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FAQApplying to EBIPlease see the official PhD training pages for information about the application procedures. Interview processThis varies from year to year, and is often different between the winter and summer selections. The winter selection, because it is done through EMBL, is generally more structured and formal. It also lasts longer because there are more candidates. As an example, here is how the 2007 winter selection was structured:
If you have interviews at other EMBL locations, then don't worry - they schedule the interviews so that you could, in theory, interview at all four outstations and the main lab in Heidelberg. The summer selections are smaller, because they are done just for the outstations, and only for new group leaders who weren't around during the winter selection, for group leaders who were unable to find suitable candidates during the winter selection, or group leaders whose winter selection candidates did not pass the FAA. Cambridge UniversityRegistration and feesAs soon as you are accepted to EBI, you should register with Cambridge University and apply to one of its colleges immediately. The sooner you apply, the better chance you will have of getting into the college of your choice. The EBI PhD programme is currently listed as "PhD (Probationary) in Mol Bio at European Bioinformatics" at the university. University and college fees are paid for by EBI. Start applying today. We mean it. Keeping termsCambridge University requires that you study for a minimum of nine full-time terms in order to earn the PhD degree. For at least three of these terms, you must live within 10 miles of central Cambridge. Since in October-November you will be attending the predoc course in Heidelberg, this means you have two options. You can either:
It might be more difficult in some colleges to arrange for accommodation if you arrive in December or January rather than in October. But you should ask the college accommodation officer if it is possible, and if you are unsatisfied with their answer, follow up with your tutor at the college. Tutors can be quite good at cutting through college red tape when there is a legitimate academic or health reason to do so. See the following Board of Graduate Studies pages for more information: Choosing a collegeWhich college to choose is a personal matter and the various colleges have various strengths, such as:
The bigger, more prestigious colleges (Trinity, St. John's, King's) will fill up earlier in the year--they get more qualified applicants than they have space for. No matter where you want to be admitted, the earlier you apply, the better. If you are going to have a car and plan to live in college, Wolfson is probably a good college it has a large car park, and it's the closest to the motorway leading to the Genome Campus. If possible at all, try to visit the college of your choice, to see whether you like its atmosphere. Check out the prospectuses below and ask existing predocs for information:
Taking coursesAny member of the university can attend any lectures given by the university - you just turn up (there may be exceptions to this eg. practicals or very small rooms, but they are rare exceptions). All lectures are published annually in the Reporter, along with the Rules. At Cambridge, the lectures are entirely separate from assessment, so there is NO system for tracking attendance at lectures. If you follow a course as a graduate student, there is no course exam you can take, and the only way to get official "credit" is to write it down in your Grad School logbook: 1 credit per 6 hours. (This is an informal system as far as the EBI is concerned, but may be useful to you.) The basic message is:
A note on supervisions: many undergraduate courses are accompanied by supervisions (small tutorial sessions) for undergraduates, but these are often arranged separately from the lectures. There is generally no provision for graduates to be supervised, but you could check with the lecturer. Otherwise just follow the lectures. Alternatively, offer to supervise the undergraduates! - again, ask the lecturer. They are often looking for grad students to supervise small groups of undergrads. Talks at the universityTalks.cam is a fantastic resource of all the upcoming seminars at the university and its affiliated institutes. You can even start your own list for a club or group. Living in CambridgeCalling homeYou will soon find that calling abroad with BT is very expensive. Instead, you can buy a prepaid phonecard: dial free number, your pin-number on the card and then your home number. Cambridge University Graduate Student Union, unions in several colleges sell these cards with considerable discounts. But you can buy these cards all over the city. You can find a table that compares prices of different phonecards here. Prepaid accounts are also a possibility. Two reasonably good options: one.tel, alpha telecom. However, some colleges have contracts with a phone company that will not let you call out with a calling card or prepaid account. Student discountsAs a student, you are entitled to discounts for train and coach tickets. However, it's not automatic: you must purchase a coachcard or/and a railcard. They cost £20 for the whole year, and it's usually worth doing it, and you will get the money back very soon (unless you buy a car). You can get student discounts in a wide range of places: cinemas, theatres, hairdressers, a variety of shops and even some restuarants. The best way to find out which places do and which don't is just to ask as not all places advertise the fact that they give a students discount. Many of these student discounts depend on you having an NUS (National Union of Students) card. This costs £10 for the year and is available fron NUS online. More information:
Public transitIt's reasonably cheap, but the hours aren't great and it doesn't go everywhere you want. Bus routes, maps, and timetables are available from the Cambridge County Council website here. The Citi 7 bus currently runs to Hinxton from downtown Cambridge twice an hour during the day. MapsThe best map of central Cambridge, by far, is the official University of Cambridge available at the Cambridge University Press bookstore on Trinity Street. It really is worth a couple of quid to have a paper map which is very convenient. Bring your University of Cambridge identification card to get a 20 percent discount. Map links: AccommodationSome of us live in the colleges, which is coupled with student activities. Different colleges guarantee different numbers of years of housing to graduates, but some folks prefer to live outside. What other possibilities do you have? Sometimes colleges can provide guest rooms for a limited period of time, usually less than a week. This is the cheapest temporary option available, and costs around 15 GBP per person per night. Bed-and-breakfasts are easy to find in Cambridge, and prices vary from around 20 GBP per person per night upwards. It would be lovely, if EBI could provide something for the first few nights, but this option is unavailable at the moment. Finding permanent accommodation is of utmost importance, because many businesses such as banks will require proof of a permanent address in Cambridge. It would be helpful to start looking for accommodation 1 month-2 months before arrival both via one's college and the University Accommodation Office, and via Web sites. It might also be a good idea to visit Cambridge over a weekend in order to check out possible places for accommodation. Before starting your search, think about what you find most important: location, warmth, network connection, car park--and how much would you be prepared to pay for it. Also give a thought to whether the flat should be furnished. In your search for accommodation you can use the University Accommodation Service, or ask on the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute chat mailing list, chat (at) sanger.ac.uk. Some useful links are: You can find statistical information about any residential area in UK at Homecheck and at UpMyStreet. For these and most other services you will need the post code, which Royal Mail will provide for any address. Arranging gas/water/electricity/telephone/council tax/etcAs soon as you find accommodation, make arrangements for water, waste, gas, electricity, council tax, and possibly telephone. If you live in a college, it takes care of most of these. Otherwise, it is helpful to ask the landlord about the required procedure, and follow recommendations, if any. There are quite a few options for telephone lines, and mobile phones are pretty cheap here. However, as call prices vary enormously between operators, check them before choosing one. For telephone lines, BT is the biggest provider, but it might be beneficial to check at least NTL's offers. Council tax is used for providing local infrastructure and services. Its amount depends on the number of rooms in the flat, so renting a big apartment all by yourself can become intolerably expensive. However, students are exempt of council tax, and even if they share a flat with full-time workers, they are eligible for a certain reduction on it. You would need to prove your student status. Acceptable proofs are listed on the exemption form, available here. Most bills can be paid by cash, cheque, or direct debit. Choose the one you find most convenient, noting that direct debit is often cheaper. And note that billing period is not necessarily one month - landline phones are often billed quarterly. Delivery of personal belongingsEMBL does not pay expenses for delivery of furniture and personal belongings to students. But it is not such a big problem if you find a furnished flat in Cambridge. Opening a bank accountThis can be a major pain, mainly because the banking system in Great Britain is unable to trace people who misuse their accounts and leave the country. Thus, banks seem to regard foreign people as potential threats and make opening a bank account unnecessarily difficult process. We recommend talking to Kirsten Williams at EBI, who can basically take care of the whole thing for you. If you feel you must try it yourself, there are a few items you should bring when trying to open a bank account. First, some sort of identification. Passport will do nicely. Next, a proof of permanent address. This is essential! If you have just arrived, and don't have a permanent address as yet, it should be possible at least to get a note from the college. EBI has used National Westminster (NatWest) a lot, and basically they should be able to send a note beforehand, if you ask for it. Or get a letter from Kirsten when you get here. The main branch of NatWest is located on Emmanuel street, just next to the Central Bus station. Make sure the note is addressed specifically to the manager at the bank at which you are applying. Make also sure that the bank sends your welcome pack, cheque book, etc. to a safe place (i.e. to EBI). They will not send debit cards to a college address. They would never tell you this, and you may wait to get your card for ages. Overseas students and police registrationIf you came from overseas, there is a chance that your passport will be stamped requiring you to register with the police within 7 days. You don't need to do it. Instead, you should contact Kirsten and she will set up all the registration documents. Healthcare registrationThe UK has a general healthcare system called NHS, but to get in this system, you must register with a GP. There are private hospitals as well, but getting information of their specialities seems to be difficult. You would be usually asked to register with the closest GP. Once again a permanent address is required, so find accommodation as soon as possible. The Trumpington Street Medical Centre is central and generally good about taking students. It is also a good idea to register with a dentist - unless you are registered no dentist is obliged to see you, even if you are in pain. Being registered as an NHS patient means that some treatments are subsidised. There are tools to search for doctors and dentists here: Student communityGet involved at your college, and check out the university societies and sport clubs. Unfortunately, many of these are not on the web, and the only easy way to find out about them is at the Societies Fair, which is - you guessed it - while you are in Heidelberg. So try to catch it in your second year, it is at the start of term, and should be advertised by your college. DrivingA car is very useful at EBI, since the campus is located pretty far from everything. If you want to be independent of the campus shuttle bus times or questionable public transport, buy yourself a car. However, there is no parking space in Cambridge, and you better be sure that you've got one before you bring a car. You've been warned. As EMBL-EBI employee you will get several privileges. See here for details. For car insurance shop around, get as many quotes as you can. We all have experience of reducing the premium by 50% and more by shopping around. It is worth the time. Wellcome Trust Genome CampusHow to get hereMany people seem to buy a car as soon as they get to EBI, and there are certain benefits there, but some think that this is not the only option. The Citi 7 bus goes from downtown Cambridge right through Hinxton, the village next to campus, twice an hour. The closest bus stop to EBI is at Red Lion pub. It currently costs £2.50 one way. Even better, there's a shuttle bus driving from Cambridge to campus and back again daily. The schedule is here. EBI is located about 10 miles (16km) south from Cambridge, so cycling is not an option for most people. If you do cycle, there are showers in the building and an airing room for clothes. Mailing listsThere are tens of mailing lists at EBI and Sanger Institute. Some of the more useful ones are all@ebi and for_sale@sanger. Check these out by sending an e-mail to majordomo (at) ebi.ac.uk and majordomo (at) sanger.ac.uk with only the word 'lists' in the body of the message. You'll also want to be on the predoc mailing list. ActivitiesThere are some activities at the campus, including lectures and conferences. There's also a quite active social & sports club, which organises football and other matches, aerobics lessons and parties. The club also has a well-equipped gym, which can be used 7 days a week. Do aliens exist?Ask Reception for the key and visit the basement... |
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