Doctoral Training Scheme Conditions

1 Definition

A Doctoral Training Scheme is the mechanism by which an annual training grant is paid by the IRT to the Institution providing the postgraduate study. The IRT does not pay the PhD student directly.

2 Introduction

Doctoral training grants aim to:

• Assist universities to attract the best people into postgraduate research and training.
• Allow local discretion in managing the doctoral training but within clear financial and accountability arrangements.
• Provide resources as a series of payments for up to three years to support and enable postgraduate training.

Doctoral training grants provide the finance associated with students undertaking their doctoral or masters training programmes. Host Institutions decide the project duration and format (full or part-time). Note that the IRT will only provide support for 36 months (pro rata for part time candidates) at the national minimum level.

The principles governing the funding and management of research and postgraduate training follow those set out by the Medical Research Council (MRC) in its Research Framework Agreement between the MRC and an Institution.

3 Responsibilities of the Institution

Doctoral training grants provide funding for the training of research students, leading to the award of a recognized qualification, usually an MSc or a PhD. The host Institution is responsible for selecting, administering and supervising students throughout their period of training, in accordance with the terms set out below, adopting recognized quality standards for research training (QAA Code or Practice for the Assurance of Academic Quality and Standards).

In particular, the Institution must ensure that:

• Adequate facilities and resources are made available for research training.
• A safe working environment is provided, meeting the requirements of health and safety legislation and any other legislation concerning the health, welfare and rights of students including the Data Protection Act.
• Prior approval has been received from the IRT for projects it is to fund.

4 Eligibility

Students must be selected in accordance with their Institution’s postgraduate admission requirements. Students must be able to demonstrate capability to undertake and benefit from research training, to the standard necessary to qualify for a PhD (normally an upper second class honours degree).

5 Funds Provided

Funds are provided for stipends, fees and incidental costs of research training.

Funds for stipends allow for known increases to the Medical Research Council’s minimum rate and other funds include an allowance for inflation over the period of the grant. Once agreed the grant value will not be increased except in the circumstances described below.

The Institution may apply to the IRT, within 3 months of a student starting, for contributions to a disabled student allowance (DSA). An application should provide details of the requirements and costs for the full period of support. For DSA, the application should contain evidence of need and confirmation that the Institution is satisfied that the costs are essential to the studentÕs study. The IRT will notify the Institution of the contribution it is prepared to make and claims should subsequently be submitted for reimbursement of actual costs incurred, up to the contribution agreed.

The allocation of funds for incidental costs of research training should have regard to the nature and complexity of the project and the need for conferences and broadening training.

6 Grant Arrangements

Grants are for up to 36 months, which may be spread over four financial years, adopting fixed start and end dates. The Institution must complete and return a starting certificate, signed by the Finance Officer, to notify the IRT that the student has started.

Payments will then be made in arrears at the beginning of the first month of each quarter, as previously described. The final payment will be withheld until a final statement of expenditure certificate (FES) has been completed and returned to the IRT. This final expenditure statement should detail the expenditure incurred over the full period of the grant, once the certificate has been received by the IRT and expenditure reconciled against payments, the final payment will be made. This FES is required to enable the IRT to meet its responsibilities to account for use of charitable funds: thus if the FES is not received, the IRT may take action to recover all payments made against the grant.

The IRT will send a statement to the Institution each year showing the payments made during the previous financial year. The Institution is required to certify this by signing and returning the statement. As this process is requested by the Charity Commissioners, no further payments will be made until the signed annual statement has been returned to the IRT.

7 Administration of Studentships

The Infertility Research Trust requires the Head of Research to appoint a member of staff as a supervisor for each research student, who will be responsible for reviewing progress with the student and ensuring that training is successfully completed within the period of support / studentship.

The supervisor jointly with the student, is required to submit 6 monthly progress reports to the IRT. These should be brief but honest and are required to ensure that the student is attending for and receiving training as planned. It would be appreciated if these reports, which the Trustees consider essential, could be submitted on time and without the need for reminders. Consistent failure to report progress may lead to the termination of funding.

Students must have access to effective procedures for resolving problems arising from the administration or supervision of awards. Grievance procedures should conform to normal institutional practice. The Institution must make suitable arrangements for coping with absences of students for illness, maternity and holidays. The Institution must ensure that it is aware of unauthorized absences by students so that future payments may be stopped and those already made can be recovered if necessary. The period of a studentÕs support may be extended at the InstitutionÕs discretion to offset a period of genuine absence, subject to finding the necessary funding.

The IRT must be notified of students whose training has been terminated, extended or transferred.

8 Publicity and Publication

The Institution must ensure that all publicity documents acknowledge the funding received form the IRT. The publication of results arising from research training should be in accordance with normal academic practice. Publications should acknowledge support received from the IRT.

9 Disclaimer

The Infertility Research Trust reserves the right to terminate a grant at any time, subject to reasonable notice and contributing to the cost of unavoidable commitments.

The Infertility Research Trust accepts no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for expenditure or liability arising out of doctoral training grants.