SUPERVISION: What are the eligibility requirements to be a supervisor?
– The primary supervisor must have been awarded a PhD or MD doctoral degree.
– Secondary/co-supervisor can be a temporary staff member (e.g. postdoctoral scientist) or honorary faculty (e.g. medical consultants) or academic/industry collaborator outside RCSI.
RECRUITMENT: I have funding for a PhD student and have selected a candidate. What do I have to do to get them set up and started?
2. Fill in the ORI student recruitment form: https://research1.rcsi.ie/recruit/Public/default2.aspx
3. If they need a visa, email SPGS (postgraduateschool@rcsi.ie) with details about the student (Name, supervisors, project title) to get conditional letter of offer.
4. Your student needs to apply for a visa THEMSELVES (RCSI cannot help them here!). www.inis.gov.ie. This can take up to 12 weeks, so start early!
5. The student can start work in the laboratory as soon as they arrive in Dublin. However, the SPGS reserves the right to reject applications made by candidates who do not meet the entry requirements.
6. Ask the student to get an IELTS test done as soon as possible. See the English language requirements page for details. They must score >6.5 in this test.
7. Show the student the application form guidelines. You’ll probably need to help them with the project proposal (max 4 pages).
8. The student must fill in the Apply Online application. They should upload their IELTS certificate and project proposal. Their contract and stipend will be delayed until they submit an online application to the relevant course. To avoid delay, SPGS lifts the delay after the student has engaged with the apply online process, and well before formal approval by the committee.
9. The SPGS committee meets every 2 months to review and approve the application. The student is registered directly after the committee meeting.
PROJECTS: I’d like to get my project listed on the RCSI website to attract new students. How do I get it added to the website?
STUDENTS: I have an MSc student who had a 2.2 grade for their BSc. I would like to transfer them over to a PhD. Is this possible?
BUDGETS: A Libyan/Nigerian/Brazilian student has expressed an interest in doing a PhD/MD under my supervision. How do I enroll the student?
First things first. You’ll need to set up a full – legally binding – contract between their funding agency and RCSI. The SPGS will help to facilitate this, for instance with a template that is available here (<make template>), but the final contract will need to be signed off by RCSI Finance Office (Barry McGowan, x2478), in agreement with the foreign government funding agency.
The contract needs to include an invoice payment schedule. All self-funded PhD/MD students need to ensure these invoices are paid in a timely manner by their respective funding agencies, else they will not be allowed to progress from year to year.
From May 2015 onwards, RCSI Finance have changed their policy regarding Research Contracts. Each type of contract will be dealt with differently. You’ll need to check with Sarah Margaret Miller or Barry McGowan to see how RCSI will deal with the specific funding agency you are dealing with.
| Funder | Risk | Schedule | Budgets |
| Irish/EU | low | Invoiced after consumables spent, payment on regular schedule. | Set up after contracts signed. PI can start spending immediately. |
| non-EU | low | Invoiced after consumables spent, payment on regular schedule, albeit sometimes delayed. | Set up after contracts signed. PI can start spending immediately. Check with RCSI Finance for funding agency rating. |
| non-EU | high | Invoiced at start of project, before consumables are spent. | Set up only after first installments paid. |
| Self-funded | low | Outstanding fees need to be paid before thesis is sent for examination. | No budget. (self-funded students pay for own stipend and fees, but generally do not contribute consumables) |
Once this contract has been formalised, the RCSI finance office will make a budget available for this student. Fees will need to be paid from this to the fees office (Clare Boyle, x2338), and the scholarship will have to be set up for the student. Any consumables budget will also need to be made available from the finance office (Sarah Margaret Miller, x2189).
The student will now be in a position to enroll using the online registration form (with these instructions).
BUDGETS: How do I set up a new research grant to pay my student’s scholarship?
Talk to the Research Office.
INDUSTRIAL: I would like to supervise a Industrial MSc student. The students are full-time employees but would be enabled through work-place research projects to carry out research suitable for MSc co-supervised by me. What are the guidelines around this kind of co-supervised post-graduate research project with industry?
STUDENTS: My student is struggling with reading and writing in English. Can you recommend English classes?
College Principal Eimear Morhan can be contacted at:
Eimear@difcdublin.ie
DIFC
Griffith College Campus
SCR, Dublin 8
Phone: 00353 (0)1 4738123
RECRUITMENT: I’d like to advertise a PhD scholarship. How do I go about doing this? What do I need to include in the advert?
RECRUITMENT: I’d like to get a PGR student to visit my lab? What do I need to do?
Please also ensure that the student is insured while visiting RCSI.
Visa issues can be tricky – start the process early as possible because many offices have backlogs that run into months.
SUPERVISION: How do I manage vacation time for my PGR students?
RECRUITMENT: I’d like some help recruiting a student for my funded PhD project
SPGS has a template interview score sheet and question form to help guide interviews with students. If you would like more direct assistance, Dr Ant Chubb or Dr Roisin Moriarty are also happy to act as external interviewers. You will need to advertise the post yourself, but Roisin could help by advertising on EURAXESS and our website.