Research
Dear Sir or Madam,
You have shown yourself to be a supporter of students interested in
scientific research. We would like to bring to your attention to the
NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Biomedical Scholars Program. This is a relatively
new graduate program characterized by a unique approach to doctoral
training. Since 2001, NIH scientists, along with their colleagues in
Oxford and Cambridge, have created a partnership PhD training program
that enables students to access the phenomenal biomedical research
resources of these world class institutions. Every student admitted to
the program is fully funded for the length of training.
When compared with traditional U.S. PhD programs,
the NIH-Oxford-Cambridge partnership is designed to significantly reduce
the time it takes to earn the doctoral degree. Our partnership students
generally earn their degrees in four years, and graduates are easily
obtaining excellent post-doc positions, faculty appointments, and
positions with biotech companies, to name a few of the opportunities
awaiting these highly qualified individuals.
As we work to recruit the Class of 2009, we will be searching for highly
self-directed students with significant research experience who are
ready to focus on a particular dimension of biomedical research in their
chosen fields of study. Each year, we receive applications from the
nation’s top science students. Additionally, the NIH has cultivated
agreements with the Rhodes Trust and the Marshall Commission, enabling
these talented scholars to extend their master’s degree programs into a
PhD with a U.S. lab component. The program also enrolls Goldwater,
Churchill and Gates scholarship recipients and is compatible with the
NIH MD/PhD Intramural Partnership Program. This program offers training,
activities and funding for MD/PhD students who conduct their PhD research
in the intramural research program of the NIH in preparation for a career
as a physician-investigator in basic or translational science. Check the
MD/PhD website
(http://oxcam.gpp.nih.gov/prospectiveStudents/MD_PhD_ProgDesc.asp)
for additional details.
Students admitted to the program choose a research project from a
pre-existing list of collaborations (see our web site for the list) or
are free to design their own project, often bridging different
disciplines. They write a detailed research proposal during their first
summer in the program and begin their thesis research immediately. We
require that Scholars spend two years at the NIH and two years in the UK,
working in the labs of their chosen mentors. They earn the doctoral
degree from whichever UK institution they select for their doctoral work.
The application deadline for 2009 is December 15th, so please forward the
attached email along with the flyers to any interested students whom you
may know. We would also greatly appreciate it if you would post the flyers
at appropriate locations at your institution.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. More information
can be found at the program website
(http://oxcam.gpp.nih.gov
For more information contact Victoria Gardner.