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I think I would put it under service.

That seems on the lower end of the scale for stipends. Like others have said, it will depend on your accommodation. My stipend is 22,000 pound here in cambridge, I was offered the same in oxford, and I feel it is just enough to live comfortably. You can probably still make some extra money tutoring.

You can contact the Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable, they are a student-led company specialising in biotech consulting. Here is their website: oxbridgebiotech.com All the best.

I guess I was a nerd, however not in the sense of trying to get the best grades possible. I was consistently doing well in class but not one of the best. I was always bored in class and therefore wasn't interested in the material. When I went home, I would play 4 or 5 hours of videogames every day... I did however exhibit certain nerdy behaviour traits: I was a member of the chess club: I would spend every lunchtime in the library playing chess. I was the school champion. I also participated in national chess competitions. I also enjoyed learning all kinds of stuff that was university level material, particularly in biology, physics, and philosophy. I created my on curriculum with books I ordered from amazon and material I found online. I now have a couple of folders full of stuff that I learned outside of class. I also read a lot of literary books with a desire to further my knowledge. I designed many boardgames which I playtested with my friends. One of these is a RPG with a rulebook of 80000words. I basically wrote a short PhD thesis in high school, haha. I did the IB, but then again, everybody in my school did so that is nothing special. EDIT: I forgot that I did 7 subjects instead of the usual 6, but there were a few others who did the same... I also did a couple of internships, but I did these for money and not to further my employability. I also did some tutoring in my last year of high school because my teacher asked me. That's it.

I am going to pursue a PhD at Cambridge starting this October. I will be at Christ's College My PhD is based at the Sanger Institute and the PhD is funded by the Wellcome Trust. I will be studying parasite genomics Anybody else attending Cambridge?

Hey everybody, I am currently looking at securing a summer placement position this summer before starting grad school. I have identified a summer program I wish to apply for, however they only open the application portal in April. I wanted to fund this summer program with a travel grant from a different organization. Thing is, the deadline for the travel grant application is in March. Therefore, I would have to apply for the grant before I am even sure about whether I get a spot at the summer program. Any advice on what I should do? Thank you.

Going to attend Cambridge University starting October. I'll be pursuing a 4-year PhD at the Sanger Institute

I was driving to Oxford for some interviews when I noticed that I had three missed calls from an unknown number. I knew that the DGS of the Sanger Institute would call accepted applicants, so I was really excited thinking that it might have been him trying to call me. I immediately phoned all the people whose numbers show up as 'unknown' when they call me to make sure it wasn't any of them. It wasn't! Anyway, when I arrived at Oxford, I had no email, so my spirits were down. I went to sleep and I was really nervous for my Oxford interview because it was my second-choice after Sanger, so I didn't sleep well. The morning of my interview, I checked my email and there was the acceptance from Sanger, complete with a sentence stating: 'We tried calling you yesterday but we were unable to get through...'. I was so happy! I was contemplating whether to attend the interview or not. I ended up going to be polite, but I went in completely relaxed and without any expectation of being accepted or not. The interview went terrible, but I did not care. 1 week later I got an acceptance from Oxford, haha. Guess they like terrible interviews! Anyway, ended up rejecting them.

I took a gap year after my master. I was 22 at the time I finished my master. I only got into some pretty unknown PhD programs that did not fit my research, and was rejected everywhere else. I therefore decided to take a gap year in which I worked as a teacher (still doing this now). I applied to a lot of PhD programs because I had a lot of time, and I spent a lot of time upgrading my CV. This year I got into Cambridge, Oxford, and a variety of other very good schools. I will therefore start my PhD this October at my dream program in Cambridge. I am sure that I would have been rejected by all these programs last year, but my gap year made it possible. So, I will be 23 instead of 22 when I start my PhD, big deal! I am going to Cambridge! My opinion is therefore that a gap year is useful if you think it will help your career ambitions in the long run. Especially if you are still young.

I go running and weight lifting. Besides that I love playing videogames, though I don't get much time for that. I also watch a lot of anime and read manga. Sometimes I also watch movies and other series.

^^ I did not. I informed Sanger on Sunday that I would accept their offer. I am guessing that maybe the MGM program somehow found out, so I did not get any email from them today. What about you? Did you get an offer?

So, I made up my mind, I shall attend the Sanger Institute from October onwards :) I just accepted their offer and rejected the others! SO SO SO happy It was my first choice So, in the end my situation was like this: Sanger Institute- 4-year PhD -Interview - Acceptance - 20000£ per year - ATTENDING Oxford- Genomic Medicine and Statistics - Interview- Acceptance- 20000£ per year Oxford- NDM Prize Studentship - Interview- Acceptance- 18000£ per year Cambridge- Mathematical Genomics and Medicine - Interview - Withdraw Imperial College- Genomic Medicine - Interview - Rejection Harvard- Biostatistics- Withdraw Harvard- Public Health: Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics - Withdraw Yale- Biostatistics -Withdraw UC Davis- Entomology- Interview - Withdraw Penn State- Entomology - Acceptance - 26000$ per year + tuition fee waiver Cornell- Genetics, Genomics, and Development - Interview - Withdraw

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, so I will probably choose Sanger. I will think about it for a few more days though. I believe that the short reply date is only for British PhDs, the penn state offer I have is valid until march....

I just had a really intensive week of interviews, I was on the plane four times within the last 6 days... Anyway, it seems like it is all over now. I am starting to get the results from my interviews: Acceptances at the Oxford Genomic Medicine and Sanger PhDs, both my top choices!!! They require me to make up my mind by Monday, so that does not leave much time for decisions.... My situation: Oxford- Genomic Medicine and Statistics - Interview- Acceptance- 20000£ per year Oxford- NDM Prize Studentship - Interview Sanger Institute- 4-year PhD -Interview - Acceptance - 20000£ per year Cambridge- Mathematical Genomics and Medicine - Interview Imperial College- Genomic Medicine - Interview - Rejection Harvard- Biostatistics Harvard- Public Health: Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics Yale- Biostatistics UC Davis- Entomology- Interview Penn State- Entomology - Acceptance - 26000$ per year + tuition fee waiver Cornell- Genetics, Genomics, and Development - Interview Any advice on which offer to accept? Sanger or Oxford? The main difference is that the Sanger one includes three rotations in the first year, while the Oxford one consists of two rotations and statistics courses. Loved the faculty at Sanger though, so I am slightly leaning towards it. Oxford however might provide a better foundation in statistics...

Well, it was a 30minute interview. I was tired that day cause I got up at 5 in the morning to get to the interview in time, so that didn't help. Anyway, the interview started the way I mentioned before and then they asked me if I had identified any other potential research groups I would like to join. I said no because I had only looked at the groups working on malaria. The interviewers seemed very disappointed at my apparent lack of preparation. They then asked me to summarize the scientific paper that I had to read for the interview. At this point I was really nervous and tired, so I was unable to explain the paper in any coherent way. My inability to do so made me even more nervous, creating a vicious circle. In the end it seemed like I didn't understand the paper. We the went on to talk about my research experience which went decently well. They then asked me what I wish to do after I finish my PhD. I told them that I wish to do a post-doc and then apply for a lecturing position. This is where I started to spew stupid stuff again. I was asked what I would need to have to get there and I replied 'publications' . They looked surprised and asked me to explain. I simply said 'if you have enough publications you can get a faculty position anywhere. Of course the quality of the papers matters too'. They then asked how to judge the quality of a paper, to which I replied 'citations'. They then asked to get a good publication and I said 'good research'. They asked how to do good research and I said you need to be in the correct field... We then switched topic.... It is apparent to me now that they wanted me to say that you need to be hardworking and persevere to get a lecturing position.... I was being far too rational and in the end appeared to not really care about the science. It seemed like I looked down on the professors like they are only there because of their publications. I don't know why I spewed all of that stupid stuff... Anyway, at the end they asked if I had any questions, I said no and left. That was it. Done. Secured my rejection.