Sickness Support
We understand that you may need support for a period of illness during your studies. If you are unwell or unable to continue to work as usual, please contact your Supervisor and School Manager or PGR Office as soon as possible to obtain guidance on the processes in place at your institution, as support cannot be arranged retrospectively.
The DTP can offer sick pay during a period of absence which is medically certified, following the UKRI guidance https://www.ukri.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/UKRI-04042023-UKR_Training-Grant-Terms-And-Conditions-April-2023.pdf which states the following,
TGC 8.2 Sick Leave
Payment of a Studentship must continue for absences covered by a medical certificate for up to thirteen weeks within a rolling 12-month period. If the illness lasts for more than thirteen weeks you must suspend the Studentship for the period beyond the thirteen weeks.
Your Institution should liaise with the DTP so that we can work together to ensure that the necessary arrangements can be made for you.
Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Parental Leave
The MRC also provide support for maternity, paternity, adoption, and parental leave. You can read more about this in section f.
Please contact your Home Institution to make the necessary arrangements according to their policies and procedures and inform the DTP Hub so that we can work together support you.
Student Representation
As part of the DTP, there is the opportunity to act as a student representative. Each year group will have one student representative to represent the interests of the wider cohort. They will also be expected to develop a feeling of community and cohesion within the cohort both by organising physical events and establishing a digital network.
Student representatives will be invited to provide feedback to the Management Board about ideas, issues and concerns on behalf of their fellow students. They may also be invited to assist in running the recruitment process for future cohorts.
Selection of student representatives will be done by a vote if there are more candidates than places. Students can represent their cohort in two out of the three years.
Disability
Your lead supervisor is the first point of contact for any disability or long-term health issues. They will also provide you with details of the relevant disability representative within your institution who you can contact for further information about disability matters. Alternatively, information can be found on the relevant institutional websites:
- University of Bath: Getting support if you have a disability (bath.ac.uk)
- University of Bristol: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/disability-services/
- Cardiff University: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/student-life/student-support/disability-and-dyslexia-service
- University of Exeter: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/wellbeing/accessability/
It is important to note that if you declared a disability to the DTP or your home institution during the application process this information may not be passed on to inform the relevant services so that you can receive support. You will need to inform your Supervisor and student support services at your institution and make a separate declaration to ensure that suitable support/adjustments are put in place.
You can also inform the DTP so that we can offer you our continued assistance.
Please be aware that the MRC will also provide a disabled students allowance. If you think you may be eligible, please contact your local postgraduate team for further information.
Sharing of Data
Please note that the doctoral training programme you are undertaking may include collaboration between the GW4 universities, research organisations and other partners (including the MRC). As a result we may need to share information about you, which may include personal data, with those partners.
Your personal data is processed in accordance with the GDPR 2018. Cardiff University will remain a data controller for the personal data it holds and other universities, research organisations and/or partners may also become data controllers for the relevant personal data they receive a result of their participation with the collaborative programme of doctoral training. The processing and storage of your personal data may occur outside of the EEA.
Further information can be found on your registered University’s data protection webpages. If you have any queries or concerns about the use of your personal data during your time as a student, please contact your local data protection team.
Further information about how MRC may share your data can be found in the UKRI (formerly RCUK) guidance here https://www.ukri.org/publications/mrc-data-sharing-policy/
Acknowledgements
As you are in receipt of a MRC-funded studentship, please ensure that you acknowledge MRC and GW4 BioMed DTP support on your thesis, all publications, presentations, exhibitions, press announcements and other similar events.
If you wish to use logos, the MRC logo can be downloaded from the MRC website and the GW4 BioMed MRC DTP logo is available from the DTP.
The wording to use when acknowledging the MRC and the DTP is as follows:
This work was supported in part by grant MR/N0137941/1 for the GW4 BIOMED MRC DTP, awarded to the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter from the Medical Research Council (MRC)/UKRI
Photographs
During cohort activities, photographs may be taken which may be used for publicity purposes for the DTP, such as on the GW4 BioMed DTP website, leaflets and posters. If you do not wish to give permission, please inform the DTP and the photographer at the time.