You’ll need to prepare the following documentation to support your application to ARIES:

(1) Cover Letter (sometimes also called a personal statement): this is a chance for you to give your reasons for applying for your chosen PhD project. You may wish to give details about your academic/professional background, your future career plans, your interests etc. You could also detail here why you are a good candidate for this project, and how your skills, experiences, and qualifications mean you are well suited to the PhD. Don’t worry if you don’t have experience outside of your degree – we recognise that different people have different opportunities to gain experience and you won’t be disadvantaged. You might discuss what training you think you need to become a successful researcher, or what your aspirations are for the future. We are really interested in your potential as well as what you’ve already achieved.

(2) CV: This should include your qualifications to date and any relevant experience you have. If you have professional qualifications, publications, or have attended any courses or conferences that are relevant then include these as well.

(3) Scanned copies of your official degree transcript(s). If the originals are not in English, you will need to provide official translations. If you have not yet graduated, you should be able to obtain an interim transcript showing the results from your degree to date (if you are only one semester into your course – for example an MSc – then this is not needed).

ARIES is required by our funders to collect Equality and Diversity Information from all of our applicants. The information you provide will be used solely for monitoring and statistical purposes; it will remain confidential, and will be stored on the UEA sharepoint server.  UEA’s GDPR statements may be viewed online. Data will not be shared with those involved in making decisions on the award of Studentships, and will have no influence on the success of your application. It will only be shared outside of this group in an anonymised and aggregated form.  You will be ask to complete the EDI form by the University to which you apply.