FT Gradhandbook V1

Department of Oncology
Handbook for Full-time Graduate

Students

Produced by Dr. Hayley Woffendin and Dr. Ann Kaminski.
2

Contents

Page
Introduction ............................................................. 3
The Clinical School .................................................... 4
The Graduate School of Life Sciences ......................... 4
The Degree Committee of Medical ......................... 4
& Veterinary Sciences
Departmental Graduate Education Committee ................ 5
Where to get help & advice ........................................... 7
Graduate Societies .................................................... 8
Plagiarism ............................................................. 9
Supervisors ............................................................. 10
PhD course ............................................................. 11
- Course description ........................................... 11
- Talks, seminars and conferences ............................ 12
- Transferable Skills ........................................... 13
- Course Timetable ........................................... 17
Year 1 .................................................... 17
Year 2 .................................................... 23
Year 3 .................................................... 26
Year 4 .................................................... 31
- Frequently asked questions .................................. 33
MPhil course ............................................................. 36
- Course description ........................................... 36
- Talks, seminars and conferences ......................... 37
- Transferable Skills ........................................... 38
- Course Timetable ........................................... 39
- Frequently asked questions .................................. 47

3
Introduction

Welcome to the Cambridge University Department of Oncology for your post-
graduate training. The training program for your further degree is outlined in
this booklet.

Most students begin their post-graduate studies at the beginning of October
(Michaelmas term) and the dates for various deadlines given in this handbook
make that assumption. However, if you start at the beginning of the Lent or
Easter terms, your deadlines will have to be adjusted accordingly, which is a
relatively simple process, however, if you are in doubt contact Hayley Woffendin
for guidance.

The Department is split between several buildings on or close to the
Addenbrookes site, which is located on the south side of Cambridge. The
Department has a multi-national character with staff and students from all over
the world.

Being a Research Student is very different from being an undergraduate student
or a student on a taught graduate course; probably the greatest difference is
that it will be largely up to you to decide what you are going to do on a day-to-
day basis. You will carry out your research under the guidance of a personal
Supervisor, but you will also have the support of a Second Supervisor with whom
you will meet from time to time to discuss aspects of your work and your
progress.

Please do make use of all the support and help that is available to you.

We hope that studying with us will be a positive, informative and
enjoyable experience and that you will achieve your goals.

Professor Sir Bruce Ponder
Head of Department

Dr Anna Philpott
Director of Graduate Education
Dept. of Oncology
ap113@cam.ac.uk
Departmental website www.oncology.cam.ac.uk

4
The Clinical School and Graduate Students

As well as being a member of the Department of Oncology, you are a
member of a wider body of students based at the Clinical School. The
Clinical School Graduate Education Committee organises at least 3 events
a year for the Clinical School graduate community and you are strongly
encouraged to attend. As well as counting towards your transferable skills
training (TST), care is taken to organise relevant events that will be of
interest, and it is an invaluable opportunity to meet with other students
on the site, to help you gain an idea of the breadth of knowledge and
expertise you can draw upon. These events are usually well publicised by
e-mail. In particular, the Clinical School usually organises a Summer
Symposium, where students present posters and talks amongst
themselves. As well as being an excellent experience, Oncology has a
good record in winning cash prizes at this event, so you are strongly
encouraged to contribute.

University of Cambridge Graduate School of Life Sciences

The Graduate School of Life Sciences includes both University
Departments and affiliated Institutes. As all of our Graduate Students are
registered for their PhDs with the University of Cambridge, they are
automatically members of the School.

The aims of the Graduate School are to provide a resource for all
Graduate Students. It aims to enhance the experience of all students by
offering the finest environment for personal and academic development,
for which it co-ordinates a broad portfolio of transferable and professional
development courses.

The Graduate School covers life sciences students at the Hospital, as well
as the central Departments and other outlying Institutes. The Graduate
School also organises events from time to time, including a compulsory
induction course in early October. In particular, a nice welcome party
follows on from this in town, which you may well want to attend; it will
help you gain a better idea of what is going on across Cambridge
University Life Sciences as a whole.

The Degree Committee of Medical and Veterinary Sciences

This is a Committee consisting of academics who perform important tasks
such as: appointment of PhD examiners, deciding on deferment of
submission and, most importantly, assessing viva reports to decide if a
degree can be awarded. You are likely to come in contact with the Degree
Committee only via submission of various forms, e.g. in the unlikely event
that you overrun your 4 years, when you want to have your Dissertation
abstract approved etc. Your Supervisor should be able to guide you
5
through these processes, although all forms are available online from via
your CamSIS Self Service account. Administrative questions can also be
directed to Anna Philpott (Oncology Director of Graduate Education),
Hayley Woffendin (Oncology Scientific Administrator & Graduate Student
Administrator), Christine Fox and Ireena Dutta (MRC Cancer Cell Unit
Graduate Student Administrators) and Ann Kaminski (Cambridge Research
Institute Graduate Student Administrator).

Department of Oncology Graduate Education Committee

This Committee advises on all matters pertaining to Graduate Students in
the Department of Oncology and ensures liaison between those
responsible for graduate education in the various buildings that comprise
the Department.

Current members of the Committee are:

Ireena Dutta (MRC Cancer Cell Unit)
Christine Fox (MRC Cancer Cell Unit)
Phil Jones - (MRC Cancer Cell Unit)
Ann Kaminski (Cambridge Research Institute)
Gillian Murphy (University)
Anna Philpott Chair (University)
Vicki Sparkes (University)
Hayley Woffendin Secretary (University)

Contact details for committee members:

Ireena Dutta
Scientific Communications Manager & Graduate Student
Administrator
MRC Cancer Cell Unit
Hutchison/MRC Research Centre
Tel: 01223 763289
Email: id207@hutchison-mrc.cam.ac.uk

Christine Fox
Group Leaders Secretary & Graduate Student Administrator
Tel: 01223 763292
Email: cf208@hutchison-mrc.cam.ac.uk

6
Phil Jones
Tel: 01223 763379
Email: phj20@hutchison-mrc.cam.ac.uk

Ann Kaminski
Scientific Administrator & Graduate Student Administrator
CRUK Cambridge Research Institute
Li Ka Shing CRUK Cambridge Research Institute
Tel: 01223 404206
Email: ann.kaminski@cancer.org.uk

Gillian Murphy
Deputy Head of Department of Oncology
Li Ka Shing CRUK Cambridge Research Institute
Tel: 01223 404470
Email: gm290@cam.ac.uk

Anna Philpott
Tel: 01223 762675
Email: ap113@cam.ac.uk

Vicki Sparkes
Business & Operations Manager
Tel: 01223 763262
Email: vas33@cam.ac.uk

Hayley Woffendin
Scientific Administrator & Graduate Student Administrator
Tel: 01223 768673
Email: hbw21@cam.ac.uk

7
Where to get advice

Being a student can be a stressful time. You may have worries about
your studies, financial concerns, or problems with relationships with your
Supervisor or other members of your lab. In addition, there are always
the difficulties associated with living far away from home and family and
friends. Most students face at least some of these difficulties during their
study period.

In these circumstances, it is best to speak to your Principal Supervisor,
your Second Supervisor or College Tutor. However, if that is not desirable
(and you just want a friendly shoulder to cry on) then please come and
speak to Ireena Dutta or Christine Fox (MRC CCU), Ann Kaminski (CRI),
Anna Philpott or Hayley Woffendin (all Oncology students). They are
independent, non-judgmental and willing to offer a sympathetic ear.

If you feel your concerns are so serious that you wish to make a
complaint, then please consult the Universitys Student Handbook for
advice and information about the Universitys complaints procedure:
http://www.cam.ac.uk/staffstudents/studenthandbook/complaints.html

For further information, help & advice

The Student Registry website provides useful information about:

Information for new and current graduate students;
Information for International students, including visa applications;
CamSIS and how to manage your student profile;
University Policy & Guidance and code of practice;
Resources, support and training;
Submitting your Dissertation and examination procedures;
Graduate course costs; and
Student complaints & appeals procedures.

Website address:
https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/about/

The Graduate School of Life Sciences website also provides information
about:

University regulations and guidance for Degrees and programmes;
Funding;
Departments within the School;
Research Themes database;
Skills development;
Contact information for key personnel within the School; and
Answers to frequently asked questions.

Website address: http://www.biomed.cam.ac.uk/gradschool/index.html
8
Graduate Societies

The Hutchison/MRC Research Centre and the CRUK Cambridge Research
Institute (CRI) each have Graduate Societies coordinated by a group of
PhD students who organise both academic and social events. If you are
based in another building but would like to take part in these events,
please contact the Graduate Society reps from each institute, or Anna
Philpott. And do get involved involvement in organising the graduate
Society and its events counts towards your transferable skills credits.

9
Plagiarism The University of Cambridge Guidelines

Statement for graduate students
In general, plagiarism can be defined as:
the unacknowledged use of the work of others as if this were your own
original work.
Such use of unfair means will not be tolerated by the University; if
detected, the penalty may be severe and may lead to failure to obtain
your degree.
The Golden Rule:
The examiners must be in no doubt as to which parts of your Dissertation
are your own original work and which are the rightful property of someone
else.

Universitys plagiarism policy
For further information, please consult the Universitys plagiarism policy,
which is now available online at:
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/plagiarism/

These web pages provide guidance about how to conform to the academic
conventions used at the University and to raise awareness of plagiarism
and how to avoid it. They also set out the policies and procedures to be
followed if plagiarism or collusion is suspected in work submitted for
examination.

Topics covered for students include:

the University-wide statement on plagiarism;
guidance from faculties and departments about local conventions;
your responsibilities, why plagiarism matters, using commercial
organisations and essay banks, how the University detects and
disciplines plagiarism;
information about referencing and study skills;
FAQs;
resources and sources of support.
10
Principal Supervisor and Second Supervisor

At the beginning of your studies, you should all know who your Principal
Supervisor is! He/she is in charge of overseeing your research on a day-
to-day basis. Occasionally (i.e. during very busy periods) your Principal
Supervisor may need to delegate experimental supervision to a senior
member of the research team, who is unlikely to be your Second
Supervisor. This is fine as long as you liaise regularly with your Principal
Supervisor and that they have a firm grasp of exactly what is going on.
For those Principal Supervisors who do not monitor you on a daily basis,
we would expect that you to meet semi-formally at least once a month. If
you feel that your Principal Supervisor is too elusive, you should seek
advice from your Second Supervisor, in the first instance.

Your Second Supervisor, generally assigned by your Principal Supervisor
before you arrive, is another Group Leader or equivalent who is
independent from your day-to-day research and research group, who can
offer impartial advice. Some students only see their Second Supervisors
at the infrequent formal meetings detailed below, although others make
much more use of this invaluable resource. Second Supervisors are
always available and are a useful first port of call if you are having
problems that you would rather not discuss with your Principal Supervisor
or, indeed, problems with your Principal Supervisor!

11
PhD course of study

On commencement of your studies, you will be engaged in solving a
research problem lasting 3-4 years that will ultimately earn you a PhD
degree. To successfully achieve this goal, you will need to be highly
motivated, learn to balance experimental work at the bench with analysis
of results, literature surveys and planning the next step. You will also
need to balance a focus on your own project with informing yourself about
the larger world of science through reading the scientific journals and
attending seminars and conferences. The whole process will teach you
not only how to perform techniques, but will also provide you with the
invaluable skill of logical thinking that should serve you well in the future.

The ideal programme of study for a PhD will:

- Comprise a period of sustained in-depth study of a specific topic.

- Require the student to critically examine the background literature
relevant to their specific research area.

- Provide the student with an environment that encourages originality
and creativity in their research.

- Give the student an opportunity to develop skills in making and
testing hypotheses, in developing new theories, and in planning and
conducting experiments.

- Provide the opportunity to enlarge the students view of their
broader research area, its theoretical foundations and the specific
techniques used to study it.

- Provide, through constructive feedback of written work and oral
presentations, an opportunity for the student to develop skills in
written work, oral presentation and in publishing the results of their
research in high-profile scientific journals.

- Discover something new!

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Talks, seminars and conferences
Attendance of the Lectures in Cancer Biology seminar series is
compulsory for all first year graduate students and clinical fellows in the
Department of Oncology. The lectures are given by senior members of the
Department of Oncology, Cambridge Research Institute (CRI) and the
Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, the aim being to provide all researchers
with a solid background in cancer biology, covering basic biology through
to translational applications.

Chalk talks are held in the Hutchison/MRC Building and provide a forum
for graduate students and postdocs to present their work to the rest of
the building. Graduate students based outside the Hutchison/MRC
Building are also encouraged to attend. It is important you attend, both
to learn what others are doing and also to lend your support to fellow
students. Attendance at 80% of chalk talks will also earn you transferable
skills training credits.

If your PhD is in an area you are not familiar with, your Supervisor may
suggest that you attend undergraduate lectures in that field. As a
member of the University, you are entitled to attend any lectures you or
your Supervisor consider appropriate (although if the class size is small,
as it is for some final year lectures, it is polite to introduce yourself to the
lecturer at the beginning).

13
Transferable Skills Training

All PhD students are required to undertake transferable skills training.
This can vary from compulsory safety courses, voluntary courses in e.g.
bioinformatics, to personal development courses. In addition, a host of
other activities such as making and presenting a poster, giving a talk,
attending seminars and giving journal clubs can all be counted towards
your TST tally.

You are required to collect 20 credits per year, each being nominally
equivalent to about half a day. On arrival, you will be asked to attend a
compulsory induction session organised by the Graduate School of Life
Sciences, where centrally organised TST opportunities will be explained.
You should also discuss with your Supervisor, both at the beginning of the
course and throughout the year, which TSTs would be most useful. Please
note that you are expected to get 20 TST credits EVERY year, not just
your first!

You must keep a TST log to record attendance/training opportunities that
must be countersigned by your Supervisor. A copy must be bound in the
back of your First, Second and Third year reports. Please note, the
Department does audit these and we are required to make a return to the
central University.

Credit Allocations for Transferable Skills Training Activities

Tables detailing how TST credits are allocated are given on pages 14 -16
of this handbook. In addition, further information about the range of
courses organised by or for the Graduate School, as well as links to some
online and external resources can be found on the Graduate School
website: http://www.biomed.cam.ac.uk/gradschool/skills.html. If you are
in doubt as to whether something counts as a TST (or how many credits),
please ask your Supervisor or Anna Philpott.

Students should consult the tables on pages 14 -16 of this handbook to
determine how many credits they should receive for participation in a
particular training activity. The majority of taught courses are credited
pro-rata, with one credit equivalent to approximately half a days training
(e.g. attending the one-day Teaching Undergraduates course will earn you
two credits); Graduate Education Committee morning or afternoon
courses lasting two hours or more will usually be allotted one credit. Other
activities in which the transferable skills element is only a part, such as
writing your First Year Report, have fixed credits allotted to them. You can
find these listed in the table.

If you have taken part in an activity for which you cannot find the credit
rating, you should ask your Departmental Graduate Education Committee
Chair, if it is a departmentally-based activity, or email the Graduate
School office.

14

Activity Year Transferable Skills Developed Credits

Induction events
Safety courses,
introductory sessions
on libraries, ethics,
literature searching,
IP, data
management,
presentation skills
etc.
1 Various Pro-rata- or
may be
assigned
by
department
First Year Report
and Assessment
1 Scientific report writing. Computer
skills (Word, Excel).
6
Departmental
Seminar
Presentation
Any Communication and presentation
skills. I.T. skills.
4
Poster Presentation Any Communication, oral, written and
illustrative presentation skills,
research skills, I.T. skills.
4
Web-page
development
Any Writing and uploading of web
material, understanding platform
compatibility, web communication
skills.
4
Costed PhD
Research Proposal
(Wellcome 4-Yr
students)
1 Project management skills,
processes for funding and
evaluation of research, scientific
writing and communication, career
management.
6
Presenting at a
Journal Club
(seminars with
fellow research
students)
Any Communication, critical analysis of
published data, team working.
2
Planning research
project
e.g. via use of Gannt
charts in
Biotechnology
1 Project management skills,
personal effectiveness.
4
Write Scientific
paper for
submission
Any Communication, scientific writing
skills, professional development.
Up to 6
Supervisor
to allocate
according
to input
Attending external
Symposium/
Conference
Any Networking, professional
development and career
management.
2
Presentation at
external
Symposium/
Conference
Any Communication, scientific writing
and presentation skills,
professional development and
career management.
4

15
Activity Year Transferable Skills Developed Credits

Science on
Saturday
(or other schools or
general public
targeted activity)
Any Communication with general
public, public understanding of
science, presentation skills
3
Serving on
Departmental or
School committee
Any Understanding organization of
research/teaching institution.
Teamwork. Personal effectiveness.
2
Attendance of
Cancer in Biology
seminar series
Any Compulsory (attendance of 75%
talks/year)
1

Graduate School Courses
Numerous Transferable Skills Training courses are available through the
Graduate School, of which a small number of examples are given below. All
Graduate School courses are credited pro rata. You should consult the individual
course booking page for confirmation of the number of credits allotted to a
particular course.

UK-Grad residential
course or Grad
School equivalent
2/3 Various: personal effectiveness,
team work

4,6,10
Other Graduate
School courses e.g.
Any Various Pro-rata
- Teaching
Undergraduates
Teaching and assessing students
- How to write your
dissertation
Scientific writing and dissertation
planning, career development
- Identifying and
Commercializing
Intellectual Property
Recognizing, protecting and
exploiting research results of
commercial value
- Communicating with
the Public
Communication with general
public, working with the media,
public understanding of science,
presentation skills
Bioinformatics
course
Any Bioinformatics Pro-rata
CRUISE statistics
course
Any Statistical techniques Pro-rata

16

Other Courses

Computer courses Any I.T. skills Pro-rata
Home Office licence
course
Any 1 credit
per
module
Language courses Any Language skills Pro-rata
Other University-
provided courses,
including statistics
and courses run by
Staff Development
Any Various Pro-rata
Other appropriate
subject-specific
science lecture
courses
(undergraduate or
post-graduate
level)
Any Various (Credited for transferable
skills training element only)
1 credit
per 6
hours
Self-taught courses Any Various, e.g. language, computing Pro-rata

College Activities

Undergraduate
supervision
teaching
Any Small group teaching 1 credit
per class
hour,
maximum
4 per year
Presentations to
mixed
non-specialist
audience
Any Public understanding of science.
Presentation & communication
skills
1 credit
per
session,
maximum
4 per year
Serving on College
committee
Any Understanding organization of
research/teaching institution.
Teamwork. Personal effectiveness.
2

In addition to the above TSTs, all first year students are required to
attend a compulsory induction course provided by the Graduate School of
Life Sciences and both University and departmental safety courses.

17
Department of Oncology PhD Student Programme

YEAR 1

Date Supervisor PhD Student Page
Oct

Inform Hayley Woffendin
(and also Ann Kaminski
for CRI students) of
students arrival.
Choose Second
Supervisor.
Inform about Student
Log.
Start of programme.
Safety Course
Graduate School Induction course
and information pack, includes
Student Log book.
Allocation of student Mentor by
Graduate Students Society.
University Safety Course.
Formal meeting with Supervisor
Meeting with Second Supervisor.

Nov

Meeting with student.
Send a one-page report
of Preliminary
Dissertation Plan to
Hayley Woffendin.
Log report in CGSRS.
First week of Nov Non-CRI
students produce a written
Preliminary Dissertation Plan
(please give copy to Hayley
Woffendin);
CRI students give presentation
instead.
Formal meeting with supervisor.
18

19
Apr Review number of credits
obtained (plan accordingly).

Jun Write First year report (due on
second Friday in July).
20
Jul Choose two examiners.
Arrange 1
st
year viva.
Arrange date for 1
st
year viva.
Copy of First year report,
Supervisors Summary and
Student Log to:
Hayley Woffendin (non-CRI
students) or Ann Kaminski (CRI
students only),1
st
and 2
nd

Supervisors and the two
examiners.

J ul-
Sept
Arrange for copy of
Examiners Report to be
sent to Hayley Woffendin.
Highlight potential
problems to Hayley
Woffendin (and also Ann
Kaminski for CRI
students).
Submit registration report
in CGSRS; include
statement about
suitability of the student
to continue for a PhD.
Formal meeting with the
Student (matters
arising/strategy 2
nd
year)
1
st
year Viva.
Highlight potential problems to
Hayley Woffendin (and also Ann
Kaminski for CRI students).
Formal meeting with the
Supervisor (matters
arising/strategy 2
nd
year).
21

22
All
Year
Regular meetings with
student.
Submit termly supervision
report in CGSRS.
Regular meetings with Supervisor
Attend Lectures in Cancer Biology
seminar series.
Attend other relevant seminars,
lectures and talks.

18
Late October/Early November Year 1
(Lent Term starter - February; Easter Term starter - May).


By the end of the first month, each student must produce a short (1-2
pages) document outlining the aims of their dissertation project and the
approaches that will be initially employed to address those aims. The
report should be the students own work and should highlight any issues
with equipment/reagent availability etc. (i.e. is everything in place at the
start of the work that will allow smooth progress?). Any foreseeable or
potential problems should be highlighted and discussed at the initial
meeting with Supervisor and Second Supervisor. Details of this meeting
should be recorded on the form on page 19 of this handbook.

For non-CRI students, a copy of the report and record of your formal
meeting with your supervisors should be sent to Hayley Woffendin at
hbw21@cam.ac.uk.

Please note, CRI based students are asked to give an oral presentation of
their preliminary Dissertation plan rather than producing a written report.

19
Record of Formal Meeting with Supervisors- to discuss
preliminary dissertation plan

Meeting 1: November/December, Year 1
(Lent Term starter- February; Easter Term starter - May).

Date of Meeting:..

Notes or comments, made by Student or Supervisor:

Signature of Student:.

Signature of Supervisors:..

20
First Year Report

The first year report is due on second Friday in July (October for Lent
Term starters; January for Easter Term starters).

On joining the University of Cambridge, all Graduate Students and Clinical
Fellows are required to successfully complete an initial probationary period
before they are allowed to formally continue on to a PhD. The purpose of
your first year report is to provide evidence of your suitability for
registration for a PhD. It should take approximately 1-2 weeks to write
and will probably contribute to the Introduction, Methods and first Results
chapters of your PhD Dissertation.

Format of First Year Report

Your report should be 20-40 pages of A4 (including figures). Your report
should be written in standard scientific format, using double spacing and
in font size 12 and should include relevant Figures and Tables. It should
contain the following sections:

Title page: Title of project, Department, Principal Supervisors name and
your name.

Contents: Page list of section headings, figures and tables.

Abstract: One page summary of your 1
st
Year report.

Introduction: This should describe the background and rationale of your
project.

Methods: This should describe in detail the experimental methods that
you have used during your first year of research.

Results: This should describe the results that you have obtained so far.
Please be assured that many PhD projects do not produce many results
during this period and the lack of results does not preclude writing an
excellent 1
st
year report!

Discussion: This should discuss your results in a critical and balanced
way, comparing and contrasting your findings with relevant results in the
literature. You should also state how you envisage your work developing
in future.

Once written, please print out 4 copies of your report and bind each with a
copy of your Student Log (at the back).

Please give 3 bound copies to your Supervisor, 2 of which will be sent to
your examiners. In addition, please send a copy of your report and
Training Log to Hayley Woffendin (non-CRI students) or Ann Kaminski
(CRI students). If you dont do this on time, your report will be marked
as late.
21
Viva

Your Supervisor will have selected two suitable examiners for you, neither
of whom will be your Supervisor or Second Supervisor. One examiner will
be from within the University Department of Oncology, whilst the other
should ideally be from outside the Department, either employed by the
University or an associated Non-University Institution (NUI), such as the
MRC CCU, CRUK CRI or NHS. Both examiners should have had no direct
involvement in your project or the work to be examined. They should also
be recognized by the academic community as having the academic
standing to judge the work submitted for your first year assessment and
also your PhD project in general.

You and your Supervisor are responsible for arranging your viva at a
mutually convenient time; your examiners are then required to write a
joint one-page report on your suitability for PhD registration. This report
should be written on headed notepaper and contain the following
information:

Date and venue of viva,
statement of recommendation for registration or non-registration,
details of any issues and recommendations raised in the viva and
the signature of both examiners (alongside printed names).

You should ask your examiners to send a copy of their report to your
Principal Supervisor and Hayley Woffendin at hbw21@cam.ac.uk (CRI
students should also ask for a copy to be sent to Ann Kaminski at
ann.kaminski@cancer.org.uk); if you fail to do this you will not be
registered for your PhD.

Your Supervisor must then submit a Student Registration Report in the
Cambridge Graduate Student Reporting System (CGSRS) stating whether
they recommend that you be registered for the PhD degree. The
Department, the Higher Degrees Committee and the Board of Graduate
Studies will then sign off their recommendation in CGSRS, after which you
will receive formal confirmation of registration from the Board. This will
state the date from which you will be registered, i.e. from the date you
began your course.

After this process has been completed, a formal meeting should be
arranged between you and your Supervisor and Second Supervisor to
discuss matters that have arisen from your report and your viva, and also
to discuss your work plans for the coming year. Details of this meeting
should be recorded on the form on page 22 of this handbook and a copy
sent to Hayley Woffendin at hbw21@cam.ac.uk (CRI students should also
send a copy to Ann Kaminski at ann.kaminski@cancer.org.uk).

22
Record of First Year Report Meeting with Supervisors
Meeting held in September, Year 1
(Lent starter - December; Easter starter - March).

Date of Meeting:..

Any notes or comments, made by Student or Supervisor:


Signature of Supervisor:..

23
YEAR 2

April Review number of credits

June Write Second year report (due on
2
nd
Friday in July).
24
Jul-
Sept
Formal meeting with PhD
student to discuss Second
Year report (matters
arising/strategy final year).
Send a one-page
assessment of the meeting
to Hayley Woffendin (and
also Ann Kaminski for CRI
students).
Copy of Second year report,
Summary and Student Log to:
- Hayley Woffendin (and also Ann
Kaminski for CRI students), and
- 1
st
and 2
nd
Supervisors (no
examiners).
Formal meeting with
Supervisor/Second Supervisor
(matters arising/strategy final
year).

25
All
Year
student.
reports in CGSRS.

Supervisor.
Attend CRI Lunchtime seminars.
Attend other lectures/seminars
appropriate to research project.
Give Chalk Talk if appropriate.

24
Second Year report

The second year report is due on second Friday in July (October for Lent
Term starters; January for Easter Term starters).

This report is shorter than the first year report and is required for
appraising your progress at this significant stage in your PhD programme.
This report is much less formal than the first year assessment and does
not require a viva with examiners external to your research group. It will
be used by your supervisor (and second supervisor if you wish) to assess
the progress of your project and to make recommendations regarding, for
example, the focus of the work to ensure completion in a timely manner.
You should also take this opportunity to discuss future career plans.

Details of your second year report meeting should be recorded on the
form on page 25 of this handbook and a copy sent to Hayley Woffendin at
hbw21@cam.ac.uk (CRI students should also send a copy to Ann
Kaminski at ann.kaminski@cancer.org.uk).

Format of Second Year Report

Your report should be 10-15 A4 pages and should be written in standard
scientific format, using double spacing and font size 12 and organised in a
similar way as the first year report.

There is no need to repeat information that was in your first year report,
unless necessary for understanding of the Second year report. However,
you should include a copy of your student log for the period of your
second year.

25
Record of Second Year Report Meeting with Supervisors
Meeting held in September, Year 2
(Lent starter - December; Easter starter - March).

Date of Meeting:..




26

YEAR 3

April Formal meeting with PhD
student to discuss time
frame for completion and
structure of the
Dissertation.

Review number of credits
Dissertation Plan - a 5-page
third year report stating what
will be included in the
Dissertation and what still
remains to be done.
Send a copy to:
Hayley Woffendin (and also Ann
Kaminski for CRI students),
Supervisor and Second
Supervisor.
Formal meeting with
Supervisor/Second Supervisor to
discuss time frame for
completion and structure of the
Dissertation.

27

28

May-
Sept
On receipt of the
Appointment of Examiners
Student Application Form,
the Higher Degrees Office
will ask you to complete a
Nomination of Examiners
Form. This should be
signed by Gill Murphy, who
will return it to the Higher
Degrees Office. This should
be done asap, as the
process of appointing
examiners may be subjected
to unexpected delays.
Send Appointment of Examiners
Student Application Form to
Degree Office 2 months before
due to submit.
Remind Supervisor to appoint
examiners and obtain their
agreement to examine you.
Final Submission of the
Dissertation; when submit
inform Hayley Woffendin (CRI
students also inform Ann
Kaminski). If submission will be
delayed beyond your submission
deadline, inform Hayley
Woffendin (CRI students also
inform Ann Kaminski). Note,
you do not need to apply to the
Degree Committee for a formal
extension of registration unless
submission will be after 30
th

September of your 4
th
year.

All
Year
student
reports in CGSRS.
Supervisor
Attend Lunchtime seminars
Give Chalk Talk if appropriate.

27
Third Year Report

In April of your third year (July for Lent Term starters; October for Easter
Term starters).

This report constitutes a short dissertation plan and will provide the
overall skeleton of your dissertation.

It should outline the structure and content of the Introduction and also
describe the contents of each chapter including figures and brief figure
legends.

Students are also asked to detail the work that remains to be done to
allow them to complete their PhD.

As soon as your report is complete, you should arrange to discuss it with
your Supervisor and Second Supervisor to talk about your progress and
the time period required to complete your PhD.

Details of your third year report meeting should be recorded on the form
on page 28 of this handbook. Please send a copy of your report and
record of your meeting with your Supervisor and Second Supervisor to
Hayley Woffendin at hbw21@cam.ac.uk (CRI students should also send a
copy to Ann Kaminski at ann.kaminski@cancer.org.uk).

28
Third Year Report Meeting with Supervisor
Meeting held in April, Year 3
(July - Lent Term starters; October - Easter Term starters).

Date of Meeting:..




29

Submission of Dissertation

The minimum time to submission is no earlier than the first day of the 9th
term. The final deadline for submission of the dissertation for all
full-time PhD students is the last day of your 12
th
term of study.

If, the end of your 12
th
term is approaching and you know you are not
going to be able to submit in time, you should discuss this with your
Supervisor and then apply to the Degree Committee in good time for an
extension to your deadline. I f you do not take action by the end of
your 12
th
term, to either submit or apply for an extension, the
Degree Committee may take you off the register at this point.

Information about how to submit your thesis, how to arrange for
appointment of your examiners and how to apply for a deferral of
submission can be found on the Student Registry website
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/current/graduate/
gradprofile.html.

When you submit your Dissertation please inform Hayley Woffendin (and
Ann Kaminski if you are a CRI student).

Procedure for appointment of Examiners

Information about submitting a dissertation can be found:

on your CamSIS self service account,
on the Student Registry website:
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/exams/sub
mission/phd/ and
on the Graduate School of Life Sciences website:
http://www.biomed.cam.ac.uk/gradschool/degrees/appointment_ex
aminers.html.
Please note, you are required to comply with the Graduate School of Life
Sciences procedure for appointment of examiners, which is as follows:
1. About 8 weeks before submission, you are required to complete an
Appointment of examiners student Application form, which can be
downloaded from the Graduate School of Life Sciences website:
aminers.html.

Once completed, you should send the form, together with 2 copies
of your abstract, to the Degree Committee for Clinical Medicine &
Veterinary Medicine at: Higher Degrees Office, School of Clinical
Medicine, Box 111, Addenbrookes Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge
CB2 0SP, or email to: degree_committee@medschl.cam.ac.uk.

30
2. This triggers the Clinical Medicine & Veterinary Medicine Higher
Degrees Office to send a formal letter to our Departmental Head of
Graduate Student Affairs, along with a Nomination of examiners
form. The Higher Degrees Office also sends an email to your
supervisor alerting that they need to send the names and full
contact details of two examiners to our Departmental Head of
Graduate Student Affairs (at no point should this form go to the
student).

3. Our Departmental Head of Graduate Student Affairs completes and
signs the Nomination of examiners form and returns it to the
Higher Degrees Office for Degree Committee approval.

4. The names of the two examiners and the dissertation title (obtained
from the abstract sent by you) are then listed on a document
(Reported Action document) for consideration by the Degree
Committee for Clinical Medicine & Veterinary Medicine.

5. The Higher Degrees Office will then arrange the viva.

Examiners eligibility criteria

PhD dissertations are examined by oral examination (viva) by two
examiners, one internal and one external:

Internal examiner:

Must be employed by the University or one of our approved
Non-University Institutions (e.g. MRC CCU, NHS, CRUK).
Must have had no direct involvement with the student or the
work being examined.
If they meet the above 2 requirements, the examiner can be
from the Department of Oncology, but not from the students
research group.

External examiner:

Must be from outside the University and its approved NUIs.
Must have no recent close connection with the University.
Must not have any collaboration with the student.

Both examiners must be recognised by the academic community as
having the academic standing to judge the work submitted for a PhD
degree. If you are unsure, check whether they have examined a
Cambridge PhD before, or have good experience of examining PhDs within
the UK system generally.

Your supervisor must be able to justify the nomination of both examiners
on the basis of:

the examiners academic reputations,
31
the examiners familiarity with the subject matter, and
the examiners experience of examining PhDs.
YEAR 4 (as required)

Continued meetings with Supervisor and submit your Dissertation as soon
as possible!

NB: Your PhD dissertation MUST be submitted within 4 years of
your start date and this includes writing-up time!

If, by the time the end of the fourth year is approaching you know you are
not going to be able to submit on time, you should discuss this with your
extension to your registration deadline. If you do not take action by
the end of your fourth year, to either submit or apply for an
extension, the Degree Committee will take you off the register at
this point. Note that, unless your studentship comes with 4 years of
funding, there is no guarantee that a stipend will be available beyond the
end of the third year. Also, please be aware that you will need to consider
the potential implications of applying for a deferral of submission of your
thesis if you require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK. You will also need to
check the financial consequences of deferring with your sponsor, who you
should consult about putting your award into abeyance.

When you submit your dissertation please inform Hayley Woffendin (and
Ann Kaminski if you are a CRI student).

Why you need to try to finish by the end of the fourth year

If you cant finish within four years and have no good reason for an
extension you will be taken off the register until your dissertation is
completed. Coming off the register means that you lose student status,
i.e.:

you no longer retain the right to use University or College
facilities,
you become liable to pay certain sorts of tax and repay student
loans and
your student visa lapses.

So it is very much in your interest to try to finish by the end of the fourth
year.

Grounds for an extension into the fifth year

If you are overrunning for reasons beyond your control (e.g. you have
been delayed in your research or have suffered illness or other severe
difficulties), or are very close to submission (within a few weeks) you may
32
be granted an extension.

You need to apply in the usual way, through your CamSIS self-service
account, AHEAD of your deadline. Remember that if you are ill for a
prolonged period, or suffer bereavement or other trauma such that you
cannot work for some weeks, you should consider intermitting for a term
this time does NOT count towards your four years. Apply at the time
you are ill/hindered do not wait till you need an extension. You will need
a doctors letter or equivalent to support your claim.

The Degree Committee will consider each application for an extension on
its own merits and inform the Board of Graduate Studies of the outcome.
However, if you are taken off the register for overrunning, this is not the
end so far as your dissertation is concerned you can continue to write
up while off the register and apply to be reinstated when the dissertation
is ready to submit for examination.

33

Frequently asked questions about the submission of PhD
Dissertation?

1. When do I need to submit?
For all PhD students there is a standard registration period of up to 12
terms (4 years), or up to the completion of the examination, whichever is
sooner. This means that those who reach the end of their fourth year of
the PhD and have neither intermitted not secured permission to extend
their studies will be taken off the register automatically.

2. How do I count my terms?
Include all terms from the date of starting on the PhD course. All courses
start on one of these dates: 1 October, 4 January, 10 April, and there are
THREE terms per year. Discount any terms for which you have actually
been granted permission to intermit or come off the register.

3. Does the 4 year submission deadline mean the PhD is
effectively a 4-year course?
No. The minimum requirement for the PhD is three years (full-time)
study. The 4 year deadline is the MAXIMUM time limit for submitting
your dissertation.

4. I have a 4-year PhD studentship do I still have to submit by
the end of the fourth year?
Yes! Even if you have four years of funding, the deadline is still the end of
the fourth year.

5. Am I allowed to continue to do experiments in my fourth year
and if I do, will I have to pay bench fees?
If you are on a three-year PhD programme, you are supposed to have
finished all your experiments before the end of the three years. The
34
University gets no more fees to support your fourth year. If you have a
four-year studentship, however, then you could continue experiments for
a bit longer, subject to the agreement of your department, but you still
have to finish writing up within the fourth year. If you continue with
experiments beyond the end of the fee-paying period, then charges would
be at the discretion of the Head of Department.

6. How long will I be liable to pay fees?
All students will pay University Composition Fees (UCF) for a minimum of
three full years (9 terms) unless:

(i) they complete the thesis and submit it before the end of the third year
and have permission to submit early,

(ii) they are part of a formal bilateral scholarship program (eg NIH) for
which a different fee agreement has been approved by The Board of
Graduate Studies,

(iii) they are registered on a four-year programme for which four years of
fees have been allocated by the sponsor,

(iv) they are students at a Non-University Institutions who have
permission to work away from Cambridge (e.g. to carry out a term of
study in another lab) are not expected to pay a fee for such a term.

After your 9th term (3 years) you will normally be automatically exempt
from payment of the UCF because you should have finished most or all of
your experiments. After this time you enter a 12 month 'writing up'
period and. The Board of Graduate Studies will notify you by e-mail when
you are made exempt. Your College Accounts office is also informed of
your fee liability each term by the Board of Graduate Studies. However,
your faculty may request the continued payment of fees beyond the
minimum period if you are making substantial use of University facilities,
beyond the minimum period.

7. Will I get a warning before the deadline?
Yes, two!
1) The Board of Graduate Studies (BGS) will email you as you enter your
fourth year of study to advise you that your deadline is 12 months away.
2) At the end of your 11th term, BGS will email you again with a
further warning of the deadline and remind you how to apply for an
extension beyond four years, if needed.

8. How will the department help me to meet my deadline?
BGS will notify your department, supervisor, College and Degree
Committee when you enter your final year. The department will monitor
your progress and will also get the final warning and will want to know
how you plan to complete in time.

35

9. What if I will not be able to submit on time?
If you overrun even by one day, you will be taken off the student register.
Late submission also counts as a black mark against the departments 4-
year submission record and will affect the Departments future funding.
If you know you cannot submit on time, you must contact the Degree
Committee and your student administrator at least one month before
the last day of your 4th year for their advice on how you should proceed.

The Degree Committee will view sympathetically any application to defer
submission if there is evidence of a good reason for the overrun and the
thesis is nearly ready to submit. An extension of up to a term may be
granted at any one time. The Degree Committee may also allow you to
intermit (for medical or non-medical reasons) if you are ill, bereaved or
otherwise unable to work for a period of months. Intermission is granted
for a minimum period of one term, with a maximum of three periods (i.e.
3 terms) of intermission allowed during your PhD course. It is vital that
you explore the possibility of intermission immediately and not when you
have run out of time, as it is difficult to grant students a period of
intermission in retrospect.

10. What happens if I am taken off the register?
Students taken off the register will lose their student status, i.e.

will no longer retain the right to use University or College facilities,
will become liable to pay certain taxes and repay student loans and
their student visa will no longer be valid.

You will need to apply to be reinstated when your thesis is ready to
submit and you will normally be given a month after reinstatement to
deliver the thesis to The Board of Graduate Studies.

36

Master of Philosophy (MPhil) course of study

The MPhil programme offered by the Department of Oncology is a
laboratory based supervised course lasting for 12 months. During this
time, you must complete a research project, which is then submitted as a
written Dissertation of less than 20,000 words in length, on a subject
approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculties of Clinical Medicine
and Veterinary Medicine. You will then undergo an oral examination based
on both your Dissertation and a broader knowledge of your chosen area of
research.

To successfully achieve your goal of obtaining an MPhil degree, you will
need to be highly motivated, learn to balance experimental work at the
bench with analysis of results, literature surveys and planning the next
step. You will also need to balance a focus on your own project with
informing yourself about the larger world of science through reading the
scientific journals and attending seminars and conferences. The whole
process will teach you not only how to perform techniques, but will also
provide you with the invaluable skill of logical thinking that should serve
you well in the future.

The ideal programme of study for a Masters degree will:

- Comprise a period of sustained in-depth study of a specific topic.

- Require the student to critically examine the background literature
relevant to their specific research area.

- Provide the student with an environment that encourages originality
and creativity in their research.

- Give the student an opportunity to develop skills in making and
testing hypotheses, in developing new theories, and in planning and
conducting experiments.

- Provide the opportunity to enlarge the students view of their
broader research area, its theoretical foundations and the specific
techniques used to study it.

- Provide, through constructive feedback of written work and oral
presentations, an opportunity for the student to develop skills in
written work, oral presentation and in publishing the results of their
research in high-profile scientific journals.

37
Talks, seminars and conferences
Attendance of the Lectures in Cancer Biology seminar series is
compulsory for all first year graduate students and clinical fellows in the
Department of Oncology. The lectures are given by senior members of the
Department of Oncology, Cambridge Research Institute (CRI) and the
Hutchison/MRC Research Centre, the aim being to provide all researchers
with a solid background in cancer biology, covering basic biology through
to translational applications.

Chalk talks are held in the Hutchison/MRC Building and provide a forum
for graduate students and postdocs to present their work to the rest of
the building. Graduate students based outside the Hutchison/MRC
Building are also encouraged to attend. It is important you attend, both
to learn what others are doing and also to lend your support to fellow
students. Attendance at 80% of chalk talks will also earn you transferable
skills training credits.

If your MPhil is in an area you are not familiar with, your Supervisor may
suggest that you attend undergraduate lectures in that field. As a
member of the University, you are entitled to attend any lectures you or
your Supervisor consider appropriate (although if the class size is small,
as it is for some final year lectures, it is polite to introduce yourself to the
lecturer at the beginning).

38
Transferable Skills Training

Transferable skills training is optional for MPhil students, but we strongly
encourage them to collect 20 credits during their course, each credit being
nominally equivalent to about half a day of training. Credits can vary from
compulsory safety courses, voluntary courses in e.g. bioinformatics, to
personal development courses. In addition, a host of other activities such
as making and presenting a poster, giving a talk, attending seminars and
giving journal clubs can all be counted towards your TST tally.

On arrival, you will be asked to attend a compulsory induction session
organised by the Graduate School of Life Sciences, where centrally
organised TST opportunities will be explained. You should also discuss
with your Supervisor, both at the beginning of the course and throughout
the year, which TSTs would be most useful.

You must keep a TST log to record attendance/training opportunities that
must be countersigned by your Supervisor. Please note, the Department
does audit these and we are required to make a return to the central
University.

Credit Allocations for Transferable Skills Training Activities

Tables detailing how TST credits are allocated are given on pages 14 -16
of this handbook. In addition, further information about the range of
courses organised by or for the Graduate School, as well as links to some
online and external resources can be found on the following web page
http://www.biomed.cam.ac.uk/gradschool/skills.html.

Students should consult the tables on pages 14-16 of this handbook to
determine how many credits they should receive for participation in a
particular training activity. The majority of taught courses are credited
pro-rata, with one credit equivalent to approximately half a days training
(e.g. attending the one-day Teaching Undergraduates course will earn you
two credits); Graduate Education Committee morning or afternoon
courses lasting two hours or more will usually be allotted one credit. Other
activities in which the transferable skills element is only a part have fixed
credits allotted to them. You can find these listed in the table.

If you have taken part in an activity for which you cannot find the credit
rating, you should ask your Departmental Graduate Education Committee
Chair, if it is a departmentally-based activity, or email the Graduate
School office.

39
Department of Oncology MPhil Student Programme
YEAR 1

Date Supervisor MPhil Student Page
Oct

Inform Hayley Woffendin
and Ann Kaminski (CRI
students only) of students
arrival.
Choose Second Supervisor.
Inform about Student Log.
Start of programme.
Allocation of student Mentor by
Graduate Students Society.
University Safety Course.
Formal meeting with Supervisor
Meeting with Second Supervisor.

Nov

Meeting with student.
Send a one-page report of
Preliminary Dissertation
Plan to Hayley Woffendin
and Ann Kaminski (CRI
students only).
Log report in CGSRS.
First week of Nov Non-CRI students
produce a written Preliminary
Dissertation Plan (please give copy
to Hayley Woffendin);
CRI students give presentation
instead.
Formal meeting with supervisor.
40

41
April Formal meeting with MPhil
student to discuss time
frame for completion and
structure of the
Dissertation.

Dissertation Plan - a 5-page report
giving structure and content of
Dissertation, stating what will be
included and what still remains to
be done.
Send a copy to:
Hayley Woffendin and Ann
Kaminski (CRI students only),
Supervisor and Second Supervisor
Formal meeting with
Supervisor/Second Supervisor to
discuss time frame for completion
and structure of the Dissertation.
42

43
May-
Sept
On receipt of the
Appointment of Examiners
Student Application Form,
the Higher Degrees Office
will ask you to complete a
Nomination of Examiners
Form. This should be
signed by Gill Murphy, who
will return it to the Higher
Degrees Office. This
should be done asap, as
the process of appointing
examiners may be
subjected to unexpected
delays.
Send Appointment of Examiners
Student Application Form to Degree
Office 2 months before due to
submit.
Remind Supervisor to appoint
examiners and obtain their
agreement to examine you.
On submission of the Dissertation
inform Hayley Woffendin and Ann
Kaminski (CRI students only). If
submission will be delayed beyond
your submission deadline, inform
Hayley Woffendin and Ann
Kaminski (CRI students only).
44
All
Year
student
reports in CGSRS.
Regular meetings with Supervisor
Attend Lectures in Cancer Biology
seminar series.
Attend other relevant seminars,
lectures and talks.

40

By the end of the first month, each student must produce a short (1-2
pages) document outlining the aims of their dissertation project and the
approaches that will be initially employed to address those aims. The
report should be the students own work and should highlight any issues
with equipment/reagent availability etc. (i.e. is everything in place at the
start of the work that will allow smooth progress?). Any foreseeable or
potential problems should be highlighted and discussed at the initial
meeting with Supervisor and Second Supervisor. Details of this meeting
should be recorded on the form on page 41 of this handbook.

For non-CRI students, a copy of the report and record of your formal
meeting with your supervisors should be sent to Hayley Woffendin at
hbw21@cam.ac.uk.

Please note, CRI based students are asked to give an oral presentation of
their preliminary Dissertation plan rather than producing a written report.

41
Record of Formal Meeting with Supervisors- to discuss
preliminary dissertation plan

Meeting 1: November/December, Year 1
(February - Lent starters; May - Easter starters).

Date of Meeting:..

Notes or comments, made by Student or Supervisor:


Signature of Supervisors:..

42
Final Dissertation Plan

Three months before your final submission date you should produce a
final dissertation plan.

This short dissertation plan and will provide the overall skeleton of your
dissertation.

It should outline the structure and content of the Introduction and also
describe the contents of each chapter including figures and brief figure
legends.

Students are also asked to detail the work that remains to be done to
allow them to complete their MPhil.

As soon as your plan is complete, you should arrange to discuss it with
your Supervisor and Second Supervisor to talk about your progress and
the time period required to complete your MPhil.

Details of your third year report meeting should be recorded on the form
on page 43 of this handbook. Please send a copy of your report and
record of your meeting with your Supervisor and Second Supervisor to
Hayley Woffendin at hbw21@cam.ac.uk (CRI students should also send a
copy to Ann Kaminski at ann.kaminski@cancer.org.uk).

43
Final Dissertation Plan Meeting with Supervisor
Meeting held 3 months before submission deadline

Date of Meeting:..




44
Submission of dissertation

The minimum time to submission is no earlier than the first day of the 6th
term. The final deadline for submission of the dissertation for all full-time
MPhil students is the last day of your 12 months of study.

If, the end of your 12 months is approaching and you know you are not
going to be able to submit in time, you should discuss this with your
extension to your registration deadline. I f you do not take action by
the end of your 12 months, to either submit or apply for an
extension, the Degree Committee will take you off the register at
this point.

Note, please be aware that you will need to consider the potential
implications of applying for a deferral of submission of your thesis if you
require a Tier 4 visa to study in the UK. You will also need to check the
financial consequences of deferring with your sponsor, who you should
consult about putting your award into abeyance.

Information about how to submit your thesis, how to arrange for
appointment of your examiners and how to apply for a deferral of
submission can be found on the Student Registry website
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/current/graduate/
gradprofile.html.

When you submit your Dissertation please inform Hayley Woffendin at
hbw21@cam.ac.uk (CRI students should also inform Ann Kaminski at
ann.kaminski@cancer.org.uk).

Procedure for appointment of Examiners

Information about submitting a dissertation can be found:

on your CamSIS self service account,
on the Student Registry website:
http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/exams/sub
mission/phd/ and
on the Graduate School of Life Sciences website:
aminers.html.
Please note, you are required to comply with the Graduate School of Life
Sciences procedure for appointment of examiners, which is as follows:
1. About 8 weeks before submission, you are required to complete
an Appointment of examiners student Application form, which can
be downloaded from the Graduate School of Life Sciences website:
aminers.html.
45

Once completed, you should send the form, together with 2 copies
of your abstract, to the Degree Committee for Clinical Medicine &
Veterinary Medicine at: Higher Degrees Office, School of Clinical
Medicine, Box 111, Addenbrookes Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge
CB2 0SP, or email to: degree_committee@medschl.cam.ac.uk.

2. This triggers the Clinical Medicine & Veterinary Medicine Higher
Degrees Office to send a formal letter to our Departmental Head of
Graduate Student Affairs, along with a Nomination of examiners
form. The Higher Degrees Office also sends an email to your
supervisor alerting that they need to send the names and full
contact details of two examiners to our Departmental Head of
Graduate Student Affairs (at no point should this form go to the
student).

3. Our Departmental Head of Graduate Student Affairs completes and
signs the Nomination of examiners form and returns it to the
Higher Degrees Office for Degree Committee approval.

4. The names of the two examiners and the dissertation title (obtained
from the abstract sent by you) are then listed on a document
(Reported Action document) for consideration by the Degree
Committee for Clinical Medicine & Veterinary Medicine.

5. The Higher Degrees Office will then arrange the viva.

Examiners eligibility criteria

PhD dissertations are examined by oral examination (viva) by two
examiners, one internal and one external:

Internal examiner:

Must be employed by the University or one of our approved
Non-University Institutions (e.g. MRC CCU, NHS, CRUK).
Must have had no direct involvement with the student or the
work being examined.
If they meet the above 2 requirements, the examiner can be
from the Department of Oncology, but not from the students
research group.

External examiner:

Must be from outside the University and its approved NUIs.
Must have no recent close connection with the University.
Must not have any collaboration with the student.

Both examiners must be recognised by the academic community as
having the academic standing to judge the work submitted for a PhD
46
degree. If you are unsure, check whether they have examined a
Cambridge PhD before, or have good experience of examining PhDs within
the UK system generally.

Your supervisor must be able to justify the nomination of both examiners
on the basis of:

the examiners academic reputations,
the examiners familiarity with the subject matter, and
the examiners experience of examining PhDs.

47
Frequently asked questions about the submission of MPhil
Dissertation?

1. How do I count my terms?
Include all terms from the date of starting on the MPhil course. All courses
start on one of these dates: 1 October, 4 January, 10 April, and there are
THREE terms per year. Discount any terms for which you have actually
been granted permission to intermit or come off the register.

2. Will I get a warning before the deadline?
Yes, the Board of Graduate Studies (BGS) will email you to advise you
that your deadline is approaching.

3. How will the department help me to meet my deadline?
BGS will also notify your department, supervisor, College and Degree
Committee when you are due to submit your dissertation. The
Department will monitor your progress and will want to know how you
plan to complete in time.

4. What if Im nearly ready to submit when the final day arrives
(but not quite)?
If you overrun even by one day, this will be a black mark against the
departments submission record. Try not to get into this situation - if its
that close, and you plan ahead, you can meet the deadline. If it does
happen, the Degree Committee will make decisions on a case-by-case
basis about whether to take you off the register.

5. Can I apply for an extension to my period of registration?
You may apply to the Degree Committee for an extension, which will be
assessed on a case-by-case basis.

6. What happens if I am taken off the register?
Students taken off the register will lose their student status, i.e.

will no longer retain the right to use University or College facilities,
will become liable to pay certain taxes and repay student loans and
their student visa will no longer be valid.

You will need to apply to be reinstated when your thesis is ready to
submit and you will normally be given a month after reinstatement to
deliver the thesis to The Board of Graduate Studies.

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