We are delighted to welcome you onto the MIBTP programme which starts on Monday 26 September 2022.

This page is constantly being updated when new information becomes available; if you have any questions not covered on this page, please do contact the MIBTP team.

Induction (week 0 - week commencing 26 September 2022):

• Induction will take place from Monday 26 September to Friday 30 September (inclusive).
• A full weeks induction schedule will be put together for you.
• All MIBTP students will be issued with a laptop (spec to be confirmed). We strongly advise that you purchase a bag or sleeve to protect the machine from damage. (Please note that the laptop remains the property of the University). We also suggest that you insure the laptop but please ensure that you inform your insurer that the machine is the property of the University of Warwick.

Pre-Arrival at the University of Warwick (non-Warwick students)

As you will be completing your term 1 training at the University of Warwick and visiting Warwick periodically during your studies for cohort meetings and potentially mini-projects etc we would like to register you at Warwick as visiting students. Registering at Warwick will enable you to gain access to University buildings, library and IT facilities etc.

Please note - Any costs associated with travel to the UK to begin study, student visa costs and health surcharge must be covered by you directly as MIBTP funding does provide for this.’

How to register

• Please complete a Warwick Postgraduate ApplicationLink opens in a new window (course code: P-C1PBA: Life Sciences PhD (MIBTP: Non-Warwick students only))
• Qualifications: Please complete this section as this information will be required for creating your JeS record (BBSRC information database)
• References: Please leave the reference section blank (or enter not applicable) as we do not require references to be submitted. If you enter referee email addresses an email will automatically be sent to the referee requesting a reference.

• Please note that you will not be required to submit any documents, as this exercise is purely to add you into the Warwick system, so that you can gain access to the university etc.

Pre-Arrival at the University of Warwick (University of Warwick students)

• It is important for you to have received (and accepted) an unconditional offer of a place at Warwick before your start date. If you haven't yet received an unconditional offer please ensure that any conditions set out in your offer email are satisfied as soon as possible.
• International students may require a student visa. Information with regards to this process can be found on the UoW website.
• Please note - Any costs associated with travel to the UK to begin study, student visa costs and health surcharge must be covered by you directly as MIBTP funding does provide for this.

Enrolment at the University of Warwick (all students)

Below are the tasks you need to complete as part of enrolment. You will receive an email from the enrolment team 4-6 weeks before your course start date, or within a few days of accepting your unconditional offer if this is later, asking you to complete all of the tasks below. Please do not try to complete Course Registration until you have received this email.

All students will also register at Aston, Birmingham, Harper Adams and Leicester to allow for easier connectivity when attending these universities for masterclasses and cohort events. Please ensure that you have registered at all 5 universities before you join us, to give adequate time for your details to be processed.

Registering at Aston University (non-Aston students)

Registering at the University of Birmingham (non-Birmingham students)

In order to register at Birmingham, you will need to complete the Birmingham enrolment form and return it to the Research Student Administration team via email. Birmingham will also require a scanned copy of your Biometric (photo) page of your passport for their records; please include this when you email your form.

If you require a student route visa, please also provide a scan of your Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) card, and/or entry visa stamp (vignette).

University card - your card will be posted to you if you have completed the online registration form by 10^th September giving a UK address. Otherwise, you can collect it from the Welcome Hub on the Green Heart, in the centre of campus.

Registering at Harper Adams University (non-HAU students)

Please contact the PGR team with the following information so that they can email you an individual link to register. In the subject line please use the text MIBTP registration:

• Full Name
• Date of Birth
• Email address
• Contact telephone number

The postgraduate admissions team can also be contacted via pgroffice at harper-adams dot ac dot uk or telephone (01952 815075) should you have any issues.

University card - Ensure that you have fully enrolled and uploaded a photo for your student ID card. When you are visiting campus and would like to collect your card, please email the PGR Office and they will make the necessary arrangements.

Registering at the University of Leicester (non-Leicester students)

In order to register at Leicester, please complete the online registration formLink opens in a new window; please ensure that you indicate that you are an MIBTP student on the form. Leicester will also require a scanned copy of your passport for their records; please email this to the admissions team once you have submitted your online application. The Leicester PGR admissions team will then make contact to confirm your registration.

Please ensure that you log into your Leicester IT account straight away or your password will expire; if this does happen, you will need to contact Leicester IT by email or telephone (0116 252 2253) in order to reset it.

You may receive an automated email asking you to attend the university in order to show your identification; MIBTP students do not need to do this and you can ignore this email.

University card - You can collect your Leicester University ID card at any time from the Student Services Centre, which is located on the second floor of the Percy Gee BuildingLink opens in a new window and the opening hours are 11am to 3pm, Monday to Friday.

Parking at the University of Warwick

As an SLS registered PhD student, you are eligible to use the car parks on the Gibbet Hill campus as well as the other car parks across the university for a fee (currently £2.50 per day, to the maximum amount of £7.50 per week):

• In order to do this, you need to set up autopay and add your car details (via manage vehicles) on the car parking portal. The cost is taken from your card automatically after each visit.

• You can see details of car parksLink opens in a new window online in advance to help you plan your journey.

• Please see the car parking websiteLink opens in a new window for further information.

• There are various public transportation options for getting to Warwick, including bus, train and shuttle. This information can be found on the travel directionsLink opens in a new window page on the Warwick website.

Travel between universities and accommodation:

You will see from the foregoing that you will need to attend a university away from the one you are to be registered at for significant periods of year 1. In particular, in Term 1 you will need to be able to attend Warwick for all the training as part of the taught modules. We hope you will not restrict your choice of masterclass to one university and you must take at least one of your mini-projects away from your place of registration. Transport for some collective activities may be provided, but you will need to organise daily or weekly travel to suit the choices you make.

• In recognition of the need for extra travel and/or short-term accommodation in year 1, MIBTP will add £850 to your year 1 stipend in order to off-set unusual costs.
• Whilst we cannot source accommodation for you; we do provide some useful information with regards to finding local accommodation for each university.
• See current student blogs (below) for ideas about how best to plan accommodation and travel during the training year.

Stipend payments

Your studentship will pay you an annual tax-free stipend at the UKRI recommended rate; in academic year 2022-23 this will be £17,668 (paid monthly in advance).

University of Warwick students:

In order to receive your monthly stipend payments, please ensure that you submit your bank details to student finance in good time; the first payment will be made around 1st October (you will need to have completed enrolment before you can enter your bank details). Students should enter their UK bank details online as follows -

• Login to http://warwick.ac.uk/evision
• From your Student finance page select the “Providing Your Bank Details” tab on the left
• Then click on the “Collecting bank details for payments to students” screen.
• Select the "PG Payments (payments for all PG students except PGCE)" Awards from the drop down list and continue to enter your bank sort code and account number.

Once bank details are uploaded students cannot change them without contacting student finance first to delete what’s online before entering new information. Students should email pgscholarships@warwick.ac.uk if they need to amend their bank account details.

Aston, Birmingham, Harper Adams and Leicester students:

You will be contacted by your registered university with details on how to set up your stipend payments.

UK bank accounts for International students

Please note that you must have a UK bank account in order to receive stipend payments. Traditional UK accounts require a UK home address, however some banks offer overseas accounts and there are online only accountsLink opens in a new window students can open in advance of moving to the UK. Please note that the University does not recommend any one account for students to use. Students should also be aware that not all online banking solutions are protected by a recognised financial regulatory body (e.g. the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK); please consider this when making your decision. However, such accounts are useful as a short term option ahead of arrival in the UK and setting up a full UK account for your ongoing needs.

Pre-Arrival mathematics / biology & R revision (optional)

During induction week, you will receive mathematics training in order to prepare you for the taught modules which begin the following week. Due to the intensive nature of this training, we suggest that you look over some of the material below in order to prepare yourself:

Khan Academy
Introduction to functions
Differentiation introductionLink opens in a new window
Differentiation rulesLink opens in a new window
Integration introductionLink opens in a new window
Integration rulesLink opens in a new window
ProbabilityLink opens in a new window
Introduction to statisticsLink opens in a new window
Hypothesis testing introductionLink opens in a new window
Hypothesis testingLink opens in a new window
Vector algebraLink opens in a new window

and/or:

MIT Open Courseware
ProbabilityLink opens in a new window
DifferentiationLink opens in a new window
IntegrationLink opens in a new window

R revision

If you feel the need for further instruction, we recommend the text book Mathematics for Biological ScientistsLink opens in a new window.

For students from a non-biological sciences background who would like to prepare themselves for the biological element of the training, we would recommend the text book Molecular Biology of the CellLink opens in a new window.

Taught modules schedule

The Quantitative skills module takes place in term 1 (October to December). This module provides training in quantitative skills that you will use in your PhD projects. There are four elements to the module:

1. Computer programming: to provide you with basic knowledge of the programming language R and give you the skills and tools to be less dependent on existing software.
2. Statistics: to introduce you to statistical methods you will meet frequently in the biosciences, and provide you with tools to apply them yourself in R.
3. Data Science: to introduce you to the core principles of machine learning and artificial intelligence, and allow you to explore how these can be exploited in bioscience.
4. Data analysis: to allow you to apply your new programming skills to specific problems in bioinformatics and epidemiology.

Students will also have free time each week for independent study. The computer programming and statistics modules are assessed by written tests (this year these will be taken online/remotely). The Data Science and Applied Analysis modules are assessed by coursework.

In December of term 1, you will also undertake the following modules:

Science Communication: This module will help students gain the skills and confidence required for effective science communication. It will take place during week 10 at the University of Leicester (it is likely to run online this year).

Responsible research and innovation: Students will explore the RRI toolkit and examine Citizen Science, Open Access, Public Engagement, Publication Ethics, Equality and Diversity and Gender Equality in research and innovation. This will take place at Aston university during week 11 (this is likely to run online this year).

A term 1 teaching schedule has been put together for you.

Student handbook

• 2022/23 student handbookLink opens in a new window 
• 2022/23 student handbook for CASE studentsLink opens in a new window - (industry collaboration studentships)

Email

• Please ensure that the MIBTP team has a current email address for you; if using an UG university email address, please update your contact details before this expires.
• From induction week, all contact from the MIBTP team will be made via your Warwick email address. If this is not your first choice of email address, please ensure that a forward is set up from your Warwick address to avoid missing any important communication.

Student blogs - training year Q&As

The following question and answer pages were created by current MIBTP students of the programme. They answer the most common questions regarding the MIBTP programme and provide tips and ideas for organising accommodation, mini-projects and PIPS. It is worth reading all of them, not just those which seem to correspond to you best (e.g. same University, department) as they are short and all contain valuable insights.

Induction week slides

• Welcome briefing

Postgraduate events / information

• The Welcome to Warwick webpages include further information for postgraduate researchersLink opens in a new window as well as details on the week of postgraduate welcome events (outside of MIBTP) taking place at the university from 26th September;
• The University of Birmingham offer similar information on their welcome pages;Link opens in a new window
• This information for Leicester students can be found on the University of Leicester websiteLink opens in a new window.
• Welcome information at Aston University can be found on their websiteLink opens in a new window.
• Harper Adams University welcome information can be found on their welcome pagesLink opens in a new window.

Twitter

Linkedin

Make contact with other MIBTP students via the MIBTP Students Past and PresentLink opens in a new window Linkedin page.

Data Privacy Policy

Please ensure that you review the MIBTP Data Privacy Policy to understand how we process your personal data.

Any other queries?

If you have any other queries, please contact the MIBTP Officer at any time.