The Dickson Poon School of Law Guidelines for applying for The Dickson Poon School of Law Postgraduate Research Student Scholarship: 2016 Entry

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1 The Dickson Poon School of Law Guidelines for applying for The Dickson Poon School of Law Postgraduate Research Student Scholarship: 2016 Entry There are two stages to applying for The Dickson Poon School of Law Postgraduate Research Scholarship, an application to the admissions office, and an application to the Law School. BOTH of these stages must be complete in order for your applications to be considered. The deadline for receiving both applications is Monday 18th January 2016 at GMT (the scholarship application deadline). Note that the scholarship application deadline is absolute. Materials received after this specified time and date will not be accepted and the applicant will be considered ineligible. Please complete stage one first, as you will be given a reference number which you should then use on your stage two application. Please note that: Existing research degree students are not eligible to apply; These scholarships cannot be held on a part time basis; These scholarships are for 2016/2017 entry and cannot be deferred. Stage 1: Admissions Application All applicants must ensure that they have submitted an online admission application via the College s admissions portal ( for entry to the 2016/2017 programme of study. This must include the following: Academic References all admissions applications require two supporting references. While it is important that the applicant submits his/her completed online admission application to the College by no later than the scholarship application deadline (i.e. Monday 18th January 2016), we will allow an additional two weeks (i.e. up to Monday 1 st February 2016) for applicants to submit their references as part of the admissions application. Please ensure that your academic references are aware of the deadline and are able to submit a reference in time. At least one reference should be an academic reference who is able to comment on the applicant s ability and potential e.g. from a previous undergraduate tutor or postgraduate taught (masters) tutor. Academic Transcripts where applicable, academic transcripts must be submitted with the online admissions application. As in the case of academic references, we will allow an additional 2 weeks after the scholarship application deadline for supporting transcripts to be provided (i.e. transcripts must be provided by no later than Monday 1 st February 2016). Stage 2: The Dickson Poon School of Law Postgraduate Research Student Scholarship All applicants must ensure that they also complete the separate Dickson Poon Application form. This must be submitted directly to The Dickson Poon School of Law at: daniel.robson@kcl.ac.uk, stating reference: PGR FUNDING COMPETITION [YOUR NAME], in subject field of . BOTH APPLICATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED AND SUBMITTED BY THE Monday 18th January GMT DEADLINE IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE SCHOLARSHIP

2 Completing the required documentation: Guidance Notes Stage 1: Admissions Application Applicants must complete each section of the College s online admissions application required for admission as a fulltime research student at King s College London. This information is required by the College as part of its admission process. The Scholarship Selection Panel at The Dickson Poon School of Law will use relevant information from this application form when considering applications for the scholarship. Any queries relating to the admissions application process should be directed to the Centre for Arts & Sciences Admissions (CASA) at King s College London: Stage 2: The Dickson Poon School of Law Postgraduate Research Student Scholarship Application Your details Please provide a King s applicant identification number. This will provided to you by CASA following submission of your online admissions application form. Name of potential supervisor(s) Please provide the name or names of your potential research degree supervisor(s) at The Dickson Poon School of Law. Summary of academic qualifications Please include details of all university/higher education qualifications you have completed and/or are currently undertaking. Please note that this information will be cross-checked against the information provided on transcripts submitted with your online admissions application. Summary of other awards, prizes, professional qualifications This section allows applicants to provide additional relevant information which is not captured elsewhere within the form and may help strengthen their application. Research Proposal It is very important that each applicant discusses with his/her potential supervisor his or her proposed topic when drafting his/her research proposal for this application. Applications will be assessed, in part, on the basis that such a discussion has taken place. The research proposal must include sufficient information to enable the Scholarship Selection Panel to assess an applicant s suitability for an award. Applicants should discuss: 1. the theoretical background to the proposed research and its relationship to previous work in the relevant field(s); 2. the significance (scientific, intellectual, practical, etc) of the proposed research; 3. the likely methodological approach and why it is appropriate to the aims of the project; 4. how their proposed research complements their previous experience and anticipates possible future research work; 5. why they feel their project fits with their proposed supervisors research and the strengths of The Dickson Poon School of Law. Research proposals must NOT exceed 2 sides of A4 (Times New Roman Font size 11) in total. Longer proposals or those that contain extraneous material will not be considered.

3 How scholarship applications are assessed Consideration will be given to the quality of applicants based on: 1. Evidence and strength of academic qualifications gained and where applicable, professional qualifications and/or relevant experience; 2. Strength of the research proposal; 3. Strength of transnational aspect of the research proposal; 4. Matching of the applicant s interests with those of his/her potential supervisor. The Selection Process Eligible applications will be considered by a panel composed of permanent academic staff members from within the School (the Scholarship Selection Panel). The selection of applicants will be based on applicants academic calibre, research potential, strength of reference and supporting statement. The Panel will assess the applications on the basis of information gathered via the scholarship application form and the College s online admissions application. The Panel s decision is final. Announcement of results Scholarship applicants will be informed via of the result by the middle of March Please note that at this stage there will be a list of successful scholarship applicants as well as a list of reserve scholarship applicants. In the event that a selected applicant declines the offer of an award, a reserve applicant who is next in line will be able to benefit from the opportunity. Therefore, there may be a period where awards are reallocated resulting in final decisions being made beyond the March 2016 announcement stage. Successful scholarship applicants will be informed of the decision via in the first instance and will be asked to provide a decision on acceptance/decline by a given deadline. If a successful scholarship applicant fails to respond by the deadline or declines the offer, their award will automatically be transferred to a reserve scholarship applicant who is next on the list. Acceptance of awards The initial offer sent to successful scholarship applicant will include instructions on how to accept the award, and the deadline for doing so. If the applicant is unable to take up the award, he or she must provide a reason why (this information is used for statistical purposes only). Awards must only be accepted on the understanding that the applicant has read, understood and agrees to comply with the Funding Conditions and Regulations set out below. Successful scholarship applicants who confirm acceptance for the award will be sent an official award letter further detailing the terms and conditions of the award and detailing the value of the award granted.

4 Payment of awards The award consists of payment of annual tuition fees (Home/EU or international) plus 20,000 per year stipend. The annual stipend is intended as a reasonable contribution towards the applicant s annual living expenses. Payment of stipends will be made on a monthly basis into a UK bank account. Renewal of awards All scholarship awards are granted for one year in the first instance but will be renewed for the remaining length of the award-holder s postgraduate research programme (excluding the writing-up period), subject to the award-holder achieving and maintaining satisfactory academic progress as determined by the School in consultation with his/her applicable research supervisor(s). Awards will be renewed only if the award-holder adheres fully with the Funding Conditions & Regulations (as outlined below). The maximum tenure of awards is 3 years, provided the award-holder adheres fully with the Funding Conditions & Regulations during this period, including continued registration as a full-time postgraduate research student at King s. Award-holders are not required to apply for renewal of their award. The School Research Committee will review the on line progress report. If the progress report is satisfactory, the award will automatically be rolled over in to the next academic year. If there are any queries over the renewal of an award then the award-holder will be notified. Submission of thesis Award-holders must comply with all applicable College regulations regarding the submission of their thesis and completion of their research degree. Contact Details Stage 1: Any queries relating to the admissions application process should be directed to the Admissions Team at the Centre for Arts & Sciences Admissions: Stage 2: Queries relating to The Dickson Poon scholarship scheme should be directed to: Sadia Chaudhry Law Enquiries Assistant at The Dickson Poon School of Law sadia.chaudhry@kcl.ac.uk

5 Funding Conditions and Regulations Awards are offered on the condition that the candidate has met and/or will meet all the conditions required for admission to King s College London generally and to The Dickson Poon School of Law in particular. Awards may only be used towards a research degree programme offered by The Dickson Poon School of Law. Awards cannot be transferred to any other programme offered by the College. New awards offered in 2016 are valid only to commence in the 2016/17 academic session; deferral of an award to a later academic session is not permitted. Awards granted for the 2016/17 academic session cannot be used retrospectively for whole or part of any earlier session. Awards cannot be transferred to another institution. An award-holder must be registered at the College as a full-time student for the length of his or her research degree. An award-holder must comply with College regulations regarding the submission of his or her thesis within the required time frame. If an award-holder requires to interrupt his/her studies due to illness, accident, fieldwork or for any other reasonable cause, he or she must report this as soon as possible to The Dickson Poon School of Law and request the School to approve such interruption of studies and grant a temporary suspension of award funding. The School may approve or reject the request in its reasonable discretion. If approval of the School is not sought in this way with the result that the School continues to pay for a student who is absent from his or her studies, the award-awarder may be required to refund the amount due for the relevant period. Failure by the award-holder to follow this process may also impact on School s decision to renew an award, as applicable. Applicants should take note of the full financial commitment involved when studying at King s. Awards are intended to cover the award-holder s tuition fees at King s and to provide a reasonable contribution to the award-holder s annual living expenses, but may not cover the full costs that may be incurred by the award-holder while living and studying in London during his or her research studies. Awards are granted on the understanding that the award-holder will take sole responsibility for all such additional costs. The School may in its discretion terminate an award at any time under the following circumstances: a. the award-holder fails to make satisfactory progress to his or her research degree studies, as determined by the award-holder s supervisor(s); b. the award-holder fails to transfer successfully from the MPhil to the PhD programme; c. the award-holder ceases to be a full-time research student at The Dickson Poon School of Law; d. the award-holder fails to comply materially with any of the Funding Conditions & Regulations; and/or e. conduct by the award-holder which damages, or is intended to damage, the reputation of the School and/or the College. In the event of any termination under the circumstances described above: i) the School reserves the right to require the award-holder to refund the whole or any part of the award to the School, subject to (ii) below; ii) the School may not require the award-holder to refund the whole or any part of the award where:

6 a. such termination is based on grounds (a) or (b) and where the award-holder may be reasonably considered to have applied himself diligently and to have made reasonable efforts to achieve satisfactory progress and/or to transfer successfully from the MPhil to the PhD programme (as the case may be); or b. such termination is based on ground (c) and where the award-holder has withdrawn from the School as a full-time student on reasonable grounds such as ill-health or for other material private or family reasons. This award may not be used to cover writing-up fees. Award-holders are required to undertake training to the level of Associate of the Higher Education Academy through the King s Learning Institute during their first year of study. At any time during the duration of the award and in consultation with the award-holder, the awardholder shall at the request of the School undertake any of the following educational support activities as a condition of holding the award: contributions to undergraduate or postgraduate taught modules offered by the School e.g. the presentation of two or three lectures -(but not delivering an entire module); one off specialist lectures relating to their own research; leading seminars/small group teaching; tutorials; problem classes; delivering feedback; input to syllabus development; input to module material, content development, population of VLE; open days and admissions activities; reference writing (with training); research methods tutorials; formative and summative assessment duties; research assistance to visiting scholars. The maximum amount of time that the School may require by the award-holder to contribute to such educational support activities is 6 hours per week. Where teaching is involved, that time will be allocated as follows: 2 hours of contact time; 4 hours of preparation time. The primary responsibility, ownership and intellectual leadership of teaching delivery remain with the relevant permanent members of academic staff e.g. programme/module leaders.