NIH/Oxford/Cambridge Scholars Program Handbook

Funding and NIH Appointments

Students in the UK programs (except Marshall, Churchill, Rhodes, Gates and other scholarship students) are supported by the NIH for the duration of their time in the program.  Tuition and fees are paid centrally by the program through a collection from each of the participating Institutes.  The student’s NIH mentor funds the student’s stipend, medical benefits, and travel allowance for all four years of the program.  Each student is appointed to NIH through a predoctoral Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA).  For Rhodes, Marshall, Churchill and Gates scholarship students, the scholarship pays tuition and stipend for the length of the scholarship.  The student should receive a Special Volunteer appointment in their NIH lab, and the NIH should fund health insurance and travel.  When scholarship funding is exhausted, students are given pre-doctoral IRTA appointments by their labs and receive their stipend payments from their NIH mentors.  In the case of one-year scholarships (i.e. Churchill), the NIH will also pay the second half of the tuition.  Students who receive other scholarships should contact the OxCam Managing Director so that an arrangement can be established by which they may take advantage of this extra source of funding.

The paperwork for receiving the IRTA award is sent to the student by May 1st and is to be returned to the Graduate Partnership Program by June 1st to assure proper processing in time for an August 1st start date at the NIH.  To complete the paperwork, you must be able to provide the following:  

  • Proof of citizenship
  • A U.S. bank checking account to which your stipend can be transferred
  • Completed form for a medical examination within the last year with the  immunization record included
  • A Curriculum Vitae – a standard format will be sent with the packet
  • Statement of research goals at the NIH (1/2 page)
  • A final transcript from your undergraduate university indicating you have received your Bachelor degree with date of degree award
When you submit your completed IRTA packet, you must either choose enrollment in the NIH medical insurance plan (Blue Cross Blue Shield) or indicate that you are retaining your own insurance or are covered under your parents’ policy.  A student cannot participate in the OxCam program without proof of medical insurance. For the purposes of the IRTA award packet, the program will use the letters of recommendation you furnished when you initially applied to the program.