NIH Oxford Cambridge Scholars Program

Class of 2009 Resources

Welcome to the NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Class of 2009 and congratulations on having earned the distinction of being accepted into a program that enrolls outstanding students who consistently distinguish themselves, the NIH and its UK partners--Oxford and Cambridge!!

It is essential that you familiarize yourself with key timelines and benchmarks by reading the content on this page as well as the "Admissions and Orientation" section of the OXCAM web site (click here). We also advise you to closely examine the Collaborative Projects section of our student handbook for insight on how to successfully set up your PhD research project.

Upon completing this review, you will be fully prepared to successfully matriculate into the program. Contact the OXCAM Managing Director, Bridget Lampert, no later than Friday, April 24th, to verify that you have reviewed the information on these pages (301.496.6083 and lampertb@niaid.nih.gov)

Finally, as you begin to communicate with individuals at the NIH, you will find the NIH Enterprise Directory (NED) an invaluable resource when trying to find phone numbers and email addresses. You may access NED at http://ned.nih.gov/search/search.aspx (you must copy and paste this URL into the address field of your browser).

MAKING CONTACT WITH YOUR CLASS DEAN AND INDIVIDUAL ADVISOR

For the Class of 2009, Dr. Harris Bernstein (harris_bernstein@nih.gov) and Dr. Rick Koup (rk173f@nih.gov) have agreed to serve as the class deans. Drs. Bernstein and Koup will contact you prior to the end of April to assign to you a personal academic advisor. The advisor's primary role will be to assist you with the mentor selection process and to help you sort through other issues related to the research you plan to conduct while enrolled in the program.

NOTE: For MD/PhD students entering medical school in the fall of 2009, you will be assigned an MD/PhD advisor who will follow your progress for the duration of the training. Your advisor will contact you and serve as your mentor selection advisor or designate a mentor selection advisor for you. Please click here to view the Track 1 timeline.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING SUMMER HOUSING

Summer Housing: The deadline to request summer housing is April 15th, 2009.
The Office of Intramural Training and Education housing program leases a number of furnished apartments on Battery Lane in Bethesda, MD to NIH trainees including graduate students. Situated at the south end of the NIH main campus, the apartments are within walking distance of the laboratories and office buildings and are also a short distance from the diverse restaurants and shops of Bethesda. The location also offers easy access to the Bethesda and Medical Center Metro (subway) stops, as well as local bus routes. Parking is available with some of the apartments and must be requested.

The living area of each apartment is furnished with area rugs, a microwave, a sofa, two chairs or a loveseat, a coffee table, end tables, lamps, a dining room table with four chairs and a computer desk and chair. Each bedroom is furnished with two twin beds, two chests of drawers, and two nightstands. The bathroom is provided with a new shower curtain and bath mat. Tenants should bring, or plan to purchase, their own towels, bed linens, pillow(s), blankets, coffee maker, basic set of cooking utensils, dishes, glassware, and silverware.

All utilities (except phone, cable, and internet) are included in the rental costs listed below. Summer apartments are available to GPP graduate students from the first of June, 2009 through the end of September, 2009. Specific move-in dates may be viewed via the registration link below. Depending upon availability, you may be able to extend your lease past the end of September. However, these decisions will not be made until the end of the summer.

Two different apartment types are available:

2BR/1BA - $1800/month
2BR/2BA – $1900/month

Cost breakdown by housing type:

2BR/1BA - $900/student (no more than 2 students per apartment)
2BR/2BA
1. $950/student (if 2 students per apartment)
2. $475/student (if 4 students per apartment--2 per bedroom)

Prices are for the previous year, but they will be updated shortly and are not expected to change substantially. You may request a roommate by name when completing the survey. The GPP will do its best to accommodate all requests but cannot guarantee your request for a single bedroom in the 2BR/2BA apartments until it is known how many requests for housing must be met.

Apartments will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The deadline to request a space in the Battery Lane apartments is Wednesday, April 15, 2009. We will notify you by April 30 of your apartment assignment. You will be required to return a signed lease to us by Monday, May 3 in order to secure your apartment. You will only be able to pick up your keys on your requested move-in date between 9am-5pm. No exceptions.

To request a space you must complete this survey: http://tinyurl.com/OITE-2009-04-15

In addition to the Battery Lane apartments, the Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) maintains two houses within walking distance of campus for Oxford-Cambridge Scholars. Information on availability may be obtained by contacting Carline Coote at ccoote@mail.nih.gov. We also encourage you to peruse the OITE Moving Guide (http://www.training.nih.gov/documents/oite-publications.asp) which contains some very detailed information about moving to the DC Capital Area and an abundance of useful links.

MENTOR SELECTION RESOURCES

The NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) represents a community of around 1200 tenured and tenure track investigators, many of whom are eager to accept Oxford-Cambridge Program students into their labs where they will provide exceptional mentoring. While you may already have begun the process of identifying potential mentors, we encourage you to peruse the Current OXCAM Collaborations Database. This database lists both existing collaborations and prospective ones from NIH faculty who have expressed interest in recruiting trainees. It is keyword searchable by scientific interest areas, names of investigators and/or university. The GPP Faculty Database also contains about 300 investigators who have self-identified as wishing to collaborate with students. Additionally, in your search for potential mentors in your field you might wish to investigate the NIH Intramural Research Database - a searchable index of the research reports submitted by all intramural labs. For new students interested in immunology or neuroscience, we highly recommend the following web sites:

We also suggest you view the current Oxford and Cambridge student/mentor collaborations spreadsheets (click the links below) which provide a general overview of enrolled students’ collaborations. Most of this information can be found by accessing the online database mentioned above.

MDPhD students may wish to peruse the Oxford translational medicine project list [click here for the 1.4 MB PDF] which provides an overview to the DPhil Program in Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at the University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division (MSD), which is funded by the Wellcome Trust Clinician Training Fellowship Scheme to train academic clinicians in five basic science areas--cardiovascular, haematology, infections and immunity, metabolic medicine and neuroscience.

NIH & UK VISIT WEEKS: JUNE 15th-26th

From June 15th-19th, you will visit the NIH for one week during which you will focus considerable attention on visiting prospective mentors and labs and also participate in a two-day Program Orientation. Participation in this activity is mandatory. Students should aim to finalize their mentor selections by the end of the visit week.

You will spend the following week (June 22nd-26th) in the UK meeting with potential mentors and exploring potential dissertation laboratories and collaborative projects and participating the annual Colloquium. We strongly advise that you be certain the UK scientists with whom you wish to meet will be available to meet with you during the trip to the UK. IMPORTANT NOTE: In situations where potential mentors will not be available, it is advised that you arrange a visit week when you can be certain to make the connections needed to solidify your project design. Under the direction of the GPP, you will organize your travel to and from the UK and the GPP will reimburse you for your expenses. DO NOT purchase airline tickets without first receiving instruction from the GPP.

You will return to the NIH on August 3rd for a second orientation and will spend the balance of August and most of September on campus developing your research proposal.

HOW AND WHEN TO APPLY TO OXFORD OR CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITIES

New students are strongly encouraged to submit their Oxford and/or Cambridge applications as soon as they are admitted to the program, if not before, in order to improve the odds of being admitted to the college of one's choice. NOTE: MD/PhD students entering medical school in the fall of 2008 do not need to apply to the University or colleges until the spring before their matriculation into graduate school.

Oxford Application Instructions
Students wishing to be admitted to Oxford University will complete and submit an online application. Oxford-bound students must submit the online application NO LATER than May 15th. NOTE: Individuals who submit their applications by March 13th have a greater chance of being placed in their college of choice (not guaranteed, however).

Read the guidelines for submitting and completing the Oxford application at http://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/page/nih-oxford-scholars-application
Information regarding the colleges at Oxford may be accessed at: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/postgraduate/colleges/
Initiate contact with a lab at Oxford to identify a mentor and choose a department (NOTE: Students who choose a department and not a mentor may experience delays in the matriculation process).
Obtain a letter from the college and the University regarding the Visa application
MDPhD students should not apply until they are ready to matriculate into the university.
For Marshall Scholars, the Commission office in London will begin negotiating with the chosen University regarding the terms of matriculation into the NIH-Marshall scheme.
For Rhodes Scholars, the Rhodes Trust will play an active role in the process. The NIH and University Program Directors will provide assistance as required.

Cambridge Application Instructions
Students wishing to be admitted to Cambridge University will complete an online application. Details will be posted shortly. The following resources may be helpful:

For biology and medicine department topics, see: http://www.biomed.cam.ac.uk/gradschool/prospective/
For departments outside the Life Sciences, see: http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/gsprospectus/subjects/
For general information regarding Colleges (info geared for undergrads), see: http://www.cam.ac.uk/colleges/
For additional information specifically aimed at graduate students, see:

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/gsprospectus/colleges/

Following a May 1st Cambridge Steering Committee meeting, the Committee will begin advocating for student admission to the colleges identified as top choices.

Once scholars have chosen their supervisors /mentors (by the end of the Colloquium if not before) and the Cambridge Graduate School has obtained a commitment from the Department/Degree Committee, the Cambridge Graduate School Director will send the applications to the Cambridge Board of Graduate Studies (BGS) with request for an offer to be made. At this point, the BGS will log the application in CamSIS, issue the offer to the student, and confirm College placement.
All steps in the process are to be completed by July 31st (the College room allocation deadline).

CONTACTS	ROLE
Bridget Lampert 301.496.6083 lampertb@niaid.nih.gov	OXCAM Managing Director: Serves as first point of contact for all newly enrolled students. Provides guidance regarding all OXCAM and MDPhD program dimensions.
Michael Lenardo 301.496.6754 lenardo@nih.gov	OXCAM Program Founder and Director: Provides guidance regarding collaboration possibilities and mentor selection for students pursuing a PhD via an NIH/-Oxford or NIH-Cambridge collaboration.
Richard Siegel 301.496.5767 siegelr@mail.nih.gov	Trans NIH MDPhD Program Founder and Director: Provides guidance regarding MDPhD program and serves as principal NIH liaison to MSTP medical schools.
Ronald Schwartz 301.496.1257 rs34r@niaid.nih.gov	OXCAM Academic Dean: Chairs the OXCAM Academic Committee and coordinates the activities of the NIH scientists designated to serve as Class Deans.
Richard Cornall 44.1865 221784 richard.cornall@ndm.ox.ac.uk Sarah Noujaim 44.1865 857622 Sarah.Noujaim@ndm.ox.ac.uk	NIH-Oxford Program Director (Richard Cornall) and Graduate Studies Officer (Sarah Noujaim): Primary Oxford University liaison to the NIH-Oxford program administrators. Oversees program administration in Oxford and serves as student advocate.
Kenneth G. C. Smith 44.1223762645 kgcs2@cam.ac.uk Laurie Friday 44.1223 761569 lef10@cam.ac.uk	NIH-Cambridge Program Director (Ken Smith) and Administrator of the Graduate School (Laurie Friday): Primary Cambridge University contacts to the NIH-Cambridge program administrators. Oversees program administration in Cambridge and serves as student advocate.
Harris Bernstein harris_bernstein@nih.gov Rick Koup rk173f@nih.gov	Class of 2009 Deans: Assist the Academic Dean and program directors with academic program implementation including academic advising support during the matriculation process. Help students select an individual academic advisor. Serve as members of the program's Academic Committee.