New subject: publications

21 Apr 2023

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.

________________________________
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The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

Fwd: IAS Studentships update - Initial review