Welcome

We are delighted to welcome you onto the MIBTP programme which starts on Monday 23rd September 2024.

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 .

Registering as a Visiting Student

Every student will be registered at their home university, and must also register as a Visiting Student at the other four partner universities. It is imperative that you register at the University of Warwick prior to Induction Week. You will receive further information about registering for the other partner universities during Induction Week.

 

Registering at the University of Warwick as a Visiting Student

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

• 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" - £1,595 for 24/25)
• 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 contacted 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 other partner institutions as a Visiting Student

Guidance on registering at the other partner institutions is available in your MIBTP Student Handbook.

Forms and Links for registration at partner institutions:

University of Birmingham registration form

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" - £4,786 for 24/25)
• 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 £3 per day, to the maximum amount of £9 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. 

Stipend payments

Your studentship will pay you an annual tax-free stipend at the UKRI recommended rate; in the academic year 2024-25 this will be £19,237 (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. Information for international students on setting up a UK bank account can be found here: Opening a UK bank account (warwick.ac.uk). For students who don't have a UK address, the University has information on alternative digital options here: International Digital Banks (warwick.ac.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.

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.

Mathematics / Biology & R Revision (optional)

In Week 1, 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.

• 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 will be shared with you closer to the start of term.

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.

Alex Baker (Warwick iCASE)Link opens in a new window	Kristiana Brink (Leicester MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Sara Calzolari (Birmingham MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Nic Coltman (Birmingham iCASE)Link opens in a new window	Emma Condon (Leicester MIBTP)Link opens in a new window
Sophie Edwards (Birmingham MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Chris Graham (Warwick MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Matt Harwood (Warwick MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Amanpreet Kaur (Leicester MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Cathal Meehan (Warwick MIBTP)Link opens in a new window
Ollie Odell (Birmingham iCASE)Link opens in a new window	Parisa Pordelkhaki (Birmingham MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Anjana Radhakrishnan (Warwick MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Luke Richards (Warwick iCASE)Link opens in a new window	Melissa Shaw (Leicester MIBTP)Link opens in a new window
Jessica Scivier (Birmingham MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Rory Cunnison (Leicester MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Thomas Maccreath (Warwick MIBTP)Link opens in a new window	Liz Nabb (Birmingham iCASE)Link opens in a new window

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 23rd September
• University of Birmingham Welcome Pages
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• University of Leicester Website
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• Aston University Welcome Weeka new window
• Harper Adams University Welcome Information

Buddy Scheme

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!