PhD: completing the application form2023-10-04T18:17:29+00:00

Completing the application form – CoL Centre PhD programme 2024

Please read the following candidate instructions carefully before starting your application.

Register on the academic recruitment system

Applications are handled by the Francis Crick Institute’s academic recruitment system. After registration you will receive an email to activate your account. Please note that these emails sometimes get blocked by email/ university security systems or end up in spam folders.

Please make sure that your email address used to register is one that you will check regularly throughout the application process as this will be how we will contact you.

Complete the application form

Once you have logged onto the recruitment system go to the ‘2024 CoL Centre PhD Programme’. The online application form has 9 sections to fill out: personal details, project choice, statement, experience, education, other details, references, equal opportunities and declaration.

You can move from section to section by clicking on the left-hand links. You can save your progress so you can return to and complete the form at a later date. However, if you move to a new section of the form without completing all the required fields and hitting the ‘save’ button, changes will be lost.

The online application site will close on 9 November 2023, noon. However, you are encouraged to submit your application as soon as possible, to allow sufficient time for your referees to supply their references. Please note that the deadline for references is 13 November 2023, noon. After the reference deadline, your application will be available to the following people: members of the CoL Centre Training team and Crick Academic Training (junior researchers) team for the purposes of checking eligibility; and all members of the supervisory teams of the projects chosen by you and also, potentially, relevant members of their groups for the purposes of shortlisting.

Completing the application form

Fill in your name in the correct format, capitalising the appropriate letters (e.g. Joe Bloggs instead of joe bloggs), as this will be used in all future correspondence with yourself and your named referees.

This is a competitive programme where studentships will be awarded to the best applicants based on information submitted on the application form, references and interview performance. Please note that we will not fund all projects.

When you complete the application form you will be asked to select up to three PhD projects in ranked order, with 1 being your most preferred choice. Before completing the application form, please read about the available PhD projects carefully.

You do not need to contact supervisors to discuss the project(s) but you are welcome to do so if you wish.

Please pay particular attention to this section, and please tell us what science areas you are most interested in and how this relates to the positions/ supervisors you have selected (max. 200 words); why doing a PhD is important to you (max. 80 words); how you think your broader academic knowledge and research experience will help you during the PhD (max. 80 words); and something about you and your life experiences beyond your studies (max. 80 words).

Note: you can re-size the text boxes to make them larger by using the drag handle in the bottom right.

Please list any relevant research experience that you have, either as part of or outside your university degree course, starting with the most recent. Include details of host lab, supervisor, dates, brief description of project and your work on the project. (Maximum 400 words for each experience)

Note: you can re-size the text boxes to make them larger by using the drag handle in the bottom right hand corner of the text box (note that some browsers, e.g. Internet Explorer have a scrollbar instead).

Please complete carefully, giving as much information as possible.

If you are studying/ have studied at a non-UK university, please give your university’s standard name in English.

If you are studying/ have studied for an integrated bachelors and master’s degree, please enter this in the undergraduate section. We will know from the title that the master’s is integrated.

In the section on your courses/ modules taken, please state each course/ module with credits and the final marks/ grades achieved for the course/ module in order to give us as complete information as possible. Please enter each course/ module as a new paragraph. If you are studying/ have studied at a non-UK university, please detail your grades and provide information about your university’s grading system.

Note: you can re-size the text boxes to make them larger by using the drag handle in the bottom right hand corner of the text box.

You will be asked to upload a copy of your CV – this must be a PDF file that is no larger than 2MB.

In this section you can provide additional information about yourself and to help us advertise our PhD programme in the future.

We will request references from 2 or 3 scientists/ academics who are familiar with your academic work and/ or research experience and who can judge your potential as a PhD student.

Please select your referees carefully: one must be your current or most recent employer/supervisor, at least one must be able to comment on your university academic record, and at least one must be able to comment on your previous research experience.

Please ensure that your referees’ contact details, especially their email addresses, are accurate and enter only one email address per referee. Please note that we do not accept personal references, or references from personal email accounts. We will not normally make any changes to referee details after you have submitted your application.

The deadline for reference receipt is 13 November 2023, noon. Your application may be considered if references are not received by the deadline, however, we will not invite any applicants to interview without 2 references in place. It is therefore important that you check that your referees will be able and willing to provide a reference within this timeframe before you submit your application.

We will contact your referees by email as soon as you submit your application, asking them to complete an online reference form. When you submit your application please contact your referees to confirm that they have received our reference request email (these emails sometimes get blocked by email/ university security systems or end up in spam folders).

Please help your referees meet this deadline by informing them of your application and encouraging them to submit their reference soon after receipt of our email. You and your referee will receive an acknowledgement email once each reference has been submitted.

Note: if you leave your application until the closing date your referees will only have a short time to return your reference.

This section is for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) monitoring purposes and the information you provide will be anonymised and will not be available to the recruiting supervisory teams.

Please review your application carefully and complete any missing fields. Once all the mandatory fields are completed, you will be able to submit by clicking the submit button at the bottom of the screen.

Once you have submitted your application you will not be able to make further changes. You will be sent an email confirming that you have submitted your application.

Please note that these emails sometimes get blocked by email/ university security systems or end up in spam folders, so please check your spam/ junk folder.

Apply here!
PhD projects available

Privacy and data protection

Information on how we collect and handle your personal data

Applications are handled by the Francis Crick Institute’s academic recruitment system. The Crick collects and processes personal data during your application for a fellowship; for example, your user account details and the personal data in your application form.
We process this personal data to administer your application and to help us decide whether to enter into a fellowship agreement with you. As part of this process, we share your application with prospective co-supervisors from our programme partners who will also assess your application. We do not share equal opportunities data for this purpose.

Should you be successful in your application, the Crick will share your personal data with our security-screening partner and with the relevant programme partner where your supervisors work so that they can process your admission.
The Crick will keep your personal data either for six months following the selection process, or for the duration of any fellowship that we may offer.

You have certain rights over your personal data, such as a right to access, correction or erasure, which you may exercise by contacting the Crick at data-protection@crick.ac.uk or write to us at General Counsel, The Francis Crick Institute, 1 Midland Road, London, NW1 1AT.

You may also raise your concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Please read the Crick’s privacy policy for further information.