GRADUATE ADMISSIONS CRITERIA FOR MSC/DPHIL IN PLANT SCIENCES FOR ENTRY IN 2012-13

1. Criteria

Within equal opportunities principles and legislation, applications will be assessed in the light of a candidate’s ability to meet the following criteria:

2. Academic ability

Proven and potential academic excellence.

Applicants are normally expected to be predicted or to have achieved a first-class or an upper second class undergraduate degree (or equivalent international qualifications) in an appropriate subject. If you hold non-British qualifications, you are advised to check with the National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC) www.naric.org.uk how your qualifications match these requirements. For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA we seek is 3.5 out of 4.0

Appropriate indicators will include:

Academic references/letters of recommendation, which support intellectual ability, academic achievement, motivation, ability to work in a group.

Research proposal

This should be in English and no more than 1,000 words. This will be assessed for: your reasons for applying; the coherence of the proposal; the originality of the project; evidence of motivation for and understanding of the proposed area of study; the ability to present a reasoned case in English; the feasibility of successfully completing the project in the time available for the course (a maximum of 4 years); commitment to the subject, beyond the requirements of the degree course; preliminary knowledge of research techniques; capacity for sustained and intense work; reasoning ability; ability to absorb new ideas, often presented abstractly, at a rapid pace.

Performance at interview(s)

Interviews are normally held as part of the admissions process. Applicants will be selected for interview based on the aforementioned criteria. Interviews will normally be held within four weeks of the application deadline and will either be in person or by Skype (with or without video) and will take around 30-45 minutes. Admission decisions are made by the department’s Graduate Studies Committee in consultation with the Head of Department; you can therefore expect to be interviewed by a panel of four or five committee members. Applicants will be asked to talk about their academic history and any research projects(s) that they may have pursued and questioned on aspects of their research training to date, understanding of the proposed area of study and motivation for doing a DPhil. Prior to the interview applicants will be sent a short article to read which is relevant to their research; they should be prepared to answer questions on this at the interview.

3. Availability of supervision, teaching, facilities and places

The following factors will govern whether candidates can be offered places:

  • The ability of the Department of Plant Sciences to provide the appropriate supervision, research opportunities, teaching and facilities for your chosen area of work.
  • There are minimum and maximum limits to the numbers of students who may be admitted onto Oxford’s research and taught programmes.

The provision of supervision is subject to the following points.

  • The allocation of graduate supervision is the responsibility of the Department of Plant Sciences and it is not always possible to accommodate the preferences of incoming graduate students to work with a particular member of staff.
  • Under exceptional circumstances a supervisor may be found outside the Department of Plant Sciences.

4. English language requirement

Applicants whose first language is not English are usually required to provide evidence of proficiency in English at the higher level required by the University

5. Deadlines and required full set of application materials

Please refer to the Graduate Admissions website for information on the deadlines which must be met, and the full set of supporting materials required, in order for applications to be guaranteed to be considered.

6. Funding

Whether you have yet secured funding is not taken into consideration in the decision to make an initial offer a place, but please note that the initial offer of a place will not be confirmed until the college which gives you an initial offer of a place is satisfied that you have sufficient funding to cover your fees and living costs for the standard period of fee liability for your course.

7. Disability, health conditions and specific learning difficulties.

Students are selected for admission without regard to gender, marital or civil partnership status, disability, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or social background. Decisions on admission are based solely on the individual academic merits of each candidate and the application of the selection criteria appropriate to the programme of study. Further information on how these matters are supported during the admissions process is available here .

8. Other information

  • We strongly encourage prospective applicants to communicate with potential supervisors prior to submitting an application to explain why they want to come and work in their particular field of study, to answer any questions on research projects, and to refine their application, especially where scholarships are involved.
  • It would be expected that graduate applicants would be familiar with the recent published work of their proposed supervisor.
  • Specify any mental or physical fitness to practice requirements and/or Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks.

9. Assessors

All applications will be assessed by more than one member of the academic staff with relevant experience and expertise.

10. Course webpage

http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/course_guide/courses_az.html