Applying for Student Driven Projects

The online application asks you to provide the following information:

• Address of your current institute
• PhD funding source and start/end dates of your current PhD post
• Your ORCID ID (if you do not have one, please register at ORCHiD Registration )
• Contact details of two referees
• A summary of your current work
• Publication list
• Name and contact details of the DRP host supervisor or Technology Core
• A brief justification of your choice of DRP-HCB host supervisor laboratory or Technology Core
• A summary of the proposed project
• A brief statement on your current career plan

You can save changes to your application before submission.

For information an example of the application form in PDF format is provided.

Your CV should be emailed as a single PDF file to drphcb@ed.ac.uk before the application deadline.

You will receive an email confirming we have received your CV within four days.

The applicant must provide the names and contact details of two referees who should submit their confidential letters of reference using the online reference request form. One of the referees must be your current PhD supervisor, who must indicate how your internship with the DRP-HCB will be mutually beneficial.

It is the applicant's responsibility to contact the referee with the link to the Reference Request Form (copy the link below), and to ensure that references are submitted before the application deadline. 

DRP-HCB Internships - Reference Request Form

Internships can be hosted by the DRP-HCB Technology Cores or DRP-HCB collaborators.

Applicants should provide a brief justification of their choice of DRP-HCB host laboratory or Technology Core, and why there is need for an internship rather than a registered DRP project. Applicants are encouraged to contact the host supervisor and/or the relevant Technology Core to discuss potential projects before starting an application.

Applicants hosted by a DRP-HCB collaborator, will be asked to provide a statement of support from their DRP-HCB host supervisor.

• It is the applicant’s responsibility to coordinate with the host supervisor and ensure the statement of support is submitted before the application deadline.
• The host supervisor must submit their supervisor support statement online. 

The DRP-HCB host supervisor will be asked to provide the following information:

1. Their contact details.

2. Why they wish to have the applicant work with them, and how the proposed work will benefit the broad aims of the DRP-HCB. Maximum word limit 300 words. 

3. Give details of recent relevant research the host lab has conducted on this project (include max of 3 relevant publication references from the host lab). Maximum word limit 200 words. 

Contacting and project development with the DRP host supervisor is the responsibility of the applicant. Before starting an application, applicants must discuss and agree on their proposal with their home PhD and host supervisors.

The proposed collaborative project with the DRP-HCB must align with the broad aims of the DRP-HCB.

The PhD supervisor does not need to have a project registered with the DRP. 

Project proposal guidelines

• The project proposal should be well argued and written by the applicant. 

• The proposal is divided in two parts: 

  1. a 250-word summary, of the proposed activity and its alignment with the aims of the DRP-HCP and, 

  2. The research proposal itself, which must not exceed 1000 words (excluding references).

• The research proposal should explain the background of the research project and contain a detailed outline of the work to be performed with the host DRP-HCB supervisor. 
• No more than one A4 page of figures/tables can be included - any explanatory figure/table legends should not exceed 300 words total. 
• References in the research proposal should include the complete list of authors followed by the title of the paper, year, journal or preprint server name and details on volume, page numbers, etc. Use "..." or "et al." ONLY if there are more than 20 authors; in that case, be sure to include all relevant first and corresponding/senior authors. e.g. Thiru A, Nietlispach D, Mott HR, Okuwaki M, Lyon D, Nielsen PR, ... Laue ED. Structural basis of HP1/PXVXL motif peptide interactions and HP1 localisation to heterochromatin. EMBO J. (2004) 23: 489-499 
• The research proposal must be emailed to drphcb@ed.ac.uk as a PDF single document.

Before submission, confirm that the required documentation has been completed and the link to the reference request form has been sent to your referees.

The completed application form should be submitted online. 

Receipt of your application will be confirmed by email within 7 days of submission.