Welcome information for New Students
Welcome
We are delighted to welcome you onto the MIBTP programme which starts on Monday 25 September 2023.
The information on this page is relevant to ALL students from the five MIBTP collaborative universities, Aston, Birmingham, Harper Adams, Leicester and Warwick; please take the time to read though it carefully before joining us. This page is being updated as and when new information becomes available. If you have any questions please contact .
Induction Week
The Induction will take place from Monday 25 September to Friday 29 September (inclusive).
- A full weeks induction schedule will be put together for you and shared before you arrive at Warwick.
- All MIBTP students will be issued with a 14" MacBook Pro. We strongly advise that you purchase a bag or sleeve to protect the machine from damage. 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. The MacBook must be returned to Warwick at the end of your studentship.
- You will be given the option to attend mathematics training during the induction week. This will help prepare you for the taught modules which will begin the following week. More information, and suggested pre-reading can be found further down this webpage.
Pre-Arrival
All students will be attending Induction and Term 1 training at the University of Warwick, and therefore must register at Warwick prior to Induction Week. Registering at Warwick will enable you to gain access to University buildings, library and IT facilities etc.
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 throughout the studentships. You should already be registering with your home university, but please ensure that you also register at all other universities before you join us, to give adequate time for your details to be processed. These separate processes are outlined below.
Registering as Visiting Students
Every student will be registered at their home university, and must also register as a Visiting Student at the other four partner universities.
Registering at the University of Warwick as Visiting Students
How to apply
- Please complete a Warwick Postgraduate Application (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
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You will not be required to submit any documents, as this exercise is purely to provide you access to the University of Warwick systems
Enrolment and Registration at the University of Warwick
To complete your enrolment and registration at the University of Warwick, please see the steps on the Warwick Enrolment page. If you have any queries, please view the FAQs for Registration and Enrolment or email and copy in .
Financial Information
The financial information requested during the enrolment process is a little unclear; please select the following options:
- Student Source of Funding: BBSRC: Biotechnology & BioSci Research Council
- Tuition Fee: Payment options box, please select “I wish to pay my fees in one payment"
- Sponsor name: MIBTP
- Department / Contact name: School of Life Sciences
- Sponsorship amount: (Enter the amount mentioned as "Balance Remaining" - £1,570 for 23/24)
- Agreement with internal department: MIBTP will cover the full payment of fees for the duration of my studies
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 not provide for this.
International Students
The University of Warwick Immigration Services department requires an extra step to cover the VISA requirements of international students: a letter from your home university. The MIBTP admin team will sort this step for you, but you will not be able to finish the Enrolment process until this step is completed. You will also be contact directly by our Student Immigration and Compliance team to advise you on documentation and Right-to-Study checks. Please email and your local MIBTP admin contact if you have any queries.
Registering at Aston University as Visiting Students
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To apply to Aston University as a visiting student, please go to the Aston Health and Life Sciences webpage
- Select ‘Making Your Application’ from the purple navigation bar (or scroll down towards the bottom of the page until you reach the ‘Making an Application’ section).
- Click on ‘Select Online Application Form’, which presents you with a series of drop-down boxes. Please complete the drop-down boxes as demonstrated in the below screenshot below, ensuring that you select ‘HLS Research Exchange Student (MIBTP) 2023/24’ from the ‘Select Degree Programme’ drop-down box.
- Once you have entered this information then select ‘Apply for selected Degree Programme’. This will then take you to a new screen when you can register on to the system to create a new account as a new user.
- As part of the process you will be asked to provide various documents to support your application. However, for the purposes of your visit to Aston University you only need to provide the following information*:
- A copy of your current, up to date, CV/resume, including details of your PhD course
- The project title (You can simply put ‘MIBTP Visitor’ here)
- Confirmation of your PhD course of study (or a letter from your PhD institution/MIBTP), this can be uploaded against the degree transcript section. This only needs to be uploaded if available, please do not worry if you do not have such a letter to hand
- A scan of your current passport
*Note: For any other documents that you are requested to provide please upload a word document saying not needed. Please do not include reference information; instead upload a word document saying not needed. When we receive your application, we will contact you if we feel any other information is required.
If you experience any difficulties, please contact the Aston University PGR Admissions TeamLink opens in a new window
University card - Cards should be sent out to you but if you have not received a card by the time you need to visit Aston, you can request one via SolveLink opens in a new window, on the IT Helpdesk intranet page (you'll need your Aston login to do this).
Registering at the University of Birmingham as Visiting 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 10th 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 as Visiting 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 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 as Visiting Students
In order to register at Leicester, please complete the online application form; please ensure that you indicate that you are an MIBTP DTP visiting student on the form. Leicester will also require a scanned copy of your passport for their records; please forward to the admissions team at once you have submitted your online application, if you are unable to upload it to your 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 and Library Services Desk, which is located in the David Wilson Library.
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).
Information for Warwick Students
This information is specifically for students registering with the University of Warwick as their home university.
How to Apply
- 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.
- 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 not provide for this.
Enrolment and Registration at the University of Warwick
To complete your enrolment and registration at the University of Warwick, please see the steps on the Warwick Enrolment page. If you have any queries, please view the FAQs or email and copy in .
Financial Information
The financial information requested during the enrolment process is a little unclear; please select the following options:
- Student Source of Funding: BBSRC: Biotechnology & BioSci Research Council
- Tuition Fee: Payment options box, please select “ I wish to pay my fees in one payment".
- Sponsor name: MIBTP
- Department / Contact name: School of Life Sciences
- Sponsorship amount: (Enter the amount mentioned as "Balance Remaining" - £4,712 for 23/24)
- Agreement with internal department: MIBTP will cover the full payment of fees for the duration of my studies.
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 not provide for this.
Parking at the University of Warwick
Once you have enrolled at Warwick, you will be registered as a Life Sciences PhD student, which means that you will be 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 hereLink opens in a new window.
Travel between universities and accommodation
As you know from our website and from your interview, MIBTP involves an intensive first year of training. Our first term of training (October-December) is predominantly held at Warwick and will take place in person.
As Term 1 activities are predominantly held at the University of Warwick, students who will be based at Aston, Birmingham, Harper Adams, or Leicester you might wish to consider finding accommodation close to the Warwick University, either e.g. in Coventry, Leamington Spa, or Kenilworth for the first term.
- 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 our Locations pageLink opens in a new window for information regarding travel between Universities and nearby amenities.
Stipend payments
Your studentship will pay you an annual tax-free stipend at the UKRI recommended rate; in academic year 2023-24 this will be £18,622 (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 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
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.
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.
Induction Week 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.
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.
Interactive Training 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 several elements to the module:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Data analysis: to allow you to apply your new programming skills to specific problems in bioinformatics and epidemiology.
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Science Communication: This module will help students gain the skills and confidence required for effective science communication. A series of workshops will run throughout the Autumn Term, organised by the University of Leicester.
Students will also have free time each week for independent study. The computer programming and statistics modules are assessed by written tests. The Data Science and Applied Analysis modules are assessed by coursework.
In December of term 1, you will also undertake:
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 be run by Aston university during week 11, and will be held remotely online.
A term 1 teaching schedule has been put together for you.
Further Information
Student Blogs and Training Year Q&A
The following question and answer pages were created by MIBTP students. 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.
| Parisa Pordelkhaki |
Anjana Radhakrishnan |
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Postgraduate Events and Information
Each university will have welcome information outlining various events and services available to PhD researchers. There may also be information on non-MIBTP welcome activities that you may wish to attend. Please follow the links below to find out more:
- The Welcome to Warwick webpages include further information for postgraduate researchers as well as details on the week of postgraduate welcome events (outside of MIBTP) taking place at the university from 25 September
- University of Birmingham Welcome PagesLink opens in a new window in a new windowLink opens in a new window
- University of Leicester Website
opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window - Aston University Welcome Weeka new windowLink opens in a new window
- Harper Adams University Welcome Information
Buddy Scheme
Starting for the 2023 Cohort, we are running a Buddy System to provide new students with an experienced buddy to provide peer support throughout their first year with the programme. To sign up for support from current students, please read the Buddy Guidelines and then fill in this Sign-Up form for new students.
Social Media
We have both a TwitterLink opens in a new window and LinkedInLink opens in a new window where we share the achievements and successes of our students, as well as a group for our current and former studentsLink opens in a new window, so please connect with us there and tag us in your posts!
Data Privacy Policy
Please ensure that you review the MIBTP Data Privacy PolicyLink opens in a new window to understand how we process your personal dat