Postgraduate Training

Graduate admissions

The PhD degree is a three or four year course of research, at the end of which the student submits a dissertation and defends this in an oral (viva) examination. The MPhil degree is a one year course of research, again culminating in the submission of a dissertation and a viva. Both include formal coursework, and although this is not examined. Progress is closely monitored by means of written reports to the Department's Graduate Education Committee.

The University expects applicants to possess a good first degree, which might be enhanced by a master's degree, although this is not a prerequisite for a PhD. For details on academic criteria please refer to the Board of Graduate Studies website at http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/offices/gradstud/admissions/

The academic year for the University begins on 1 October and most students take up their studentships then, although other starting dates, such as January or April, are possible. We expect students studying for the PhD degree to complete their experimental work within three years, and their dissertation within four years.

General enquiries should be addressed to:-

Alice Nelson,
Graduate Secretary,
Department of Zoology,
University of Cambridge,
Downing Street,
Cambridge, CB2 3EJ UK.

Tel: +44-(0)1223-336647. Fax: +44-(0)1223-336676.

pgadmin@zoo.cam.ac.uk

Step-by-step guide for applications

I. Finding a supervisor

1. Browse our Principal Investigators (PIs) and visit their personal/group page to check details of their research. Further information can be found here:http://www.zoo.cam.ac.uk/zooone/pgradbk/researchpg.html
2. Check if they have any vacancies this year by looking them up in the Graduate School’s searchable database
3. If there is a possible vacancy, you can explore the possibility that your plans are of interest to them.
4. If you are interested in more than one supervisor within THIS department, you can name them as first and second choice in your application, but if you want to apply to supervisors in different departments, you will have to make separate applications (one to each department).
5. Prospective students should contact a potential supervisor before applying to discuss ideas for research projects and, if at all possible, to arrange a visit.

II. How to apply

Admission to the University requires completion of the University’s online GRADSAF (Graduate Admission and Scholarship Application Form).

If you wish to apply for a NERC PhD Studentship, or the BBSRC funded Genes to Organisms: PhD Programme in Integrative Biology, or any specific studentship advertised an individual PI, you will need to enter a preliminary competition before completing the GRADSAF and should follow the instructions in Section A below.

If you intend to apply for other funding (eg Gates, Cambridge Overseas & Commonwealth Trusts, Cambridge Home and EU Scholarships) you should proceed directly to Section B.

Section A: Applying for a specific studentship advertised by this department

Refer to our studentship page for details of the studentship, eligibility criteria, deadlines and how to apply. Refer to our Research Groups page and the websites of individual PIs for any studentships they may have available.

If you are successful, you will then be required to apply for admission to the University (see section B below).

You will not be able to take up the award unless you are also successful in securing admission to the University and you will not be able to apply for a visa (if needed) until you hold an unconditional offer from the University.

Section B: Admission to the University

You should apply for admission to the University using the University’s online GRADSAF (Graduate Admission and Scholarship Application Form) if you:

1. wish to apply for University-wide funding competitions (eg Gates, Cambridge Overseas & Commonwealth Trusts, Cambridge Home and EU Scholarships etc – NB these funding competitions all have very early deadlines)
2. have been awarded a specific studentship / programme position in competition (see Section A)
3. wish to apply for a College studentship
4. have an external scholarship
5. have your own funding.

B1 Are you eligible to apply for admission to our programmes?

Competition for admission to the University of Cambridge graduate programme is intense. Like all departments in the Graduate School, we require all our graduate entrants to have:

1. at least a 2.1 in an Honours degree or equivalent (eg CGPA 3.5/4.0) in a relevant subject
2. two outstanding references from senior University staff at your most recent University
3. fluency in the English language – recent IELTS test with an overall band score of at least 7.0 with not less than 7.0 in speaking, listening and writing, and 6.5 in reading.

For more details of the University’s academic requirements see the University’s Graduate Prospectus

B2  Which qualification do you want to apply for?

• MPhil by research (thesis) (1 year) <BLZOM1>
• PhD (thesis) <BLZO22> – minimum 3 years, maximum 4 full-time
• NB We do NOT offer any part-time courses.

B3 How to complete the GRADSAF

Go to http://www.biomed.cam.ac.uk/gradschool/apply/student/online.html for full instructions on how to apply online.