Application Procedures
General Enquiries
The Department accepts a small number of MPhil students each year. Funding for Masters studies is not generally available within the Department. Applicants are encouraged to use the tools available (https://www.student-funding.cam.ac.uk) to seek funding. Enquiries may be made at any time but most applications are considered during the period of October to Januuary for projects to commence the following October. There are normally specific application deadlines (in December or January) associated with funding schemes. Intending applicants should contact individual Principal Investigators (PI) to discuss potential research projects and availability of funding before making a formal application. Details of the Department’s PIs can be found on the Senior Staff page.
Formal Application
Applicants who are provisionally accepted by the Department will be required also to make a formal application for admission to the University. Further information about this can be found on the University's Postgraduate Study pages. The Postgraduate School of Life Sciences webpages also provide useful information for prospective MPhil applicants.
Course details
Supervision
Each MPhil student will have a supervisor (sometimes referred to as the “primary supervisor”) and an advisor (sometimes called a “mentor” or “second supervisor”). Your supervisor guides you in the choice of research project, in defining aims and strategies, and in acquiring the skills you need for this project and to prepare you for your future career.
Your advisor will usually be a member of the academic staff outside of your research group, possibly but not necessarily in the Department of Haematology. The role of the advisor is to complement the supervisor, being available when the supervisor is absent or providing expert advice on specific areas of the research project. The advisor should be chosen by the time you arrive in the Department, and the Postgraduate Administrator should be informed at that time.
It is also quite normal to have a bench supervisor, a member of your research group with day-to-day responsibility for supervising the practical aspects of your project, but this is optional and it is not necessary to inform anyone.
Duration
The normal duration for a full time MPhil is one year.
Examination
Throughout your MPhil you will work on a research project. Your supervisor will submit termly reports. You will write up your project as a thesis of 20,000 words. This will be sent to two examiners, one internal to the University and one from outside. They will conduct an oral examination in Cambridge generally 1-2 months after the submission of your thesis. Further details can be found on the Cambridge Students webpages.
Support
If you are experiencing difficulty with any aspect of your work or outside life as a postgraduate student, there are several sources of support. You may wish to speak with either of your supervisors in the first instance, your college tutor, or with one of the Haematology representatives on the Postgraduate Education Committee (PEC), currently Dr Brian Hendrich and Professor Brian Huntly. Dr Daniel Hodson is the Postgraduate Education Director in the Department of Haematology. Alternatively, you may wish to contact one of the University’s welfare offices: https://www.studentsupport.cam.ac.uk/ and https://www.cambridgesu.co.uk/advice/student-advice-service/.
If you have any suggestions for this document, including other aspects of postgraduate supervision that are not clearly explained in the material available to you, please contact the Postgraduate Administrator at: phd@stemcells.cam.ac.uk.