[Behsci] Fwd: IAS Studentships update - Initial review

Dear Behavioural Science cluster, Please don’t mind the odd time, I’m writing this. I’m currently in a different time zone. IAS has released some initial numbers on the expressions of interest and the news is very good. While we don’t yet have information on individual student quality, it is fair to say that we hit the targets when it comes to raw numbers. * Our sub-cluster received the fourth-most applications out of 39 clusters * We are actually just one application shy of tying for 2nd place in that metric * Equally important, we are ranked overall second when it comes to applications from Home students * With an overall number of 37 EoIs (12 Home, 25 International), I feel that we are in a strong position going forward. Details here: Expressions of Interest by cluster summary.pdf<https://stir.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/InstituteforAdvancedStudie… Best, Till Begin forwarded message: From: Institute for Advanced Studies <ias@stir.ac.uk<mailto:ias@stir.ac.uk>> Subject: IAS Studentships update - Initial review Date: 20. April 2023 at 23:31:45 GMT+9 To: Institute for Advanced Studies <ias@stir.ac.uk<mailto:ias@stir.ac.uk>> All As you know, the student competition for our IAS studentships closed last Friday, 14 April. The response was fantastic and completely outstripped our expectations. In total we received 714 Expressions of Interest. Since the closing date, IAS has undertaken a first review of the EoIs received to check that they meet the basic eligibility criteria we set in terms of completing the form, university entrance requirements etc. After this initial check was completed, we were left with 617 valid EoIs. You can see some summary information about how these were distributed across the clusters and overarching themes here in the Expressions of Interest by cluster summary.pdf<https://stir.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/InstituteforAdvancedStudie… . The IAS Executive met yesterday to consider whether any other sifting was required before sending EoIs to clusters for review. As throughout the process, we agreed to impose as few conditions as possible, to enable the process to be driven by student quality and demand whilst ensuring we end up with viable clusters. On the latter point, we decided to make one additional ‘cut’ at this point. As we have said throughout, we regard 3 students as the minimum for a viable cluster. In order to be confident that we will fill the available places, we have made the difficult decision that the 8 clusters that received 6 EoIs or fewer will not move forward as the risk of having fewer than 3 students accepting places is material. Earlier today I contacted those cluster leads to advise them of this decision and the outcome for their clusters. The IAS Executive also decided to add some additional filtering criteria to those included in the guidance document on recruitment and selection [​pdf icon] IAS Studentships Recruitment and Selection Guide.pdf<https://stir.sharepoint.com/:b:/s/InstituteforAdvancedStudies/… previously distributed, these are noted below In their final submissions to IAS, clusters should put forward, A ranked list of up to 6 preferred candidates, and a ranked list of 3 reserves on the scoring grid that IAS will provide; No more than 4 of the candidates/reserves can be from overseas. (This is because given the limited funding envelope available and the number of international fee waivers within that, our assumption is that we will need to adopt a distribution rule similar to that in place for DTPs etc that no more than 30% of our final awards will be to overseas students); Unless there are exceptional circumstances, nominated candidates should have one or both of a first class undergraduate degree and a Masters degree (the former or latter can be due for award in 2023). Once again, please accept my thanks for all of the effort you have put into the studentships process so far. The response to the student competition demonstrates that there is extremely strong demand from high quality candidates to study for PGR degrees at Stirling. The clusters that you have worked hard to form are clearly focused on important and attractive research ideas, and we encourage you to keep developing them via the Festival of Research events for each overall theme that are happening next month and beyond. Very best wishes Iain and the IAS team. ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159