Country: UK
Type: Prize Competition with
Internship
Deadline: January 10, 2025
Details: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/the-sanger-prize-competition-2025/
The winner of the
Sanger Institute Prize will be offered a three-month internship
with a research group at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. Travel, living and
research expenses are all covered by the award.
Eligibility
To be eligible to
apply for the Sanger Prize applicants must meet all of
the criteria below:
- Be
from a low or middle income country – a full list of eligible countries is
available from https://wellcome.org/grant-funding/guidance/prepare-to-apply/low-and-middle-income-countries
- Be
studying an undergraduate degree
that includes a genomics element
or course at a University/Institute in a low or middle income country at the time of the first stage application.
This could include (but is not limited too) any biological science degree,
bioinformatics, medicine or veterinary science. (please note that if you
have completed your course but are awaiting graduation then you are
eligible to apply).
- Demonstrate
an active interest in research in the genomics field (this can be through
your undergraduate course and through extracurricular activities such as
seminar attendance and reading materials).
- Have
a good command of English (demonstrated by the clear writing within the
application form, no certificate of English is required).
- Be
over 18 at the time of applying.
- Two
academic references must also have been submitted by the deadline (further
details are available below).
Applicants who do not meet all of the above criteria will
not be considered for the second stage of the competition and no exceptions
will be made.
Application
process
The application form
for the 2025 competition is now open.
Please ensure you read all the information given below
before clicking on the link and completing the form.
Stage 1a - Application Form
Dates for Submission:
Applications for
the Sanger Prize Competition 2025 will open in mid November.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on Friday 10th
January 2025 (this is UK time so please check the time difference in your own
country and submit in plenty of time) The application form must be completed
and submitted by this date, there are no exceptions and no late applications
will be accepted.
The Sanger
Institute is not responsible for applications which are not received in time
due to last minute technical issues. There will be no email support available
on the 10th January 2025 and so you are advised to submit your
application well before this date in case of any problems.
Completing the form:
Please read the
following before accessing the application form, please note that all
application forms must be completed in English.
The application
form is in four parts:
- personal
details
- expression
of interest
- referees
details
- your
curriculum vitae (CV)
You must complete
each part before moving on to the next part, mandatory sections are marked and
you wont be allowed to proceed to the next part of the form until you have
completed these sections.
The Expression of Interest:
The expression of
interest (EoI) should include the following:
- Information
about your scientific interests (this should not be a copy of what is in
the CV)
- A
demonstration of their interest and knowledge in genomics
- Details
of why you want to come to the Sanger Institute
The maximum word
count for the EoI is 500 words and you should write close to this amount in
order to fully demonstrate your interest and suitability in the prize. Any EoI
with less than 400 words or more than 500 words will not be reviewed. The
application form does not count the words for you and so it is important that
you do not go over 500 words as the EoI will cut of in the middle of a
sentence.
You are advised to type your EoI in a word document to
ensure that it is an appropriate number of words and then copy and paste it
into the application form.
Your CV:
Your CV should be
no longer than two pages long and detail genomics related courses and work
experience as well as university education. PDF format is preferred but word
would be accepted.
The details of two
academic referees are also required at this stage within the application form
(further details about the referees is available below).
After you have
completed the form as detailed above, and added your CV a page confirming all
the details you have inputted will appear. Please check this
page carefully as this is your last chance to go back and make any changes
before submitting the form.
Submitting the form:
Once you have
checked all the details click the button next to the data protection statement,
this will turn the confirm button green and allow you to submit the form. You
will then receive an email from the Sanger Prize confirming your submission.
The Sanger Prize
Administrator is unable to release a form back to the applicant for amendment
once it has been submitted so it is the responsibility of the applicant to
ensure the details are correct before they submit. If you need to make any changes to the form after
submission you will need to complete it again.
You are advised to
save a copy of your final Expression of Interest in a word document,
along with the other details you have inputted into the form in case of
problems with submission or a need to resubmit the form for any reason.
The Outcome:
Successful
applicants will be informed of the results of this stage during March 2025 and
be invited to take part in the second stage of the competition.
If you have not
received an email by end of March 2025 please assume that your application has
been unsuccessful this time.
Due to the high
number of applications received we do not contact unsuccessful applicants to
inform them of the decision.
Stage 1b - Academic References
Academic
references should be from the University or Institute where you are currently
studying and at least one of them should include the university tutor or
supervisor from your genomics course. Contact details for the referees will be
required when completing the form and the referees will then be emailed
directly with a form for them to complete which will then be emailed directly
to the Sanger Prize Committee.
Applications will not be valid without two complete
references so you should choose referees who
are available to supply a reference and check with them before submission that
they are happy to write the reference for you. It is your responsibility to
ensure that the reference is submitted on time.
The referees will
be sent an email request directly the same day that the application form is
submitted and it is your
responsibility to ensure that they have received the email. If
the email has not been received then please ask the referee to check their junk
mail inbox. If they still can’t find it then the referee should
email sangerprize@sanger.ac.uk directly
to receive a form to complete.
The deadline by
which the referee must submit the reference is Friday 17th January 2025 at 5pm
UK time. There will be no support available from the Sanger Prize Administrator
on the 17th of January and so it is recommended that the references are
submitted well before this date.
Only applications which have two references submitted by
the deadline will be accepted and reviewed.
Stage 2 - Essay
A number of
shortlisted candidates will then be asked to take part in stage two of the
process, which is to write an essay with a given title. Details of this stage
will be emailed to the successful candidates during March 2025 and they will be
given approximately one month to complete the essay.
The judges’
decision will be communicated by the end of May 2025 (this date may be subject
to change), the decision is final and no further correspondence will be entered
into.
Stage two
participants who have not won will be informed by email and offered a
Certificate of Participation. No further feedback on applications will be
available.
Information about the internship
All essential
expenses will be paid for by the prize fund including travel costs, visa costs,
accommodation and reasonable food costs during the three-month internship.
The Sanger
Institute will fully support the winner with visa applications, booking travel
and finding accommodation for their stay. They will be allocated a mentor
within the lab they are working in and will be supported during their work and
given opportunities to network with other staff during the internship.
The winner will be
able to choose the lab and faculty host they work with, subject to the
availability of the host. A list of faculty hosts is available on the Sanger
website (https://www.sanger.ac.uk/people/faculty/).
The winner will be
able to choose the timing of their internship which should be taken within a
year of being awarded (travel restrictions due to Covid -19 or other unexpected
events will be taken into consideration and exceptions made).
Queries
If you have any
queries which are not answered within the information
supplied on this page please contact: sangerprize@sanger.ac.uk
We will endeavour
to give a response to email queries within five working days (between 5pm on the 19th December 2024 and 8am on the 2nd
January 2025 there will be no one available to answer queries, please send any
queries after the 2nd January and they will be answered as soon as possible.)
Help with CV’s and
Expressions of Interests cannot be
given by the Sanger Prize Committee, please seek this help from your University
tutors or mentors.
Only applications
submitted via the form linked above will be accepted. Please do not email CVs
and reference letters directly to the Sanger Prize Committee unless you have
been requested to do so by the Sanger Prize Administrator as they will not be
accepted.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a
query about the application process or the Sanger Prize in general, please
check to see if it has been answered below.
My referees haven’t received the email request, what should
I do?
Please ask them to
check their junk or spam email accounts and if they still cant find the email
then they should contact the Sanger Prize administrator directly at
sangerprize@sanger.ac.uk for a form to complete. This form wont be sent to the
applicant, only the referee.
I have made an error on my application form, can I amend
it?
No, the form cannot
be amended once you have submitted it, you can either email the Sanger Prize
administrator to inform them of the error, or submit another form with the
correct information on it.
I submitted my application, received a confirmation email
and have not heard anything else from the Sanger Prize Committee, have i been
selected?
If it is between
January and March 2025 you may still be contacted to write an essay, if it is
after the end of March 2025 then unfortunately you have not been selected
as all second stage entrants will have been contacted by this time. We do not
send emails to the first stage applicants who have not been selected
due to the high number of applications.
What can I do to maximise my chances of being selected this
year?
Before entering
the competition, you must ensure that you meet all of the criteria listed
above. Then please ensure that you read all of the information supplied very
carefully and submit your application well in advance of the closing date to
allow for any technical issues which may occur and to allow your referees
time to submit their references.
Please allow
plenty of time to write the expression of interest which is very important.
There is guidance for writing it which is supplied above and you should read
this carefully.
I am interested in applying but I am not sure my degree
course is relevant, can I still apply?
This would depend
on the course and whether you have studied genomics as part of it. The Sanger
Institute is a genomics Institute and the winner will be working in a
genomics lab so they will be expected to have studied genomics at an
undergraduate level and be able to carry out some research,
with supervision.
Can I apply as a postgraduate?
No, the
application criteria is very strictly undergraduates only and no exceptions to
that rule are made. If you are a graduate and are looking for an
opportunity to study at the Sanger Institute, please visit the ‘Study at
Sanger’ pages of this website: https://www.sanger.ac.uk/about/study/
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