PGR Recruitment & Selection Procedures

About the project

Procedure for the recruitment and selection of Post-Graduate Research Students (MPhil, PhD & Professional Doctorates)

There is no single pathway for a research student’s journey. The research idea may originate from the candidate or within the university. A research student may be self-funded or receive funding from another source, either from the University or a third party such as a Research Council, commercial partner or other funding body. It is important that the recruitment process is open and fair.

Application

Potential applicants will apply through the university's online application form once they have spoken to a prospective Supervisor or Programme Leader. Faculties have staff identified to review and circulate these applications through the Electronic Application System accessed via the Staff Portal.

Click here for detailed information on how to apply.

Recruitment and Selection

Those involved in the shortlisting of applicants must be members of the interview panel and have completed the training on Recruitment and Selection of PGR students which includes guidance on open, transparent and merit-based recruitment. The interview panel should be composed of ideally more than 2 people and normally no more than 3 people and should reflect the EDI representation expected on academic panels. One member of the interview panel should have knowledge of the research area.

Scholarship Candidates

For ‘targeted’ scholarships (e.g. Vice Chancellor's, University Alliance Doctoral Training Alliance), the interview panel must include:

Candidate selection into higher profile or collaborative ventures, such as UKRI-funded Doctoral Training Partnerships (DTPs) or scholarships, must follow the recruitment processes set out in the relevant set criteria and T&Cs.

Faculty requirements

It is the faculty’s responsibility to arrange the interview, contact the applicant(s) and communicate with the admissions office after the interview as detailed below.

After the interview

The shortlisting and interview assessment forms need to be completed and sent from the faculty to the Admissions Office.

Please familiarise yourself with the following codes of practice. These documents set out the standards and regulations that the university adheres to ensure a fair recruitment process for all students, and what supervisors should endeavour to provide to research students:

Academic Regulations for Postgraduate Research Awards Research Student's and Supervisor's Handbook Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) guidelines

• First Supervisor
• Associate Dean (R&KE) or their nominee
• Head of School or their nominee
• an Early Career Academic, as per Greenwich’s actions towards the Researcher Development Concordat and the VCO Scholarship Terms and Conditions , which state that, where possible, the supervisory teams of all VC Scholars must include a University of Greenwich Early Career Academic (ECA)

Admission

Once a decision (reject, invite for interview or accept) has been made, the decision is placed on the online application form via the Electronic Application System. The application form also must be referred to the Research Office via the Electronic Application System. The shortlisting and interview paperwork, along with the contract proforma, must be submitted the Admissions Office.

The Admissions Office will then run the admissions checks (entry criteria, fee assessment, and the initial immigration assessment). Once these checks are complete, an they will issue an offer letter via email to the applicant.

Further Resources

• Reference Form
• Interview Assessment Form
• Shortlisting Assessment Form
• Contract Proforma
• Frequently Asked Questions PGR Admissions - Supervisors
• PGR Admission Process Diagram

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• Postgraduate research funding
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• Applying for a postgraduate research degree
• Application process
• PGR Recruitment & Selection
• Supervising PGRs
• Research Degree Forms
• The Student Centre
• Research Community
• Governance and Policies
• About GRI
• Frameworks
• Research spotlight
• Research culture

Research areas