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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Mark Twain

Class of 2011 Resources

Welcome to the NIH-Oxford-Cambridge Class of 2011 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 "Timelines and Benchmarks" 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.  The NIH-Oxford and NIH-Cambridge websites also contain vital information about matriculating into the universities.  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.

HOW AND WHEN TO APPLY TO OXFORD AND 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 2011 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 15.  Please contact the NIH office if you would like your letters of reference from your program application sent over to Oxford.  NOTE: Individuals who submit their applications by March 13 have a greater chance of being placed in their college of choice (not guaranteed, however).

  1. Read the guidelines for submitting and completing the Oxford application at http://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk/page/nih-oxford-scholars-application
  2. Information regarding the colleges at Oxford may be accessed at: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/postgraduate/colleges/
  3. General information for graduate students is available here: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/postgraduate_courses/index.html
  4. 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).
  5. Obtain a letter from the college and the University regarding the Visa application.
    (MD/PhD students should not apply until they are ready to matriculate into the university.)
  6. 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.
  7. 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 should contact Karina Prasad at kp319@medschl.cam.ac.uk and complete an online application at:

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/gsprospectus/applying/online.html .  You should list your supervisor as Ken Smith, the Program Director at Cambridge, and use the program code MDMDNH24.  NOTE: Individuals who submit their applications by March 13 have a greater chance of being placed in their college of choice (not guaranteed, however).

The following resources may be helpful:

MAKING CONTACT WITH YOUR CLASS DEAN AND INDIVIDUAL ADVISORS

The Class Dean assigned to you 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 2011, 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.

NIH & UK VISIT WEEKS

You will visit NIH from June 19-25, during which time you will focus considerable attention on visiting prospective mentors and labs and also participate in various orientation activities as well the annual Colloquium.  Participation in this activity is mandatory.  Students should aim to finalize their mentor selections by the end of the visit week.

You will then travel to the UK June 26-July 1. During this time, you will meet with potential mentors and explore potential dissertation laboratories and collaborative projects.   We strongly advise that you be certain the UK scientists with whom you wish to meet will be available to conference with you during the trip to the UK. IMPORTANT NOTE: In order to be reimbursed for your travel expenses to and from NIH and the UK universities, you will need to organize your travel according to specific directions from the program administrators. DO NOT purchase airline tickets without first receiving instruction from the program.

You will return to the NIH on July 31 for a second orientation and will spend the balance of August and most of September on campus developing your research proposal.

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:

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). This program 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.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING HOUSING FOR ORIENTATION

All students beginning their PhD research in 2011 are required to spend the months of August and September on the NIH campus writing their research proposals.  You must arrive in Bethesda no later than July 31, as mandatory orientation activities will begin the morning of August 1.  It is important to secure housing in advance for this period of time.  As one option, 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.

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.

Matthew Vogt

301.435.1513

vogtm@mail.nih.gov

 OXCAM Director of Student Affairs: Assists Academic Dean, program directors and managing director with academic review, student life, and event planning, student advising.

TBA

 Program Assistant: Provides leadership for recruitment and external affairs. Assists with all dimensions of program operations.

Thomas A. Wynn, Ph.D.

TWYNN@niaid.nih.gov

 OXCAM Program Director: Provides guidance regarding collaboration possibilities and mentor selection for students pursuing a PhD via an NIH/-Oxford or NIH-Cambridge collaboration.

Craig Blackstone, M.D./Ph.D.cb426x@nih.gov

 Trans NIH MDPhD Program Director: Provides guidance regarding MDPhD program and serves as principal NIH liaison to MSTP medical schools.

Ronald Schwartz

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.

OXFORD CONTACTS

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.

CAMBRIDGE CONTACTS

Kenneth G. C. Smith

44.1223762645

kgcs2@cam.ac.uk

Karina Prasad

44.1223 296186

kp319@medschl.cam.ac.uk

NIH-Cambridge Program Director (Ken Smith) and Administrative Officer (Karina Prasad): Primary Cambridge University contacts to the NIH-Cambridge program administrators. Oversees program administration in Cambridge and serves as student advocate.

2011 Class Deans

Dr. Rick Fairhurst rfairhurst@mail.nih.gov

Dr. Kuan-Teh Jeangkjeang@niaid.nih.gov

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.