .

Every student and scientist has a different set of strengths and weaknesses. That said, a passion for the project is an essential part of being a successful PhD student and would be considered a basic requirement for any supervisor selecting their student. Do remember that there is some (but not endless) flexibility in what you actually do within the PhD project.

The interview will last no more than 30 minutes. The interview format will involve you giving a 5-minute presentation at the outset, using screen share mode on the online platform used, followed by around 25 minutes of questions from a panel of academics, who represent the NEEDL Management Board and who are not directly involved in the project. The presentation will be timed. The presentation should normally describe one previous research project that you have worked on, including a succinct description of what your contribution was to the research.

In case of any technical issues with the online platform, we ask for a copy of your presentation slides to be sent to the NEEDL administration team ahead of the interview date.

Following the interviews, the candidates are scored based on their applications and performance at interview. Once all scores have been completed and collated (each member of the panel provides their own scores), a Z-score is applied to standardise the scores, and candidates are ranked. Several factors are considered, including how many studentships are made available per institution (normally limited by the match-funding the University provides), how many CASE projects are applied to, the 30% cap of international students that NEEDL must adhere to under UKRI rules, and candidates’ project preferences. Once the NEEDL Management Board have considered these factors and the ranking list following interview, offers to candidates will be made accordingly.

This will be dependent on the project supervisor. BBSRC funding does not dictate any work schedule but requires that any difference from standard working patterns be agreed with your supervisor. It would be sensible to discuss this with them before you apply. The vast majority of supervisors will fully support a student's requirements but the project may have specific requirements, e.g. where lab work or fieldwork is necessary to complete the project.

NEEDL PhDs are funded by BBSRC/UKRI, so we must abide by UKRI guidance. Students may take on teaching or demonstration work, where this is compatible with their training and provided this is approved by their supervisors, in addition to a full-time studentship. Other paid work would require the consent of the supervisor and should not delay or interfere with your research training. You may ask primary supervisors about flexibility of the PhD; this varies depending on the PhD project.

PhDs may be studied full time or part time. We advise that you discuss potential part time options with the project supervisor before applying.